Terry David Mulligan, best known these days as West Coast correspondent and on-air voice for Star! the Entertainment Information Station and as host of Citytv’s MovieTelevision, and former Vancouverite Jason Priestley, whose Hollywood acting career exploded with his role as Brandon Walsh in the 1990 hit series, Beverly Hills 90210, have been pals for 19 years.

“Before he left to find fame and fortune,” says Mulligan from his West Vancouver home during a conference call with Priestley from his place in Los Angeles.

“Holy crap, I’ve known you for that long,” is Priestley’s response.

“Yeah,” says Mully. “And he keeps saying, ‘I’ve got a new script that just came in the door — do you want to play my dad?,'” jokes the sometime actor.

The kibitzing two are hosts of a new weekly half-hour series, Hollywood & Vines, which claims to celebrate wine and the celebrities who love it.

For the show, Mulligan, Priestley and a film crew travelled to Guadalupe, Mexico, the Napa Valley, Walla Walla in Washington state and the Okanagan region of British Columbia to chat with vintners, sommeliers, wine festival-goers, collectors of vintage wine and five-star restaurateurs. They also make a pit stop at the Denver Grand Prix, wine and dine at charming inns, hang out with a three-legged dog and nosh from the back of a taco truck — all captured in free and easy documentary style.

Mulligan, who regularly interviews the stars for his shows, also managed to tape comments about the love of wine from the biggies, including Heath Ledger, Katie Holmes, Sienna Miller, Michael Caine, Jack Black, George Clooney and Kyle MacLachlan.

The show was five years in the making.

And who’s idea was it?

Priestley jumps in: “One day Terrence and I were fishing in the Queen Charlottes. . . .”

“It was a beautiful spot,” Mulligan takes over, “and you have eight or 10 hours in the day to talk about anything you want. And Jason said to me, ‘You know all those CDs you have in your home, do they just send them to you?’ I said ‘Yeah,’ he said ‘Wow, imagine if we did a wine show? And we both looked at each other and at the same time, said, ‘Free wine!'”

“I didn’t know then that he had 4,000 bottles of wine,” laughs Mulligan, referring to Priestley’s well-known collection.

“It was a joke to start with,” says Priestley, “but then we said, ‘Wait a minute. What if we really did a wine show that was about the fun stuff?’ It’s all not about dining at Michelin five-star restaurants — it’s about wine of the people, by the people . . . [here Mulligan joins in the chant] . . . for the people!”

“That’s what we decided we would do, and to us, out there on the boat, it sounded like a great idea.”

Soon afterwards, when Priestley traveled to England to star in a play in London’s West End, Mulligan came over with a camera crew to shoot a pilot.

“Some of the greatest wine stores in the world are there, there are wine bars, Richard Branson was launching his Virgin Wines, we covered that,” explains Mulligan.

Nine months later, with Priestley living in New York, they went to The Food Network to see if there was any interest in producing their show.

The answer was no — reality TV and lifestyle television weren’t yet all the rage.

“Once again, Terry and I are a little too far ahead of the curve,” Priestley chuckles.

“Interestingly, the dynamic of our show was the same that we eventually saw down the road with [the movie] Sideways,” adds Mulligan, “with the Paul Giamatti character knowing everything about wine and wanting to pass it on to his dunce-y friend. So here we are. Jason can speak with any sommelier standing — and I get slack-jawed.

My job is to say, ‘You have to translate. Come on, tell the people what you’re actually trying to say. I always say, when they use a wine term, ‘Why don’t you just call it ‘a’ instead of ‘b’?’

And though the show travels internationally, it focuses on Canadians and their wines.

Priestley, a wine expert, doesn’t recall his first-ever glass, but remembers the early days of some of our local wines.

“Obviously, growing up in British Columbia, I remember the crappy wines they used to grow there, but I’ve been hip to the white wines coming out of B.C. for quite some time. They make some really great pinot gris up there, but when we went up there for the show, I was truly impressed with where the red wine industry is up there now. Poplar Grove, Burrowing Owl, these guys are making really, really quality juice.”

“But not a lot of it,” adds Mulligan.

“You’ve gotta be in B.C. to get it,” adds Priestley.

Mulligan vaguely recalls his first wine experience.

“I know it came out of a box. My father collected tin foil liners for storage. He saw more value in the liner than he did in the wine,” he says with a chuckle.

Hollywood & Vines, produced by Chad Oakes and Roger Williams in association with Nomadic Pictures and Image Pacific Communications premieres May 2 at 5:30 p.m. on Star! (Catch the encore presentation on Thursdays at noon.)

Bruce is back

Principal photography began Friday on Vancouver’s Brightlight Pictures’ latest feature, Bruce Sweeney’s American Venus.

Rebecca De Mornay (Wedding Crashers), Jane McGregor (Flower and Garnet) and Matt Craven (The Life of David Gale) star in the psychological drama about mother/daughter conflict, figure skating and gun addiction.

Local indie producer Sweeney (Last Wedding, Dirty, Live Bait) is directing from his own script with Brightlight’s Stephen Hegyes (who worked with Sweeney on all of his features) as producer and Shawn Williamson as executive producer.

American Venus explores the dynamics of a dysfunctional mother/daughter relationship. McGregor stars as Jenna Lane, a young woman trying to escape family pressure to become an Olympic athlete and define her own individuality.

De Mornay stars as her mother, Celia, a deeply disturbed woman with addictions to emotional abuse and handguns.

Hegyes and Williamson have produced over 60 productions in the last 12 years and over 20 productions since the launch of the company in 2001, including White Noise, starring Michael Keaton, which has grossed more than $100 million since opening in January 2005.

thebacklot@shaw.ca

Lynne McNamara’s Backlot appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Arts & Life.