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.
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Link: Canadian filmmaker Paul Almond dies at age 83

From Marian Scott of the Montreal Gazette:

Canadian filmmaker Paul Almond dies at age 83
Canadian film legend Paul Almond, creator of the Seven Up! British documentary series and author of the Alford novels, has died in Malibu, Calif., at age 83. He died of heart disease Thursday, about 10 days after being admitted to hospital.

“After a graceful, thoughtful and tenacious fight, Paul made his transition, surrounded by his family,” his son Matthew Almond said.

News of his death spread quickly in the Gaspé region, where Almond had deep roots and lived part of the year in an ancestral home in Shigawake. Continue reading.

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19-2, Featured

More Amelie and Ben in Season 3 of 19-2?

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If Tom Hastings has his way, Season 3 of 19-2 will be much “warmer” when it comes to storylines, and the relationship between Amelie (Tattiawna Jones) and Ben (Jared Keeso) will be explored more deeply.

That’s the wish of the director of Independent Production for Bell Media, who made the remark at the conclusion of “Inside the Writers Room on 19-2” at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference on Saturday. Bravo just greenlit production of 19-2 for Season 3, but development had already begun, meaning showrunner Bruce M. Smith has put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) on the first four episodes.

Smith participated in the TSC’s inaugural Writing Room Intensive, where he and six television writers spent Friday developing the basic elements of a tentpole episode of 19-2. He and Ian Carpenter, Roslyn Muir, Caitlin Fryers, Amanda Smith-Kolic, Nathalie Younglai and Tamara Moulin put their heads together and came up with an exciting episode that, while just an exercise, was as compelling as any of the stories told on the show. The group’s plot found the cops of 19 dealing with the shutting down of a halfway house and the affect it has on the neighbourhood. Escalating emotions and over-the-top reactions reach a fever pitch when a child is abducted and the men in the halfway house are accused of the crime.

After outlining the episode to the packed theatre in Daniels Spectrum, Hastings joined the group to provide his network notes, a real-life conversation he has with Smith when 19-2 is in production. Hastings made several interesting points about the script, noting it was too soon after key events of Season 2—pedophile and eviction storylines—to revisit those themes again. He also noted the panel didn’t have much for Nick (Adrian Holmes) to do in their script, so that would have to be addressed. Overall, he was pleased with what the group had created in just one day.

It may have been a made-up script, but I’d watch it.

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Featured

Comments and queries for the week of April 10

What TV show best defines Canada?
How about Wayne Rostad’s On The Road Again? That was real reality TV! Of the current shows I’d vote for 19-2, and I loved Strange Empire!!! Now, has there been a primetime drama that did represent the entire nation (not just one region of it)? Seems an almost impossible task unless, say, you put that in an appropriate context, like, say a Canadian celebrity living down in the U.S., who reminiscences about the “homeland.” Though even then, that individual person will have roots in one region or another. Imagine, for example, Robbie Robertson, who has toured all over the world at one time or another, what it might be like for him to “come home,” which he usually does when he has to do the rounds for publicizing a project of his, or something related to The Band. Although that’s real, I wouldn’t mind watching a fictionalized version of that story. I know that’s not what this discussion is originally about, just putting my two pennies in the pot here.—Stephen

Tie between Da Vinci’s Inquest and The Newsroom.—Gregory

Seeing Things. I wouldn’t say it defined Canada, but I liked it.—Dan

I would add Intelligence to the list, nto because it is the best (which it arguably is), but because it reflects that Canadian siege mentality when dealing with Americans. It was un-self-consciously multi-racial and, it was obviously set in Vancouver.—Suzanne

How about YOU GOTTA EAT HERE! celebrating real Canadian cooks and chefs in their restaurants across the country?—Steven

More love for Murdoch Mysteries
I have really enjoyed this season so far. I happen to be someone who wanted Emily and Crabtree to get back together. I really like Crabtree with Edna, but I do not like Emily with Lillian. I just haven’t liked Lillian since the brick throwing episode and I wasn’t a major fan of her character before that. I like that they said their going to put the team back together, I look forward to seeing that happen and hope things work out well for Crabtree quickly.—Adam

This has been the most enjoyable series in decades! I became aware of Murdoch Mysteries around six months ago. I now have all seven seasons, with Season 8 pre-ordered. The characters, and their relationships are fantastic. Where does Canada come up with such talent? As earlier comments indicate, I wish were able to receive this in the U.S.A. I have one “negative” comment. I am not looking for unbridled passion, but we saw more of Yannick’s bare chest in Season 2, Episode 9. Come on, William and Julia are acting like an “old married couple.” It’s too early for them to be so “blasé.” We need more of those meaningful eye contact scenes. Can’t wait for Season 9 even if I do have to watch it on my Kindle. Keep up the excellent work!—Sharon

I think a departure from William and Julia’s relationship was a good thing. We got to see the lives of the other characters and it was nice to see William and Julia living happily together without much drama. Now we’re all raring to have a focus on them more. I don’t much like Edna – especially as when we first met her in Season 1, she was all sassy and action-taking, now she’s all boring and shy and mopey.—Maddie

Are on-screen ads killing TV?
I think of them as “necessary nuisances.” You forgot when a show does a small cliffhanger just before a commercial to keep you watching and then the resolution of said cliffhanger is blocked by the ad. Or when a channel is trying to hype up a premiere of a new season for a show so they put a countdown clock on the bottom right of your screen during the show prior to the premiere? In the final season of Lost in the episode Sun briefly couldn’t speak she wrote her words down on paper, which was blocked by the countdown for the premiere of V. That was infuriating.—Dan

Another factor is that Canadian broadcasters probably don’t want to or can under current CRTC rules squeeze more actual ads into a show like they do in the United States, where a once half-hour show like Let’s Make A Deal gets bloated to a hour so more ads can be fitted in. Another reason is that TV is trying to ape the computer screen website experience, especially for the web generation that is more use to ad screen clutter than someone much “older.”—Alan

Got a comment or question about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or @tv_eh.

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