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.

Comments and queries for the week of April 3

I have been trying to find out why Line didn’t have to be tested [during last Sunday’s episode of MasterChef Canada]. If you or anyone else knows please let me know.—Sharon

There are weeks when there is so much going on with other contestants that others don’t get any screen time. That was the case with Line and Sabrina this week.


I think TV critics are useful for the industry, so long as they are reviewing shows that are their type. By this I mean that someone who doesn’t like sci-fi, shouldn’t critique a sci-fi series, someone who has never liked the romantic comedy genre should not review a romantic comedy, and a 61-year-old man shouldn’t critique a series about 20-something women unless any of them can actually do it objectively and empathetically. Too often I’ve seen a terrific show being ripped to shreds in a review, only because the critic has no interest in the genre and can’t or won’t try to connect to it. Sci-fi shows seem to get the worst of it and when you go to fan sites and such, you hear about it, especially around awards season where it’s almost like critics look down on the genre.—Alicia


Cheers, Diane, for taking on a poll and the blow-back that apparently goes with it. ;) My “write-in vote” would be, (perhaps no surprise) for Strange Empire, at least for what it was reflecting in Canadian thought about our history during during its run (2014-2015). The Indigenous and multi-gender viewpoints, not to mention the quality of acting and writing, marked a step forward for the CBC network, in my opinion. Time may prove that this show was CBC at one of its most interesting (and important) points. The network is, unfortunately, a little less on both fronts now, with their abrupt and less-than-forthright cancellation of the show.—Chad

I’m a U.S. citizen but my mom grew up in a very small town in Saskatchewan. We’d visit every other summer growing up. Corner Gas reminds me so much if those visits. Aside from that it’s also one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen regardless of country of origin.—DC

They should rename Schitt’s Creek “Schitt’s Creek – USA.” Anytime they mention a place or location, it is in the U.S. Anytime a person is mentioned outside their small community, it is usually an American or someone foreign. There is nothing Canadian about it. Even Mr. D is getting into the U.S.A. game.—Georges


I first thought Crabtree was covering for Edna or Simon [on Murdoch Mysteries], but the fact that he left his boots to be so easily found is not in his character as a police officer. There is definitely more than meets the eye here. Simon said that his father was involved in a criminal element so maybe someone from his past will surface and be found guilty. I want Crabtree to get together with Edna. They make a better match than he and Emily.—Cloquette

George would not have killed Edna’s husband. It’s just not in his character. I believe he is protecting either Edna or Simon. But if he tried to help them cover it up, he’s done a very sloppy job and one that, at best, would make him an accessory after the fact, and something that would cost him his job as a police officer. Not at all the calibre we have come to expect from him in his association with William. Perhaps he discovered the crime scene, walking through the blood, and allowed the clues to be discovered pointing to him to give Edna and Simon time to disappear. Still somewhat culpable, but not as reprehensible. I would sorely miss the character of George were he to leave the program. Mind you, they’re all integral to the series and the absence of any one of them would be unfortunate.—Koboclio

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

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Review: Kings, queens and gods on Vikings

Before I get into this week’s Vikings review, I’d like to pause for a moment and remember Athelstan. Unlike Siggy, I didn’t really see his death coming. Sure, Floki has been giving Athelstan major side-eye this season, but still, I thought Ragnar’s Christian friend would last until the end of the Viking king’s reign. He will be missed.

When Clive Standen told me earlier this year that the siege of Paris was coming, I was excited. Then I spoke to the folks at Mr. X Inc. and Take 5 Productions, who do the visual effects for Vikings. From what they told me, this Thursday’s episode, “Paris,” would blow my mind.

And it did. Wasting absolutely no time with the journey around Europe, Ragnar and his supporters cruised up the Seine and had Paris in their sights. (That staring fight between Ragnar and Floki was amazing, wasn’t it? Floki looked pretty scared, if you ask me.) Unfortunately, the battle didn’t take place this week. But heck, you have to set up camp and prepare. And what preparations! I’m assuming Ragnar is playing Floki like a lute by giving him the important role of leading the first siege against Paris. If Floki fails, it will be his fault and because the gods are angry with him. But he might just succeed, what with those cool and impressive-looking siege towers he’s constructed.

“Paris” also introduced viewers to a pair of real historical figures in Count Odo and Emperor Charles, the former a bold, brash, calculating man and the latter a weakling paranoid he’s not as revered as his predecessor, Charlemagne, and relying on his daughter, Princess Gisla, to keep him focused. Charles clearly wanted to run off as soon as Odo reported the Northmen were on the way.

