TV, eh?

Episode 9: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed

Callum Keith Rennie joins me, Diane Wild, for an interview about Shattered, where he plays a cop with multiple personalities.

But first, I try to convince Anthony Marco that the Emmys are worth watching. I did not succeed. I’m not sure I convinced myself. We mention the Gemini Award nominations which will have been announced by the time you listen to this.

Is 18 to Life returning to The CW? Maaayyyybeeee.

Anthony and I could not be less excited about Canada Sings. But if you disagree, casting is now open.

Then I discuss creative control in the Canadian television industry, from the consistent vision brought to Call Me Fitz to the multiple showrunners and lack of a cohesive vision on Shattered and The Listener. I mention my interview with Peter Keleghan, too, where he brings up some of the same issues. And Anthony laments that Shattered lost a golden opportunity to claim that their multiple showrunners were reflective of the multiple personality of the main character.

We finish up with how PVRs are affecting television viewing – for Anthony, it’s being even more annoyed by commercials, while Diane now gets weepy over iPhone 4 commercials.

Your hosts

• Anthony Marco can be found at Dyscultured and lovehatethings, and on Twitter here and here.
• Diane Wild can be found here at TV, eh? and here, and on Twitter here and here.

From Sean Davidson of C21 Media:

• 18 to Life: CW TV Show Planned to Return in December
  “”For a number of internal reasons they want to run the last six in December,” said Gelbart. He added that the series performed relatively well, drawing between 850,000 and almost one million viewers, with very little promotion.” Read more.

Episode 8: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed

Anthony Marco and I give a rundown of September’s new Canadian shows, including Lost Girl, Todd & The Book of Pure Evil, Call Me Fitz, Men With Brooms and Shattered.

I rant about Global’s marketing department doing such a poor job of marketing Shattered in particular, their history of poor CanCon marketing, and their delusion that they have the only new Canadian show premiering this fall (hello, see above).

So You Think You Can Dance Canada guest judge Mary Murphy joins me for an interview to talk about the Top 22, what’s unique about the Canadian version of the show, her negotiations to come back full time on the US version, and more.

Your links

• Lost Girl premieres September 12 on Showcase
• Todd & The Book of Pure Evil premieres September 29 on Space
• Call Me Fitz premieres September 19 on HBO Canada
• CBC’s fall lineup – Men With Brooms premieres September 20
• Shattered premieres September 1 on Global
• The CW cancels 18 to Life
• The Tudors is among the Creative Arts Emmy winners
• So You Think You Can Dance Canada
• Follow So You Think You Can Dance’s Mary Murphy on Twitter

Your hosts

• Anthony can be found at Dyscultured and lovehatethings, and on Twitter here and here.
• Diane can be found here at TV, eh? and here, and on Twitter here and here.

From TV Series Finales:

• 18 to Life: Canadian TV Show Cancelled by The CW But…
  “An import from Canada, 18 to Life debuted on August 3rd to just a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demographic and only 988,000 viewers. The second episode dropped to a 0.3 rating and 846,000 total viewers. That put the pair of episodes in last place in both categories. Later episodes attracted even fewer viewers.” Read more.

From Todd VanDerWerff of the AV Club:

• 18 to Life – “A Modest Proposal” and “No Strings Attached”
  “The CW’s new Canadian import series, 18 to Life, feels sort of like someone up north said, “Hey, that Juno movie was really something, no?” then ran the movie through a food processor and distilled it down into some sort of Juno smoothie.” Read more.

From Angel Cohn of Television Without Pity:

• 18 to Life: Worse Than A Prison Sentence?
  “One might ask, “With a premise like that, how can you lose?” Well, it’s simple. The writing, while admittedly well-paced, isn’t even remotely funny. I didn’t even chuckle during the first two episodes that aired last night, and Farber’s charm can only carry a show so far. The rest of the show is just very contrived and overly familiar, and basically feels like a second-rate Disney Channel show.” Read more.

From Jerome Wetzel of the Examiner:

• 18 to Life hits the U.S.
  “18 to Life is a charming Canadian sitcom about two best friends and neighbors who get married shortly after turning eighteen.” Read more.

From Robert Seidman of TV By The Numbers:

• TV Ratings: ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ & ‘MasterChef‘ Best ‘Wipeout‘ & ‘Shaq Vs.‘
  “The premiere of 18 to Life on the CW lost viewers from a repeat of Plain Jane (which outperformed last Wednesday’s premiere), and even more ran away in the second half hour.” Read more.

Episode 5: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed

This week on the TV, eh? podcast, Anthony Marco and I have had enough of television (no, not really) so after some (non-)news items we discuss Canadian web series: My Pal Satan, Riese the Series, Heroes of the North, and Take Me Back.

