Open Mike with Mike Bullard was a Canadian late-night talk show which aired from 1997 to 2003 late-nights on CTV and on the Comedy Network in primetime. It was hosted by comedian Mike Bullard and initially taped at a crowded studio at the back of Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant in Toronto, Ontario before CTV moved the show to the refurbished Masonic Temple. The show’s bandleader and musical director was Orin Isaacs.
In the summer of 2003, Bullard’s contract with CTV expired and he signed a deal to start a new, similar show on Global called The Mike Bullard Show. Shortly afterwards Mike publicly slammed in the media his former co-workers, including management at CTV. The new show retained many of the people and sketches from Open Mike, but was cancelled in 2004 due to low ratings. The show was filmed at a theatre on the Esplanade.
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Big O Tires, Inc. is North America’s largest franchiser of tire retailers. It is headquartered in Centennial, Colorado, and has more than 540 franchises in 21 U.S. states and Canada. It sells its own Big O private brand tires and other brands. In addition to selling and servicing tires, wheels, and alignments, Big O Tires provides basic maintenance and replacement services such as oil changes, battery replacement, struts installation, and brake service. Because Big O Tires is a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation, its franchisees are located in markets that not served by the corporately-owned Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire chains.
History
The company was founded in 1962, when it split from OK Tires. In 1996, it was acquired by TBC Corporation, which also owns Tire Kingdom, NTB, and Merchant Tire.”TBC to Buy Outstanding Shares of Big O Tires” The New York Times. 1996-05-03. URL retrieved 2006-12-02 In 2006, TBC was acquired by Sumitomo Corporation of America”Sumitomo Corporation of America Completes Acquisition of TBC Corporation”. Business Wire. 2005-11-17. URL retrieved 2006-12-02.. Big O Tires remains a wholly owned subsidiary of TBC Corporation.
In a landmark case in 1977, Big O Tires was awarded $19.6 million from Goodyear over Goodyear’s use of the name “bigfoot” tires. The amount equaled 25% of Goodyear’s advertising budget in the states where Big O operated. The amount was cut on appeal and later settled.Doan, Amy. “Xbox Name May Cost Microsoft”. Forbes. 2001-02-05. URL last retrieved 2006-12-02.
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