All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Family Law

Global greenlights Season 3 of original scripted series Family Law

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From a media release:

The verdict is in! Today, Global announced that Season 3 of hit Canadian legal drama Family Law has been greenlit for an all-new 10-episode season. Produced by SEVEN24 Films and Lark Productions, and created by Canadian award-winning author Susin Nielsen, Season 3 is set to begin filming in Vancouver on May 24. The principal cast including Jewel Staite, Victor Garber, Zach Smadu, Genelle Williams and Lauren Holly all return for the new season. This renewal comes ahead of the show’s Season 2 premiere, which will be announced at a later date.

Family Law is a witty, heartfelt look at the trials and tribulations of an imperfect family. The one-hour legal drama follows Abigail ‘Abby’ Bianchi (Jewel Staite) as she navigates her new life with her family including Abby’s father Harry Svensson (Victor Garber), her half-brother Daniel Svensson (Zach Smadu), and half-sister Lucy Svensson (Genelle Williams). Season 3 will follow Abby and her dysfunctional family as they help other dysfunctional families – all while navigating their own personal dramas. Guest stars for the new season will be announced soon.

Lauded as “the unexpected drama worth bingeing right now,” viewers can catch up on Season 1 of Family Law with STACKTV and the Global TV App.

Family Law is produced by SEVEN24 Films (Heartland, JANN) and Lark Productions (Motive, Fortunate Son). It was created by Susin Nielsen (Robson Arms, Cedar Cove), who also serves as executive producer and showrunner. The series is executive produced by Jordy Randall, Tom Cox, Erin Haskett and Andy Mikita. This season’s writers include Sarah Dodd, Ken Craw, Sonja Bennett, Corey Liu and Jordan Hall, and directors include Andy Mikita, Jordan Canning, David Frazee and Alysse Leite-Rogers.

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Awards

Screen Nova Scotia announces 2022 award nominees and return to in-person gala

From a media release:

Screen Nova Scotia is pleased to officially announce the nominees for the 8th annual Screen Nova Scotia Awards Gala, which will take place on Saturday, June 18th, in the Schooner Ballroom at Casino Nova Scotia. The awards recognize and celebrate the incredible talent, creativity, and passion that are the trademarks of Nova Scotia’s film, television and animation industry. This will be the first full capacity, in-person awards gala since 2019 when the COVID-19 pandemic moved the event to an online format for two years.

Notable awards presented during the event include the ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performances, the Film Crew Excellence Award, the Women in Film & Television – Atlantic Award, the Community Recognition Award, and the Screen Nova Scotia awards for best television, film, and animation. New SNS award categories this year include the award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography and the Groundbreaking Performance Award, which includes a cash prize of $500 and will be awarded to a diverse performer who does not yet meet the eligibility criteria for the ACTRA awards for their work in a film or television/web series.

Additionally, ACTRA has updated their awards to remove categorization based on gender, type of role, and format. There are now four awards handed out from the list of twenty nominees for “Outstanding Performance,” determined by a jury of their peers.

The event will be co-hosted by a star-studded cast featuring some of Nova Scotia’s brightest talents from in front of and behind the camera. Individual tickets and group tables are on sale now via Screen Nova Scotia’s website: www.screennovascotia.com. Please note that tickets are limited and our last in-person show was a sold-out event.

The winners of the Community Recognition Award, the Film Crew Excellence Award, and the Groundbreaking Performance Award will be announced live during the event.

Best Feature Film
– 8:37 Rebirth (Rebirth Films Inc.)
– Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor (Picture Plant Inc.)
– Night Blooms (Shut Up & Colour Pictures)
– Wildhood (Rebel Road Films)

Best Documentary Film
– A New World of Hurt (Auguste Content, Clothesline Media)
– Deserted (The Lunenburg Doc Fest, Picnic Studios)
– Freedom Swell (Mirror Image Media)
– The New Human (McLean Media Enterprises, Dreamsmith Entertainment)

Best Short Film
– The Artistic Accountant (Make Your Day Productions)
– Baduk (You First Productions)
– Breakout (Blurry Logo Productions)
– Dust Bath (CUT/OFF/TAIL Pictures)

Best Television Series
– Diggstown, S3 (Waterstar Entertainment, Circle Blue Entertainment)
– Moonshine, S1 (Six Eleven Media)
– Spirit Talker S2 (Rebel Road Films, Tell Tale Productions)
– This Hour Has 22 Minutes S29 (22M Hour Productions)

Best Animated Series
– The Casagrandes (Jam Filled Entertainment)
– Dennis & Me S2 (Cartoon Conrad)
– Teen Titans Go! S6 (Copernicus Entertainment)

