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.
Shoot the Messenger

Links: Shoot the Messenger

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

“[Creators Sudz Sutherland and Jennifer Holness]created all these different characters that force [Daisy] to have to behave differently [with each of them]. She has some deep-seated issues. She’s a survivor. She knows how to play people, especially in the work environment.” Continue reading.

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

CBC’s Shoot the Messenger is not grubby enough

It starts with sexy stuff. Young woman on top of a guy in bed. “You know we gotta stop this,” he says. “That’s what you said the last time,” she says with a smile, which is all she’s wearing.

Next thing, a phone call compels her to leave. She’s a reporter and it’s a source calling. On TV, this is always when sources call newspaper journalists. People who write TV shows have very vivid imaginations about the personal lives of newspaper writers. Anyway, off the young woman journalist goes, pronto. After all, the source says, “This is going to put you on the front page of the world, Miss Daisy.” Continue reading.

From Ellen Brait of The Globe and Mail:

Link: CBC’s Shoot the Messenger pulls drama straight from the headlines
A fast-moving, sexy, timely, action-packed thriller … set in a newsroom? It sounds a bit far-fetched, but Lucas Bryant, a star of the new CBC drama Shoot the Messenger, says that’s just what the series delivers. “It’s just good TV,” he says, “Period.” Continue reading. 

From Bill Harris of Postmedia Network:

Shoot the Messenger uses Rob Ford story as inspiration for CBC thriller
Just to be clear, Shoot the Messenger is not about the Rob Ford crack-video scandal.

However, if you even are vaguely familiar with that scandal, some of this is going to ring a bell. At least in terms of the complex relationships between reporters and their sources and the police and politicians. And how that all gets even muddier when blackmailers are involved. Continue reading.

From Victoria Ahearn of The Canadian Press:

Shoot the Messenger is not about Rob Ford, say creators of the CBC series
A co-creator of the new CBC-TV crime drama “Shoot the Messenger” insists it’s not a story about Rob Ford.

But Sudz Sutherland does admit he was inspired by the saga of the late former Toronto mayor as he helped craft the series, which stars Elyse Levesque as a newspaper reporter caught up in a web of gangs, murder, sex, drugs and politics in Toronto. Continue reading.

From Sheri Shefa of The Canadian Jewish News:

Canadian actor happy to star in new CBC series
“Sam Charles is the attorney general of Ontario who is being groomed to be the next prime minister,” said Cohen, who is part of the cast of CBC’s eight-part series, Shoot the Messenger, which will begin airing on Oct. 10.

“He’s kind of a playboy, very smart. He’s a Rhodes scholar. I don’t want to say he was modelled on Justin Trudeau, but certainly he was one of the inspirations… He’s kind of, in some ways, a composite of Justin, [but] there are elements of Bill Clinton in there,” he said, adding that the show’s creators, Sudz Sutherland and Jennifer Holness, were also inspired by U.S. President Barack Obama. Continue reading. 

From Stew Slater of St. Mary’s Journal Argus:

New TV drama judged worthy of praise by St. Marys actor
With a cast filled with people of various ethnic backgrounds as well as several strong female characters — including a potential candidate for the Supreme Court of Canada played by St. Marys-based actor Brenda Bazinet — a new hour-long drama series is set to premiere on CBC Television on Monday, Oct. 10.

Shoot the Messenger, with an eight-episode main story arc exploring the aftermath when a young female journalist following a news tip happens upon a murder, was filmed in Toronto and Hamilton between August and November of 2015. Bazinet, who moved to St. Marys eight years ago after three decades living in Toronto, says she was proud to be involved in a production that consciously aimed to mirror the diverse ethnic kaleidoscope that the city has become. Continue reading.

From Ramin Ostad of the Edmonton Examiner:

Raising the Barr of Canadian TV
Ian Barr never used to want to write for television.

