In the news: Chris Haddock of Intelligence

From Graeme McRanor of 24 Hours:

  • Intelligence 8508Haddock: The man with Intelligence
    “Given that Intelligence is a Canadian production, it seems only fitting to mention the show’s international success first so that we here at home can subsequently acknowledge its legitimacy as a great series.” Read more.

From Tim Arsenault of the Halifax Chronicle Herald:

  • Haddock keeping a smart series alive
    “People say, ‘It’s a complicated show. You really have to pay attention.’ On one hand, that’s a flattering thing, to be known as a show that demands the same attention as a novel. On the other hand, you have to realize that some people just graze through stuff and you have to give them a little bit of something, too, because it’s a mass medium.” Read more.

Photo courtesy CBC: Intelligence creator Chris Haddock on set with Matt Frewer as agent Ted Altman.

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28 thoughts on “In the news: Chris Haddock of Intelligence”

  1. I will be completely honest. I love Intelligence but it’s in the worst timeslot possible. It’s a good thing I have a DVR, so I can record all my shows. It seems that my list of Monday night shows is way too long–every other night of the week I only have a couple shows I want to watch but Mondays there are way too many so I have to decide which ones to cut out–after all, my DVR can only record one per hour. I’m a loyal viewer of Intelligence but I worry about potential ratings for the show this fall. Other shows which fall on Monday nights this that I plan on watching are Samantha Who?, Prison Break, K-Ville, Chuck, Heroes, Rick Mercer Report, Corner Gas, Aliens In America, Waterloo Road and Across the River to Motor City. A lot of these shows fall into the same action/adventure genre so competition is going to be fierce. Any other evening would have been better but I worry about its Monday night timeslot…

  2. I love your comments. They are so articulate and thought provoking. It is good to hear your comments on the state of the world as reflected in the series. I don’t even watch the show but I like your comments.
    Characters DO become boring when they are cardboard one dimensional characters.
    Is Jimmy Reardon a true psychopath? If so, then he has no empathy. He is much more concerned about how he can use people.
    Introducing some depth to the characters would make the whole thing more watchable for me.
    I would be interested in the life of the women connected with these guys. I think there is a lot more there to be mined. Your comments on the girbel like existence is interesting. What is in it for them? They don’t even get much power to enjoy. Not that I have seen. So hmmmm I Guess I should watch the show.

  3. Wow! what a fast paced circus ride this week on Intelligence.

    Is this really what has happened to the loggers, fishermen and log salvagers? These really were heroic characters who thrived on hard work, unbreakable friendship and cooperation. It is disturbing to see them caught up in this crazy, bureaucratic, governmental psychotic double speak world. But then again, we are all hurtling toward a destination that is being chosen for us by the big shots who operate on the bottom line, for profit only scheme.
    Is this what guys do when they can’t join the circus anymore? Become anti social hard ass criminals who can’t even enjoy their money for five minutes? The log salvagers and fishermen I knew liked what money bought: fun, vacations, eggs and bacon for breakfast, a nice home.
    There are no good guys in this series. I guess I have trouble with that.

    I watch facinated but I don’t relate to any of them. Jimmy Reardon has about as much empathy as a panther has for its prey just before he eats it. I loved the humanity in DaVincis Inquest. This series seems to be seening how fast it can go and how cool the shots are.

  4. I agree with the above critique. All this rushing around is getting repetitive. Even pinball gets repetitive and one longs for an out.
    I am at the point where I think they are all pretty useless twits. Is this an experiment in writing about psychopaths on both sides of the law. Well, we all know they have no empathy for anyone and are manipulating to their own advantage all the time. But then they end up falling off the edge of the world and tripping themselves up.
    How about a few flashbacks to see how these weirdos got so disordered? Say Jimmy at home with pops who sticks him with hot forks and then he meets his girlfriend who is probably not totally screwed up and hopes to redeem him. His brother is ok until he gets hit by a truck and sustains a head injury and loses all sense of jujdgement. Jimmy takes the punishment for his brother and doesn’t understand why the big change in his behaviour. This event sends him off the deep end and he starts running bets for bookies and becomes hopelessly enmeshed and unable to get out. Now he can’t see any difference at all between good and evil. It is all wallpaper to him.
    He may be working for the cops but they are ALL malignant.
    It is a bit worrisome. Time to throw a big wrench into the works.

  5. I sure would like to know the real truth to why CBC is not renewing Intelligence for another reason. Everyone I have spoke to that has seen the show gave nothing but positive reviews. It is hard to believe that a series this good was made in Canada however It is easier to believe that CBC would cancel it and leave all of us viewers in limbo.

