TV, eh?

When a dubious chip truck owner notices his truck is missing — along with his driver/best buddy — he cons Jake into taking the case; Martin really crosses a line with Rose and she takes matters into her own hands; and Jake’s divorce becomes final and he’s happy to tell Leslie that he’s now a free-agent. But Leslie’s just been bumped up the ladder with a promotion to Sergeant, and her eye is on the job, not Jake Doyle.

From Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter:

• Canadian sitcoms, reality TV outdo dramas
  The funny thing about Canadian TV nowadays are sitcoms and light reality fare are outperforming edgy homegrown dramas in primetime. The March 5 two-hour series premiere of the CTV police drama “The Bridge” from E1 Television debuted Friday night with 998,000 viewers, just shy of the 1.009 million viewers that tuned in to the recent series premiere for the CBC’s P.I. drama “The Republic of Doyle.” Read more.

A grieving widow hires the Doyles to find out why her husband left a generous sum of money in his will to a woman she’s never heard of. Rose continues to battle with Martin over their divorce while Mal formulates a plan to get Poole out of their lives for good; and Leslie and Jake hit a comfortable stride as friends and colleagues — just as his divorce from Nikki becomes final.

Jake sets out to find the true identity of a beautiful amnesiac who stumbles across his path and ends up fighting off her two stalkers; Martin Poole refuses to leave town and wreaks havoc in Rose and Mal’s relationship; and Leslie gives Jake the cold shoulder.

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:

• So what if CBC goes for light entertainment?
  “CBC renewed the right show. But what does it all mean? It means we are in a time of transition in Canadian TV, a period when familiar shows are leaving the air and a crop of new series are arriving. It means CBC is interested in lighter, populist entertainment and other broadcasters are making the more intractable, tough-minded material.” Read more.

From Bill Harris at QMI Agency:

• ‘Corner Gas’ star guests on ‘Doyle’
  “The actor who played Oscar, Eric Peterson, will guest-star Wednesday night on a new episode of CBC’s Republic of Doyle.” Read more.

From CBC:

• Republic of Doyle team cheers renewal
  “Allan Hawco, the star and co-creator of the hit CBC-TV series Republic of Doyle, is delighted to know his character’s venerable GTO will be racing around the streets of St. John’s again.” Read more.

From Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter:

• CBC renews ‘Republic of Doyle’
  “Republic of Doyle seizing the public broadcaster’s last 9 p.m. slot will mean the axe for the action drama The Border from White Pine Pictures after three seasons. ” Read more.

From Alex Strachan of Canwest News Services (from Feb 10):

• Republic of Doyle welcomes guest stars both old and new
  “Republic of Doyle, Allan Hawco’s playful romp about a roguish private eye and his crusty but benign dad in the damp of St. John’s, has been a showcase for some of Canada’s finest character actors.” Read more.

From Andrew Robinson of Transcontinental Media (from Feb 8):

• Doyle’s future uncertain
  “We’re thrilled about the response. The numbers have been fairly good. We’re apprehensive about reading too much into them,” Blackie said, adding they have yet to hear official viewing figures for any of the early episodes. Read more.

From Peter Jackson of the Telegram

• Why I’ve gone off ‘Republic of Doyle’
  “So, when I see characters on Republic locking lips at every opportunity, there’s a ring of truth in it. I’ve certainly known a few real-life skeets who, like the main character Jake Doyle, tried to hop in the sack with every long-legged looker they met. The problem is, Jake Doyle usually succeeds. The women are all horny and indiscriminate; all but a couple of them exist for little other purpose than to throw themselves at Jake at least once every show. And some sort of ‘chemistry’ usually develops with guest characters as well.” Read more.

The Doyles show their sentimental side as they help Jake’s high school girlfriend run off into the sunset with her new husband, who’s running from both bad guys and good guys to just get away; Rose’s past comes back to haunt her in the form of her ex-con husband, while Leslie weighs whether or not she wants Jake in her future.

The Doyles start trailing a potentially cheating husband to find he deeply loves his wife but is in deep trouble with some menacing criminals and smugglers; as Nikki moves forward with her new beau, Jake and Leslie take it to the next level.

A wrongfully convicted murderer gets out of prison and offers the Doyles a generous payday if they find the real killer; Jake finds out the truth about Nikki’s pregnancy.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Strong CTV Slate Swarms Republic of Doyle
  “Republic of Doyle arrested an overnight, estimated 685,000 viewers Wednesday night, down from 715,000 the week before and 969,000 for its premiere.” Read more.

From Jaime Weinman of Maclean’s Magazine:

• Detectives who aren’t that smart
  “Everyone in the U.S. these days wants to do a show like The Rockford Files, but Canada got there first with Republic of Doyle. Allan Hawco, star and creator of the CBC’s new comedy-mystery (airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m.), told Maclean’s that he got the idea for the show, about a private investigator in St. John’s, “when I was watching The Rockford Files with my dad. I was thinking it’s time we re-investigate these private detective shows, as long as we don’t take them too seriously.” Rockford’s mix of mystery and self-parody is beloved in the TV business; Kay Reindl wrote at seriocity.blogspot.com that most writers dream of “creating a light detective show.” Now that Doyle is on the air, we’ll find out if viewers like this kind of show as much as writers do.” Read more.

The Doyles take on a cold arson case for Mal’s old flame to find out the tragic truth of what really happened when a girl died in a bar fire; Jake and Leslie are finally starting to connect when Jake discovers he might be… a daddy?

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Idol, Doyle Dip; CTV Crime Dramas Kill
  “CBC stayed in the game with another strong Dragon’s Den outing (1,718,000). Republic of Doyle slipped to 715,000 in its second episode.” Read more.

Interview with Myles McNutt of Cultural Learnings on the Newfoundland and Labradour Weekend Arts Magazine on CBC Radio One, with Angela Antle:

• Podcast on iTunes

From Myles McNutt of Cultural Learnings:

• Republic of Doyle – “The Return of the Grievous Angel”
  “This story was every procedural cliche crammed into a single episode, and the few times it felt like it had time to breathe it was still moving very slowly (or very oddly) in getting its characters established. And the case could have happened in any location, and felt only tangentially related to Newfoundland or even Canada for that matter.” Read more.

From Cameron Archer of URBMN:

• Republic of Doyle 1.1
  “The biggest problem with Republic of Doyle is that Newfoundland is ancillary to the show’s plot. RoD is a generic mismatched-partners detective drama, the two ‘buddies’ here being Jake Doyle (Allan Hawco) and his father Malachy (Sean McGinley.) They fight with each other and solve crimes. With a rewrite or two, Republic of Doyle can be set anywhere in Canada. Why is the antidote to quirky comedy ensembles (hi, Gullage’s) this generic thing? It’s nice to see a Newfoundland show not conform to ‘Lard tunderin” stereotypes, but it’s like Republic of Doyle balances one extreme with another. Maybe I’m missing out on RoD’s subtleties. I don’t know.” Read more.

• Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town Part One – “Death Checks In”
  “Death Comes to Town, at least in its first episode, is passable. Even granting that the Kids in the Hall castmembers are in their forties and fifties, they seem at half-ass with Death Comes to Town. Even Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, KitH’s oft-maligned 1996 film, is more memorable.” Read more.

9:00 p.m.
A young woman comes to The Doyles with one case – to find her unknown biological father – but they end up solving three; Jake is distracted by Leslie while trying to extract himself from Nikki.