Everything about Crawford, eh?

TV Eh B Cs podcast 82 — Degrassi, Shoot the Messenger and basketball conspiracies with Dalmar Abuzeid

Dalmar Abuzeid was most recently seen in CBC’s comedy Crawford (after an initial run online, Crawford debuts Thursday, June 14, at 9 p.m. on CBC) and will appear as a series regular this July in the new season of Netflix’s Anne with an E (Season 2 returns in September on CBC), an award-winning series produced by Northwood Entertainment. Other recent credits include guest arcs on DirecTV’s Condor and CBC’s Shoot the Messenger.

Best known for his role as Danny Van Zandt in six seasons of the acclaimed series Degrassi: The Next Generation, Dalmar’s screen roles extend beyond television. Feature credits include the role of Felix in the film Pompeii, opposite Emily Browning, and he just wrapped hockey biopic Goalie, shot in Sudbury, ON.

Born in Toronto, Dalmar is a Meisner-trained actor and still regularly attends acting classes in spite of his theatrical accomplishments.

With a keen interest in all genres and platforms of entertainment, Dalmar also produces and writes comedy, fantasy and parody shorts for YouTube. Together with his former Degrassi castmates, Raymond Ablack, Scott Paterson, Shane Kippel, and Michael Aube, Dalmar is working on writing and producing the first season of the original sketch comedy series, O’Brother, set to release in summer 2018.

Season 1 of Crawford debuts Thursday at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to support TV, eh?’s work? Become a Patreon!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

CBC announces new and returning programming slate for 2018-19 season

From a media release:

Canada’s public broadcaster today announced its robust 2018-19 slate, including 17 new series and 36 renewed titles – one of CBC’s largest returning lineups to date. CBC’s upcoming year of original Canadian programming includes drama, comedy, factual, arts, music, kids, sports, news and documentary programming across television, radio and digital platforms, showcasing both new and established homegrown voices and creators.

NEW ORIGINAL SERIES

New CBC original Canadian series confirmed for the 2018-19 season include:

Comedy:

CAVENDISH (8×30, Winter 2019 – Temple Street), from the minds of Picnicface comedy troupe founders Mark Little and Andrew Bush, along with Garry Campbell (Kim’s Convenience). Bush and Little star as two bickering brothers who return to their PEI hometown to take care of their grumpy and ailing father, only to collide with the eccentric townsfolk and their even stranger superstitions.

Drama:

CORONER (8×60, Winter 2019 – Back Alley Films, Muse Entertainment), a procedural drama created for television by Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope), based on the best-selling book series by M.R. Hall. The series follows Jenny Cooper, a former ER doctor and newly appointed coroner investigating suspicious deaths. Suffering from clinical anxiety and recently widowed with a teenage son, Jenny is a woman of action driven by an intense desire for the truth.

DIGGSTOWN (6×60, Winter 2019 – Circle Blue Entertainment), a legal drama created by Floyd Kane (Across the Line) and set in the gritty arena of legal aid, focusing on Marcie Diggs, a star corporate lawyer who reconsiders her priorities after her beloved aunt commits suicide following a malicious prosecution. Landing at a legal aid office in Dartmouth, Marcie is driven by one thing – to never again allow innocent lives to be destroyed by the justice system. DIGGSTOWN is the first original Canadian drama series featuring a black female lead character.

NORTHERN RESCUE (10×60, 2018/19 – Don Carmody Television, CBC and Netflix co-production), a heartwarming family drama starring William Baldwin (MacGyver) and Kathleen Robertson (Bates Motel).  After the death of his wife Sarah, John (Baldwin), a Search & Rescue officer, packs up his three children and moves from their hectic urban life to a small northern town, where they all struggle with their new surroundings, new friends, and accepting Sarah’s death.

STREET LEGAL (6×60, Winter 2019 – IGP and Broken Clown Productions), the iconic character-driven legal drama returns with both familiar faces and new characters, and a focus on how the law is practised in Canada today, including contemporary themes and issues. Bringing STREET LEGAL into the 21st century, we pick up 25 years later with Olivia Novak (Cynthia Dale), now a named partner at a major Bay Street law firm.

