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.
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Income Property hits the road for Season 10

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HGTV

From a media release:

Income Property returns with a bang this winter, celebrating ten seasons of house hunting, messy demolitions and mind-blowing transformations. Handyman and real estate expert Scott McGillivray is back and ready to help eager home hunters find their ideal investment property. The new season of Income Property premieres Thursday, February 26th at 9pm ET/PT on HGTV Canada with four, special vacation rental episodes rolling out in April.

For the first time in the series’ history, Scott takes Income Property on the road as he helps four sets of homeowners renovate the vacation rentals of their dreams.  In these episodes, Scott and his homeowners trade in their tool belts for surf boards, fishing rods, and canoes to take in some of the local activities.  Featured in one of these episodes is Entertainment Tonight Canada’s own Roz Weston as he enlists Scott’s help in transforming his dated country cottage into an upscale rental retreat.

 

To honour the 10th season milestone, HGTV will air a marathon of one Income Property episode per season leading up to the new season premiere. As a unique added bonus, fans will get to see Scott and the Income Property team hijack the network’s master control during the marathon.  Interspersed between episodes will be a series of 25-second promos that give fans an inside look at the series as well as Scott’s personal life.  Viewers will see clips from some of Scott’s wildest stunts on the Income Property set, his first national television commercial, his wedding video, his boy band, behind-the-scenes bloopers with the crew, ‘where are they now’ check-ins with homeowners, and much more.

 

Scott was just 21 when he bought and renovated his first rental home and has since built a real estate empire across North America. He has not only proven himself as an outstanding contractor and investor, but as a relatable and loveable host. He was recently named PEOPLE Magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Week and is now tucking a tenth season of Income Property under his tool belt.

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Featured, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 175 – Ground Up Groundhog

After digging themselves out from a snowstorm in Ontario, Greg and Anthony chatted with Diane about the ongoing Vikings contest on TV, Eh? and Kelly Lynn Ashton’s column about the latest CRTC decisions, including the impact banning simsub could have on Bell Media’s broadcast of the Super Bowl.

Also on tap: will Spun Out ever see the light of day, Schitt’s Creek‘s ratings drop and Rogers blames Numeris for faltering hockey ratings. And finally, Reel West Magazine‘s poll got the trio talking about the most impactful Canadian series of all time.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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19-2, Featured

Review: 19-2’s Daddy issues and PTSD

Monday’s latest episode of 19-2, “Borders,” had a couple common themes running through them, namely the relationship between fathers and their children and the ongoing stresses suffered by Ben and Audrey.

Audrey clearly isn’t over the effects of her beating, something that came to a head during an electric scene involving she, Beatrice and several citizens. What began as a yelling match and snide remarks degenerated into Audrey tackling a well-known folk singer on his doorstep. Things only got worse when his friends came to his defence. Being surrounded by all those men clearly brought Audrey back to the beating, and I’m actually surprised she didn’t pull her gun on anyone. (This is, by the way, the second week 19-2 has stacked a large man against one of Montreal’s finest. Audrey riding on the singer’s back earned a chuckle from me.)

Bear has got to be wondering what she’s done wrong to get such flawed partners. First it was Tyler and now Audrey. She must be pining for someone like Vince to be with her. Speaking of Vince, it appears as though the girl he shagged last week has got the hots for him, though I’m not sure how she managed to get J.M. and Vince sent to her place for the 911 call.

Daddy issues popped up for Ben, Nick and Commander Gendron. Ben and Nick arrested a homeless man named Leon (Serge Houde) who was scaring folks with his row of dead squirrels and form of Tourette’s, and Ben had visions of his alcoholic father in the man. Despite trying to get Leon the help he wanted for him, there was none to be had and Leon was last seen flipping Ben off and wandering away. Ben had a lot on his plate Monday, alternately faking showers to keep up on his notes regarding his fellow officers, discovering Nick’s iPhone unlock code for the SQ and attempting to find out what sort of business his partner and Kaz had cooked up.

Charged with finding Gendron’s drug-addicted daughter—who has some Daddy issues of her own—Nick and Ben used the downtime to discuss the former’s father, who was a criminal of some stripe and whom Nick assumes is dead though no body was found. I’m glad that, now that we know these characters, the writers are exploring their back stories. It’s fascinating to me that Nick’s father was a crook, and goes a long way to explaining why he became a cop. Is Nick a bad cop, or a good one? It’s too soon to know for sure.

As for who the mole in 19-2 is? I think it’s Audrey. Just a gut feeling. What does everyone else think?

Notes and quotes

  • “Idiot.”—J.M. to Vince
  • I can’t tell you how happy I am that Tyler is clean. I like a basketball bouncing, orange shoe wearing Tyler way better than a slurry, drunk one
  • “It’s such bullshit. A folk singer with clout?”—Beatrice

19-2 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.

