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.
The Lake

Links: The Lake, Season 1

From Marc Malkin of Variety:

Link: ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Reunion Wanted on New Amazon Series ‘The Lake’
“He overshoots all the time because he’s trying to be cool. It’s a little bit like he’s bringing the energy of Amy Poehler in ‘Mean Girls.’ He’s also not great with boundaries.” Continue reading.

From Heather M of TV Goodness:

Link: Julian Doucet Talks Prime Video’s The Lake
The Lake, which drops its whole first season this Friday on Prime Video, was created and produced by Killjoys writer/producer Julian Doucet, who brought fellow alumni Andrew DeAngelis and Vivian Lin along for the ride. Continue reading.

From Heather M of TV Goodness:

Link: Vivian Lin Talks Prime Video’s The Lake
If you’re looking for a snarky fun binge watch for what ails you, set your reminder for Prime Video’s The Lake, which drops its whole first season this Friday. Continue reading.

From Dhriti Gupta of Macleans:

Link: Anatomy of a Scene: Cottage-country comedy ‘The Lake’
Set in northeastern Ontario, Amazon Prime Video’s new eight-episode series The Lake is a cottage-country comedy loosely based on writer Julian Doucet’s life. Continue reading.

From Murtz Jaffer of the Toronto Star:

Link: Jordan Gavaris and Julia Stiles tackle reconciliation and betrayal in TV comedy ‘The Lake’
“The story just centres on the two of them trying to connect over a summer at the lake while contending with the family drama that comes with Maisy-May.” Continue reading.

From Sadaf Ahsan of the Toronto Star:

Link: In Prime Video’s “The Lake,” Ontario actor Jordan Gavaris takes centre stage
“I had never seen that type of character — who is usually relegated to the rear-view mirror — at the centre of the universe before, and in a story that is not about his queerness or his journey to self-acceptance.” Continue reading.

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Link: Prime Video’s Canadian original The Lake is breezy summer fare
The Lake is where many Canadians head each summer, desperate to find relief from the heat. This series, which starts streaming Friday, also offers comedy — even more of a relief these days. Continue reading.

From Heather M of TV Goodness:

Link: Terry Chen talks Prime Video’s The Lake
“I’m terrified of comedy. So much of it is timing. It’s much harder than anything dramatic or action-based. I love comedy, but it was very daunting and thankfully they let me have the role.” Continue reading.

From Manuel Betancourt of the AV Club:

Link: The Lake is a breezy binge that strays into sitcom territory
There’s plenty to mine in the rivalry between wayward Justin and Type-A Maisy-May. For starters, both Gavaris and (especially) Stiles seem to be having a great time playing these adults who find themselves reduced to warring teenagers all over again. Continue reading.

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Featured, The Lake

The Lake’s Julian Doucet: “I love production, putting together that world, anything that’s creating the sandbox”

They say, “Write what you know.” That’s exactly what Julian Doucet did.

The writer and producer for shows like Killjoys and Hudson & Rex turned to his own life for The Lake, available now on Prime Video. Starring Jordan Gavaris (Orphan Black), Madison Shamoun and Julia Stiles, The Lake tells the story of Justin (Gavaris) a man who has returned from living overseas after breaking up with his long-term partner. Hoping to reconnect with the biological daughter he gave up for adoption in his teens, he and Billie (Shamoun) head to cottage country for time on the lake from Justin’s youth.

We spoke to Julian Doucet, while he was attending the Banff World Media Festival, about bringing the story to life.

There’s the saying, ‘Write what you know.’ And in this case, that truly was the case for you with The Lake. Was it easy to write down these ideas and create these characters?
Julian Doucet:  Yeah, weirdly, it was. What was not easy is the 22 years prior to doing it. When people heard about my situation, they are always like, ‘You should write about it, you should write about it.’ But I didn’t 100 per cent feel that it was my story to tell because there’s also my daughter, her birth mother and her parents. It took a long time to get to a place where I thought, ‘Yes, write what you know, but also maybe not exploit it or pimp it out.’

I don’t know why this felt like the time, it sort of felt right. We had been taking vacations together since she was 16 and it was just something about that dynamic, which I had never seen before on television. And, somehow, when I started to write them, it was so easy once it was on the page, I couldn’t put the genie back in the bottle.

It was so easy to like these characters and the dialogue is so natural. Is it difficult to write dialogue? Is it partly the writing, and the performers that are making it so natural and relatable?
JD: I think it’s a combination of all. I started as an actor, so very much dialogue for me is rhythm, it’s music. I do feel like every character has their own rhythm, and then every actor has their own rhythm. When you get one actor that lines up with the rhythm of your character or how they’re going to transform it, that is gold. And with both Madison and Jordan and really our whole cast just kind of seamlessly fused with the flavour, the rhythms of each of the characters.

