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.
When we last left Chief Sam Woodburn (Jessica Matten) and Detective Chuck “Buke” Bukansky (Brian Markinson), they had made a horrible discovery: a tomb of Indigenous bodies buried under a water treatment plant.
Returning Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern on APTN, Season 2 of Tribal will conclude that storyline in dramatic fashion, while unearthing others, in particular the circumstances surrounding the shooting that injured Buke.
Created by Ron E. Scott, Tribal is a no-nonsense cop drama that pairs Tribal Police Chief Sam with veteran, white, city cop Bukansky, as they investigate not only crimes but corruption within the city police force itself.
“[This season] is a culmination of taking the tomb and turning it into a longer commentary,” Scott says. “We’ve crafted it in such a way that we have a lot going on. There is usually a crime of the week, and we’re going to that next level with the crime drama.”
Returning cast members include Garry Chalk, Julian Black Antelope, Ryan Northcott, John Cassini and Stafford Perry; newbies this season include Marci T. House, Stephen Huszar, Anita Brown, Bernard Starlight and Ashley Callingbull. The characters they embody circle Matten and Markinson, whose performances as Sam and Buke are even better in Season 2.
“We definitely wanted to explore how policing can affect the personal lives, and also the progression within the story world into some other realms,” Scott says. “We also learned that it was interesting to add some serialized aspects to the procedural, which gives it that ‘Can’t wait to watch next time.'”
Premiering on October 29th on CBC Gem, Overlord and the Underwoods is going to be the next big hit in family television. It has a stellar comedic tone, features a diverse and wickedly talented cast, and is truly unlike anything else on the TV right now.
We’re thrilled to be the very first to exclusively share the new trailer – take a look!
The show follows the Underwoods, a North American family, whose life is turned upside down when their distant cousin, Overlord, the second most-wanted villain in the universe, seeks refuge in their home after being forced into intergalactic witness protection. After snitching out his boss, the evil Colossatrotus, Overlord is sent to live with his incredibly nice, only known family on Planet Earth.
Over the course of the series, the evil Overlord and the very sweet Underwoods discover a thing or two about each other as they learn to treasure the value of family and the importance of true friendship, diversity, and compassion.
The show stars Patrice Goodman, Darryl Hinds, Ari Resnick, Kamaia Fairburn, Jayne Eastwood, introducing Troy Feldman, and award-winning Canadian icon Jann Arden as the voice of “RO-FLâ€.
The first 10 episodes drop on CBC Gem next Friday, October 29. The remaining episodes will premiere in early 2022.
Produced by marblemedia and CloudCo Entertainment, this original live-action comedy comes from award-winning Canadian writer/director/showrunner and co-creator Anthony Q. Farrell (NBC’s The Office) and co-creator Ryan Wiesbrock (Buddy Thunderstruck, Holly Hobbie).
Academy Award™ winner FX specialist Roger Christian, who brought you some of your favourite FX masterpieces from “Alien†and “Star Warsâ€, created the character design for this series.
If you’re a fan of the Slasher franchise, you’re already aware of the unique casting around it. There are, from season to season, a handful of actors who check in, usually playing very different characters from the seasons before. That’s certainly the case for Paula Brancati, who returns to Slasher: Flesh & Blood playing a very different role from Violet, the social media addict on Slasher: Solstice.
On Flesh & Blood, airing Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite, Brancati portrays Christy, who has married into the Galloway family, a group currently battling each other for the family fortune while dodging a killer called The Gentleman.
We spoke to Brancati, who is currently prepping her first project as a director with Junior’s Giant, written by Deb McGrath, about her experiences this season.
When Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter reach out to you and say they’ve got you in mind for a new season of Slasher, are you all in no matter what? Paula Brancati: Oh, yeah. It’s no question. I love them as people and as creators. And it generally starts with Aaron and Ian and I over a Bellini at Milestones, which is where we like to take our creative meetings. And they often lead with one of our more graphic scenes. They’ll tell me something wild that they’re thinking of for the character. So the pitches are always so colourful. And it’s a very easy yes for me.
It’s very rare that you get to come back and work with people that you trust again and again, who keep writing for you and continue to challenge you as an actor. Because I think, a lot of times, with the Slasher series, I get to come back and act in roles that I don’t think I necessarily would be auditioning for. So they see something, I think, in all their casting choices. They really trust their actors and push them. Christy, this season, cannot be more different from Violet in Solstice.
From the first two episodes that I have seen, Christy is more low-key, part of a somewhat dysfunctional family unit. So what was it like playing her? PB: I really loved Christy from the get-go. It was the first time I was playing a mother. And [director] Adam [MacDonald] and I, who are old friends and worked together last season as well, of course, we had really great conversations about her early on.
