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.

Four Peaks Media Group Launches in Canada

From a media release:

Four Peaks Media Group announced today their official Canadian launch. Formed in Los Angeles in January 2015, the company is co-owned by Canadians Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, and brothers Duncan and Jonnie Penn, who created, starred, and co-executive produced The Buried Life (MTV). Four Peaks brings their experience from in front of the camera, to behind it, concentrating on impact storytelling and The Buried Life’s tradition of changing lives.

Four Peaks’ slate includes projects and partners in scripted, unscripted, and branded content projects. Three confirmed for broadcast in 2015/2016 are: Greatest Party Story Ever (co-produced with Den of Thieves for MTV US, premiering January 2016) focused on the funniest, craziest, most unbelievable stories from everyday people, brought to life in part through animation; Letterkenny (co-produced with New Metric Media for CraveTV) based on the web series Letterkenny Problems; and one-hour special Rocky Mountain Reno hosted by Trista and Ryan Sutter (co-produced with Tricon Films for HGTV US; premiering May 31).

Additionally, Super Channel has given The Buried Life film development funding for first-look rights to air the feature-length documentary in English Canada, they are developing tech series The Woz (working title) with Steve Wozniak and Kari Byron, as well as a scripted project with Executive Producer Vin Diesel. Four Peaks’ has also collaborated on campaigns with The Weinstein Company for the launch of feature film The Giver and followed that with #EpicBucketList, a global campaign for Contiki, the #1 youth travel company in the world.

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Poll: Favourite Canadian TV Show – the 90s vs. 2000s

The first round of the Great Canadian TV Playoff is complete and the winners of the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s have been decided.

Now on to the next round, where the winners of each decade face off. Next: Due South, representing the 1990s, goes head-to-head with Durham County, on behalf of the 2000s. SCTV triumphed over Degrassi earlier in the week.

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 final showdown goes live next Monday!

What is your favourite Canadian TV series - 90s vs. 2000s?

  • Durham County (85%, 236 Votes)
  • Due South (15%, 42 Votes)

Total Voters: 278

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Link: Netflix’s ‘Between’ Puts a Polite Damper on Growing Old

From Mike Hale of The New York Times:

Netflix’s ‘Between’ Puts a Polite Damper on Growing Old
Not all Netflix series are created equal. “Between,” a Netflix original whose six-episode first season begins appearing weekly on this video-streaming site on Thursday, is a Canadian science-fiction series — Netflix money, north-of-the-border talent and formulas. So we’re talking about something a lot closer to the Syfy channel — home of Canadian shows like “Bitten,” “Lost Girl” and “Continuum” — than to “Daredevil” or “Orange Is the New Black.” Continue reading.

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Dark Matter Exerts Its Gravitational Pull, June 12 on Space

From a media release:

Space takes its rightful place in the far reaches of the galaxy with the premiere of Canadian series, DARK MATTER,  Friday, June 12 at 10 p.m. ET.  Produced by Prodigy Pictures and created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, the one-hour series shot in Toronto follows the crew of a derelict spaceship who awaken from stasis, with no memories of who they are or how they got on board. Facing threats at every turn, they have to work together to survive a voyage charged with vengeance, betrayal, and hidden secrets. DARK MATTER is created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, the team behind the Dark Matter graphic novel and the fan-favourite STARGATE franchise.

DARK MATTER’s crew are One (Marc Bendavid, BITTEN), the charming, moral centre of the crew; Two (Melissa O’Neil, Broadway’s Les Misérables), the tough and determined leader of the group; Three (Anthony Lemke, 19-2), the mercenary who looks out for only himself; the calmly ruthless and stoic Four (Alex Mallari Jr., Robocop); Five (Jodelle Ferland, The Cabin in the Woods), the team’s youngest member with a skill for mechanics and a mysterious ability; the low-key Six (Roger Cross, MOTIVE), a man of integrity; and The Android (Zoie Palmer, LOST GIRL), an outsider among the ship’s human passengers yet an indispensable member who possesses control over the ship’s systems.

In the premiere episode of DARK MATTER (Friday, June 12 at 10 p.m. ET), the crew searches for answers leading them to a rebellious, off-world mining colony and a shocking revelation. Episode 2 of DARK MATTER (Friday, June 19 at 10 p.m. ET) follows the debut of Space original action adventure series, KILLJOYS, at 9 p.m. ET.

Developed by Prodigy Pictures in association with Space, executive producers for DARK MATTER are Jay Firestone (LOST GIRL), creators Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, and Vanessa Piazza (LOST GIRL).

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Review: Remedy closes out Season 2 with hope

For me, the single most dramatic moment of Remedy‘s two episode second season finale wasn’t the shocking conclusion to the first hour, when Sandy had been hit head-on by a truck while driving around Toronto looking for Griffin, or the subsequent roller coaster surgery on her leg. It was that quiet scene between Griffin and Allen in the hospital chapel, a respite from the insanity of the world around them. And the perfect place for Allen to seek confession from his son.

“You don’t have to be a doctor. You don’t have to be anything. I’ll still love you, OK?” Allen said to Griffin during those spare minutes, tears in his eyes. Neither man knew then if Sandy’s leg would be saved by Dr. Jake (with help from Sam and Mel), but Allen took the first important steps to mending their fractured relationship. Congratulations to Dillon Casey, Enrico Colantoni, the episode’s writers, John Callaghan and Greg Spottiswood and director David Frazee for a scene that oozed emotion via body language, facial expressions and soft dialogue.

“Fight or Flight” began the night by serving as a set-up to the season finale, “Day One,” in several ways, the key being Cutler and Mel’s impending outbound flight to Dallas and Griffin’s drop further down the mineshaft of addiction. An attempted intervention for him held by Allen, Sandy, Zoe, Mel and Rebecca had the results I expected—Griff bolted after saying he’d go into rehab—and by nightfall he was literally teetering on the edge of an apartment building.

Which led to this:

Remedy_finale

And then this:

“I’m quitting. Today. I promise,” Griffin told Allen while Sandy was in surgery.

“And all it took was your sister being hit by a truck?” Allen responded.

Seeing the sister he could always rely on to support him like that shook Griffin to his core, especially when she told him post-surgery she already had one baby to take care of and couldn’t play mother to him anymore. That, paired with the time in the chapel with Allen, confirmed he needed to get better and for that he had to get away from his family. The final scene, where he, Frank, PJ and Bruno took a road trip to the Guelph rehab centre was a bro moment and established to Griffin that those three dudes would be there for him when he gets out.

Oh, and Mel is staying at Bethune. No surprise, though the news Cutler is sticking around too was.

Notes and quotes

  • Nurse Patel busting Cutler’s balls for leaving was fantastic. I laughed out loud at her having him paged as Dr. Quitter and scaring him by pretending to be a dead patient.
  • “We can just drive and eat and be miserable. You know, like a proper family.” — Rebecca
  • “Righty-tighty, lefty-loosy.” I hope someone comes up with an excuse to keep Jake around.
  • Did anyone else channel Forrest Gump when Allen took that bite of a chocolate?
  • Those Remedy folks sure come up with interesting ailments to spotlight. I was surprised to discover (via Google of course) that Kleine-Levin Syndrome or “Sleeping Beauty” syndrome really exists.
  • It was great to see Flashpoint‘s Michael Cram drop by for a guest gig on Remedy. Can we book Sergio Di Zio for Season 3?

What did you think of Season 2 of Remedy? Comment below or via @tv_eh.

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