UNSPEAKABLE (8×60, Winter 2019 – Mezo Entertainment), a searing depiction of the tainted blood scandal that began in the early 1980s. The limited series is told through the stories of two families severely affected by the worst public health disaster in Canadian history, with a strong cast including Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead), Shawn Doyle (Bellevue), Michael Shanks (Saving Hope) and Camille Sullivan (The Disappearance).

Factual & Arts:

CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON JUNIOR (6×60, Fall 2018 – Media Headquarters), hosted by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience), will see 12 remarkable kids take on exciting challenges in the six categories of intelligence – Physical, Musical, Social, Linguistic, Logical, and Visual – in front of a live studio audience, in the hopes of being crowned the first-ever title of Canada’s Smartest Person Junior.

FROM THE VAULTS (working title) (6×60, Fall 2018 – Banger Films), a visually exciting and entertaining cultural exploration using CBC Archive recordings as a window into Canadian history and music. Hosted by Amanda Parris and Tom Power, this archive series features musical performances and candid interviews, shedding a bright light on Canada’s musical journey.

HIGH ARCTIC HAULERS (working title) (8×60, 2019 – Great Pacific Media, a Thunderbird Company), a look at Canada’s resilient, vibrant northern communities and the determined men and women who help provide their lifeline to the outside world. These groups are linked together by the summer sealift, when ships loaded with critical cargo travel each year to the farthest reaches of the north to deliver food, clothing, supplies and vital pieces of infrastructure.

IN THE MAKING (8×30, Fall 2018 – White Pine Pictures), an immersive journey inside the artistic process. Host Sean O’Neill travels the globe alongside some of Canada’s most extraordinary creators as they bring new work to life and face moments of opportunity, challenge and reward.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT(4×30, Winter 2019 – Proper Television), a factual entertainment series featuring budding entrepreneurs as they shop for the business of their dreams.

CBC Kids:

BECCA’S BUNCH (52×11, Jam Media), a must-see children’s comedy that combines live action, puppetry, and 3D animation.

BIG BLUE (52×11, Guru), an underwater comedy-adventure series about siblings Lettie and Lemo and the oddball crew of their submarine.

ENDLINGS (12×30, Sinking Ship), a sci-fi adventure series about four foster kids making a startling discovery that affects the entire universe.

KINGDOM FORCE (52×11, Industrial Brothers/Boat Rocker), an action series about animals protecting their community from danger with their unique skills that combine to form a giant robot.

MOLLY OF DENALI (38×30, Atomic Cartoons, CBC co-production with PBS), an adventure-comedy series about a 10-year-old Indigenous girl.

This fall, CBC will also broadcast the Canadian premiere of the new adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s literary classic VANITY FAIR (7×60, Mammoth Screen, ITV and Amazon Studios) starring Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One) as Becky Sharp, an ambitious social climber desperately trying to escape poverty and scale the heights of English society.

RETURNING SERIES:

CBC’s returning slate of scripted, factual and arts titles for 2018/19 is as follows:

ANNE WITH AN E (10×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW(10×30, Season 3) – *moves to fall 2018*

BURDEN OF TRUTH (8×60, Season 2, winter 2019)

CBC ARTS: EXHIBITIONISTS (26×30, Season 4, fall 2018)

CBC KIDS new seasons of original Canadian series DOT, ADDISON, and OLLIE THE BOY WHO BECAME WHAT HE ATE

CORONATION STREET (Season 20, fall 2018)

THE DETECTIVES (8×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

DRAGONS’ DEN (20×60, Season 13, fall 2018)

THE FILMMAKERS (8×30, Season 2, summer 2018 starting July 28)

FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES (10×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW (8×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

HALIFAX COMEDY FEST (6×30, Season 23, fall 2018)

HEARTLAND (11×60, Season 12) – *moves to winter 2019*

JUST FOR LAUGHS: GALAS (2018-2019)

KIM’S CONVENIENCE (13×30, Season 3) – *moves to winter 2019*

LITTLE DOG (8×30, Season 2, winter 2019)

MR. D (8×30, Season 8) – *moves to Wednesdays – final season*

MURDOCH MYSTERIES (18×60, Season 12, fall 2018)

SCHITT’S CREEK (14×30, Season 5, winter 2019)

THE STATS OF LIFE (8×30, Season 2, winter 2019)

STILL STANDING (13×30, Season 4, now in production on Season 5 for 2019) – *moves to fall 2018*

THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES (19×30, 1×60, Season 26)

