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.
Cardinal

Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse cast in CTV’s Cardinal

From a media release:

CTV, alongside producers Sienna Films and Entertainment One (eOne), announced today that Golden Globe® nominee Billy Campbell and the multiple Genie Award-winning actress Karine Vanasse have been cast as series leads in CARDINAL (working title), the network’s recently announced serialized, six-part, one-hour drama. The cinematic murder mystery series stars Campbell (THE KILLING) as the intelligent, reflective, and dogged detective named John Cardinal, from the northern city of Algonquin Bay, who is burdened by a wrong he committed years ago. Quebec native Vanasse (REVENGE) is confirmed to play Cardinal’s partner Lise Delorme, a shrewd, tough, imaginative, and gifted investigator from the town’s French Canadian community. CARDINAL is a gripping, character driven drama set to premiere as part of CTV’s 2016/17 schedule, with production set to begin in February 2016.

Most recently,well-known actor Billy Campbell starred in AMC’s hit series THE KILLING as Seattle City Councilman, and eventually mayor, Darren Richmond. Campbell is also known for his role as Rick Sammler on the beloved ABC drama ONCE AND AGAIN, which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series and won a People’s Choice Award for Favourite Male Performer in a New Television Series for his performance. He is also known for his roles in THE 4400, and National Geographic Channel’s docudrama KILLING LINCOLN. Campbell’s most notable films include:  the cult classic The Rocketeer, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Enough.

Karine Vanasse is an award-winning Canadian actress. Her recent television credits include ABC’s PAN AM and REVENGE, and the upcoming French series BLUE MOON. Over the course of her career she has had lead roles in over a dozen films, including the 2009 Canadian film Polytechnique, for which she earned a Genie Award for Best Female Performance. Vanasse also served as co-producer on the film and was the driving force behind the film, which was awarded eight other Genie Awards in 2010, including Best Picture. Vanasse was also nominated for an ACTRA Award for Outstanding Female Performance in 2006 for the mini-series October 1970 and in 2010 for her performance in Polytechnique.

CARDINAL is adapted from the award-winning novel Forty Words for Sorrow, the first of the John Cardinal Mysteries series, a series of six bestselling crime novels written by Ontario native and award-winning author Giles Blunt. The series begins with the discovery of Katie Pine, a missing 13-year-old whose body is discovered in the shaft-head of an abandoned mine. CARDINAL follows detective John Cardinal (Campbell) as he attempts to uncover the mystery of what happened to the young girl. At the same time, unbeknownst to Cardinal, he comes under investigation by his new partner, Lise Delorme (Vanasse), a tough investigator in her own right.

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Featured, Schitt's Creek

Schitt’s Creek expands in Season 2

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One of the big surprises in Season 1 of Schitt’s Creek were the relationships. Far from being a formulaic comedy series hitting viewers with a rat-a-tat-tat of jokes, Dan Levy’s co-creation showed real heart among its characters … when they weren’t caught in cringe-inducing situations.

By the end of the rookie go-round, David Rose (Dan Levy) was speeding out of town in a stolen truck after breaking up with Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) and Alexis Rose (Annie Murphy) was trying to decide which man she wanted to be with: stoic, stable Ted (Dustin Milligan) or rough and tumble Mutt (Tim Rozon). Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) and Moira (Catherine O’Hara), meanwhile, were plotting to get the family out of Schitt’s Creek. When Season 2 returns to CBC in January with two back-to-back episodes, three days have elapsed since David disappeared and Alexis decides to cut Ted loose.

“Ted returns a changed man after going on a honeymoon by himself,” Dan says with a smile while O’Hara cackles with glee. “Ted goes away to a sunny resort and learns a lot about himself.” The same is true of the other major characters; Johnny is plans to sell Schitt’s Creek but opens up an office in the meantime, Moira attempts to inject the town with some sophistication and David goes looking for a job. Now that the writers’ room members know more about the characters, they can interplay and explore other parts of the town.

