Poll: What is your favourite Canadian TV show of the 1990s?

The second series in the Great Canadian TV Playoff is complete and the Degrassi franchise completed a dominating win for favourite series of the 1980s.

Now it’s time for the next series: the 1990s.

Unlike the Stanley Cup playoffs, TV, Eh’s Great Canadian TV Playoff boasts solely homegrown head-to-head matchups of television shows. Through the rest of the month, we’ll pit eight television shows (just like the NHL) from the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s against one another until the final showdown to name the top Canadian TV series of all time on May 29.

Cast your vote now and spread the word — the 2000s battle it out starting on Thursday.

What is your favourite Canadian television series of the 1990s?

  • Due South (32%, 77 Votes)
  • The Kids in the Hall (24%, 59 Votes)
  • The Red Green Show (18%, 44 Votes)
  • Road to Avonlea (9%, 22 Votes)
  • North of 60 (5%, 11 Votes)
  • The Newsroom (4%, 10 Votes)
  • Traders (4%, 10 Votes)
  • Forever Knight (4%, 9 Votes)

Total Voters: 242

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Review: Mother’s day on MasterChef Canada

Just in time for Mother’s Day, Sunday’s episode of MasterChef Canada boasted mothers … sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, wives, fathers and boyfriends as the folks the contestants left behindto compete were there to cheer them on. Yes, things got a little dusty both on the MasterChef Canada set and on my couch as Alvin, Michael and Claudio introduced the families of Line, Sabrina, Christopher, David and Cody and everyone shared an embrace.

And it was Line who came out as the big winner during “From Home with Love,” snagging her very first Mystery Box challenge—in front of her daughters, no less—and a coveted spot in the semifinals. Joining her there are Cody, Sabrina and David, who successfully navigated the most difficult Elimination Challenge so far.

Kudos to Line for using her past work in military intelligence in the MasterChef Canada kitchen. After observing her fellow competitors, she successfully threw both Cody and Christopher curve balls that put them in the bottom two. Giving Cody a crepe pan to use was genius; she correctly advised he would overthink what he had to do and stumble. Cody used a head-shaking 13 ingredients in three crepes and ran out of time on them, failing to finish plating completely. Luckily for him, what he managed to get onto the plate tasted good.

Christopher struggled with the meat grinder he was given and churned out a pork patty dry and devoid of flavour. Christopher was off his game all night and I blame the fact his parents and brother were there at the beginning. That seemed to throw off his focus and he never recovered. As a result, he was eliminated.

Sabrina wasn’t derailed by the pressure cooker she was handed; the Montreal native whipped off braised lamb on top of homemade pasta that had Claudio drooling.

And then there was David, who managed to make vanilla bean ice cream with thyme and lemon in under an hour and served it on top of a blueberry cake. Cooking and tempering custard for ice cream takes time and it needs to be cooled before it can go into the cooling chamber to make the frozen dessert. Somehow David pulled it off, and he and Line may very well end up being in the finale against one another.

Notes and quotes

  • Whatever Cody ends up doing as a profession, surgeon should not be it. His hands shake way too much.
  • “That is cookies and milk in dreamland!” Alvin is the best.
  • “You are the only Chinese dude who is challenged by rice. — Claudio

MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.

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Tonight: MasterChef Canada, Motive

MasterChef Canada, CTV – “From Home, with Love”
The Top 5 home cooks enter the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen and discover not one, but two Mystery Box surprises. One box is filled with ingredients, and the other huge box contains an inspiring, emotional message from their families back home. Emotions run even higher for the remaining home cooks when it’s revealed that their families are in the MASTERCHEF CANADA kitchen, ready to cheer them on. The winning home cook gets to assign a piece of culinary equipment to each of their competitors in a strategic, high-stakes Elimination Challenge.

Motive, CTV – “Purgatory”
A horrific murder at a surgical clinic leaves the detectives with two dead bodies. Detective Angie Flynn (Kristin Lehman) suspects someone is following her while Neville Montgomery (Victor Garber) is determined to seal the leak of information coming from inside his own company – and he suspects one of his closest staff members.

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Link: The Book of Negroes nominated for two Critics’ Choice Awards

From CBC:

The Book of Negroes nominated for two Critics’ Choice Awards
The critically-acclaimed CBC series The Book of Negroes may soon have more accomplishments to its name. The historical drama has been nominated for two Critics’ Choice Television Awards: one for best limited series and one for best actress in a movie or limited series for lead, Aunjanue Ellis. Continue reading.

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Link: Lights, camera, interaction: How TV shows retain fan loyalty

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Lights, camera, interaction: How TV shows retain fan loyalty
Retaining viewer loyalty in the expanding universe of cable, online and traditional broadcasting has been problematic for broadcasters. And in the age of streaming and social media, the stakes have gotten bigger.

Producers at CBC’s Murdoch Mysteries have presented perhaps the boldest, most interactive vision for fans yet. Continue reading.

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