She is levelheaded. But as you can imagine with this show, nothing is ever what it seems. And a lot unravels very quickly. We talked a lot about Jennifer Lawrence’s character in Mother. That was somebody that Adam really took to early on as a reference for Christy. And I think we really held onto that, because I think she is this sort of grounding centre, and she really operates as eyes in for the audience. She really is a moral compass. And I think she’s fully aware of the dysfunction of the Galloways and has been married into that family for so long. But as you might have been able to see from the first two episodes, if you aren’t a blood relative, you are never fully accepted. And even when you are a blood relative, nothing is off bounds with those family members.
You said something interesting about talking to Adam about Christy. Do you like to do that with your characters, talk them out with the director? Or is that the case of you’ve known Adam, and so there’s that comfort level? PB: That’s such a good question. I love working with all kinds of directors and really love to kind of adapt to what their process is too. But I think what’s really special about Slasher and about Adam as a director is that he’s taking on something that really is Herculean. His relationship with Ian and what they bring in leading that set is really special.
We are block shooting all eight episodes out of order for many months. So we do have the advantage of coming in with all the scripts prepared and arching that together. And I know Adam, we just love every character so much and have a full life for them. So I know that he spoke to everybody really, about different references I think. And that is the joy of the show. It really is. It feels like we’re building it all together.
And then add to that, the chemistry of the cast that doesn’t get to meet—unless we’ve known each other previously, we don’t get to meet before we start shooting. So a lot sort of evolves on the floor as well. And especially in some of those bigger group scenes, which you’ll see a lot more of in this season until people start dying. We are all sort of together a lot and absorbing a lot of the madness together. And I think Adam is so great at seeing what chemistry pops up on the day and really running with that.
I’ve really enjoyed the big, family meeting scenes. As an actor, do you like that too, the bigger the group, the more people to play with in one spot? PB: I love it. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and I feel like I should be more jaded or something, but I do really enjoy it all. I do. I really relish in some of our quieter, two-hander moments myself and Breton [Lalama], myself and Chris Jacot got to do some stuff in the first couple of episodes together that was on the sort of more intimate side. And I love acting opposite those two actors and opposite our entire cast.
And then something like a big dinner scene, where we’re all sparring, and David Cronenberg is at the centre. Those are so exciting to me. And I think it does feel like theatre. I find those really long scenes, where the pace is quicker, and we’re jumping on top of each other, I find it really thrilling. I like it when I feel a little nervous and have butterflies for the scenes that we’re doing, which I think happens a lot on our show, because we are doing scenes that are pitched very high, and the stakes are very high. So that’s kind of the thrill of it as well.
With this cast of familiar faces, if I start crossing faces off the list, and I haven’t seen a particular face yet, am I on the right track as to who’s behind that mask? Or do you think I’m going to be surprised? PB: I see what you’re saying there. Very tricky way of wording it there, Greg. I will say, that I was very surprised.
I scare easily, but I tend to be inherently suspicious, so I love a whodunit. Every season, you have a cast of characters that are all so, so rich. I would watch shows about all these characters, honestly, on their own. So we have all these people in one room now, all these characters that have very full lives, that all have a lot of secrets. And I think once those secrets come undone, you’ll see that it really could be anyone behind that mask. And also, you can’t really predict what these characters are going to do to each other. And I think that’s actually possibly even more terrifying, honestly.
Slasher: Flesh & Blood airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite.
Featured image courtesy of Salvatore Antonio. Series images courtesy of Cole Burston.
From the comments many of you have made on this website and on the TV, Eh Facebook page so far, you are really enjoying the tone and storylines in Season 15 of Murdoch Mysteries. I have too, especially last week’s case on the train could with William facing off against his biggest foe … Henry and Ruth’s daughter, Jordan.
Here’s the official synopsis for Monday’s newest installment, “Love or Money,” written by Noelle Girard and directed by Sharon Lewis:
When Murdoch investigates the murder of a ladies’ man, Crabtree’s auntie is the prime suspect.
And here are some non-spoilery observations from me after watching a preview of the episode.
George is back After a couple of episodes away, Constable George Crabtree appears in Monday’s storyline, supporting Effie as she continues to reflect on her ordeal. As for Effie, she’s not sure practicing law is her true calling.
Debra McGrath guest stars After having her real-life husband, Colin Mochrie, be part of the Murdoch universe, it only makes sense that veteran actress Debra McGrath would appear. My only question is: what took so long? McGrath is pitch-perfect playing another of George’s aunts … and we can add a new flower to the list of The Flower Girls of Flower Hill. McGrath steals every scene she is in, and the comic timing between her, Jonny Harris and Yannick Bisson is impeccable. Also, keep an eye out for Shaun Benson as Anthony Quivell, a private investigator searching for money taken by the dead ladies’ man.
Julia gets in trouble When a woman enters the hospital complaining of extreme abdominal pain, her doctor waves it off as something simple. Julia, not happy with his diagnosis, goes behind his back. You can imagine the results.
Director Sharon Lewis makes a mark Murdoch Mysteries is a visually stunning show. But on Monday, director Sharon Lewis introduces intimacy through the camera work. During conversations, the camera pulls in quite close to the characters, making me feel like I was an active participant. Let me know if you feel the same way.
