Tag Archives: Dan Levy

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The Great Canadian Baking Show is unapologetically entertaining

The real world can be a pretty nasty place sometimes. I don’t know about you, but I find myself looking for an escape from the bad that seems to clog up the news and news feeds on social media. I’ve found the perfect respite from all that on Wednesday nights thanks to The Great Canadian Baking Show on CBC.

I love food—baking and ooey, gooey desserts in particular—so The Great Canadian Baking Show ticks those boxes immediately. But the series is so much more than just that. Based on the UK hit of the same name, the CBC’s remake—courtesy of Proper Television—is a sugary sweet, entertaining confection that just makes me happy. A lot of that comes from co-hosts Daniel Levy and Julia Chan. The pair, who are friends, scored themselves the gig of a lifetime with The Great Canadian Baking Show. The opportunity to meet Canadians from across the country, sample their baked goods and hang out for a couple of months? Where do I sign up? You can’t fake the enjoyment the pair derive from making cheesy quips in an attempt to get the other to roll their eyes. This Wednesday’s Bread Week episode gives Chan the chance to shine. And the fact Levy isn’t afraid to taste more than a morsel of gluten-y goodness establishes him as a bona fide bread expert in my eyes.

Judges Rochelle Adonis and Bruno Feldeisen don’t glower at the contestants like Demon Chef Alvin Leung on MasterChef Canada does. Nor should they. This is not that series. The Great Canadian Baking Show is definitely more relaxed, swapping stainless steel and hard edges for pastels and real wood in a pastoral setting. There is a playful, dainty soundtrack accompanying the proceedings, lending a calming air. Yes, folks are being eliminated—it is a competition after all—but even that is done gently and with a “keep your chin up” attitude.

The Great Canadian Baking Show may not be your cup of tea—see what I did there?—but I find it to be a calming oasis amid the noisy negativity we’re besieged with.

The Great Canadian Baking Show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

 

 

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Featured, Great Canadian Baking Show

Dan Levy and Julia Chan bake up fun on CBC’s The Great Canadian Baking Show

Never underestimate the power of social media. That’s what Schitt’s Creek co-creator, executive producer, writer and star Daniel Levy learned when he tweeted his love for The Great British Bake Off and announced he’d be honoured to host a Canadian version of the culinary competition if that was ever in the cards.

“I had tweeted, quite naively, that if it ever came to Canada that I’ve love to throw my hat in the ring,” Levy says with a smile. “Almost immediately I started getting these responses, ‘It is for sure coming to Canada.’ ‘It’s happening.’ And then I inevitably got the call asking me if I would actually be interested. I said yes.”

Levy fulfils his dream on Wednesday when The Great Canadian Baking Show debuts at 8 p.m. on CBC. As if helming the homegrown version of your favourite program wasn’t enough, Levy does it with one of his best friends in Julia Chan; the former Saving Hope actress (who went by Julia Taylor Ross) joins him as narrator and co-host.

“We are great friends and were watching The Great British Bake Off together and Dan got involved,” Chan recalls. “Dan threw my hat in the ring, I got a call, went through the process and, apparently, we have good chemistry.”

“Watching this show and kind of colour commentating through the whole process, I was like, ‘I have a friend, she’s never hosted before but I think she would be a great, fresh voice for the show,'” Levy explains.

The Great Canadian Baking Show is fresh on a couple of levels. First, unlike other culinary competitions such as Top Chef Canada and MasterChef Canada, this is all about the baking. That, for watchers of those other shows, is often the hardest challenge put towards competitors thanks to the unforgiving science behind baking. You can fly by the seat of your pants when searing a steak. Not so when baking a multi-tiered cake. Second, The Great Canadian Baking Show is light-hearted and fun. If Wednesday’s debut is accurate, we’re in for one heck of an enjoyable ride. Levy and Chan are natural hosts, walking amongst the 10 home bakers, tasting here, asking questions there and genuinely having a good time.

Of course, the program isn’t all crumpets, tea and giggles. Each of the eight episodes contains three rounds—the Signature Bake, Technical Bake and Show Stopper—judged by baking legends Rochelle Adonis and Bruno Feldeisen. At the end of each episode, one home cook will be eliminated. This season’s 10 competitors represent a thick slice of Canada, from Regina CFO Vandana Jain to Victoria animator Jude Somers, from Toronto human rights lawyer Corey Shefman to Montreal graphic designer Sabrina Degni. All have a passion for baking and a flair for drama on a platter. Wednesday’s challenges force the 10 competitors to up the ante with regard to cakes and the results are stunning.

And while Levy is a longtime fan of The Great British Bake Off, he’s not so great in the kitchen, admitting to just one item in his culinary repertoire: frittata.

“I don’t have any culinary experience, but I do have a lot of opinions,” he says with a laugh. “That’s something that I can bring to this. I can’t bake a thing, but I can eat.”

The Great Canadian Baking Show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

 

 

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Featured, Schitt's Creek

Daniel Levy on the “most exciting season” of CBC’s Schitt’s Creek

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For two seasons, the Rose family has been desperately trying to leave Schitt’s Creek. But Johnny’s (Eugene Levy) plan to sell the town (hilariously) fell through, Moira’s (Catherine O’Hara) attempts to distance herself from the locals has failed and Alexis (Annie Murphy) and David (Daniel Levy) have slowly been accepted into the community.