Your links:

• Comedy Gold
• The Flashpoint non-story: CBS hasn’t decided on season four. On the other hand they haven’t started airing season three yet
• The Flashpoint story: season three starts August 6, ends in September, to be continued in 2011
• So You Think You Can Dance Canada premiere dates
• 18 to Life starts on The CW
• Rookie Blue ratings improving
• My Pal Satan
• Riese The Series
• Heroes of the North
• Take Me Back

Your hosts:

• Anthony can be found at Dyscultured and lovehatethings, and on Twitter here and here.
• Diane can be found here at TV, eh? and here, and on Twitter here and here.

Have comments or suggestions for topics or guests? Let us know!

From Emily Exton of Entertainment Weekly:

• 18 to Life premieres tonight: More Stacey Farber, please
  “As for Degrassi similarities? Surprisingly there aren’t that many. 18 to Life takes itself a lot less seriously and has more of a Malcom in the Middle feel than that of our favorite Canadian import (but Jessie’s friend does look like a brainy Manny Santos). ” Read more.

From Jaime Weinman of Maclean’s Magazine:

• 18 To Life Shocks the U.S. Critics
  “That’s part of the point of the show: the characters make a decision that has more impact, legally and culturally, than any other, and one that their parents fear will ruin their lives. Both sides, then, would view 18 To Life as an invitation to irresponsible behaviour, so it opens itself up to twice the complaints a teen show would normally get.” Read more.

From Myles McNutt at Cultural Learnings:

• Misdirected Scorn: Why 18 to Life Deserves Parole
  “… most of the series’ reviews ignore the show itself and instead focus on attacking either its origins, its scheduling, or the apparent offensiveness of its premise – while I understand that these are all part of the series’ impact, that these critics have not bothered to watch closely enough to see the kind of show which 18 to Life is becoming seems a disservice to a show which is just trying to be an old-fashioned traditional sitcom.” Read more.

From Jean Bentley of TV Squad:

• 5 Reasons to Watch ’18 to Life’
  “Will you tune in? Here are five good reasons why we think you should watch:” Read more.

From Tom Conroy at Media Life magazine:

• ’18 to Life,’ and a punishing stretch, too
  “The rule holds true for the Canadian sitcom “18 to Life,” an amateurish series that is unappealing whether approached as a romantic comedy or as a naughty sex farce. One hopes that the CW, which is burning off the 12 episodes of this ill-advised acquisition in late summer, didn’t pay much, because the show’s producers seemed to have scrimped on directing, acting and writing.” Read more.

From Unreality Shout:

• Review: 18 to Life: Pilot
  “There’s always room in any network’s schedule for a good new comedy, but 18 to Life can be described neither as good, nor indeed, comedy. That said, there were some comedic moments in this Canadian born sitcom, but they died soon after birth, which really, this entire show should.” Read more.

From Kevin McDonough of South Coast Today:

• CW’s ’18′ closer to ‘Gilmore Girls’ than ‘Gossip Girl’
  “With so many Canadian imports arriving on American network television, I’ve devised a simple test to determine whether a show hails from north of the border. Do the characters look more like real people than supermodels? If so, look for the “Made in Canada” tag. Is the comedy writing a little less gag-driven than Hollywood fare? It just might be written by Canadians.” Read more.

From Glenn Garvin of the Miami Herald:

• Review | ’18 to Life’: This teenage TV marriage no laughing matter
  “Of course, I could be wrong, and 18 to Life might not be the bottom of the television barrel, in which case you need to drive a stake through your TV’s heart, stuff its remote with garlic and bury them in an unmarked grave. If there’s something worse than a sitcom about what a laff riot teenage marriage is, you don’t want to know.” Read more.

From Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald:

• Newlywed Lame
  “What if a couple of silly twits from “Degrassi” decided to marry? The sitcom “18 to Life,” the latest Canadian import to sneak onto our airwaves, plays like a spinoff of the long-running Teen Nick series.” Read more.

From Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times:

• Television review: ’18 to Life’
  “Neighbors who are worlds apart. Youths who fall in love, ‘Romeo and Juliet’-style. The setup for this CW show isn’t anything new. Except, possibly, in its old-fashioned commitment to marriage.” Read more.

From Megan Angelo of the Wall Street Journal:

• CW’s ‘18 to Life’ Puts Spotlight on Teen Marriage — For Better or Worse
  “A lot goes down in the premiere of the new CW series “18 to Life,” the drama adapted from a Canadian hit. In the first scene, eighteen-year-old Tom proposes to Jessie, the girl next door. By the end of the episode, they’re hitched.” Read more.

By Diane Wild

At the Banff World Television Festival, actor Peter Keleghan (18 to Life) related the upside and the downside of being a Canadian actor.