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
– Kevin Fraser
– Halley Hellmich
– Paul McCurdy
– Jeff Wheaton

WIFT-AT — Best Nova Scotia Director Award:
– Stephanie Joline (Night Blooms)
– Induk Lee (Baduk)
– Christine McLean (The New Human)
– Juanita Peters (8:37 Rebirth)
– Shelley Thompson (Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor)

ACTRA Maritimes Awards for Outstanding Performances:
– Beth Amiro (Second Wedding)
– Vinessa Antoine (Diggstown S3)
– Mary-Colin Chisholm (Wildhood)
– Francine Deschepper (Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor)
– Pasha Ebrahim (8:37 Rebirth)
– Susan Kent (Diggstown S3)
– Celia Koughan (Moonshine)
– Koumbie (I Hate You)
– Calem MacDonald (Night Blooms)
– Bob Mann (Second Wedding)
– Alexandra McDonald (Night Blooms)
– Desna Michael Thomas (Wildhood)
– Taylor Olson (I Hate You)
– Reid Price (Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor)
– Jennie Raymond (Night Blooms)
– Jacob Sampson (Diggstown S3)
– Amy Trefry (8:37 Rebirth)
– Rob Wells (Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor)
– Samantha Wilson (Night Blooms)
– Avery Winters-Anthony (Wildhood)

Moonshine image courtesy of Sheri Elwood.

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Web series

Link: TV writer Zarqa Nawaz creates stories that challenge stereotypes about Muslim women

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: TV writer Zarqa Nawaz creates stories that challenge stereotypes about Muslim women
Between 2012, when the sitcom “Little Mosque on the Prairie” went off the air, and today, as Zarqa Nawaz’s latest TV series is about to debut, our small screens haven’t exactly been awash in Muslim women. Continue reading.

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Letterkenny, Shoresy

Links: Shoresy, Season 1

From Rick Marshall of Digital Trends:

Link: How Shoresy does right by its Indigenous characters
It didn’t take long for Hulu’s Shoresy series to establish itself as more than a spinoff of Letterkenny, the long-running Canadian comedy show that introduced the titular, trash-talking hockey player played by series creator and writer Jared Keeso. Continue reading.

From Sam Stone of CBR:

Link: Shoresy’s Cast & Crew Promise a Different Kind of Comedy for Letterkenny Fans
“Jared wanted to do a hockey show, so we knew this show was going to be focused on hockey. The surprise to me when I was reading the scripts was that it had a real storyline to it. It does feel more like a movie than Letterkenny does because we’re watching a story unfold before us.” Continue reading.

From Spencer Legacy of Coming Soon:

Link: Interview: Shoresy’s Jacob Tierney, Kaniehtiio Horn, & Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat
“Coming onto Shoresy as consulting producer was really cool because I started realizing that all of this experience that I had as an actress for almost 20 years, I was exercising these other muscles now and still getting to be creative and still getting to see all of the casting, getting to help design some of the characters’ wardrobe.” Continue reading.

From Kelly Boutsalis of the Toronto Star:

Link: ‘Shoresy’ puts Indigenous characters at centre ice
“Shoresy,” the much-anticipated “Letterkenny” spinoff, is first and foremost a love letter to scrappy minor league hockey teams and it is also rich with Indigenous representation. Continue reading.

From Sean Fitz-Gerald of The Athletic:

Link: What ‘Letterkenny’ and its new spinoff ‘Shoresy’ have to say about hockey: ‘It’s observational’
Over a six-episode arc, the new show spotlights a minor supporting character from the original, a foul-mouthed, stick-swinging, trash-talking hockey player known as Shoresy. His cameo appearances in the first series were generally limited to searing verbal attacks on teammates and opponents who entered his orbit. Continue reading.

From Mia Jensen of The Sudbury Star:

Link: ‘Letterkenny spinoff ‘Shoresy’ makes Sudbury one of its characters
But Sudburians who have never seen or even heard of “Letterkenny” or its new sibling will likely recognize something else — the logo of their most popular local hockey team, the Sudbury Wolves, at centre ice beneath the players’ skates. Continue reading.

From Lyndsay Aelick of CTV Northern Ontario:

Link: Letterkenny spinoff Shoresy embraces everything about Sudbury
From Sudbury Arena to the Colson, from the Laughing Buddha to Peppi Panini, a new TV series debuting this week has a lot of Sudbury. Shoresy was not only filmed in the Nickel City, the series embraces all things about Sudbury. Continue reading.