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Children's Programming, Industry News

The Next Step dances onto Family for Season 3

nextstep

From a media release:

As the cast of The Next Step prepares to take the stage for the first stop of its sold out national tour, Family Channel is pleased to announce the fan-favourite Canadian original series and recipient of multiple Canadian Screen Award nominations will return for its third season on Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT. Leaping back on to the small screen with a special one-hour premiere episode, the compelling dance-drama produced by Temple Street Productions follows the highs and lows of an elite group of dancers as they balance the pressures of competition with the trials of growing up. Following the season premiere, new episodes of The Next Step will air every weekday (Monday – Friday) at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT leading up to the mid-season finale in April.

Season two left off on a cliffhanger with the future of The Next Step – and the A-Troupe’s chance to compete at Internationals – hanging in the balance. After receiving an eviction notice, rival dance academy, Elite, came to the studio with an interesting offer: merge the two studios to create a hybrid team for the International competition. Season three kicks off with the A-Troupe dancers grappling with a tough decision. Can they learn to work with their arch-rivals, or will they risk forfeiting their spot at Internationals?

The Next Step stars 2015 Canadian Screen Award nominee Brittany Raymond as Riley; Victoria Baldesarra as Michelle; Alexandra Beaton as Emily; Trevor Tordjman as James; Isaac Lupien as Eldon; Lamar Johnson as West; Jennifer Pappas as Chloe; Logan Fabbro as Amanda; Taveeta Szymanowicz as Thalia; Samantha Grecchi as Stephanie; Brennan Clost as Daniel; Zac Vran as Hunter; Bree Wasylenko as Kate; Natalie Krill as Phoebe and So You Think You Can Dance Canadaseason four winner Jordan Clark as Giselle.

Additionally, several returning cast members will be brought to centre stage with exciting new storylines including Myles Erlick as J-Troupe dancer Noah, along with Devon Michael Brown as Max and Cierra Healey as Cierra, members of Elite Dance Academy. The cast also welcomes newcomer Ella Gilling, a semi-finalist on season two of the United Kingdom’s live-talent television show Got To Dance, in a recurring role.

Commissioned by Family Channel, The Next Step is produced by Temple Street Productions and is executive produced by Frank van Keeken (Wingin’ It, Kids in the Hall, Billable Hours), Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (Orphan Black, Being Erica, Wingin’ It). BBC Worldwide has acquired international distribution rights. The Next Step is also produced with the financial assistance from The Shaw Rocket Fund and the Canada Media Fund.

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Featured, Heartland

Review: “Broken Heartland”

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“Broken Heartland” certainly lived up to its episode title, as the growing tension between Lou and Peter finally reached an explosive head. Heartland is never afraid to shy away from the drama in it’s family drama description, but even I was a little shocked by how loud their argument was following an increasingly cringeworthy family lunch.

As with most fights between couples, a re-hash of previous mistakes were dragged out into the open: Peter’s failure in Dubai and him insisting on working in Vancouver, Lou buying a house and getting a specialist for Katie without his consent. As Lou rightly pointed out, they’d both made errors. But suggesting he had someone on the side in Van-city seemed like a bit of a stretch, especially for Heartland. How many die-hard fans would be devastated if Peter and Lou’s marriage ended in divorce because he was messing around? Still, it could happen. As an aside, I agreed with Peter when he retorted that he and Lou couldn’t even get enough privacy to have a fight. Although, with all of that land around them, perhaps going out into a nearby field would have been a good idea.

By episode’s end, Lou was jetting to Vancouver to talk to Peter about the state of their marriage. I’m hoping Heartland‘s writers simply have him be happily surprised by her arrival rather than have a nasty shock awaiting Lou when she lands. (Of course, Heartland is on hiatus next week, so we’ll have to wait.)

Like Lou and Peter, Amy and Ty were finding it tough to score some alone time too. The pair were headed off to Montana for a couple of days but had that dashed when an impromptu horse ride resulted in the truck stolen by a hitchhiker. (WHY would Ty put the keys in the sun visor???? He’s got pockets!!! Why would they leave their cell phones in the truck?? What if something had happened??) Luckily for them, Brooke the hitchhiker didn’t get far; they caught up to her when the truck suffered a flat front tire. But rather than report Brooke to the police, they gave her a ride, and it was on that trip—and hearing of Brooke’s relationship struggles with her mom—that Ty realized that, off the wagon or not, his own mother deserved to be invited to he and Amy’s wedding.

Ty’s decision was a mature one, and I was impressed he came to it. I still think that he and Amy are going to elope—maybe with Brooke singing to them under that tree—but offering an olive branch to his mom was still nice.

Notes and quotes

  • I think Katie’s got the right idea; a cupcake tree would be awesome
  • “Your daughter thinks you live in an airplane.” I know this was supposed to be serious, but I laughed out loud at Lou’s line
  • “I’m never gonna live this down!” Luckily for Ty, Tim likely won’t find out about Brooke stealing the truck
  • Georgie and Jade provided much-needed levity on Sunday, first at the vet clinic and then when Georgie finally asked Steven to the Sadie Hawkins dance
  • Where’s Tim?!?

Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.

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