Shooting a pilot in LA years ago, he was working with en executive producer who became a “mother figure,” as he said. She would ask about his family – he and his wife were expecting a child – and his new life in Hollywood. When it came time for the producers to decide if they’d pay the small fee to extend his contract while waiting for the pilot to be picked up, his agent was told they decided against it because “we heard from him personally about the auditions he’s going for and he’s not really close to anything, so we don’t think we’re going to lose him.”

“I was blown away that she used the information from me against me,” Keleghan said at the festival panel on Homegrown Canadian Talent.

“When I tell my American friends this story, they all say to me, ‘What are you, f***ing stupid? You don’t tell a producer your business.’ And my Canadian friends say to me, ‘Jesus Christ, that’s dreadful!’ And that to me is the difference between America and Canada, and that’s why I came back to this country.”

After the national pride applause and laughter had died down, Keleghan shared a national-pride-squashing anecdote.

After being recognized by a fan in his home country, another woman approached him to say, “Oh, you’re an actor? What have I seen you in?”

“Well, I don’t know,” he recalled telling her. “The Red Green Show? No. The Newsroom? No. Oh, Made in Canada? And she replied: ‘That’s the problem isn’t it? It’s made in Canada.’”

In our interview after the panel, where we talked about the state of the Canadian television industry, Keleghan turned the tables on me, asking: “Think of Jim Carrey or Mike Meyers. What would your mindset be if they came back to this country and starred in a sitcom or a movie?”

(more…)

Episode 3: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed

Co-hosts Anthony Marco and Diane Wild discuss the CBC fall schedule, including arguing about the merits of Battle of the Blades, deciding Rick Mercer and the gang at 22 Minutes should never have holidays so we can have a Daily Show/Colbert type show in Canada,cheering Being Erica‘s renewal, and cynically deciding CBC had nothing better in development. In other news, 18 to Life was picked up by The CW, Haven got decent ratings, Degrassi introduced a transgendered character, and The Pillars of the Earth premieres Friday on The Movie Network/Movie Central.

Plus, a 20-minute interview with Gordon Pinsent about his role in The Pillars of the Earth, his 80th birthday celebration at the opening of his new play, Due South, the new series he has in development with son-in-law Peter Keleghan, what progress he’s seen in the Canadian TV industry over the years, his relationship with Sarah Polley, and how he’s been in every Canadian TV show and movie ever made.

Your links

• The CW picks up CBC’s 18 to Life
• Haven hits 300,000 viewers
• Degrassi introduces a transgendered character – controversial or same old, same old?
• The Pillars of the Earth premieres Friday, July 23
• The incredible career of Gordon Pinsent
• The CBC fall schedule
• Is Battle of the Blades a case of Schadenfreude or cheesy fun? You decide. (But it’s totally cheesy fun.)
• The Christina Cox vampire show whose title I couldn’t remember is Blood Ties. Last week, I couldn’t remember the Chris Leavins movie The Hanging Garden. Next week, maybe I’ll forget the name of this podcast!
• For information on specific shows, check out the sidebar of TV, eh? under Categories, or search for the show title in that little search box

Your hosts

• Anthony can be found at Dyscultured and lovehatethings, and on Twitter here and here.
• Diane can be found here at TV, eh? and here, and on Twitter here and here.



From Brian Stelter of the New York Times:

It’s a Canadian Summer for U.S. Television

From Josef Adalian of NY Mag’s Vulture:

• The CW Picks Up Canadian Comedy 18 to Life to Save Its Summer (and Possibly Its Fall)
  “Vulture has learned that starting August 3, the Gossip Girl network will begin airing the CBC-produced comedy 18 to Life, a half-hour mash-up of Meet the Parents, Away We Go, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager starring Michael Seater (Life With Derek) and Stacey Farber (Degrassi: The Next Generation, because all young Canadian actors are apparently required to apprentice there before doing anything else); they play two teens who impulsively decide to pull a Bristol-Levi and get hitched over the objections of their respective (and wacky!) parents. The CW is hoping Life, which the CBC originally developed as a potential ABC sitcom back in 2008, will give the network a much-needed summer-ratings boost, and in the process, help promote its new fall fare.” Read more.

From Bill Harris of QMI:

• ‘Derek’ star likes playing a teen
  “In Vacation with Derek, the lead male character is 18. In 18 to Life, the lead male character is — as the title would suggest — 18. Both roles are handled by Canadian actor Michael Seater, 23.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• 22 Minutes Down to 13 Amid CBC Cuts for Fall
  “The most dramatic cut could come at the expense of the network’s longest-running entertainment series, 22 Minutes. The Halifax-based comedy may be down to a half-season, with just 13 episodes ordered, down from 18 last season and 20 the season before that.” Read more.