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.
19-2, Featured

Photo gallery: 19-2 Season 3 premiere images revealed

We’re mere days away from the Season 3 return of 19-2 to Bravo (with Season 4 already ordered), and the Canadian specialty network has released a synopsis and images for the first episode:

In the season premiere episode “Burn Pile” (Monday, June 20 at 10 p.m. ET), the squad waits for findings from a task force into Sergeant Houle’s case. Nick and Ben find themselves at the centre of the fractured squad, the only partnership that has endured. On the job, the squad face a horrific accident that puts multiple lives in danger.

As previously announced, new characters this season include Juliette Gosselin as foster child Martine, who claims to have information on Kaz’s death; Krista Bridges as Inspector Elise Roberge, stationed at 19 to wrap up the investigation of Sergeant Houle; and Joe Pingue as Charlie Figo, an old-school mobster who goads Nick into uncharted territory.

Check out images from the instalment and the teaser trailer to get you set for June 20. Are you as pumped as we are? Let us know in the comments below and keep an eye out for our interviews with stars Maxim Roy and Alexandra Ordolis in the coming days.

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19-2 returns Monday, June 20, at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

The Messenger paints a bleak picture for future of songbirds

Spring is here, and that means songbirds waking you up from your morning slumber or flitting overhead when you’re outside. Unfortunately, the number of songbirds is dropping, and folks are scrambling to figure out why.

After airing on The Nature of Things as “SongbirdSOS,” The Messenger flies to Documentary Channel on Tuesday with expanded footage and more stunning visuals. Throughout history, man has viewed birds both as mythical beings and as harbingers of changing weather and seasons. Now, their diminishing song is hinting at something catastrophic.

Beautifully shot, with cameras capturing clouds of birds swirling in unison with thunderclouds in the background, Bill Evans’ hearing aid microphone contraption proves smaller songbirds migrate at night when predators can’t see them (something radar proves with blooming imagery spreading across the United States as the sun sets), chirping to avoid mid-air collisions.

As York University’s Dr. Bridget Stutchbury notes, species of birds still exist, but their numbers are way down. The question is, why?

The Messenger suggests sobering answers. Mankind’s creation of artificial light has messed with the birds’ ability to migrate during the night, disorienting them and causing midair collisions. And, of course, we’ve constructed huge skyscrapers that songbirds fly into, a point driven home by FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program) Canada when they lay out the bodies of hundreds of dead birds on a plain white sheet for all to see.

Lost breeding and wintering habitats in rain forests, wetlands and boreal forests, oil pipelines and farm pesticides are contributing to declining song bird numbers, as well as house cats.

On the positive side, there are steps being taken to halt the dropping populations, including allowing birds to feast on hurtful insects in Costa Rican coffee fields and mandating building owners to switch off the lights at night. Hopefully enough changes will come in time to save the songbirds before their tunes cease.

The Messenger airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on Documentary Channel.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

My Millennial Life spotlights the struggle of overeducated, underemployed young adults

The statistics don’t lie, and they’re pretty darned depressing. Millennials are the most-educated generation ever. Since 1981, there has been a 58 per cent increase in the percentage of 25-29 year olds with post-secondary degrees or diplomas. Nearly half of millennials are underemployed in low-wage, dead-end jobs and unemployment for recent grads is double the national average.

Amid those, stunning, crushing numbers comes TVO’s My Millennial Life, which follows five twenty somethings struggling to find jobs—and an identity for themselves—today.

It’s easy to watch something like Saturday’s documentary—produced and directed by Maureen Judge—with a jaded eye. After all, these are all twentysomethings who want money, cars, houses and fame right now rather than work the decades it took generations before them to get there. It used to be folks got an education, graduated and then worked at one company until retirement. Today’s society is different, with 40-year-olds looking for work; where do kids half their age go to find a gig?

Hope saw herself living in NYC and working for a high-end magazine, going to parties and meeting celebrities. She dreamed of buying Louis Vuitton bags on a whim. Her reality? Buying knockoffs from a street vendor and living at home in Pennsylvania. James has a start-up company but is cash-poor; Meron wanted to be a MuchMusic veejay but cleans hotel rooms; Emily sits in her kitchen and listens to music in the apartment her dad pays the rent for and enrols in college to get the real-life skills she didn’t acquire in university; and Tim moved from Moncton to Toronto to make it as a musician but transcribes court testimony for money. There are plenty of tears as they describe the frustration of working in menial, low-paying jobs.

“I don’t know why I haven’t been hired,” Emily says at her lowest point. “I keep trying and trying, and I just need a chance. I just need that break and I don’t know what to do. At this point, I think there’s something wrong with me.”

My Millennial Life isn’t a total downer. Judge introduces the family, friends and loved ones’ of those featured, showing the support systems in place when things aren’t going well. And there is good news for a couple of the kids featured. But the fact remains: it isn’t getting any easier for millennials to realize their dreams.

My Millennial Life airs Saturday, May 28, at 9 p.m. ET on TVO. It can be seen on TVO.org following the broadcast.

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Featured, Private Eyes

Jason Priestley has fun solving crimes in Global’s Private Eyes

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Republic of Doyle fans rejoice! You’re got a new wise-cracking, sports car driving primetime private investigator to cheer for with Private Eyes, debuting Thursday on Global. Loosely based on the book The Code by Gare Joyce, Jason Priestley is Matt Shade, an ex-professional hockey player who swaps the rink for investigating high-stakes crimes when he teams with P.I. Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson).

“We’ve only sent one person to the hospital during filming,” Sampson says with a laugh during a break in filming. She is, of course referring to Priestley’s tumble off a horse that briefly shut down production last November. The fact he can laugh about the incident shows how comfortable he is with his co-star, something that comes across in the first episode. Private Eyes‘ theme sets the tone for the series; Vancouver’s Dear Rouge have updated the classic Hall & Oates tune for the opening credits, providing a funky, fun feel.

Private2

Tuesday’s debut episode of 10 introduces viewers to the main players, when Matt is stunned the minor hockey player he’s been scouting collapses on the ice. Suspicious a fellow player may have had a hand in the incident, Matt joins Angie and they delve into a handful of suspects. Both are headstrong and used to getting their own way, which results in a lot of sniping back and forth. There are, of course, the first hints at some sexual chemistry between the pair, adding another layer to their relationship. Rounding out the cast—and sanding Matt’s rough edges—are Matt’s legally blind daughter, Jules (Jordyn Negri) and father Don (Barry Flatman). Clé Bennett and Ennis Esmer play Det. Derek Nolan and Det. Kurtis Mazhari, who both have dim views of Matt.

“Matt’s plate is pretty full,” Priestley says. “He’s taken over primary custody of Jules, so he’s a guy who is struggling to figure out how his new situation is going to work out in his life. But he’s also trying to figure out this new situation in his life. He’s a guy who’s stuck between these two strong women and trying to figure out a balance.”

Will  there be romance between Angie and Shade? That’s not in the cards … yet.

“We’re not exploring that option at this point,” Sampson says. “There are so many other women and so many other men and the cases to be solved too.”

Private Eyes airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.

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Slasher

Link: Steve Byers Talks Slasher

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Steve Byers Talks Slasher
“You never know how a scene like that is going to be. We were at the end of a bunch of night shoots, and then when you get down to it, it was a grueling couple of nights. We all get along really well [but] you get to a point where you’re happy that it’s done. I think that scene turned out really well.” Continue reading.

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