TV, eh?

RM Vaughan of the Globe and Mail interviews Jayne Eastwood, currently starring in Billable Hours:

• Our Jayne’s done it all - now she’s doing it with her clothes on
  “The legendary actress and comedienne first won hearts in the seminal Canadian film Goin’ Down the Road, and then proceeded to steal every scene from Al Waxman in The King of Kensington. As if that’s not enough to make Eastwood Her Majesty’s representative, I defy readers to name a single important Canadian television program broadcast in the last three decades that Eastwood has not graced. From SCTV to Street Legal, Twitch City to This Is Wonderland (and about 100 other gigs), Eastwood has shown up and plowed the driveway clean with her talent.” Read more.

From Alex Strachan of CanWest News Service:

• Billable Hours definitely worth your investment
  “Billable Hours (Showcase - 9:30 p.m.), a cheerful, sweet-tempered homegrown comedy about bored young lawyers trapped in the monotony of corporate life, returns for a second season tonight. The opener begins with a young corporate whippersnapper, played by Billable Hours’ creator and head writer, Fabrizio Filippo, taking on a quartet of cranky curmudgeons and old-timers - captains of industry all - in a disastrous game of poker.”

From Jim Bawden of the Toronto Star:

• Double billing in dark humour department: Billable Hours pushes envelope in Season 2
  “Faster paced … Nastier … ” Co-creator and star Fabrizio Filippo’s voice trails off for a moment then regains speed: “Better … Smoother …” He’s running out of ways to explain why the second 10-episode dose of Billable Hours surpasses the first. Season 2 starts tonight at 9:30 on Showcase.

From Bill Harris of Sun Media:

• Jennifer Baxter fits the bill: Blonde bombshell’s character just ‘one of the guys’
  The goal of Billable Hours, of course, is not to offend, but to amuse. And in that regard, Baxter — who was born in Vancouver and is a veteran of the Canadian comedy scene — hopes there’s something in the series for everyone who likes to laugh.

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:

• Bay Street banality
  “Billable Hours is not to everybody’s taste. That’s for sure. I find it crassly unfunny. It indulges in a kind of shallow, cruel comedy that’s all smirk and smiley-face and stunningly grotesque. This is the humour of sadism.”

From Lee-Anne Goodman of the Canadian Press:

• New executive producer brings edgier element to Showcase hit Billable Hours
  “All in all, it’s “Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” territory - a long overdue direction for Canadian television, [Frank] van Keeken says. He points to another Showcase show, “Trailer Park Boys,” as a pioneer on that front.”

From Playback:

• Hollywood exec producer reinvents Billable Hours
  “Showcase will roll out a darker second season of its law office comedy Billable Hours on Sunday, thanks to U.S.-style showrunning by new executive producer Frank van Keeken.”

From Channel Canada:

• Showcase Airs Gutsier and More Biting Billable Hours
  Armed with more extreme office antics and even grittier humour, the Showcase Original series Billable Hours returns for a second season. When it launched last year, Billable Hours achieved the highest ratings for a premiere episode of any Showcase Original scripted series.