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.
Featured, Industry News, Kim's Convenience

Kevin White previews this year’s Writing Room Intensive at the TSC

This year’s WGC Writing Room Intensive at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference is notable for a couple of reasons. For one, it’s the first time the TSC’s Intensive is focusing on comedy writing. And secondly, the Intensive is being run by Kevin White and Ins Choi, the co-creators of CBC’s hit comedy Kim’s Convenience, giving the participants the opportunity to write a mock episode of the series which is, coincidentally, prepping for Season 2 on CBC.

On Thursday, Amy Cole, Derek Robertson, Elize Morgan, Gillian Muller, Jennifer Siddle, Lisa Rose Snow, Marcia Johnson and Richard Clark will join White, Choi and myself for six-hour session (there will be snacks, just like a real writer’s room). What can these lucky eight expect from the session? We got Kevin White to tease what’s in store. And check back on Friday to read my recap of the session; I’ll be moderating a panel discussing the group’s experiences on Saturday, April 22, at the Toronto Screenwriting Conference.

First off, what interested you about participating in the Writing Room Intensive this year?
Kevin White: It’s hard to get experience making stuff and doing stuff. I feel like anytime you can share that with people, with the hopes that people can learn and get better at the craft [is good]. And, hopefully, we learn something too and get a chance to meet emerging or young writers. That’s what was in it for us. If anyone can take anything away from the way we write the show, all the better.

What are you hoping they walk away with?
I don’t really know how other writer’s room are run. I’ve been in other people’s rooms as a writer for hire, so I have some sense of that. I’ve adapted a lot of things over the years as to how we approach breaking story and writing scripts collectively, so I hope some of that might be informative and helpful to people who have had less time in rooms. From a selfish point of view, it’s always nice to meet writers you haven’t worked with before and have a chance to see what their ideas are about, how they think and their point of view. I think it will be exciting for us to have eight fresh eyes on the material and really hear what it’s like for someone who hasn’t had any previous experience or exposure to the behind-the-scenes of our show freshen our outlook as well.

Will you be setting up the Intensive like you do it on Kim’s Convenience?
We’re going to try. Obviously, we have part of the morning finding out who everyone is. Then we’ll share ideas.

What can you say about the breakout sessions you have planned?
We have seven writers in the room on Kim’s Convenience now. With a number like that, we often work in different side group configurations. I hope we’ll have time to break up how we do it a little bit. Ins will have half the room, I will have half the room and we’ll be able to work in two smaller groups and report back to the bigger group. We want to be able to work with as many people as possible and meet with as many people as possible.

People will, presumably, be coming to the table with ideas. We need to hear those ideas and ruminate on them on them in the smaller groups. We’ll boil down to the ones that seem to have the most promise and then get back together and have feedback as the groups present their strongest ideas. They may be big stories and they may be small stories. Then, once we land on the stories we like the most and can sort of fit together, then we can figure out what will be the main story and what will be the other story. There might even be a third story. Then we’ll probably break off again into groups and beat those out.

Are you expecting to have an episode outline completed by the end of the day?
[Laughs.] I don’t know! I’m sure we can cobble together something. You can always make something because of time constraints because day’s end is coming. But, yes, I think we’ll be able to cobble together the bones of an episode and try to come up with what those 18 or 20 scenes could be for this typical Kim’s Convenience episode.

The Toronto Screenwriting Conference runs April 22-23, 2017. Get the latest information—including events and how to register—on the official website.

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Featured

What are your favourite Canadian TV series of all time?

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This year Canada celebrates 150 years as a nation. That’s a pretty big deal and it’s being rung in with a new $10 bill, free passes to our national parks, parades, fireworks and parties all year long.

Here at TV, Eh?, I’m marking the date in a special way and I want you to help me out. Rather than running a poll of the Top 150 Canadian television shows of all time—too unwieldy and shows would be left out—I decided to make a list of homegrown projects that are my favourites. Where do you come in? Go to the comments at the bottom of the page and list your favourites. It can be a simple list of two or three titles, or perhaps you want to go more in-depth and tell me why a program made an impact on you.

However you decide to do it, go ahead and have fun. I’ll keep track of the list and will put them all together into a piece to run on July 1.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Mr. Dressup
Yes, it bothered me—even at a young age—that Casey couldn’t pick anything up with those hands and Finnegan was mute, but Mr. Dressup drew me in all the same. He was friendly, caring and creative, and helped spark the imagination I have today.

19-2
It began with Durham County and was cemented by 19-2: Canada could make dark dramas suited for cable television. I’m working my way through the original French series via Netflix, but Bruce M. Smith’s English-language creation is a treasure for its gritty storytelling and wonderfully human characters.

Degrassi Junior High
I haven’t watch Degrassi as faithfully as some, but you can’t deny the series’ importance. It educates viewers without talking down to them and has served as a kicking-off point for a raft of Canadian television writers working in the business today.

Motive
It still hurts that Motive was cancelled after four seasons. But rather than dwell on that, I’ll instead think of how great Det. Angie Flynn was at her job. She’s a wisecracking, hard-drinking Vancouver detective who almost always got her woman or man, and had the most enjoyable non-sexual relationship with a co-worker since, well, maybe ever.

Slings & Arrows
The cable comedy has grown better with age. As in my age. Back with it first debuted, I didn’t appreciate the sharp writing and stellar performances from Paul Gross, Martha Burns, Stephen Ouimette, Don McKellar and Mark McKinney. Now I do, thanks to a re-watch on CraveTV.