Meanwhile, back in Wessex, King Ecbert and Queen Kwenthrith were involved in a pissing match over who was the most powerful and it looks like Ecbert is going to win out. He has, after all, stayed ahead of Ragnar and is plotting to take over the land lorded over by Judith’s father. (Did anyone else find it a little creepy that Ecbert kissed his daughter-in-law passionately on the lips?)

The teaser’s for next week’s episode shows Floki leading the charge against Paris. A quick Google search revealed the Vikings didn’t sack the city, so we’ll see if Michael Hirst’s story sticks to historical events or goes off in a new direction.

Notes and quotes

  • The throbbing background beat during Ragnar’s voyage up the Seine set the tone for the episode.
  • I’m digging Ragnar’s bald look. Paired with those tattoos, he looks totally scary.
  • The snake and mouse Ragnar was holding in the camp wasn’t coincidence. But was Ragnar the serpent or the rodent?

Vikings airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on History.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Killjoys lands on Space in June

This just in: Killjoys takes off on Space in June. The specialty network made the announcement earlier today, noting Season 1 launches Friday, June 19, at 9 p.m. ET on Space.

As previously announced, the Space/Syfy series—starring Aaron Ashmore, Luke Macfarlane and Hannah John-Kamen—comes from the folks at Temple Street Productions, who head up a little show called Orphan Black. Michelle Lovretta (Lost Girl) serves as writer, creator and showrunner.

The trio portray three interplanetary bounty hunters—a.k.a. Killjoys—as they fulfill deadly warrants across a planetary system called the Quad. (Check out the explosive teaser trailer below.)

Here’s how Space describes each character:

“Hannah John-Kamen stars as the gorgeous, complicated, and deadly Dutch. A top-level Killjoy, she’s a much loved and charming presence in her community, with a unique gift for earning people’s trust and respect regardless of their class. Under her banter and protective flirtations, there is pain, maturity, and a deep solemnity resulting from a dark secret past.

Aaron Ashmore takes on the role of John Jaqobis, a Level 3 Killjoy who, despite his profession, is a peacemaker who hates conflict. Cheerful and kind-hearted, John prefers not to fight, but his sarcastic wit has put him into the fray enough over the years to teach him how to do it well, and dirty. Give this man any machine or situation, and he can fix it, build it, and fly it.

Luke Macfarlane stars as D’avin, a handsome, rugged, sarcastic, and incredibly loyal former soldier. He dreamed of enlisting in the military since boyhood, and his hard-won expertise in tactics, manoeuvres, and hand-to-hand combat make him an instant asset to the Killjoy team.”

Who is pumped for the debut? Tweet @tv_eh!

Killjoys debuts Friday, June 19, at 9 p.m. ET on Space.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Link: The Many Faces of Tatiana Maslany

From Lili Loofbourow of The New York Times:

The Many Faces of Tatiana Maslany
The cast and crew of “Orphan Black” labor painstakingly over minutiae like this, in the service of a much grander contemplation (or, perhaps, demolition) of female televisual archetypes. The show’s premise allows Maslany to portray a bewilderingly diverse set of stock characters — the punk-rock con artist, Sarah; the shrewish suburban housewife, Alison Hendrix; the geeky stoner, Cosima Niehaus; the Ukrainian psychopath, Helena; the icily aloof career woman, Rachel Duncan; the pill-popping cop, Elizabeth Childs; and many others — encompassing almost every trope women get to play in Hollywood and on TV. (Maslany’s legions of adoring fans call themselves #CloneClub on Twitter and contend that the credits on “Orphan Black” should say “Tatiana Maslany” nine or more times, once per clone.) Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Interview: Open Heart boss reveals Season 1 secrets

It was one of the most action-packed season finales I’ve ever seen. In just over 20 minutes, Open Heart managed to squish romance, action and mystery into one instalment as Dylan found her missing father, Veronica was attacked, Det. Goodis was killed and London had not one but two fellows—Seth and Hud—profess their love for her and plant a kiss on her lips.

We had questions! So we turned to showrunner Ramona Barckert for the answers, and she delivered on everything from those pesky feathers to London and Hud’s smooch, and perhaps the biggest mystery: will there be a Season 2 of Open Heart?

It’s one thing to sit in the writer’s room and come up with these ideas, but what has it been like to watch the show every week and see the reaction from the fans on social media?
Ramona Barckert: It’s been amazing. I was super-nervous before the premiere. Not that I didn’t believe in the show and I wasn’t proud of it, but it’s a different kind of thing and I wondered if people would embrace it the way that we hoped, and if they would hate the things that we focused on. You always wonder. Over the course of the 12 weeks it blossomed into this obsessive group of people that really got into it. It was really awesome.