From Sean Loughran of the Daily Hive:

Link: There’s a hockey show in town: Tasya Teles talks Letterkenny spinoff Shoresy
“I was really nervous for a bit because it’s such a different tone to what I’m used to. Jared [Keeso] and Jacob [Tierney] are so good at what they do, and they have such a well-oiled machine. With all their experience from Letterkenny, they made it really easy for us. I saw a few episodes, and they are awesome. It’s great to be in comedy.” Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Tasya Teles’ Nat is ready to go head to head with Shoresy
“I was already definitely a big fan. I had been watching Letterkenny since the beginning. When I heard about Shoresy I went back and rewatched everything and revisited it. I rediscovered the brilliance of the comedy and it amped me up even more than I already was.” Continue reading.

From Melissa Hank of Postmedia:

Link: Stars of Letterkenny spinoff Shoresy open up
“I love the challenge of trying to wrap your mind and mouth around all of that dialogue. And Jared sets up all these great verbal things, like alliteration and where you get to hit Ts and pop Ps.” Continue reading.

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Featured

fuboTV lands EPL broadcast rights in Canada for the next three seasons

On-demand sports streaming platform fuboTV has obtained exclusive broadcast rights of the English Premier League (EPL) in Canada for the next three years. DAZN’s current deal expires at the end of the 2021/22 EPL season, with Canadians having to switch subscription plans to get access to all 380 EPL games next season. The EPL is one of the most covered competitions in world sport. As such, it’s also one of the most popular events for sports bettors, specifically those who receive sign-up offers from reputable sportsbooks, attributed as a reward for using their services for the first time. The final day of the 2021/22 EPL season is one of multiple events that bettors will watch and wager on this month, alongside the likes of the French Open tennis and golf’s US PGA Championship.

In Canada, the EPL is certainly one of the most popular soccer leagues among viewers, encouraging fuboTV to land its highest-profile media rights acquisition yet. The financial terms of the deal have not been publicly disclosed. The EPL’s media rights in the US would be an interesting comparison. NBC landed the current broadcasting rights of the EPL for the next six seasons at the cost of over $2.7 billion, according to The Associated Press.

fuboTV’s soccer coverage for 2022/23
In August 2021, fuboTV’s Canadian subscribers benefitted from an exciting media rights deal when it landed the English-speaking rights to the Italian Serie A in Canada, as well as the nation’s premier cup competition, the Coppa Italia. It has also tested the water with other major European leagues, notably the French Ligue 1, due to its partnership with OneSoccer. FuboTV is also the number-one port of call for soccer fans to catch a glimpse of Canada’s very own Premier League, which was only recently established in 2019.

Following the announcement of fuboTV’s EPL rights acquisition, its head of content strategy and acquisition, Ben Grad, labelled the move “fair value” for what the platform believes is “great property” for its loyal subscriber base. The platform’s co-founder and chief executive, David Gandler, also said this latest partnership gives Canadian soccer fans “another reason to cut the cord.”

FuboTV’s aggregated platform of broadcasters also includes BeIN Sports and Benfica TV, as well as OneSoccer, ensuring its subscribers will be able to catch every kick from the EPL, as well as the Canadian Premier League, the French Ligue 1 and all of Benfica’s Portuguese Primeira Liga games in 2022/23.

The platform has been on a steady upward curve since its owners’ decision to go public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021. Outside of Canada, it landed media rights to broadcast all South American 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to its US-based subscribers.

Looking deeper into its financial credentials, fuboTV anticipates having over 1.1 million active subscribers by the end of its latest financial year. Meanwhile, its revenue forecasts for the same period have also been revised upwards to a projection between $617m and $627m.

Photo by Adrian Curiel on Unsplash.

What’s next for DAZN?
DAZN’s Canada subsidiary still retains exclusive media rights for many of the biggest sporting events in North America and beyond. It still covers every play of the NFL, as well as Europe’s biggest soccer club competition, the UEFA Champions League. Norm Lem, senior vice president of revenue at DAZN Canada, says the platform is “continuously exploring opportunities” to add greater value to its sports streaming portal.

DAZN has had bigger fish to fry in recent months too, as it’s secured a new multi-year broadcast arrangement with Red Bull TV. The distribution deal gives DAZN freedom to stream the Red Bull TV channel to its subscribers, bringing Red Bull’s unique brand of sport and daredevil entertainment content to streamers worldwide. Red Bull’s extreme sports events like the Cliff Diving World Series and the Drift Masters European Championship will now be aired to DAZN subscribers.

This is a big deal for DAZN and a major pick-me-up for the brand overall after missing out on the chance to acquire British broadcaster BT Sport.

Featured image by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

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