[Writing dialogue] is my favourite thing because it’s like a catchy tune and I do feel like we always try to find the words that get us there the most efficiently. I do think it’s probably not easy, but for me, it is the thing that I love.

Jordan did have funny moments on Orphan Black, but he’s so good with his physical comedy and body movement. What’s it been like working with him on The Lake?
JD: Amazing. Jordan just killed it, and we share weird chemistry. We kind of wonder, are we the same person, just separated by 12 years? We have most of the same anxieties. We both order the same coffee. We both collect weird plaid blankets without knowing. It’s just bananas, and we feel like we can’t spend too much time in the same place because the universe might collapse as we could be from the same person from different dimensions. He just knows the character and understands not only the huge need that Justin has but also the anxiety, the heart and the resilience that Justin has.

You are the showrunner, creator, writer and executive producer of The Lake. What’s your favourite hat to wear? What’s it been like show running your own program?
JD: I loved the writing. The writer’s room as always, that’s my happy place. Just creating, problem-solving, how imaginative and resilient writers are. They just astonish me every time. But I loved putting together the music. I loved the costumes, the look. I love production, putting together that world, anything that’s creating the sandbox.

The Lake is available for streaming on Prime Video now.

Images courtesy of Prime Video.

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Industry News

Link: Canadian broadcasters, who are up Schitt’s Creek without streaming regulation, fight back at tense Banff

From Manori Ravindran of Variety:

Link: Canadian broadcasters, who are up Schitt’s Creek without streaming regulation, fight back at tense Banff
The moody mountainscape surrounding the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel may have been tailor-made for the British Columbia-shot thriller “Yellowjackets,” which was honored at this week’s Banff World Media Festival, but the real survival drama was raging between Canadian broadcasters and the streaming giants. Continue reading.

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Departure

Season 2 of the critically-acclaimed Global original Departure premieres Wednesday, July 13

From a media release:

All aboard! Global is set to launch Season 2 of event thriller Departure on Wednesday, July 13 at 9 p.m. ET, with an encore presentation Friday, July 15 at 8 p.m. ET on Global and Monday, July 18 at 9 p.m. ET on Showcase. Departure stars Emmy Award® winner Archie Panjabi and the late Academy Award® winner Christopher Plummer, in his last onscreen role. The intense conspiracy series follows the ensuing investigation into a mysterious crash of a controversial new high-speed train travelling between Toronto and Chicago. Back for an action-packed all-new six-episode season, Departure was a Top 20 hit with total viewers and the #1 Canadian series across all key demos when it premiered in 2020.

Alongside Panjabi (The Good Wife) and Plummer (Knives Out), Season 2 features an all-star ensemble cast including Kris Holden-Ried (The Umbrella Academy), Jason O’Mara (The Man in the High Castle), Karen LeBlanc (The Kings of Napa), Donal Logue (Gotham), Mark Rendall (Versailles), Etienne Kellici (Murdoch Mysteries), Kelly McCormack (A League of Their Own), Wendy Crewson (Frankie Drake Mysteries), Charlie Carrick (Reign), Dion Johnstone (Sweet Magnolias), David Hewlett (The Shape of Water), Greg Bryk (Mary Kills People) and Florence Ordesh (Dublin Murders). The gripping drama is directed by Canadian Screen Award winner T.J. Scott (Orphan Black, Star Trek: Discovery) and created by Vincent Shiao (Ransom).

Departure Season 2 is a six-part event series that follows the investigation into the derailment of high-speed train The Apollo. Brilliant investigator, Kendra Malley (Archie Panjabi), heads to the U.S. to find the cause of the devastation in rural Michigan. With the eyes of the entire world on her, Kendra and her team unravel a series of interconnected threads, which lead to a number of mysterious motives. Was it the tech mogul inventor of the train’s automation software? Was it a mysterious member of a Mexican drug cartel? Was it a disgruntled employee resisting new technology? Working in conjunction with the FBI, Kendra must race to uncover the truth behind the crash and help to heal the damage caused by the terrible tragedy.

Departure Season 2 is a Canada/Ireland Co-Production from Shaftesbury (Canada) and Deadpan Pictures (Ireland), in Association with Corus Entertainment, Starlings Television and Red Arrow Studios International. Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Malcolm MacRury, Jackie May, T.J. Scott, Paul Donovan, Ailish McElmeel, and Archie Panjabi are Executive Producers. Vincent Shiao and Chris Moreton are Co-Executive Producers. Patrick Cassavetti is Producer.