  6. Hi there,

    Intelligence is of an exceptionally high standard and is we believe one of the very best shows on TV anywhere in the world. We value our recreation and will not waste time on anything that is not worth watching.

    It would be a terrible shame if we did not see such Intelligence Season 3 and a season 4. The finale of season 2 has left the viewer hanging.

    It’s Bad Form! What TV Channel leaves its viewers ‘Hanging’? We the viewers, in Canada and Australia want to see Season 3 and more!

    Barbara and Roger
    Western Australia

  7. It was on for two years. Not enough people watched it. it was cancelled. maybe that is a shame but the new mandate at the cbc is to put a premium on ratings. it was not cancelled because it was revealling state secrets.

    oh damn, there’s that black helicopter again.

  8. I’m not sure logic has any place in this argument, dillon. I’d add that much as I love the show and respect Chris Haddock’s talent, it was clear there might not be a season three before the second season finale was written – it was not a sure thing it would get a season two, even – so CBC shouldn’t get all the fault for leaving viewers hanging.

  9. It appears highlighted on some browsers to indicate that it’s the site owner’s comment. Just a quirk of the program. It was not clear there would be a season 2 or 3 because of the precipitous drop in ratings, and CBC’s delay in announcing a season 2 until they could make arrangements to bring the show back for less money. This is Wonderland, which was cancelled for low ratings the season before Intelligence came, had higher ratings than Intelligence. TV is a business, whether you want to acknowledge it or not, and while the TV landscape will be poorer if Intelligence doesn’t come back, I’m just saying Haddock knew it was very much not a sure thing to come back when he wrote a cliffhanger ending for season 2.

  10. please please please bring back intelligence. do seasons 3 and 4. it’s too good a show to not continue with. the best since the sopranos. what are cbc thinking not renewing. i can’t believe ratings are that bad, i didn’t even see it in the uk until this year

  11. Maybe, Showcase can pickup the slack where CBC has fallen short? Since Season 1 already airs on that channel, and Season 2 and its lack of any type of resolution cannot stand on its own. I suspect that Mr. Haddock purposely left the cliffhanger ending as to motivate the network and us fans to ” compel” the network into bringing back the show, its all quite manipulative, Regardless I still would like to see at least a 2-hour wrap-up of the plots and sub-plots if Season 3 is too much to ask for. Even if Fox picks it up it will probably be a completely different “animal” with an American cast or context.
    For Shame CBC. For Shame Chris Haddock.

  12. I watched both seasons here in the UK. It was always on a late night slot, so I always recorded it.

    I love the show. I love the characters.

    It is intelligent and therein is the problem. The dumbed down rubbish that passes for “popular” tv grabs the prime time slots.

    Once a week, I sit down in front of the TV and watch Intelligence.
    I know I need to sit down for an hour and follow an intricate but brilliant plot and I love it.
    My wife, on the other hand, loves Desperate Housewives. She will come in and asks what I’m watching. I pause the TV and try to give a quick run down. Not an easy thing to do. Because the program does not have a simple join-the-dots-leave-your-brain-outside plot, she decides to go and watch something else on another tv.

    The point is there are many of us who love this sort of intelligent tv and why should the programs we love (and us for that matter) be sidelined for yet another mindless hour of forgettable TV.

    Somebody asked me once about salescopy on a website and how long it should be. The answer is ” as long as it keeps your potential customer’s interest”. That takes some doing and Intelligence does it well.

    I am very interested in more Intelligence.

    Go on, make series 3, 4, 5….

  13. Hi there from Barbara and Roger in Perth, Western Australia,

    Intelligence Season 2 is presently being re run through Pay TV (Foxtel) in Australia. It’s one of those few shows that are definitely worth watching again.

    Of all the TV shows I have ever watched in my life, I must say that this is the first time I have ever come across a situation where a television broadcaster has ‘utterly failed’ their viewing public by not producing episodes that bring a series to its conclusion.

    It is perplexing and deeply disturbing when the TV broadcaster suddenly pulls the pin on a ‘popular’ television series, it shows contempt for the public.

    If you TV executives are reading this….I promise you…. it makes for lingering unhappiness’. disguntled

    TV executives obviously understand little about the ‘mood’ of the people!

    We want to know! What happened to Jimmy Reardon?

    High quality television programmes are becoming rarer.

    Let us have Season 3 and Season 4 of ‘Intelligence’.

