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, Murdoch Mysteries

Comments and queries for the week of March 11

20 Stars, 20 Room Renovations: Home to Win debuts

OMG. I would love to enter my husband in this challenge. He is a farmer but I call him my jack-of-all-trades. I don’t know what heart palpitating challenges you will give him, but I’m sure my heart will be palpitating watching him do these challenges. Please consider him as a contestant. (P.S. – We love to watch HGTV.) —Joan

Murdoch Mysteries‘ showrunner explains heartbreaking episode

Maria, when did you start watching the show? Julia cannot have children, due to a past and painful abortion. My only solution would be for the Murdoch’s to have a surrogate; but, that was the early 1900. No surrogate then? I believe before the season finale, they will have a child. We now know that they are open to adoption, so anything now is possible and acceptable with Julia and William. —Joanne

Joanne, thank you so much for clarification. I watched all the seasons (not in order though) and most certainly I missed that information. One episode, however, sunk in my memory and made me think that it is possible for them to have a child. This was when Det. Murdoch went to the so called “Future Showing” show and got somewhat hypnotized inside the machine. In this episode, he could foresee his future (10 to 12 years from the present time) with Julia and (must be) their son. This story made me think that it is possible for them to have a son, maybe even an adopted one. But it really doesn’t look like anymore. How sad. —Maria

Link: Why Canadian TV producers don’t want to make a Downton Abbey

We arguably did have a Downton Abbey. It was the 90s period drama Road to Avonlea, a Canadian story set in Canada with a large ensemble of great characters with great writing and great acting. It got great ratings on both sides of the border and it holds up rather well today, unlike many shows which become corny with time. That being said, its been a couple decades since the show ended and Emily of New Moon failed to live up to its predecessor. I wish we could get something else; none of the networks really seem to embrace the idea. —Alicia

Curses on Curse of the Frozen Gold

You think it is respectful disrespecting a B-25 bomber war grave on your show? Rooting through it like vultures; you should be slapped for your ignorance of the men that lost their lives and their families. I believe that is a protected war grave and I hope you are reprimanded. —Bill

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Fire off an email to greg@tv-eh.com or on Twitter @tv_eh.

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Wynonna Earp

Link: ‘Wynonna Earp’ showrunner pitched the series as ‘Frozen’ meets ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’

From Donna Dickens at Hitfix.com:

‘Wynonna Earp’ showrunner pitched the series as ‘Frozen’ meets ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
“One thing I think is really important that I try to do is just because she’s a kickass babe doesn’t mean she can’t also be a woman and have feelings and be vulnerable and make mistakes and maybe be stupid about her romantic entanglements. All the women I know are kickass and amazing but are real people who make mistakes.” Continue reading.

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Letterkenny

Letterkenny’s huge launch on CraveTV fuels second season order

From a media release:

As announced moments ago on Twitter, CraveTV together with The Comedy Network, has ordered a second season of LETTERKENNY, CraveTV’s first ever original series which debuted on February 7. Produced by New Metric Media in partnership with DHX Media in association with Bell Media, a second season of the smash hit comedy series is set to shoot this spring in Sudbury. The announcement was confirmed by Mike Cosentino, Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks and CraveTV, at today’s Banff World Media Festival’s Content Industry Connectduring Canadian Screen Week. Today’s announcement comes ahead of LETTERKENNY arriving on The Comedy Network schedule later this year.

As part of today’s announcement, CraveTV revealed that LETTERKENNY had the biggest debut of any series on CraveTV since the premium TV streaming service launched in 2014, with more CraveTV users watching LETTERKENNYthan any other series or title on CraveTV. LETTERKENNY is based on the Internet sensation Letterkenny Problems, a series of shorts which have raked in more than 14 million views. Created by Jared Keeso of Bravo’s hit Canadian Screen Award-nominated original drama 19-2, LETTERKENNY is executive produced, directed, and co-written by Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky), who returns for Season 2.

Supported by a massive cross-platform promotional and publicity campaign, all six episodes of Season 1 of LETTERKENNY debuted on CraveTV Super Bowl Sunday (February 7) where the series became an instant hit. It finished the day #1 amongst all titles with more views per episode than any other series. The series has been #1 ever since, making LETTERKENNY the most successful title to ever launch on CraveTV. To date, already nearly one in three CraveTV users have watched LETTERKENNY.

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19-2

Link: Spiro Malandrakis offers up details on Season 3 of 19-2

From Eleni Armenakis of The TV Junkies:

Spiro Malandrakis offers up details on Season 3 of 19-2
Spiro Malandrakis, who’s joining the upcoming season as recurring character Frank Ferney, was willing to spare a couple of details. Namely that Ben Chartier, fresh off ensuring Sergeant Julien Houle (Conrad Pla) would never hurt another child, will have a new case on his hands as he handles Frank’s application to get custody of his niece–one that it seems will also see him working with Amelie (Tatiana Jones) yet again. (Photo credit: Yan Turcotte) Continue reading.

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Bitten

Link: Bitten showrunner Daegan Fryklind previews tough choices ahead

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Bitten showrunner Daegan Fryklind previews tough choices ahead
“If any one of us was presented with a different history, or uncovered a past other than what we’ve come to know, we’d be torn between pursuing that truth or letting sleeping dogs lie. Elena is a character who has always longed for a family, that’s part of the books and we’ve made it part of the series, so introducing this new family felt like the natural expansion of the series, and a way to bring her character back to the centre of the show.” Continue reading. 

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