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, The Nature of Things

The Nature of Things explores obesity and our guts

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Turns out our gut bugs may be creating oversized guts. That’s one of the suggestions given as to why some suffer from obesity while others don’t. Airing Thursday under CBC’s The Nature of Things banner, “It Takes Guts” posits the 100 trillion microbes living in our digestive system influence obesity in some.

The story begins with Adrianna, who has always battled her weight. Tired of being “the fat girl,” she started an exercise regimen in her 20s and cut fast food from her diet. She didn’t lose any weight. That’s because, according to obesity expert Dr. Arya Sharma of the University of Alberta, some bodies are predisposed to being that way thanks to the microbes inside them.

Geneticist Professor Tim Spector is up next, explaining microbes influence how we eat, what we eat, how we get energy from our food, protect our immune system, help us harvest calories and produce key vitamins and nutrients. These super-small spirals, blobs and other shapes are integral in our lives, and aren’t all bad.

“It Takes Guts” offers a lot of information in an interesting way, mixing expert interviews with colourful graphics while explaining how eating processed foods is like dropping a nuclear bomb on microbes—courtesy of Spector’s son, Tom—and what we can do to cultivate and enrich the critters in our gut on the path to better health. And that artificial poop machine at the University of Guelph? Make sure you tune in for that.

The Nature of Things airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Live-stream of paranormal investigation launches S2 of APTN’s The Other Side

I love watching TV shows about ghost investigations. I dutifully tuned in to every episode of Paranormal State, and checked out Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. Heck, I’ve been watching Supernatural since Season 1. I’ve seen a lot of questionable camera work and many things I can’t explain on those programs, but APTN’s The Other Side certainly seems to be on the up-and-up if you believe in the spirit world in the first place.

Returning Saturday on APTN—and just in time for Halloween—Season 2’s 13 half-hour back-to-back episodes of The Other Side once again mesh technology and the spirit world with things that go bump in the night as intuitive Jeff Richards, investigator Bill Connelly, spirit guide Tom Charles and researcher Priscilla Wolf investigate spookiness across Canada.

I screened Episode 4, “Love More,” and it’s pretty creepy stuff. Camped out at a burial ground for 16 hanged men outside Manitoba’s Headingley Prison, scientific instruments capture blips, bleeps and noises that are turned into a recognizable voice. Photographs taken at the scene uncover an orb—long thought to represent a wayward spirit—hanging out nearby. Is it really an executed murderer named Peter communicating with the team, or a local having them on? Backstory into the crime Peter was accused of rounds out the story nicely, adding a human face to the apparition the squad communicates with.

Regardless of your beliefs, The Other Side is solid entertainment. None of the team members freak out when something happens, an annoying trait on Ghost Adventures, and no jump cuts or sudden camera movements sully the shots.

Prior to Saturday’s return, The Other Side crew will be conducting a live-stream paranormal investigation on Thursday, Oct. 29, from the Senator Hotel, one of the oldest in Saskatoon. Check it out at 8:15 p.m. PT/11:15 p.m. ET from APTN’s website or the show’s website.

The Other Side airs Saturdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET on APTN.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Corbin Tomaszeski cooks up truly Incredible prize on Food Race

Corbin Tomaszeski laments the fact that, with many having busy lifestyles, families aren’t able to enjoy quality time preparing or sharing dinner together.

They’ll get a little bit of both—in a seriously amped-up manner—via The Incredible Food Race. Debuting Wednesday on Food Network, celebrity chef Tomaszeski and ET Canada host Rick Campanelli serve as hosts and ringmasters as two families face off in physical challenges followed by a live cook-off in front of an audience; the audience then tastes both meals and votes for the winning family. What does the triumphant squad go home with? Groceries for a year courtesy of Walmart Canada.

“Competition shows usually award product, some kind of service or monetary amount,” Tomaszeski says. “There’s something really attractive and tangible when it’s food and you have the control over what you buy. And, hello, food is a basic necessity.” The former Restaurant Takeover host explains The Incredible Food Race is more about bringing people together and having fun, with a big prize at the end.

It doesn’t take long for the “fun” challenges to turn into a bona fide competition in Episode 1. The super-athletic Snyman family face off against the vegan Buddle-Gills in three tests designed to give distinct advantages during the final cook-off. The biggest of those three advantages? Several minutes with Tomaszeski coaching them while preparing food for the hungry voting audience. The Dinner Party Wars judge admits that, unlike feelgood co-host Campanelli, he wants to hear smack talk and see some tears because it makes for good TV. One of Tomaszeski’s favourite challenges is called “Sumo Sushi,” and features a team member rolling their own rice-based recipes … while wearing inflatable sumo wrestler costumes.

At this point, Season 1 is a mere six episodes filmed in Toronto, but Tomaszeski hopes, if a sophomore season is ordered, The Incredible Food Race can become a country-wide affair.

“I think we’ve only just scratched the surface with Season 1,” he says. “I think we should travel or have people from across Canada come here because there are so many different types of families and components of families out there that it’s a good idea.”

The Incredible Food Race airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network.

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