Now, in Season 3—returning for 13 episodes beginning Tuesday, Jan. 10, to CBC—the Roses have more or less embraced Schitt’s Creek and all that comes with it, including Roland Schitt (Chris Elliott), Jocelyn Schitt (Jennifer Robertson), Mutt (Tim Rozon), Twyla (Sarah Levy) and Ted (Dustin Milligan). We spoke to co-creator, co-executive producer and writer Daniel Levy about what fans can expect in Season 3.

I’ve seen the first episode of Season 3 and the Roses are going through some transition in their lives.
Daniel Levy: Yes, they are. This whole season centres on the premise of transition and just digging a little deeper into the town.

I did wonder where you can go in a third season. I guess the answer is, throw him into a three-way relationship between Stevie (Emily Hampshire) and a guy named Jake (Steve Lund).
{Laughs.] One of the mandates from season to season is, ‘What haven’t we done before?’ And that was definitely a fun little arc to play with.

Is Jake around for a full season or a recurring character?
He plays a pivotal role in the first two episodes. Steve was in the final episode of Season 2 and it’s an interesting casting choice because he does play a sexually fluid character and something Steve brought into the room felt right. We thought he did such a good job at the end of Season 2 that it could be fun to bring him back. And, again, we’re playing off the complexity of David and Stevie’s relationship that David identifies and pansexual and how much fun you can have with the idea of a ‘throuple.’ [Laughs.]

As funny as those scenes are between Stevie and David, there is that undercurrent of serious feelings they have for each other. It’s an added, emotional layer.
Going back to your earlier comment about where you go in a third season, for us, it was taking the focus away from the circumstance and shining the light on the characters in a slightly more dimensional way than we have in the past. For two seasons, it was really important in terms of the narrative, to really substantiate the scenario, the premise of the family adapting to this town. For Season 3, we’re really peeling back the layers of the four protagonists and also with Stevie and Roland and Jocelyn.

To me, this is the most exciting season that we’ve done, and hopefully, rewarding to the fans of the show because we’ll see these people in new and dynamic situations they’ve never seen them in before.

I’ve almost forgotten they’re trying to get out of the town. That’s not part of the narrative anymore, really. Moira is part of the town council and rather than trying to get out of it, has made the best of it.
She’s going to make it about her, basically. Now that they’re not getting out, how are they going to make the best of their time there?

When you say this is the best season ever, have you been working towards this season via the last two?
When I go into each season, it’s not with an end goal in mind when I go into the room. There are emotional beats and emotional places where we want to find our characters at the end of every season. But, to be honest, on a lot of shows the premise wears thin. Being able to dig deeper is a relief, to say the least. But that’s also because of the strength of our actors. They have substantiated these characters in ways that far surpassed all of our expectations and, in a way, have allowed us to tell stories that are uniquely tailored to their skills.

Schitt’s Creek airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Cast image courtesy of CBC.

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Schitt's Creek

Link: ‘Schitt’s Creek’: New challenges for creators Eugene and Dan Levy in season 2

From Bill Harris of Postmedia Network:

‘Schitt’s Creek’: New challenges for creators Eugene and Dan Levy in season 2
You don’t want to think too hard about Schitt’s Creek.

I’m not being flippant. I mean it literally.

That’s the challenge for sitcoms with specific premises such as Schitt’s Creek,the second season of which debuts Tuesday, Jan. 12 on CBC, with back-to-back new episodes. Continue reading.

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Featured, Schitt's Creek

Schitt’s Creek’s focal family mixes with the locals in Season 2

The bloom is off the rose for the Roses. The rich family that saw their fortune seized by the government and cast out to live in their remaining asset—the town of Schitt’s Creek—tried desperately to sell the burg and escape. The Season 1 finale saw an end to that as the lone buyer died suddenly, leaving Johnny and his family stuck. What’s the plan for Season 2 of Schitt’s Creek, returning Tuesday at 9 p.m. to CBC? Lay low.

“They’re always looking to get out and if they had the opportunity they would,” co-executive producer and Johnny actor Eugene Levy says. “The reality is that they can’t sell the town, they can’t do much about their situation and they’re going to have to be there longer than they thought they initially would be. Now what do you do? You have to get on with your life.” That means—gasp—finding jobs. Johnny is on unemployment but trying to figure out how to make the best of the situation while kids David (Dan Levy) and Alexis (Annie Murphy) have to get work so they have money to spend, leading to interaction with the townspeople.

“David gets a job at a clothing store and [Robin Duke] plays Wendy, the manager of the store,” Dan Levy says. “The store is struggling, so she is balancing the reality of an unstable business with having hired David, who wants to redo the whole store. His ideas are not coming from a business mind.”

One of Schitt’s Creek‘s strengths has been the heart hiding behind the hilarity. There are cringeworthy and laugh out loud moments aplenty, but those are contrasted with scenes of genuine feelings, like those between David and Stevie (Emily Hampshire), Alexis and Mutt (Tim Rozon) and even Johnny and Roland (Chris Elliott). Elliott recalls the rookie season scene where Roland and Johnny bonded over a plate of really good ribs.

“And they were really good ribs,” Elliott says wistfully. “I have not been able to find them since. I kept hoping for another take so that I could keep eating them. Then I purged and we went back and ate more.” Roland, Elliott teases, is still a pain in Johnny’s ass this time around, but acknowledge to having more in common than they first thought.

That’s important to Season 2, adds Eugene.

“That’s key to building the relationships,” he says. “Rather than running into the townspeople and saying, ‘Ooo, I wish we weren’t running into you,’ there is a little less of that.”

“Though Roland does tend to show up when Johnny doesn’t want him to,” Elliott says. “It’s not necessarily him, just not now.”

“Which is still most of the time,” Eugene says.

Schitt’s Creek airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

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