Twelve weeks has gone by very quickly.
It has gone by quickly. The show is quick, so I think that is a factor.

There was so much going on in Tuesday’s finale that there wasn’t any time for Jared (Mena Massoud)!
You didn’t! And that’s unfortunate. I feel terrible about that. I own that because I wrote the finale and I jammed as much in as I could and we unfortunately only have just over 21 minutes to tell the story so the scene he was in got cut. It was a great scene too—typical Jared being hilarious and mocking Dylan—maybe I’ll bug someone to get the deleted scene put online or something.


Dylan represents the youth, not keeping things hiding in the shadows and talking about what they are struggling with.


Would it have changed the main story?
No, it was a scene at the top of the episode that set up Dylan coming out of the psych ward and setting her off on her journey. We just didn’t have the time for it and it had to go, unfortunately.

Thank you so much for reuniting Richard with Dylan. It was an important payoff and some shows may not have done that. They would have drawn it out into another season.
My approach to storytelling is if you set something up you need to have a payoff in a timely fashion. That makes it satisfying. It’s intriguing to have that payoff and close that part of the story while opening up another part to it. You don’t know what’s going to happen next. You want to give the audience something. Stringing the audience along … I don’t like it when shows do that to me so I try not to do that with my own.

Richard told Dylan that she needed to keep acting like he was dead or missing to protect her. London had that vision of her holding a baby. I was thinking the baby was Dylan and that perhaps the woman on the gurney was her mother. That means Jane isn’t her biological mother and Richard had an affair. Thoughts?
I think you’re supposed to look at that vision as a piece of the Blake history. Whether or not London’s interpretation of that history is accurate is subject to discussion. I think you’re on the right track. The vision is a lynchpin in the Blake family history and what it means is to be determined. Right now that vision exists in the twisted corridors of London’s mind and there is more to be had there. It’s still a bit fuzzy.

Ug. OK.
Come on! We gave you Richard back! That’s something!

Meanwhile, Det. Goodis turned out to be Det. Bad-is. The scene where he, Dr. K and Hud were fighting over the gun was pretty stressful for viewers. It did, for a few minutes, seem as though the secret had died with him.
Goodis, in my mind, up until the point that he got screwed was on board with Dylan and really wanted to help her. As with everyone on the show, there are times when you have the best intentions and things don’t work out. He wanted to get out of the situation he was in and made some poor decisions. And that’s why Dylan felt so lost at that moment. Goodis was dead and Veronica was in a coma and no one else could tell her about Richard. She had to find it out for herself. I really wanted her to have the win at the end of the season.

Thank goodness for that feather!
I know! There were other feathers. If you go back over the season there were other feathers in the trunk of the car and on Veronica. I got a lot of grief when we were shooting that because we had these feathers and people kept asking me about them. I said, ‘Don’t worry guys, it will all make sense.’

Open_Heart

Dr. Hud was interesting this season; he has to attend counselling for PTSD. Pair that with London’s visions and Richard’s mental state and you were very respectful while shining a spotlight on mental health.
Ultimately, we wanted to talk about family and issues that families deal with. To think about the Blakes, who have made such poor decisions when it’s come to dealing with Richard’s illness … it’s been the old-school way of dealing with things. Just keep it quiet and pretend it’s not happening. Dylan represents the youth, not keeping things hiding in the shadows and talking about what they are struggling with. That’s a great thing because teenagers are so open these things.

It would have been easy to just have Hud be the hunky doctor with the perfectly-sculpted stubble with no depth.
We cast for that, knowing that there would more to him. The first part of the season he’s really seen through the eyes of Dylan, who has a crush on him and he’s a player. And then there’s a subtle switch midway through the season where you start to see his point of view, which I’m pretty proud of. I’m really into characters who change mid-season and I think thats why the fans are really into him, because we did it slowly.

London started off the season with no men in her life. Now she has two kissing her and telling her they love her. That’s complicated.
Hud has been making bad decisions all season, so it’s exciting because you see he’s going to make one more when he’s going to kiss her. It’s great, and sexy and all that but also, ‘Oh no!’ People are very into them, though. Right now it’s all about Hud and London.

You left many questions open at the end of the night, including if there will be a Season 2. What’s happening? Have you been greenlit? Are you waiting to hear?
We are waiting. We are expecting news any day. We are very hopeful and our networks have been very supportive of the show. They love it and want to see more. The writers and I have been working over the last couple of months just getting ready and developing story ideas and every idea we have is super-exciting.

What did you think of Season 1 of Open Heart? Comment below or on Twitter @tv_eh.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail