TV, eh?

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Jaywalking to Canada the Answer
  “CBC rookie 18 to Life had a solid second outing with 802,000, far outpacing its Littiler Mosque (473,000).” Read more.

8:00 p.m.
Tom and Jessie’s attempt to find a place of their own backfires disastrously.

From a media release:

CBC TV’S NEW SEASON OF CANADIAN PROGRAMMING DELIVERS PHENOMENAL RATINGS WITH A NEWFOUNDLAND-BASED P.I. SERIES AND A FRESH MONDAY NIGHT FAMILY COMEDY

After a strong fall season, CBC Television’s slate of new and returning Canadian programs for winter 2010 continues to connect with millions of Canadians, garnering blockbuster ratings for the debuts of 18 TO LIFE (779,000 viewers) and REPUBLIC OF DOYLE at just under one million viewers (969,000), plus outstanding showings for HEARTLAND (maintaining more than one million viewers each week) and DRAGONS’ DEN (1.9 million).

Still to come: the highly-anticipated return of THE KIDS IN THE HALL with their mystery comedy miniseries DEATH COMES TO TOWN, premiering January 12 and airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m.

*All numbers based on overnight unconfirmed PPM Data.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Strong Start for 18 to Life; TSN Tops 3 Mil Again
  “CBC’s new comedy 18 to Life premiered to 779,000 viewers Monday, topping schedule mate Little Mosque on the Prairie, which managed 605,000 (all figures BBM Canada overnight estimates).” Read more.

From Myles McNutt of Cultural Learnings:

• 18 to Life – “Pilot”“If you’re looking for something to break down sitcom expectations, you’re not going to find it here: of course the young couple have secrets that complicate their relationship, and of course their parents represent polar opposites, and of course they don’t think everything through before committing to their marriage. However, the pilot captures enough of the charm the premise is capable of evoking that I’m willing to endorse the show as a light-hearted negotiation of life, youth, and holy matrimony.” Read more.

From Cameron Archer of URBMN:

• 18 to Life 1.1“18 to Life’s (CBC: premiered January 4, 2010, 8:00 PM ET/PT) grand concept is simple. Two 18-year-olds marry on a dare. One family’s conservative, the other liberal. It’s a standard, well-worn sitcom premise, but 18 to Life at least does something with it. While the first episode has problems, 18 to Life has the promise most debuting CBC shows don’t.” Read more.

From Mike Morrison of Mike’s Bloggity Blog:

• Review: 18 To Life
  “Right now the strongest aspect of the show are the teen’s parents. Similar to Dharma and Greg, Tom and Jessie’s parents couldn’t be more different. Tom’s are a conservative jewish family, while Jessie’s couldn’t be more left-wing. The dialogue between the four differing adults is sharp and funny. It will be interesting to see how the parents deal with each other, now that they are related.” Read more.

From the TV Addict:

• DEGRASSI’s Stacey Farber Grows Up
  “As any fan of DEGRASSI will tell you, Ellie Nash didn’t have an easy time of it. During her time walking the hallowed halls of Canada’s most infamous high school, Ellie dealt with an alcoholic mother, her own proclivity for cutting and one failed relationship after another. Perhaps wisely, Ellie never actually walked down the aisle… although tonight, her portrayer, Stacey Farber, will take that gigantic step thanks to her new role in the CBC sitcom 18 TO LIFE.” Read more.

From Nick Patch of the Canadian Press:

• New CBC-TV show ’18 to Life’ takes light-hearted look at teenage newlyweds
  “In the new CBC-TV sitcom 18 to Life, Michael Seater plays Tom Bellow, a gangly, charmingly ordinary 18-year-old who finds himself engaged to his neighbour after proposing in a game of truth or dare. It’s not exactly a situation to which the 22-year-old actor can personally relate.” Read more.

From Andrew Ryan of the Globe and Mail:

• Love and marriage, and laughs
  “The new decade already shows signs of life for the great Canadian sitcom. Somewhere Al Waxman is smiling.” Read more.

From Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star:

• Can’t count on laughs in 18 to Life
  “The series 18 to Life is like a TV version of Meet the Parents, without Robert De Niro or Ben Stiller. Well, not exactly, and that’s not to say that CBC’s latest sitcom, premiering Monday at 8 p.m., isn’t without some charm, but on first viewing I found it a little hard to get past such a played-out concept.” Read more.