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Awards, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

2022 Rockie Awards International Program Competition Winners announced

From a media release:

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Rockie Awards International Program Competition, hosted by actress and comedian Rakhee Morzaria (Run the Burbs).

One of the largest awards programs of its kind and juried by an esteemed panel of 150 international industry professionals, the Rockie Awards International Program Competition presented awards in twenty-eight (28) categories spanning Documentary & Factual, Arts & Entertainment, Children & Youth, Scripted, and Podcast. In addition, the $25,000 Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content was awarded to the top Canadian production and The Francophone Prize for the top French-language production.

The competition featured 148 nominations from 45 countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, France, China, Germany, Italy and Norway.

International Program Competition winners include:

Best Comedy & Variety Program
Friends: The Reunion
HBO Max, Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, Warner Horizon, Fulwell 73 Productions, Bright, Kauffman, Crane Productions (USA)

Best in Competition Series & Game Shows
RuPaul’s Drag Race
World of Wonder, VH1 (USA)

Best Docuseries
The Earthshot Prize: Repairing Our Planet
Studio Silverback, BBC, Discovery Channel (USA, UK)

Best Lifestyle Program
Employable Me
Thomas Howe Associations (CANADA)

Best Reality Series
Running Wild with Bear Grylls
Electus LLC, National Geographic (USA)

Best in Animation: Children
Karma’s World
Netflix, 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films, Karma’s World Entertainment (USA, CANADA, IRELAND)

Best in Animation: Preschool
ODO
Sixteen South, Letko (UK, POLAND)

Best in Animation: Youth
The Case (La custodia)
Graphilm Entertainment, Rai Ragazzi (ITALY)

Best in Interactive Content: Children
CBC Kids Tokyo 2020 Olympic Website
CBC Kids, Hypersurge (CANADA)

Best in Live Action: Children
Jamie Johnson
Short Form, BBC (UK)

Best in Live Action: Youth
Six Degrees (Six Degrés)
Encore Télévision (CANADA)

Best Arts & Culture Program
Introducing, Selma Blair
Discovery+, LD Entertainment, Liddell Entertainment (USA)

Best Crime & Investigative Program
Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad
Three-three-four, XTR, Kilometric Productions, Discovery+ (USA)

Best Environmental & Wildlife Program
Tiny World
Plimsoll Productions (UK)

Best History & Biography
Surviving 9/11
Top Hat, BBC, Keshet (UK)

Best Non-Fiction Podcast
Have You Heard George’s Podcast?
BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Live, George the Poet (UK)

Best Science & Technology Program
Own The Room
National Geographic Documentary Film, Saville Productions (USA)

Best Short Non-Fiction Program
A Nation and Her Mother
Animiki See Digital Production Inc, Media RendezVous, Wookey Films Inc, APTN (CANADA)

Best Social Issues & Current Affairs Program
Dying to Divorce
Dying to Divorce Ltd, Aldeles, Tigerlily Productions, Freak Productions (UK, NORWAY)

Best Sports Documentary
Torn
National Geographic Documentary Films, Lightbox, Wilderpeople Productions (USA)

Best Comedy Series: English Language
We Are Lady Parts
Working Title Television, Universal International Studios, Universal Studio Group (UK)

Best Comedy Series: Non-English Language
Countrymen (Jordbrukerne)
Rubicon TV AS (NORWAY, FRANCE)

Best Drama Series: English Language
Vigil
World Productions (UK)

Best Drama Series: Non-English Language
Kamikaze
Profile Pictures, HBO Max (DENMARK, CANARY ISLANDS, SOUTH KOREA, UK)

Best Feature-Length Film
Help
The Forge, Channel 4, All3Media International (UK)

Best Limited Series
Landscapers
HBO, SISTER, South of the River Pictures, Sky Studios (USA, UK)

Best Fiction Podcast
The Orchard
Princess Pictures, Audible (AUSTRALIA)

Best Short Fiction Program
@IAmSophieScholl (@IchbinSophieScholl)
Sommerhaus Serien GmbH, VICE Media GmbH, Unframed Productions GmbH, SWR, BR (GERMANY)

Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content
Captive
Antica Productions (CANADA)

Prix Francophone (Francophone Prize)
Audrey est revenue (Audrey’s Back)
Pixcom, Quebecor Content (CANADA)

Emerging Talent Prize
Rebekah Miskin (Night Owl)

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