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.
Children Ruin Everything

Links: Children Ruin Everything, Season 1

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: In ‘Children Ruin Everything,’ producer and dad Kurt Smeaton mines the hard parts of parenthood for comedy
When you think of all the fictional mothers and fathers who have inhabited our small screens, it’s hard to picture, say, Mike Brady waking up next to a puddle of pee or June Cleaver shouting because Beaver is using “toilet words” at the dinner table. Continue reading.

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Link: Review: Children Ruin Everything
Schitt’s Creek proved you can go for it when it comes to a TV title. Children Ruin Everything, for example, is snappy and straight to the point. The series premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CTV. Continue reading.

From W. Andrew Powell of The Gate:

Link: Meaghan Rath and Aaron Abrams talk Children Ruin Everything
Life with kids is always interesting, and in CTV’s new comedy Children Ruin Everything, stars Meaghan Rath and Aaron Abrams play a couple who are trying to find that balance between being adults, and being parents. Continue reading.

From Charles Trapunski of Brief Take:

Link: Children Ruin Everything’s Meaghan Rath and Aaron Abrams
Children Ruin Everything is a funny new series starring Meaghan Rath, who we know from her memorable Schitt’s Creek episode as a friend of Alexis (Annie Murphy), as well as genre shows such as Being Human, Supergirl (starring alongside her brother Jesse Rath as the female version of Brainiac on a couple of fantastic episodes), as well as on Hawaii Five-0. Continue reading.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Documentary Channel delves into a decades-old mystery in SkyMaster Down

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I’m fascinated with stories of people and/or things that disappear without a trace. I think it all started back when I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind with my dad in the movie theatre. That lead me to UFOs, the Bermuda Triangle and other mysteries. It’s never stopped, which was why I was intrigued by Skymaster Down.

Debuting Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on documentary Channel, filmmaker Andrew Gregg heads north to uncover a headscratcher case that hasn’t been solved in over 70 years.

Here are the facts. U.S. Air Force Douglas Skymaster #2469 departed Anchorage, Alaska, for Great Falls, Nebraska, on January 26, 1950, with 44 passengers—members of the U.S. military, and a pregnant woman and her child—on board. After checking in with Snag Airport over the radio, it suddenly disappeared over the Yukon without a trace. A massive search—where four rescue planes crashed—ensued, with no results.

Did it hurtle into a lake? Why wasn’t an SOS sent? Did it slam into a mountain? Become buried in a glacier? Gregg and others, like the late Gerry Whitley of the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association in Whitehorse, attempt to find out, tracing the route #2469 took—a route still travelled today, it should be noted—and bring closure to the families who were left behind. Gregg is a master storyteller, giving an extensive history of the region at the time, including how and why the route #2469 flew was established in the first place, how an intensive military exercise may have played a part in the disappearance and why reports of an incident by an Indigenous man were ignored.

What sets Skymaster Down apart—aside from buggy visits in the north—from other docs in this vein are the interviews with the families of those lost. These chats paint a picture of the people in the images flashed on-screen, adding another layer of sorrow to an already devastating tale.

Skymaster Down airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on documentary Channel.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

History and Hungry Eyes Media present a groundbreaking exploration of Canada’s Black history in BLK: An Origin Story, premiering February 26

From a media release:

HISTORY® and Hungry Eyes Media Group announce the groundbreaking four-part docuseries, BLK: An Origin Story, premiering Saturday, February 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The limited series, consisting of four 60-minute episodes, reveals the deep historic impact of Black presence in Canada. Executive produced by Jen Holness and Sudz Sutherland, BLK: An Origin Story is helmed by Hungry Eyes’ award-winning production team, who takes viewers on a nationwide journey through time to discover the untold story of Black people in Canada and their legacy, which dates back to 1608.

BLK: An Origin Story is steeped in riveting, enduring, and multi-faceted historical Black Canadian narratives. Each episode transports viewers to a different Canadian location, and provides chronologically significant insights into the consequences of Black presence in the areas. Featured outposts include Nova Scotia, Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. The series also highlights the legacy of Black contributions to the larger story of Canada itself, dating back to when explorer Mathieu de Costa first set foot on shore, more than 400 years ago. BLK: An Origin Story acts as an immersive and informative chapter of Black Canadian history, elevating remarkable Black Canadians previously unacknowledged in mainstream social, academic, and cultural circles, normalizing their unique stories as a matter of general record. 

BLK: An Origin Story elevates the unsung heroes who substantially contributed to Canada’s nation-building and to Black Canadian history. The series shines a spotlight on the origins of diverse and deeply entrenched Black Canadian experiences, which range from being transported, escaped, or freely traveled within Canada. Part history book, part geography lesson, each of the four episodes leverages compelling footage, art, locations, archival materials, and interviews from some of the country’s best known and under known experts of Black Canadian lore, facts, and pedagogy. The list of authors, academics, musicians, historians, community leaders, activists and elders include George Elliot Clarke, Lawrence Hill, Charmaine Nelson, El Jones, May Q Wong, and Stephanie Allen, among others. 

Episode Synopsis:

Episode 1: Three Epic Migrations, One People (NS)
Descendants of The Black Loyalists, Jamaican Maroons and The Black Refugees represent Canada’s largest Black population today. Their incredible story begins in Nova Scotia in the 1700s and challenges our understanding of what should be considered a distinct society.

