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, Mr. D

Gerry Dee keeps it real in Season 5 of Mr. D

Mr. D is headed into its fifth season on CBC, and series creator and star Gerry Dee isn’t messing with success. He’s sticking with the formula that keeps viewers coming back every week: keeping it real.

“I always try to bring authenticity to the show,” Dee told Sirius XM radio hosts Humble & Fred during an appearance Monday morning. That authenticity continues in Season 5, when Dee’s small-screen alter ego, Gerry Duncan, experiences a student teacher with stage fright, educational assistants, a mother who can’t believe that her son is capable of pushing other students around and an odd item brought for Show & Tell.

“A friend of mine had this Grade 1 class and a kid brought in a vibrator for Show & Tell and thought it was a rocket ship,” Dee recalls. “So we shot the episode where a kid comes in and says he has a rocket ship and that it buzzes when you turn it on. I try to grab it and it falls and breaks. He’s trying to zoom it at my face and everything. Those are the stories we get from teachers sometimes.” Dee taught in a private school for 10 years before committing to stand-up comedy full-time. Now, a decade removed from the classroom, he brings teachers into the writers’ room to mine details for possible storylines alongside what he and his writing staff come up with.

“Things have changed. In Season 4 we did an episode called ‘Lockdown,’ which is something that’s, sadly, common now in schools but I’d never heard of,” he says.

With Season 5 of Mr. D set to return on CBC in the winter and Season 4 re-airing on City in November, Dee’s plate is pretty full. Aside from his homegrown sitcom, Dee is writing for other projects—like My Scottish Family for CBC—and is constantly touring, with dates in Toronto, Ajax and Mississauga, Ont., lined up in September and October. Those dates, he reveals to Humble & Fred, are in preparation for his next big stand-up goal.

“I want to do the Air Canada Centre within two years,” he says. “I sat down with my tour manager and looked at the ticket sales and it’s all adding up to 10,000 tickets. It may be a big mistake and I’d have to stay on television within the next two years. I’m planning to do that and tape it as my next special.”

Listen to the rest of Dee’s interview with Humble & Fred (his chat is during the last 20 minutes).

Season 5 of Mr. D returns in the winter on CBC.

Season 4 of Mr. D airs in a second window on City starting in November.

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Killjoys

Link: Killjoys’ Luke MacFarlane previews a finale showdown

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Killjoys’ Luke MacFarlane previews a finale showdown
“I’ll say this adjunctly, it’s interesting because a lot of people have been saying, ‘well where are the aliens?’ They’ve been asking that of our show. Just maybe think of that in relationship to your question. If I’m being particularly cagey it’s because I’m being intentionally cagey.” Continue reading. 

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Industry News

Mother-daughter power team unveil Straight Shooters Productions

From a media release:

Award-winning twosome, filmmaker Gail Harvey (Heartland, Murdoch Mysteries, Lost Girl), and her daughter, actress and writer Katie Boland (Gerontophilia, Reign) have teamed up to launch Straight Shooters Productions. Driven by their desire to create meaningful relevant content for domestic and international audiences, Harvey and Boland have paired up to develop and produce thought-provoking original content that speaks to the strength and resilience of the human spirit.

With this new venture comes a development deal with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) working with Senior Director Helen Asimakis and Production Executive Sarah Adams in partnership with Serendipity Point Films (The Right Kind of Wrong, Barney’s Version) on a new gripping drama series entitled Centrepunch based on the inner workings of the Toronto police department.

Created and written by Boland and Calum DeHartog (Cracked), to star Boland, Centrepunch is a riveting new drama series about a willful, bold and naive ingénue, born into a family of respected male police officers. Upon joining the force, she uncovers things about her family and the inner workings of the Toronto Police Department she never would have imagined possible.

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Featured, Haven

Showcase’s Haven cancelled

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It’s the end of the road for Haven. After five seasons on the air, the Showcase/Syfy supernatural drama has been cancelled.

The news came down Tuesday afternoon via TheWrap.com, where showrunner Gabrielle Stanton revealed the show’s creative team had viewed this super-sized season of 26 episodes the series’ last.

“I’m sure as a fellow TV fan, there’s nothing more annoying than when a show kind of feels like it might be wrapping up, but they just don’t address it, they don’t come to any kind of satisfying conclusion,” she told the outlet. “I always think that’s cheating the audience a little bit, of a nice satisfying ending. So we really looked at these 13 episodes as if… If we were indeed going to end, what would be the best ending we could possibly do for Haven?”

Based on Stephen King’s short novella, The Colorado Kid, Haven focused on the odd goings-on in the fictional town of Haven, Maine, where FBI agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose) became involved in the supernatural lives of those in the community. Lucas Bryant portrays Nathan Wuornos, Eric Balfour is Duke Crocker and Adam Copeland is Dwight Hendrickson. Created by Jim Dunn and Sam Ernst, Haven has called Canada home: the series has shot in and around Halifax and Chester, Nova Scotia, since its pilot.

The first half of Season 5 has aired on Showcase; the last 13 instalments of the co-production will be broadcast beginning Sunday, Oct. 11.

The cancellation follows Syfy’s shift in focus to shows with a more traditional sci-fi element, like 12 Monkeys, Dark Matter, Killjoys, Defiance and Dominion.

Video: check out Lucas Bryant during last year’s Showcase Fan Expo panel

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