Chomedey Five-O: Book ‘em Peter 

By Mike Cohen

Chomedey native Peter M. Lenkov, who made it big in Hollywood a number of years ago, has said “aloha” as executive producer of CSI: New York. He will now head up the reboot of Hawaii Five-O, a contemporary take on the classic series about a new elite federalized task force whose mission is to wipe out the crime that washes up on the Islands’ sun-drenched beaches.

“CBS asked if I’d be interested in coming up with a new take on the series,” Lenkov confided to me. “It was my dad’s favorite show. That’s primarily why I took the gig.”

One of the interesting casting choices was that of Lost’s Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly. Australian Alex O’Loughlin will play Detective Steve McGarrett and Scott Caan will portray Detective Danny “Danno” Williams. Can we expect to hear a lot of the infamous “Book ‘em Danno,” from McGarrett to Williams as in the original? “Of course,” says Lenkov, a California resident who will now have to take up a secondary residence in Hawaii. And this just in from Lenkov. Hawaii Five-O has been picked up by Global.

Gotcha for Acer: Local standup comic and actor David Acer (Doubting Dave from TV’s Mystery Hunters) got good news last week when his book, GOTCHA! 18 Amazing Ways to Freak Out Your Friends  (illustrated by Stephen MacEachern) won the 2010 Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award for Non-Fiction in the Maritimes. Says Acer: “If you know at least one kid between the ages of nine and 14 who is interested in things like ghosts, lake monsters, Bigfoot, UFOs, mind reading, levitation, and other unexplained phenomena, you can pick up a copy at your nearest bookstore, or order it online from Amazon.” Log on to www.davidacer.com/david-acer-magic-catalogue-Gotcha.html.  

Wrestling Ryan: Give Ryan Rider, 21,  an “A” for effort. His Main Event radio show (www.maineventradio.com) recently marked its sixth anniversary on CJLO 1690 AM. The wrestling program airs every Sunday morning from 10:30 a.m. to noon and targets the aged 18 to 35 market. Rider, a Concordia communications and political science student, started the show when he was in high school. His co-host goes by the name of Steve Rockamaniac.  Rider is also a pseudonym. On an online level, the show’s podcast has a pretty good following, with 2,000 unique hits and 24,000 page views per week. 

Bruisers in Vegas: A hockey team of Montreal businessmen called he Bruisers captured the Las Vegas Gamblers Cup in their age category (35 and over) recently, competing against clubs from across North America. The victory was dedicated to Mike Terni, who died of heart failure a year ago while playing for the Bruisers in Vegas a year ago. Along the way to the title the Bruisers defeated a squad from Saskatoon, and another team from Montreal known as the Warriors (captained by DDO resident and Globe Electric CEO Edward Weinstein). The finale pitted them against a team from Colorado Springs.

COHEN CHATTER: With the assistance of Publish America, Montreal’s Roslyn Vinik-Ritz had her book From the Steps of Russia to the Steps of Westmount published. Paragraph Books has a few copies. This is the story of a Jewish family and how the parents met at a train station in St. Petersburg in 1919, got married on their route in Hamburg, Germany and then travelled together to Canada. Info: rritz@sympatico.ca … Sol Boxenbaum’s internet radio debut at www.vipinternetradio.com has been delayed until early July as the new station makes some technical adjustments… The trendy Rouge Nail Bar and Opus Montreal are teaming up for opening night VIP screening of Sex and the City 2 Friday. A pre-party bash takes place at the trendy Koko Restaurant + Bar, followed by an 11:30 p.m. screening at Scotia Bank Theatre. Info: www.rougenailbar.com. Spotted dining at Moishes Steak House recently: Cirque de Soleil boss Guy Laliberté.
Item of interest? e-mail mcohen@thesuburban.com, call 514-484-1107 ext. 307 or fax 514-483-7213.