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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Murdoch Mysteries: Simon McNabb discusses “The Spy Who Loved Murdoch” and why Margaret wasn’t at Higgins’ wedding

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Spoiler alert! Do not continue reading until you have watched the newest episode of Murdoch Mysteries, “The Spy Who Loved Murdoch.” 

I saw several Facebook posts from fans who were concerned by sneak peek images showing William in the arms of another woman. Those concerns were, obviously, all for naught. Murdoch is devoted to Julia and only a matter of NATIONAL SECURITY would cause him to go near a woman other than his wife. I thoroughly enjoyed the instalment, which was packed with intrigue, suspense and offbeat humour.

I spoke to the episode’s writer, Simon McNabb, about all the goings-on, including what was up with the ferret and why Margaret wasn’t at Higgins and Ruth’s wedding.

I know there are darker episodes coming, but I feel like the tone of Season 12 has been great. There has been some lightness to it with storylines and costuming. I think it’s been all-round really good so far.
Simon McNabb: Thanks, I agree. I think we really wanted to start things off with a lot of fun, positivity and energy after what was quite a dark ending to last season. But, as Peter has alluded to a couple of times on social media, there are certainly going to be some heart-wrenching episodes and we’re going to get into some dark places as we go through the season.

How did the A-story for Monday’s episode come about, with Terrence Meyers?
SM: We had wanted to do an episode with a French guest star for a little while because we’d heard the show had gotten quite strong ratings in France and really had a following. We’re always looking for opportunities to bring in interesting guest stars and we thought, ‘Well, there was something interesting happening politically in the world.’ [Countries] were just starting to make the alliances that were going to end up leading to World War I a number of years later. We thought there might be an opportunity there between Terrence Meyers and, with someone from France, we could create a scenario that could plausibly take place in Toronto that could have some implications for the beginning of World War I about eight years later.

How did the casting of Louise Monot happen? Had you heard of her?
SM: I hadn’t, but I think some of the people working on the show had. Particularly with the international casting it’s an interesting process. It happens every year with our UK broadcaster. I know that involves conversations with the UK broadcasting partner; they give us a list of people they’d love to see on the show each year. I think it was a similar process here. I believe there was a list of people who were suggested would be suitable for this character who were going to have the kind of profile in France that would be appealing and have the talent to pull off the role.

It worked. There was great chemistry between Régine Rivière and Murdoch.
SM: That’s great to hear. From what I saw I agree and that was the fun of it. A great deal of credit goes to Louise Monot but also Yannick who really sort of relished getting to put on the fake persona of the beard, moustache and all of it.

And he got to use his French as well!
SM: That was another thing we always have in the back of our minds. It’s always nice to let Yannick use French. As we were coming up with the story one of the first balls we put in the air as a writing room was, ‘If this is the situation and we’re talking about international things and France is involved, and the Triple Entente, Yannick is going to have to impersonate a Frenchman. That’s going to be part of the story.’ In a way, it’s looking for that opportunity and knowing that he can do it really well as an actor and a character that sort of guided us.

Simon, there was a ferret on a leash. Where did that come from?!
SM: [Laughs.] There was a moment during the season when Peter Mitchell walked into the writer’s room and I, slightly with my tongue in my cheek, said, ‘Pete, I need a ferret.’ Where it came from was we had this big set piece that we had been working on story-wise and there was a lot of stuff that needed to happen. And we needed to introduce this character of a Russian diplomat who needed to be a real live wire and an unpredictable sort. There were a lot of things that had to happen, and it actually spanned a commercial break in a way. I hope the scene that occurs to people is the great Rahad Jackson scene in the film Boogie Nights. A young man is wandering around in the background, with no explanation, lighting off firecrackers. It adds an insane tension to everything that is going on in what would already be a tense scene. I thought it would be a fun thing to add to the mix. It was abstract but oddly fits the tone of the character we were going for.

Fans were wondering why Margaret wasn’t at Higgins and Ruth’s wedding. Can you answer that?
SM: I noticed that some of the fans were asking that question and I was going to answer but many of the fans provided the answer that was actually scripted and cut for time. Tom Brackenreid explains at some point in the script that she was rather insulted by the fact that she was not asked to plan and organize the wedding. As a result, she staged a silent protest by staying home. It was a nice moment but it came at a point in the story where we needed to lose a little time because the episode was running long. It’s a shame. The decision was made not to bring in Margaret’s character because it would have made the story a little too busy. We had a lot of guest characters to service. It was a bit of a disappointment when we made that choice, but it had to be done. For the fans of that character and those who follow along so closely, it probably should have been addressed.