From Raju Mudhar of the Toronto Star:

• Winter’s here and there’s lots to watch on TV
  “It’s been a pretty good fall on TV, but in some ways it doesn’t compare to what’s ahead. From highly anticipated returning series, new shows and the comeback of some big-ticket shows that the networks knew they could make us wait for, it’s going to be an incredibly busy few months.” Read more.

18 TO LIFE is about a couple that does the unthinkable in the name of love: they run off and get married at the tender age of 18. Their parents—next-door neighbours and polar opposites—are less than thrilled and even their peers disapprove. As Tom and Jessie struggle to become man and wife in a world that still views them as kids, the tension between their families adds a dose of biting humour to their sweet love story.

Cast includes Stacey Farber as Jessie, Michael Seater as Tom, Peter Keleghan, Al Goulem, Ellen David, Angela Asher, Jesse Rath, Tiio Horn, Tommie-Amber Pirie and Ariel Shiri.

Eps 1 – A Modest Proposal – Tom and Jessie announce their engagement, throwing their families into a chaos.

From Bill Harris in the Sarnia Observer:

• Wedding belle?
  “Stacey Farber knows what you’re thinking. So just cut it out. ‘My character is not pregnant,’ said Farber, one of the two leads in the new CBC sitcom18 to Life,which debuts Monday. ‘That’s not why they’re getting married.’ In a roundabout way, that’s kind of refreshing.” Read more.

From Bill Harris of the Toronto Sun:

• Teen marriage sentence on CBC
  “Farber and Seater will be stirring up interest with autograph-signing visits to malls in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto over the holidays. Here’s the schedule (all times local):” Read more.

From a media release:

TEEN STARS STACEY FARBER AND MICHAEL SEATER HIT THE ROAD FOR NEW COMEDY 18 TO LIFE

• Meet the stars of 2010’s funnest new TV show on CBC-TV, Dec. 28, Vancouver

Teen sensations Stacey Farber (Degrassi: The Next Generation) and Michael Seater (Life With Derek, The Zack Files) are teaming up as a newly-married teenage couple for the comedy 18 TO LIFE. The stars will be in Vancouver on Monday, Dec. 28 for an autograph signing to introduce their fans to this new love match.

CBC Television’s 18 TO LIFE is about two families and neighbours with opposing points of views who are forced to come together when their kids (Stacey Farber and Micheal Seater) fall for each other and marry on a whim at 18. The ensuing comedy between the young star-crossed couple and their families hits the small screen on Monday, Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. on CBC Television.

WHEN: Monday, Dec. 28, 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.

WHERE: Richmond Centre, Centre Court East (near Tim Hortons entrance)

No. 3 Rd. at Alderbridge Way, Richmond

WHO: Stacey Farber and Michael Seater

Stars of CBC Television’s 18 TO LIFE

From a media release:

MARRIED…WITH PARENTS

• NEW FAMILY COMEDY 18 TO LIFE PREMIERES MONDAY, JAN. 4, AT 8 P.M., ON CBC-TV

With one simple “I do”, three couples become connected for better or worse, ‘til death do them part’… 18 TO LIFE captures the stories of neighbouring families with vastly different lifestyles, who reluctantly become in-laws after their teenage kids get married at the tender age of 18. This new family comedy debuts on CBC Television, Monday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m.

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18 to Life premieres January 4, 2010 at 8 PM on CBC:

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• CBC Puts Cherry on Full Winter Launch
  “Cherry said he had a blast working Battle of the Blades last month as a judge, but said one guy associated with that show just isn’t getting enough credit. “I know I’m going back on everything I’ve ever said about the guy, but Ron MacLean held that whole show together,” sez Grapes. MacLean truly was the cool head who kept Blades on ice, so consider that oversight corrected here.” Read more.

From a media release:

CBC TELEVISION OFFERS MORE GREAT CANADIAN ENTERTAINMENT WITH ITS NEW WINTER 2010 PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Kirstine Stewart, general manager of CBC Television, today announced details of the network’s winter 2010 schedule that, along with a number of ongoing favourites, features the new Monday night family comedy 18 TO LIFE, the father-and-son P.I. series REPUBLIC OF DOYLE, the long-awaited return to the network of one of Canada’s most legendary comedy troupes with KIDS IN THE HALL: DEATH COMES TO TOWN, a two-part TV movie event based on the life of DON CHERRY, and a daytime lineup anchored by a new season of STEVEN AND CHRIS.

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I’ve been reliably informed that the  interview by Natalie Perez of www.examiner.com with Stacey Farber (Degrassi, 18 to Life) was a fake, so I’ve pulled the post linking to it. Sorry for the misinformation.