Dramas and Comedies

Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town reviews & interviews

From Michael Oliviera of the Canadian Press:

From Rob Salem of the Toronto Star:

  • Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town becomes CBC TV movie
    It is shocking to learn that Sunday night’s new CBC TV-movie adaptation of homegrown humourist Stephen Leacock’s seminal Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (airing at 8 p.m.) is the only one since 1952’s Sunshine Sketches, the CBC’s first ever English-language series. How appropriate then that this new version should air during the national network’s 75th anniversary and the 100th of its inspiration’s publication. That it is as good as it is — and it is very good indeed — is the icing on those milestone birthday cakes. Read more.

From Brad Oswald of the Winnipeg Free Press:

  • CBC movie imaginitive, fun… and incomplete
    And so it is with the CBC movie Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, an ambitious and uniquely imaginative adaptation that celebrates the 100th anniversary of author/humourist Stephen Leacock’s quintessentially Canadian novel. As the title suggests, watching this made-for-TV movie is a bit like flipping through a sketchbook — there are eye-catching moments and brief, amusing passages throughout, but this decidedly flimsy effort lacks anything resembling the sort of cohesive, logical narrative that most scripted dramas possess. Read more.

From Eric Volmers of Postmedia News:

  • A chance to act with Pinsent has Hennessy signing on fast
    “Anything with Gordon Pin-sent, I’m there,” says Hennessy, on the line from her home in New York City. “I will do craft service. I will shine his shoes for him. It doesn’t matter. Then I found out I would play his mother, which was even more exciting. Gordon Pinsent’s mother! Come on, how could I say no?” Granted, there are few scenes in which the 43-year-old Hennessy appears alongside the 81-year-old actor. Read more.

From Kenneth Kidd of the Toronto Star:

  • Stephen Leacock’s writing still resonates with Canadians
    So it’s not hard to imagine Leacock being delighted that, in a TV movie based on Sunshine Sketches and set to air Feb. 12 on CBC, some of the country’s best-known comedians play the sternest, most dour characters — Ron James as Golgotha Gingham, the undertaker, Peter Keleghan as Rev. Drone, dean of the local Anglican church, and Colin Mochrie as Judge Pepperleigh. Read more.

From Adrian Mack of the Georgia Straight:

  • Jill Hennessy bridges pain and comedy in Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
    Okay, so there isn’t much of a connection between David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers and the CBC’s full-length centennial adaptation of the 1912 Stephen Leacock classic Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, coming to a TV set near year on Sunday night (February 12). But Jill Hennessy started her career with one, and stars in the other. That’s enough, right? Read more.

From the South Delta Leader:

  • Ladner’s Owen Best branches out in role of Canadian literary icon
    It’s not often that Ladner’s Owen Best has his entire extended family over to his parents’ home to watch TV with him. But Sunday night (Feb. 12) is going to be just such an occasion. That’s when the 15-year-old actor will be sharing screen time with a pair of notable Canadian actors—Gordon Pinsent and Jill Hennessy—in the CBC production of Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Read more.

From Melanie Cummings of the Burlington Post:

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