What did you think of the episode? Let me know in the comments below!

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Featured, Frankie Drake Mysteries

Preview: Mon Dieu! Frankie Drake Mysteries welcomes Coco Chanel

Formidable! The CBC’s Monday night Canadian mysteries definitely have a French flair this week. Over on Murdoch Mysteries, a French attache has William’s head spinning while the gals here on Frankie Drake Mysteries have their own French guest creating havoc.

Here’s what the CBC has revealed about Monday’s episode, “Dressed to Kill,” written by Jessie Gabe and directed by Sudz Sutherland.

When famed French designer Coco Chanel (Romane Portail) is the target of a brazen assassination attempt, Drake Private Detectives are hired to protect her.

And I’ve got more scoop after watching a screener of the episode.

Coco Chanel makes a splash
I knew nothing about the real-life character portrayed by French actress Romane Portail. After a quick Google search, I learned quite a lot, from her groundbreaking design styles to suspicions of being too comfortable with the Germans during the Second World War. By the time Coco visits during Frankie Drake’s storyline, Coco is at the height of her powers. As for Portail? She’s a delight in this role. She’s sassy, successful and doesn’t suffer fools. The perfect match for Frankie, Trudy, Mary and Flo.

Trudy goes undercover
If you’re going to investigate an attempted assassination, you have to figure out who would want Coco dead. That often involves immersing oneself in their world. Which Trudy does. Gladly.

More guest stars
Romane Portail isn’t the only visitor in “Dressed to Kill.” Olivier Lamarche, Ari Cohen, Cara Ricketts and Samora Smallwood all stop to play in Frankie’s sandbox.

Frankie Drake Mysteries airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Richard Crouse is enjoying the Pop Life

Richard Crouse has made a career out of interviewing people. The veteran film critic is a regular contributor to CTV News Channel, CP24 and hosts The Richard Crouse Show on Newstalk 1010. He’s a staple of TIFF and asks the questions we want answers to when it comes to actors, actresses, directors and anyone else involved in the entertainment business.

Now, with a bottle of wine in hand, Crouse does it in Season 3 of Pop Life. Airing Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CTV News Channel, Crouse welcomes guests from around the entertainment world to sit, sip and converse about their lives, careers and pop culture.

We turned the tables on Crouse by asking him questions about Pop Life, how it’s tied to an old gig and the secret to good interviews.

I’ve never heard the story about you being a bartender before you started out and getting into conversations with people. Why did you think that would translate well into a TV show?
Richard Crouse: When we started putting the show together, one of the things that was really important to me is that the show was different than other things that were on. The idea of doing a talk show isn’t remarkably different. The idea of even having a theme as we do on the show, wasn’t remarkably different, but I wanted the feel of it to be different.

I always thought that some of the best conversations that I ever had were when I was a bartender. I would sit, talk, and now I’m lubricating people with alcohol while I was doing it. People were relaxed, the conversations went to unexpected places, and I just sort of let my mind drift back to those days. It was a long time ago but I did it for a long time. I loved it. I loved bartending, I liked meeting people, I liked the conversations. I learned more about interviewing people, I think, while I was serving them drinks than I ever did in any other way. I thought, ‘Why not try and translate that to television?’

I mentioned it, and they said, ‘Well, let’s build you a bar then.’ Now we have a bar that’s on the old Canada AM performance stage. That’s also where they shot Definition and Headline Hunters. Part of the movie Network was shot there. That place sort of reverberates with history.

How do you decide who’s going to be on the show, and then how do you decide who’s gonna be on the show together with each other?
RC: We look at who we have access to, who we can bring in, and look at their stories. If they have a fascinating story, someone like from our first season, Jeremiah Tower, was a guy who’s not a household name. He was the chef who created California cuisine, and at the height of his fame—he was one of the first rock star chefs—he disappeared. He just said, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore.’ He disappeared for years. More recently, Ken Jeong from this season. He talked about his story that people know about, I think. You know he was a doctor and then went into stand-up comedy. What was less known, and what we managed to get on the television show, was the thing that made him change. Not that he just wanted to do it, but there was a push. I wanted to know what that push was, and he talked about that.