The Edmonton-based screenwriter has worked on multiple TV shows in his nearly 16-year career, including the widely acclaimed Tiny Plastic Men, and is a writer/producer of an upcoming 10-episode serial crime drama, Shoot the Messenger. Continue reading.
From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
Link: Shoot the Messenger: Not Your Standard Crime Drama
“We are partners, but I am a gal and I’ve been watching TV just like everybody else with male protagonists at the center of things. I’ve always been in favor of supporting women, women’s stories and to put women at the center of things. I have an awesome partner that actually believes that.” Continue reading. 
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Industry News, Pure

AJ Buckley, Ryan Robbins, Peter Outerbridge and Rosie Perez to star in CBC drama Pure

From a media release:

CBC, Two East Productions and Cineflix Media Inc. today announced casting details for the highly anticipated dramatic series PURE (6×60), about a Mennonite pastor battling drug trafficking within his community. Inspired by true events, the series stars Ryan Robbins (Arrow, Continuum, The Killing), Alex Paxton-Beesley (Murdoch Mysteries, Copper), AJ Buckley (CSI: NY, Justified, Narcos), Peter Outerbridge (Orphan Black, Bomb Girls, ReGenesis) and Oscar® and Golden Globe® nominee Rosie Perez (White Men Can’t Jump, Fearless). Commissioned by CBC and produced by Two East Productions and Cineflix Media, PURE is shooting in Nova Scotia until mid-November and will premiere on CBC in winter 2017.

PURE tells the story of Noah Funk (Robbins), a newly-elected Mennonite pastor, who is determined to rid his community of drug traffickers by betraying a fellow Mennonite to the police. But instead of solving the problem, Noah’s actions trigger an ultimatum from mob leader Eli Voss (Outerbridge): in order to protect his family he must get involved in the illegal operation. Noah decides that if he must work for the mob, he will secretly gather enough evidence to dismantle the organization.

Noah finds his beliefs and principles challenged every step of the way. Struggling to save his soul and complete his mission, Noah receives help from an unlikely source: his high school nemesis, local cop Bronco Novak (Buckley). With his law-enforcement career hanging by a thread, Bronco sees the case as his ticket to redemption. Rounding out the cast, Perez plays DEA Agent Phoebe O’Reilly, who’s made it her personal mission to take down Voss.

Commissioned by CBC and produced by Two East Productions and Cineflix, PURE is created and written by Michael Amo (The Listener) and directed by Ken Girotti (Orphan Black, Vikings). The executive producers are Amo, Brett Burlock, Peter Emerson, Girotti and David MacLeod (Call Me Fitz, Haven). Cineflix Rights has the exclusive worldwide distribution rights to PURE.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Links: CBC’s Road to Mercy on Firsthand

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

Link: Road to Mercy is a rumination on assisted death
Road to Mercy (CBC, 9 p.m. Thursday, on FirstHand) is presented as a film that “documents Canada’s journey into the furthest ethical frontier – a place where doctors are allowed to take a life and where society must decide on the circumstances under which they can.”

But it is really a rumination on the issue, rather than a chronicle of what is happening. As such, it is very powerful, provocative and philosophical. Continue reading.

From Sheryl Ubelacker of The Canadian Press:

Link: CBC’s Road to Mercy explores ethical frontiers of doctor-assisted death
Earlier this year, Canadians were given the legal right to seek a doctor-assisted death, but restrictions in the law governing who can access the act and under what circumstances have continued to fuel debate about this still-contentious issue.

Road to Mercy, a one-hour documentary airing Thursday on CBC-TV, explores the ethical questions surrounding physician-aided dying through the eyes of an Edmonton man with ALS, a young Belgium woman struggling with mental illness, and their families and doctors. Continue reading.

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Featured, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 213 — Gus with a Shovel

With Anthony in Toronto using dodgy hotel wifi, he and Greg discuss another packed two weeks of Canadian TV programming via the Calendar.

We also cover the results of this year’s Kids Help Phone Charity Auction: thanks to everyone who bid, provided items and participated. The boys highlight The TV Junkies’ survey, where Canadian television showrunners and writers weighed in on the CRTC’s decision regarding Cancon points, and close out chatting about the Montreal Gazette article comparing the CRTC to House of Cards.

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

Want to support TV, eh?’s work? Become a Patreon!

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The Romeo Section

Link: Chris Haddock and The Romeo Section Cast Preview Season 2

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Chris Haddock and The Romeo Section Cast Preview Season 2
“In the first season, you see him managing a few different things. This year, he’s more focused with this challenge of trying to get to the bottom of a case that seems suspiciously like a terror incident that was perhaps manufactured or influenced by insiders in government or the administration of government. It’s very ingenious the way Chris has written it. I think it’s going to be satisfying for people who did see Season 1; I don’t think it’s going to be hobbling for anyone who didn’t.” Continue reading.

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