    Let us have Intelligent TV!

    Barbara and Roger
    Western Australia

  14. Love the series 1 & 2 Hallmark Australia are teasing us with repeat of series 2 please someone pick up this series and continue the story one of the best show available on TV. You cant leave fans left out in the cold are you guys stupid to valuable tv etc there must be money in it somewhere for somebody with intelligence. Michelle Camp Hill Brisbane Queensland Australia

  15. It would be nice to see this series continued with season 3. There are not many choices of this caliber out there, especially in the U.S. Good plot and strong characters make this a keeper.

    -An impressed Alaskan viewer

  16. I’m from the UK and this truly is one of the best shows I’ve seen. It hasn’t been screened in the UK yet which is a real shame I think it would be a definite hit with the viewers. CBC executives obviously dropped the ball by now keeping this show on and by not circulating it more.

  17. I watched this series on Hallmark, in the UK but it definately needed to placed on a more popular station here. I never caught the second series on Hallmark because I did not know when it was screened but recently managed to watch it. Absolutely brilliant. It didn’t get the marketing and advertising it deserved which is a pity and a shame, just like Brotherhood which is also a series I loved and was cancelled. I am not a CSI fan or House and really do not care for a lot of the more popular TV series, although I do find Dexter entertaining. Intelligence is in a small category of my favourite TV dramas of all tme, Sapranos, The Wire, Oz, Brotherhood and Deadwood. I will also add NYPD Blue to this, as I watched this from when it first aired to its last episode. No other series really kept me as riveted and interested as these.

  18. I got this show as a recommendation from Netflix because of my viewing habits. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am to find a show of this caliber. My husband and I are tearing through the discs. Too bad there are not more seasons, it truly is a standout. I have been recommending it to my friends who I know will like it as much as we did.

  19. I have watched a couple of episodes of Da Vinci’s Inquest and it’s not bad a show and a lot of the actors from Intelligence have were recycled. They didn’t find a spot for the actress who played the part of Mary in Intelligence though….

    Nothing compares to Intelligence. The storyline, the casting of the actors and the soundtrack and even the seediness of it….

    I am so annoyed at the way the Television Network left the story hanging….it’s not too late….round everyone up and do another series!!!! C’Mon….let’s do it!

    Barbara
    Western Australia

  20. I can’t believe that there is no season 3 for Intelligence. What are you Crazy Canadians doing. You create one of the most brilliant dramas and then to quote Jimmy, “Turn off the tap!” BRING IT BACK PLEASE!!!!!!! Are you idiots afraid of success? This show has a huge international following, there has to be mad money in licensing. I really don’t understand you CBC.

    P.S. Are the same people who made this moronic decision running your Winter Olympics? This would explain a lot, eh?

  21. The best series I’ve ever seen. Great casting, brilliant acting. Fantastic script … so much action, full of surprises so you never know what’s coming next. Not easy for any writer to do. I WANT MORE! SEASON 3 PLEASE!

  22. OMG, I just finished Season 2 of Intelligence and went to look for Season 3. YOU can NOT leave me hanging like this, I gotta know what happened to Jimmy Reardon!! I am an avid reader and this show was a ‘page-turner’ – I could not multi-task while watching these episodes. Very impressive scripts, actors and action. Kudos to the Canadians for creating such a series, and swack to the back of head of the CBC exec who pulled it. This is exactly why I do not watch TV and basically rent videos from Netflix.

  23. I am gearing up to watch the last two episodes. I almost don’t want to, since I have to say goodbye to such an amazing show. There is a show in the states called Friday Night Lights that was recently cut as well, and I loved it! Thank you to Netflix for bringing me this amazing show. I don’t know what CBC is, but if it’s similar to corporate tv in the states, then it makese sense. They keep these lame shows on tv, and they’re all crap. I feel bad for the actors, writers, and of course, the viewers!

  24. CBC is the public broadcaster – government funded. Not quite like PBS in the US but I guess that’s the closest, though right now much of what CBC airs is indistinguishable from what a private broadcaster would air.

  25. My husband and I, Canadian loving Americans, are experiencing the same withdrawal symptons as many others. This is such a smart, sassy and non-stop question producing series, where you think you know what is going to happen next but the producers provide alternate answers that keep you on the dege of your set. Please, please bring Intellignece back. I was going to send my daughters season 3 on DVD when it was available….we are all waiting for one of the best TV series to return. Kudos to Canada and all who made this a gem. Bring Jimmy and Klea and friends back!!!!!!!!!

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