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.
Aftermath, Featured

Heche and Tupper save the world in Space’s Aftermath

I’m a massive Stephen King fan; two of my favourite works are The Stand and The Mist. In the former, the world is brought down by a plague and the Americans that survive make their way across the nation to Boulder, Colo., recreating society out of a country with no power and no law. In The Mist, a cataclysmic thunderstorm tears a hole into another dimension, unleashing awful beasts that claim our planet as their own.

There’s plenty of both scenarios going on in Space and Syfy’s new series, Aftermath, and that’s just fine with me. Created and run by William Laurin and Glenn Davis (The Pinkertons, Missing), the 13-parter debuts Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on Space, with Joshua (James Tupper) and Karen Copeland (Anne Heche) trying to keep their family safe from an approaching hurricane. A hurricane on its own isn’t a big deal, except the Copelands live in Washington state, nowhere near warm water where those storms spin. Battery-powered radios crackle alternately of the end times and science and … horrors … cell service is nonexistent. If no texting wasn’t bad enough, some folks have gone nuts and are skinning each other alive.

aftermath

It’s with this as the backdrop that Tuesday’s debut, “RVL 6768,” sets up one hell of a ride. (Keep an eye out for the episode title to show up in one memorable scene.) With so much going on in the first 10 minutes, I worried I’d be overwhelmed with information. Sci-fi series can do that as the world, the characters and parameters are set up, but that wasn’t the case with Aftermath. I credit that to Tupper and Heche’s characters who are islands of calm as the world goes to shit. Josh is a university professor who studies world cultures and beliefs, so he picks up on the significance of fish and snakes dropping out of the sky. Karen is a former Air Force pilot whose no-nonsense attitude and survival training will keep her family—son Matt (Levi Meaden) and twin sisters Briana (Taylor Hickson) and Dana (Julia Sarah Stone)—safe.

Her skills are called upon early and often as increasingly violent and odd folks begin popping up. Incredible CGI and effects turn merely scary situations into horrifying ones and one such scene causes the Copelands to leave their home in the rearview mirror and explore what America has become. And what it’s become is a terrifying place.

Aftermath airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

Images courtesy of Bell Media. 

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries, Wynonna Earp

Photo gallery: First look at Season 10 of Murdoch Mysteries

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The wait is over, Murdoch Mysteries fans! Season 10 is upon us, and we couldn’t be happier, especially after getting a peek at six images from the first episode!

As previously announced, Downton Abbey‘s Samantha Bond guest-stars in “Great Balls of Fire, Part 1,” but what we don’t know was that Wynonna Earp‘s Dominique Provost-Chalkley would be appearing as well. Here’s an episode description for Episode 1001:

In the wake of Ogden’s (Hélène Joy) near-death experience at the hands of a deranged former patient, Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) is trying to create some normalcy in their shared life by moving ahead with plans to build a house. Ogden appears to be recovered but her physical well-being hides trauma to her spirit and psyche. The doctor masks it well as the couple spends a night on the town at the Grand Hotel for an elegant debutante ball. Ogden’s friend, Lady Suzanne Atherly (Samantha Bond), has recently arrived from London and is using the event to introduce her daughter Elizabeth (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) to Toronto society and the very eligible bachelor Rodney Strong (Kyle Cameron). As Ogden entertains her guest, Murdoch is assailed by George Crabtree’s (Jonny Harris) commentary on the young women vying for the affections of the wealthy suitor.

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Season 10 of Murdoch Mysteries debuts Monday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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Lost Girl, Vikings

Canadian Kris Holden-Ried joins Season 5 of History’s Vikings

HISTORY® announced today that Ontario native Kris Holden-Ried has been cast as Eyvind (AY-vind) in season 5 of the award-winning series Vikings. Season 5 is currently in production in Ireland and Canada and will air in Canada on HISTORY in 2017.

Holden-Ried will appear throughout the season as the character Eyvind, an important warrior in Kattegat who decides to travel and settle his family in a new land.

Hailed for his starring role in Showcase’s award-winning original series Lost Girl, Holden-Ried most recently moved behind the camera with his directorial debut, The Epitaph, and is developing a TV series based on an internationally-acclaimed trilogy. Holden-Ried was a champion competitor in riding and fencing. He is a former member of the Canadian National Pentathlon Team and has a silver medal from both the Pan American and Pan Pacific Pentathlon Championships. He is represented by Amanda Rosenthal Talent Agency and Luber Roklin Entertainment.

Season 4 of Vikings returns with all-new episodes Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT beginning November 30 on HISTORY.

Fans can catch up on past seasons of Vikings on HISTORY.ca, HISTORY on Demand, HISTORY Go app, shomi, and iTunes.

Vikings is an international Canadian/Irish co-production by Take 5 Productions and World 2000. HISTORY broadcasts both domestically in Canada and the U.S. MGM Television brings Vikings to the global audience, serving as the worldwide distributor outside of Ireland and Canada. Vikings is produced in association with Corus Entertainment.

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Industry News, Orphan Black

Link: Tatiana Maslany is Exhibit A in the case against CRTC’s new content rules

From Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail:

Link: Tatiana Maslany is Exhibit A in the case against CRTC’s new content rules
If Orphan Black had been launched under this new rule, chances are that the promising young Canadian would not have been cast; the producers would have figured that a recognizable American actor would help sell their show abroad or the networks would have figured that an American would help sell it to audiences. Yet another Hollywood star would have shone more or less brightly in the firmament and one Canadian career might never have been launched. Continue reading.

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19-2

Production underway on fourth and final season of 19-2

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From a media release:

Bravo announced today that production has begun on Season 4 of its hit original drama 19-2. Set to return to Bravo in 2017 for its final season, the eight-episode, hour-long drama, co-produced by Montréal’s Sphere Media Plus and Echo Media, films on location in Montréal until mid-December.

Season 4 finds the squad facing an eruption of events that force them together in the face of tragedy – the death of Nick’s sister, and Ben’s lover, Amelie. It is a season of personal growth and professional trials with beat partners Ben Chartier (Jared Keeso) and Nick Barron (Adrian Holmes) and the rest of the cops in 19 fighting corruption and seeking revenge.

Writers Bruce Smith (CRACKED), Nikolijne Troubetzkoy (CALL ME FITZ), Lynne Kamm (8 Count) return, with Jackie May (Van Helsing) and Greg Nelson (SAVING HOPE) joining the writer’s room this season. Louis Choquette (THIS LIFE, VERSAILLES) and Sturla Gunnarsson (MOTIVE) return to direct.

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Winner of three, 2016 Canadian Screen Awards including Best Drama, 19-2 continues to rack up the accolades having been cited as a series that “defies expectations” by the New York Times, and “exciting” by the Wall Street Journal.

19-2 is co-produced by Sphère Média Plus and Echo Media in association with Bell Media, and also stars CSA-nominee and Gemeaux winner Laurence Lebeouf (MARCHE À L’OMBRE) as fiery officer Audrey Pouliot; CSA nominee Dan Petronijevic (SAVING HOPE) as angry beat-cop J.M.; CSA nominee Benz Antoine (THE LISTENER) as struggling alcoholic officer Tyler; Mylène Dinh-Robic (THE LISTENER) as Tyler’s brazen, no-nonsense partner Béatrice; Bruce Ramsay (CONTINUUM) as manipulative District Commander Marcel Gendron; and Alexander De Jordy (LETTERKENNY) as rookie cop Richard Dulac. CSA nominee Maxim Roy (SHADOWHUNTERS) returns to guest star as Nick’s ex-wife Isabelle.

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