WHEN CALLS THE HEART (Season 4, summer 2018 starting June 17)

THE WINNIPEG COMEDY FESTIVAL (5×60, Season 17, winter 2019)

WORKIN’ MOMS (13×30, Season 3, winter 2019)

CBC’s award-winning news and documentary programming also returns:

CBC DOCS POV (Season 3) – *moves to Friday evenings*

THE FIFTH ESTATE (Season 44) – *moves to Sunday evenings*

THE INVESTIGATORS WITH DIANA SWAIN (Season 3) *moves to Thursdays*

MARKETPLACE (Season 46)

THE NATIONAL

THE NATURE OF THINGS (Season 58)

TAKEN (Season 2, summer 2018 starting June 22)

THE WEEKLY WITH WENDY MESLEY (Season 2)

SPECIALS:

CBC’s annual lineup of specials and awards programming celebrating Canadian creators, artists and storytellers also includes:

INDSPIRE AWARDS (June 24)

CANADA DAYCELEBRATION (July 1)

CANADIAN COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION AWARDS (September 9, hosted by Shania Twain)

POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE GALA (September 17) – streaming via CBCMusic.ca

SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE (November 19)

AIR FARCE NEW YEAR’S EVE (December 31)

CANADA’S NEW YEAR’S EVE (December 31)

CANADA READS (March 2019)

CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS (March 2019)

THE JUNO AWARDS broadcast live from London and MUSIC DAY ON CBC (March 17)

 ORIGINAL DIGITAL PROGRAMMING:

CBC’s diverse slate of digital original series and award-winning CBC SHORT DOCSincludes the following new titles that will stream on the CBC TV App and cbc.ca/watch:

ART IS MY COUNTRY, riveting profiles of 10 Canadian artists from various cultural backgrounds who are redefining and reshaping Canadian art.

OFF KILTER, a mockumentary that documents the remaking of failed up-and-coming choreographer Milton Frank into the critically acclaimed jerk he never got to be in the ‘90s.

WINSTON ROWNTREE’S PEOPLE WATCHING (Season 2, July), a comedy series featuring humorous and heartfelt short stories about 20-somethings searching for acceptance and romance.

FARM CRIME (August), a true-crime docu-series investigating unconventional offences in the world of farming and agriculture.

SEEN AND HEARD (September), uniting a mixed group of deaf and hearing performers to mount a unique adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

RED BUTTON (winter), the ongoing documentary project returns to provide remarkably candid perspectives of marginalized and misunderstood youth.

CBC SHORT DOCS:

FAST HORSE (Alexandra Lazarowich), exploring the return of the bareback horse-racing tradition to Blackfoot country.

QUEER PRIEST (Nicholas Bradford-Ewart), three docs following the lives of openly queer individuals who have chosen to become or remain priests despite the trauma that the Christian community has inflicted upon them.

SEDRA (Sura Mallouh), observing a 17-year-old and her family as they rebuild their lives in Canada after fleeing the Syrian war.

THE HOLE IN RESERVOIR HILL (Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson), a timely revisiting of the decommissioned nuclear bunker in North Bay, Ontario and the individuals who know its secrets.

In addition to making all television series available to stream live or on-demand via its digital platforms, spanning more than 4,000 hours of programming, CBC is also investing in new content exclusive to the CBC TV App and cbc.ca/watch including 250 hours of new programming. Featuring Canadian content as well as a curated selection of best-in-class drama, comedy, lifestyle and documentary content from around the world, new titles streaming in the upcoming year include PORTLANDIA, MOONE BOYand the Canadian premiere of Australian comedy RONNY CHIENG: INTERNATIONAL STUDENT.

 

PRIMETIME BROADCAST SCHEDULE

CBC’s 2018-19 primetime broadcast schedule is as follows:

All series will also be available to stream on the CBC TV App and at cbc.ca/watch.