The Red Green Show
Wonderful and weird, I loved every quirky character at Possum Lodge (though Harold grated on my nerves sometimes) and head oddball Red Green, whose gifts with duct tape are legend.

Wynonna Earp
Emily Andras has done something pretty rare in television: made it fun and dramatic. That opening scene in Season 1, Episode 1, set the tone for a sassy, ass-kickingly fun, spooky, scary and sexy show with a metric tonne of heart.

What are your favourite Canadian television series of all time? Let me know in the comments below.

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Crawford

Casting announced for CBC’s upcoming comedy series Crawford

From a media release:

CBC and Rabbit Square Productions today announced casting for new unconventional family comedy series CRAWFORD. Created by Mike Clattenburg (Trailer Park Boys, Black Jesus), and co-created by recording artist Mike O’Neill (Moving Day, Trailer Park Boys: Don’t Legalize It), the half-hour comedy features an ensemble cast led by Jill Hennessy (Shots Fired, Crossing Jordan), Kyle Mac (Miss Sloane, 21 Thunder), Daniel Davis Yang (Riverdale), Alice Moran (Sunnyside, Man Seeking Woman) and John Carroll Lynch (The Founder, American Horror Story). Production starts this week in Toronto and will continue until June for a winter 2018 launch on CBC.

The world of CRAWFORD is a familiar yet unusual one. When raccoons invade the world’s most functioning dysfunctional family’s home, they help breathe life and new meaning into the odd behaviours of the family. Jill Hennessy plays Cynthia (aka Mom), an award-winning cereal executive struggling to deal with the stress of juggling work with the needs of her husband, Owen, and her lover. John Carroll Lynch is cast as Owen, family patriarch and former police chief, who is unable to use his voice due to a medical condition and communicates via his smartphone. Kyle Mac is Don, “temporarily” crashing at his parents’ after being dropped by his music label. Much to his surprise, he soon finds his calling as a raccoon whisperer. Older sister Wendy, played by Alice Moran, and younger brother Brian, played by Daniel Davis Yang, aren’t too surprised by Don’s return and welcome him back—sort of—they have issues of their own. It’s weird, but in CRAWFORD weird is the new normal.

Produced by Rabbit Square Productions for CBC in Canada and Comedy Central in the U.S., CRAWFORD is executive produced by Laura Michalchyshyn and Mike Clattenburg. The series is written by Mike Clattenburg, Mike O’Neill, Zoe Whittall (Baroness von Sketch Show, The Best Kind of People), Kathleen Phillips-Locke (Sunnyside, The Ron James Show), Monica Heisey (Baroness Von Sketch Show, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better) and Timm Hannebohm (Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day, Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys).

Janice Dawe and Kathy Avrich-Johnson are co-executive producers for Bizable Media (Saving Hope, A Better Man). Line producer is Suzanne Colvin-Goulding (The Girlfriend Experience, The Virgin Suicides). Series cinematography by David Makin (Reign, Beauty and the Beast), production design by Rupert Lazarus (Eyewitness, Shoot the Messenger) and costume design by Aline Gilmore (Indian Horse, Game On). Content Media handles international distribution for the series. CRAWFORD is produced with the participation of the Canada Media Fund.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

W Network’s Hockey Wives expands in dramatic third season

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I’m constantly fascinated by Hockey Wives. The unscripted series, returning for a third season on W Network on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT, follows the wives and girlfriends of professional hockey players. With that description alone, you’d think the ongoing series wouldn’t be worth your time. But I can’t stay away.

Unlike other series on W Network with a similar setup, these ladies are real housewives. And mothers. And entrepreneurs. They keep down roots in a city, often with children, while their partner plays hockey in North America or around the world. Hockey Wives is a peek at the emotional toll that takes on them. Often with time zones apart and FaceTime as the only way to connect, these women often lead a singular existence while their loved one is surrounded by a team. There are times of emotional distress, doubt and tears.

We get all three in Tuesday’s return, which begins with Maripier Morin, who is finding success as a talk show host in Quebec while fiancé Brandon Prust found himself unsigned. Her career is on a high in Montreal, so why would she leave that? It would seem, at first anyway, like Brandon isn’t as supportive of Maripier’s goals while she continues to stick with him. (Prust has, since the time of production, signed with the Nuremberg Ice Tigers in Germany.)

“Why do you always have to ruin everything?” she asks him early on in the episode. It’s a good question, but will we get an answer?

Meanwhile, Season 3 addition Catherine LaFlamme is still riding the high of hubby Kris Letang’s Stanley Cup win with the Pittsburgh Penguins. And, after worrying about the stroke he suffered two years and ago and focusing solely on raising their son, Catherine is ready for some “me” time by designing a children’s clothing line. Fellow newbie Martine Auclair Vlasic isn’t ready to say goodbye to Marc-Edouard as he reports to the San Jose Sharks, and he doesn’t want that either; the pair is deeply involved in his career because Martine loves the sport as much as he does. Cameras also follow Emilie Blum, Erica Lundmark and Vanessa Vandal in Season 3.

And while I enjoy Hockey Wives for what it portrays, an even better idea was put forth by Anthony Marco during our most recent TV, Eh? podcast. He thinks a reality series following the Canadian women’s hockey team players would be interesting. Spotlighting those athletes as they juggle playing for the national team and working jobs to make ends meet would be fascinating and informative. I agree, especially with the Winter Olympics happening next year. Make it happen, W Network and Bristow Global Media!

Hockey Wives airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

Image courtesy of Corus.

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