Episode 2: John “Daddy” Hall (Owen Sound, ON)
Born free of an Ojibwe father and an escaped-slave mother in Upper Canada, John “Daddy” Hall fought in the war of 1812, was captured and sold into slavery. Thirteen years later he makes a daring escape and finds his way back to Canada.

Episode 3: Hogan’s Alley (Vancouver, BC)
Before Urban Renewal, before displacement, and before dispersal, there was life. For many years Hogan’s Alley was the heart of Vancouver’s Black community. But that community began in the 1850s, when James Douglas, (the father of British Columbia) invited Blacks to settle Vancouver Island in an effort to stave off American annexation.

Episode 4: Little Burgundy (Montreal, QC)
Tucked between Griffintown and St. Henri in Montreal’s Sud Ouest is Little Burgundy, home to a Black population led by Black men who worked in Canada’s railway industry as sleeping car porters. They were the first Black trade union to organize in North America and were among the leaders in the struggle for civil rights.

BLK: An Origin Story is produced by Hungry Eyes Media in association with Corus Studios for HISTORY. Executive Producers are Jen Holness and Sudz Sutherland. For Corus Studios and HISTORY, Kathleen Meek is the Executive in Charge of Production, Rachel Nelson is Vice President of Original Scripted, Factual and Kids Content, and Lisa Godfrey is Senior Vice President of Original Content and Corus Studios.

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Corus Studios unites HGTV’s Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baeumler in new original series Renovation Resort

From a media release:

Corus Studios kicks off the new year with its latest greenlight, Renovation Resort (7×60), bringing together two of HGTV Canada’s biggest names in real estate and construction, Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baeumler, for the first time in one show. The seven-part competition series, produced by McGillivray Entertainment, is slated for production this summer and set to premiere on HGTV Canada in Spring 2023. Corus Studios will distribute the series internationally.     

In Renovation Resort, Scott McGillivray enlists builder and longtime “frenemy” Bryan Baeumler to help get his recently purchased, total wreck of a lakeside resort into shape. Although they won’t be getting their hands dirty this time, instead, they’re calling in four expert contractor/design duos who will battle it out against each other as they bring this forgotten fishing resort back to life in a frenzied, fun, action-packed competition series. Each of these super-skilled teams will design and renovate one of four waterfront cabins in just six weeks, attempting to transform them into gorgeous one-of-a-kind vacation rentals ready to receive flocks of guests. Armed with good advice, and a few quick jokes, Scott and Bryan will oversee the full process, guiding these four teams through the renovation, setting up tricky challenges and, alongside their guest judges, critiquing the results with a critical eye. As the clock ticks down to the big launch for the high season, these teams will go all out to turn their cabin into a complete show-stopper. Only one cabin will be crowned the best and that team will go home with a game-changing reward.

For Corus Studios, Colin Bohm is Executive Vice President of Content and Corporate Strategy, Lisa Godfrey is Senior Vice President of Original Content and Corus Studios, Krista Look is Vice President of Original Lifestyle Content and Debbie Brown is Executive in Charge of Production. For McGillivray Entertainment, Scott McGillivray is CEO, Angela Jennings is President, Jeff Baker is Head of Production and Kelly Wray is Executive Producer.

Renovation Resort is currently looking for experienced contractors and designer duos to participate in the series. For casting details, visit https://renomem.castingcrane.com/. 

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Children Ruin Everything, Featured

Do Children Ruin Everything? CTV’s newest comedy answers that question

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It’s funny how a simple TV show title can elicit an immediate response. I recently received an email from a reader who was outraged at CTV’s newest comedy, Children Ruin Everything, because of its name.

Debuting Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, Children Ruin Everything uses that sly—and, for some, a hot-button topic—name as a jumping-off point for laughs. Created and executive produced by Kurt Smeaton (Schitt’s Creek, What Would Sal Do?) the show posits not so much whether a young couple’s lives are ruined by having kids as it is how their lives are changed because of them.

“I’ve got three kids,” Smeaton says. “I was reading these studies on happiness and how people without kids were way happier than people with kids. I felt offended, but also kind of seen, and the inspiration for this was a counterargument. Yeah, these articles make a lot of great points, but there is another part of it they’re not getting at. It’s not necessarily about happiness. Raising a family and kids is so funny and unpredictable and really fulfilling.”

The couple at the heart of Children Ruin Everything are Astrid (Meaghan Rath) and James (Aaron Abrams), who are juggling work, going back to work, in-laws and friends when you have kids in your life. The debut episode “Meals” caused me not only to cackle but nod my head in understanding. After four years of being a stay-at-home mom, Astrid is ready to return to work, so she and James decide to mark the occasion with a celebratory dinner with their kids, Felix (Logan Nicholson) and Viv (Mikayla SwamiNathan). What happens next—dismissed food, short attention spans, frustration and broken glass—is totally relatable. I’ve experienced this before, and seeing another couple deal with it made me feel better about my own step-parenting decisions.

Outside of the home is more hilarity, thanks to supporting cast in Ennis Esmer (Private Eyes), Lisa Codrington (Letterkenny), Nazneen Contractor (Ransom) and Veena Sood (The Indian Detective).

Upcoming storylines delve into road trips, death and space (or lack thereof), bodies and how they change, with a story arc that wonders if Astrid and James should have another child.

“We try to keep the themes and stories fairly simple because it doesn’t take a lot to initiate a story and have these characters go,” Smeaton says.

Children Ruin Everything airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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