(For Newfoundland and Labrador, please add one half-hour later for all times)

MONDAYS
8 PM – MURDOCH MYSTERIES *Season 12*(FALL/WINTER)

9 PM – FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES *Season 2* (FALL)/ CORONER*NEW SERIES* (EARLY WINTER)/ STREET LEGAL*NEW SERIES* (LATE WINTER)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

TUESDAYS
8 PM– STILL STANDING*Season 4*(NEW TO FALL)/KIM’S CONVENIENCE*Season 3* (NEW TO WINTER)

8:30 PM– THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES*Season 26* (FALL/WINTER)

9 PM – BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW *Season 3* (NEW TO FALL)/ SCHITT’S CREEK*Season 5* (WINTER)

9:30 PM– WORKIN’ MOMS*Season 3* (WINTER)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

WEDNESDAYS
8 PM– THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW*Season 2*(EARLY FALL)/ CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON JUNIOR*NEW SERIES* (LATE FALL)/ BURDEN OF TRUTH*Season 2* (EARLY WINTER)/ DIGGSTOWN*NEW SERIES* (LATE WINTER)

9 PM – VANITY FAIR*NEW SERIES*(EARLY FALL)/ MR. D*Season 8* (LATE FALL) – New Night/

UNSPEAKABLE*NEW SERIES* (WINTER)

9:30 PM– HALIFAX COMEDY FESTIVAL(LATE FALL)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

THURSDAYS
7 PM –  THE INVESTIGATORS WITH DIANA SWAIN*Season 3* (FALL) – New Night

8 PM– DRAGONS’ DEN*Season 13* (FALL/WINTER)

9 PM– THE DETECTIVES*Season 2*(EARLY FALL)/ FROM THE VAULTS*NEW SERIES* (LATE FALL)/ CAVENDISH*NEW SERIES* (WINTER)

9:30 PM– LITTLE DOG*Season 2*(WINTER)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

FRIDAYS
8 PM– MARKETPLACE*Season 46*(FALL/WINTER)

8:30 PM– IN THE MAKING*NEW SERIES* (EARLY FALL)/ THE STATS OF LIFE*Season 2* (EARLY WINTER)/ UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT*NEW SERIES* (LATE WINTER)

9 PM – CBC DOCS POV*Season 3* (FALL/WINTER) – New Night

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

11:30 PM –CBC ARTS: EXHIBITIONISTS(FALL/WINTER)

SATURDAYS
Afternoon– ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES*Season 4* (FALL/WINTER)

6:30 PM– HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA(FALL/WINTER)

SUNDAYS
Afternoon– ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES*Season 4* (FALL/WINTER)

7 PM– ANNE WITH AN E*Season 2*/HEARTLAND*Season 12* (WINTER)

8 PM– THE NATURE OF THINGS*Season 58* (FALL/WINTER)

9 PM– THE FIFTH ESTATE*Season 44* (FALL/WINTER) – New Night

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Crank it up! CBC Music releases Crawford’s playlist

Music is a huge part of television. The right orchestral piece can add incredible drama and the correct bit of rock can add pop to a scene. Crawford definitely uses music to that advantage.

Available for streaming via CBC.ca and the CBC TV app, Crawford centres on a dysfunctional family headed by Cynthia (Jill Hennessy), an award-winning cereal executive trying to juggle work, her husband Owen, and her lover; and Owen (John Carroll Lynch), a former police chief who suffered a bullet wound on the job and communicates via an app on his smartphone. Adding to the nuttiness are siblings Don (Kyle Mac), a musician who returns home following an emotional breakdown; Wendy (Alice Moran), Brian (Daniel Davis Yang) and a family of raccoons. Yes, you read that right. Raccoons.

Now CBC Music has teamed with Crawford co-creators Mike Clattenburg and Mike O’Neill for the ultimate playlist. The series’ original soundtrack, along with additional songs from TUNS, The Weeknd, The Tragically Hip, A Tribe Called Quest, Tracy Chapman, Prince, Holy Fuck and Rush make up a list of 92 curated tracks. Check them out below.

“It’s what would happen if some of the of the people who worked on Crawford, including me, took turns playing music at a party. Some of it is thematic some of it is personal,” O’Neill says. Clattenburg, O’Neill and executive producer Laura Michalchyshyn, and cast—Jill Hennessy, John Carroll Lynch, Kyle Mac, Alice Moran, Daniel Davis Yang—share some of the music that served as inspiration while writing and filming the series.

In the below video, O’Neill and Clattenburg discuss how they scored Crawford‘s original soundtrack.

 

Crawford‘s first season is available for streaming via CBC.ca and the CBC TV app. It will be broadcast on CBC later this year.