“We definitely went into this season saying, ‘OK, let’s go with some different pairings,'” Dan says. “We see a really lovely episode between Moira and Alexis halfway through the season.”

“They wrote a great story,” O’Hara says. “Alexis gets sick and Moira doesn’t know how to mother her. There was always someone there to take care of Alexis when she was growing up. These are new experiences for Moira.” O’Hara is quick to point out Moira is forced into these mothering situations; there is no forethought or plan to make her a better mom. Or cook, as illustrated in Episode 2 of Season 2, when Moira’s attempt to re-create a Mexican dish from her own mom’s recipe turns into a fiasco in Jocelyn’s (Jennifer Robertson) kitchen.

David, meanwhile, goes on a job hunt, which leads to the introduction of a new character played by former Saturday Night Live and SCTV actress Robin Duke.

“David gets a job at a clothing store and she plays Wendy, the manager of the store,” he teases. “The store is struggling, so she is balancing the reality of an unstable business with having hired David, who wants to redo the whole store. His ideas are not coming from a business mind.” Also on tap? More Twyla (Sarah Levy), thanks to a group activity that starts happening in the town.

“Again, this was a way of showing our characters in different lights and providing a different through-line that was outside of the areas we’ve associated them with.”

Schitt’s Creek returns Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Plus: Vote for Schitt’s Creek for Favourite Canadian TV Series of 2015.

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Industry News

Link: Introducing our Women Behind Canadian TV series

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From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Introducing our Women Behind Canadian TV series
It’s been almost a year since Writers Guild of Canada President Jill Golick called for gender equality in television writing rooms, and while it would seem like awareness and talk of equality has gone up, the reality of the lack of women actually holding notable positions continues. While it’s been reported that over the last year women were responsible for only 34 per cent of the writing credits on Canadian television series, if we take a closer look there’s definitely some rays of hope for the future. Continue reading.

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Degrassi, Industry News

Family Channel’s new teen block F2N launches with the premiere of Degrassi: Next Class

From a media release:

DHX Television’s leading kids network Family Channel is expanding it’s offering with F2N– a new timeslot on the schedule featuring exclusive series and popular movies for teens. Beginning Monday, January 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, F2N takes over nighttime viewing on Family Channel, anchored by the highly-anticipated debut of Degrassi: Next Class. This entertainment haven for older audiences will also introduce seven series as part of an overall programming and licensing deal with AwesomenessTV as DHX Television expands its relationship with the Gen Z content creator to feature shows for teens that capture how growing up is rarely predictable. Launching today to give viewers more insight on the F2N programming slate that awaits them is F2N.ca, which features show details and exclusive previews of what’s on the horizon.

From DHX Studios, Degrassi: Next Class tells the stories of Generation Z with equal measures of humour, angst and heart. This drama follows high school students as they grapple with a series of ‘firsts’ and begin their journey into adulthood. Pushing their own limits and testing the bonds of family and friends, the students each find their own way to deal with a range of issues: from homophobia and racism to substance abuse and the complications of dating in the social media age.

New faces joining the previously announced cast of Degrassi: Next Class include: Amir Bageria as Baaz Nahir; Soma Bhatia as Goldi Nahir; Jamie Bloch as Yael Baron; Chelsea Clark as Esme Song; and Dante Scott as Vijay Miraj. The series was co-created by Linda Schuyler who is also Executive Producer with Stephen Stohn, Sarah Glinski and Matt Huether.

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Children's Programming

Link: How a comic book heroine inspired an animation empire

From Martin Knelman of the Toronto Star:

How a comic book heroine inspired an animation empire
When Hirsh, Loubert and Clive Smith formed a film-production company in 1971, they chose the name Nelvana because of the comic book. It had a nice mystical ring to it, it was Canadian and it sounded a bit like “nirvana.”

It took years before Nelvana became a powerhouse factory for TV animation for children. A turning point came in 1977 when George Lucas chose Nelvana to make a 10-minute cartoon as part of a holiday Star Wars project. That led eventually to two series of Star Wars cartoons. Continue reading.

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