We found people that have incredible stories and can tell them well. And then from there, it became, like the Ken Jeong interview, it was all about reinvention. So then we went out and we found people who had completely changed their lives. A woman who was homeless when she was a teenager and is now one of Canada’s leading entrepreneurs. We’ve got a guy who was so crippled by anxiety that it was difficult for him to leave his home, and now he teaches improv and does stand-up. We try and bring together people with really human stories that people will want to hear.

I’ve found over the years, it’s a real skill to be able to kind of go away from the notes. Ask a question that pops into your head and more importantly, just let the other person talk.
RC: Listen. Listen. That is the thing that is probably the single most important part of doing an interview like this, is to listen and see where it goes. I not only interview people for Pop Life. I prepare in the same way when I do all these interviews. There are notes that are made that make my producers and everyone feel comfortable that we have notes and questions, the interview will have some kind of structure. I’ll probably use one of those questions, and it’s usually the first question. And then we’ll see where it goes from there.

For me, it’s about listening. It’s about not being afraid to deviate from the notes that you’ve made. I think to be able to do that you have to show the person you’re interviewing the respect of knowing as much as you can and being able to follow the interview wherever it’s gonna go.

That’s scary, though, isn’t it? Obviously, they’re not there to see you, but they’re there to see you guide the way that the conversations going to go.
RC: Yeah, and you’re absolutely right. They’re not there to see me, and that’s why I often say, and I say it on Pop Life too when we do the panel segments of Pop Life, I’m just a traffic cop. Nothing more than that at this point. My job is to kind of stay out of the way and if necessary, get the conversation back on track.

Pop Life airs Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CTV News Channel, Saturdays at midnight ET on CTV and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. ET on CTV News Channel.

Image courtesy of Bell Media.

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Featured

Comments and queries for the week of October 19

The heck with Mighty Trains, bring back InnerSpace! And while we’re at it, bring Daily Planet and dump the trains entirely. —SilverSurfer

Regarding the darkness of Julia’s costume at the wedding, I hadn’t realized how dark the processing of the end product would be on various screens. In reality, the dress is navy shot with purple. I was trying to make her more sophisticated and more modern than the rest of the characters. I regret it came up so dark on many people’s monitors though it really was stunning on her. —Joanna Syrokomla, Murdoch Mysteries costume designer

[The Murders] sounds like it has potential but why isn’t a female cop show written by a woman? I know we’re always a few years behind the U.S. but you’d think with everything going on in the world we’d want to push women creators to tell women’s stories. —Marisar

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Preview: Murdoch Mysteries goes undercover in “The Spy Who Loved Murdoch”

Everyone needs to take a break and the folks at Murdoch Mysteries are no different. The show shut down for a well-deserved hiatus last week. That meant no interview to offer up following the broadcast of “Murdoch Without Borders.”

But now everyone is back to work, so I’ll have at least one interview posted next Monday. Perhaps two.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before any of that can happen we need to address Monday’s new instalment. (At the time of this preview being published, CBC announced Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries would be airing rather than the Toronto election results.) Here’s what the CBC has revealed about “The Spy Who Loved Murdoch,” written by Simon McNabb and directed by Alison Reid.

When Murdoch impersonates a dead diplomat to save a treaty, political and sexual intrigue complicate matters.

And here are more morsels I’ve picked up from watching a screener.

What’s with the goatee, Murdoch?
William is looking less like a detective and more like a young Colonel Sanders. It’s all part of a plan related to the synopsis.

Bonjour Louise Monot!
The French actress and model jetted to Canada to portray Régine Rivière, an attaché for a man being sought. That pulls Murdoch into the fray, which is why he’s dressed the way he is. And look for Nick Stojanovic—who played Misha in the “Anastasia” episode of Frankie Drake Mysteries last season—in Monday’s Murdoch.

Terrence … Meyers
It’s not a complete season of Murdoch Mysteries without Peter Keleghan arriving to stir up trouble as Meyers. Unlike most times where Meyers is more of a pain in the butt for our favourite coppers, he’s come to Murdoch for help. At stake? Well, just the future of the entire world. But then, Meyers is known for being a little overly dramatic, isn’t he?

Margaret!!!
Many of you wondered why Margaret wasn’t at Higgins and Ruth’s wedding. I don’t know the answer to that but I can say she appears in “The Spy Who Loved Murdoch.” Arwen Humphreys, as usual, makes the most of her on-screen time in a plotline involving an old friend of Thomas’ visiting.

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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