Images courtesy of CBC.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Link: Open relationships, improv, edibles & raccoons: a chat with Alice Moran about CBC’s new comedy, Crawford

From She Does the City:

Link: Open relationships, improv, edibles & raccoons: a chat with Alice Moran about CBC’s new comedy, Crawford
“Wendy is the probably the most normal one in the family, but she acts as if her problems are the biggest and most insane. I feel like she’s always 8 out of 10 on the annoying scale. Playing her is like indulging your own worst self.” Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Links: Crawford, Season 1

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Crawford’s Alice Moran on CBC’s “Joyful and Kind” new comedy series
“Wendy has the most normal problems of anyone in the family, but she is the least chill in dealing with them. Her parents are being blackmailed, her brother thinks he can talk to raccoons and in Wendy’s brain the biggest problem is that her boyfriend isn’t committed. It’s a real treat to play a character who thinks like that.” Continue reading.

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Link: Jill Hennessy plays matriarch of weirdly dysfunctional family in Crawford
“When I got the script I had to read the first three episodes first a couple of times to get a through line; I couldn’t figure out what was happening. But that’s what I loved. I had no clue where this is going. All I knew was that in the first episode my character walks in with a police officer and they say, ‘Mama, we’re not sure what happened, but somebody peed in the sink.’ That got me. They had me at someone peed in the sink.” Continue reading.

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

Link: CBC’s Crawford is weird, in a beguiling and hopelessly sweet way
The 10-part series is indeed weird, but in the most beguiling, hopelessly sweet way. It has a fine cast and a style and tone that is bonkers but seductive. As with all of Clattenburg’s work, it’s really about getting along, being decent to other people no matter how strange they are and being kind to animals. Continue reading.

From Norm Wilner of Now Toronto:

Link: TV review: new CBC comedy Crawford isn’t remotely funny
Crawford, the new ensemble comedy from Mike Clattenburg and his frequent collaborator Mike O’Neill, is similar to Clattenburg’s cult smash Trailer Park Boys in that it’s also a show about eccentric characters played by unquestionably committed comic performers.

I suppose it is also similar in that I did not find it funny – like, at all. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Crawford’s Kyle Mac on CBC’s eccentric new family comedy
“Even after reading the scripts, performing them on the day and seeing the show I didn’t really know what to expect. I was super stoked to get this part, but I thought the script was super weird. I dig weird things, but I also know Mike Clattenburg is a brilliant man so I was optimistic.” Continue reading.

From Bill Brioux of the Canadian Press:

Link: CBC launches new comedy ‘Crawford’ digitally first, TV later
Whether it’s the father “Dre” on “Black-ish,” “Appa” on “Kim’s Convenience,” or especially Homer Simpson on “The Simpsons,” when sitcom dads talk, nobody seems to listen.

Here then is a novel TV twist: a dad who cannot talk but won’t be ignored.

That’s the deal on “Crawford,” a new CBC comedy that begins streaming this Friday. All 12 episodes can be binged before the show is broadcast this summer on the main network, making this CBC’s first major series to launch first digitally. Continue reading.

From Alexandra Pope of Canadian Geographic:

Link: Q&A: Director Mike Clattenburg on “Crawford,” a comedic tribute to raccoons
There’s one scene where he rescues a raccoon out of a tree. It was pretty incredible; the raccoon felt safe enough to climb down the tree and jump into his basket. We didn’t expect it to go that far, but Kyle continued to act the scene with the raccoon trying to climb out of the box to sniff him. He really engaged the animal and it really had a relationship with him personally, moreso than anyone on set. Continue reading.

From Ron Johnson of Post City:

Link: Actor Jill Hennessy talks Toronto hangout spots, raccoon invasions and new TV show Crawford
“The raccoons invading the home in the first episode throws everyone into chaos in a necessary way. It was necessary to upset the balance of this family to reinvigorate relationships. The raccoons are the instigators of a lot of really good positive stuff and a lot of comedy. It’s really emotional and it’s hilarious.” Continue reading. 

From Sean McIntosh of the Red Deer Advocate:

Link: Former Red Deer Advocate papergirl starring in CBC show
Alice Moran went from delivering the Red Deer Advocate to delivering lines on television.

Moran, 29, stars in CBC’s Crawford, which debuted Friday. Before she made it on the screen, Moran lived in Red Deer for a few years when she was growing up, attending Holy Family School. Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail