We begin this episode of Four in the Morning, appropriately entitled Moon, with Jamie (Michelle Mylett) waxing poetic about how fabulous the moon looks whilst William (Mazin Elsadig) is completely indifferent. It makes him feel insignificant. William hasn’t been reacting to anything at all lately and that is pissing Jamie off. They head into an empty Patrician Grill as the lone patron, Coralie (Shiva Negar), rushes out. She slim jims a car and William and Jamie tag along for a trip to the observatory. It seems a group has gathered to watch the destruction of the moon.
Meanwhile, Bondurant (Daniel Maslany) just cannot catch a break with his trumpet playing. This time, he is called away by William in order to save the moon. Seems our musician Bondurant is also a world-class mechanical engineer. He also suffers from heavy fingers. It is only once a year, when the moon is at perigee, that its gravitational pull balances the heaviness of his fingers, making his trumpet playing c’est magnifique.
But these are just the surface stories. Mitzi (Lola Tash) discovers Bondurant lied about getting into Julliard, and she confesses that she had an abortion … but did she? Jamie and William fight about his lack of emotional engagement and William almost confesses about his time with Mitzi. In the end, William finally reacts, putting Jamie and William back on track and Bondurant terminates the moon for Mitzi! Yep … Parker had Bondurant blow up the moon! Guess we are significant after all.
As I sat down to watch this episode, I was thinking “OK, here we go again, we have a pattern established … yawn.” But, about halfway through “Moon,” I didn’t have a clue where we were going. Then there was a fabulous bullet time sequence edited with “Che gelida manina,” from La Boheme scoring the scene. This was absolutely perfect for Maslany’s physical theatrical style. Sure it was gimmicky, but it was perfect and I loved it. I also realised I am starting to care about these characters, albeit some more than others.
Let me know what your thoughts are about tonight’s episode in the comments below.
Four in the Morning airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
I missed Liza Fromer on The Morning Show, and wondered where she was. Will she be back? —Sheila
No, Liza won’t be back on The Morning Show. Her contract was not renewed. Global News made the announcement in June.
Where is Kim’s Convenience?
What day and time is the pilot or premiere? —Alex
Kim’s Convenience debuts Monday, Oct. 4, at 9 p.m. on CBC. Look for our behind-the-scenes feature closer to air date.
No love for The Bachelorette Canada
It’s sad that instead of making original content, broadcasters are buying concepts. They are cheaper to produce and bring in decent ad dollars, so I guess that’s the bottom line. As someone who works in the industry, I find it disheartening. —Chris
Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or on Twitter @tv_eh.
Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baeumler are, arguably, the faces of HGTV Canada. They’ve both got long-running series on the air in Canada and around the world, co-starred in the home giveaway series Home to Win and allowed TV cameras to follow their lives both on and away from the construction site.
Now the pair is taking over Sunday nights—beginning this week—on HGTV Canada with projects that peel back the curtain on their family lives. Yes, there is still plenty of renovation drama in Moving the McGillivrays and Bryan Inc.—it’s what put food on the table long before the TV cameras came into focus—but there is personal footage fans have seen only snippets of in the past and been clamouring for.
(l-r) Myah, Scott, Layla and Sabrina McGillivray
The first up is Moving the McGillivrays at 9 p.m. ET/PT, a surprisingly intimate look at the journey Scott, wife Sabrina and daughters Myah and Layla go through on the path to creating their forever home while Scott keeps his responsibilities to Income Property, his production company, McGillivray Entertainment, helping Habitat for Humanity and his public speaking engagements. What appeared to be a fairly straight-forward case of finding the right house for his family turned into a nightmare. Scott and Sabrina, a teacher, knew they needed a house with storage, near their parents and close to a good school. After winnowing the list down to three properties, the couple made their pick. Episode 1 covers those first steps into renovating … and the most emotional footage of Scott I’ve ever seen on camera.
“As tough as it was for me in those moments, it was even tougher for me to see my kids seeing that,” McGillivray says during a press day at HGTV Canada’s headquarters. “It’s been a tough show and a bit of a roller coaster for sure.”
But as dramatic as the renovations on their new home are, fans will get a kick out of Sabrina and Scott’s relationship. She’s not afraid to put her husband in his place, call him out on bad jokes or roll her eyes at his confidence. And, thanks to some unearthed early footage of Scott walking around his first-ever income property, you understand why he became the success he is. Forget the orange shirt and floppy mop of hair in that grainy video: the then 21-year-old Scott McGillivray had a plan.
“After I bought the first property, at 21,” he recalls. “I was in university and had a student loan and I almost didn’t buy that first property. I just kept running the numbers in my head and realized, ‘We’re gonna make money on this property. This is insane.’ And when it actually worked, it was a massive confidence booster. I literally got a cheque for that first property, for $30,000 and I asked my friend, ‘Why isn’t everybody doing this?’ I’m still saying that today.”
Sarah and Bryan Baeumler
But while Moving the McGillivrays reveals Scott’s wife and kids, Bryan Inc.—bowing Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT—spotlights the role Sarah Baeumler has had for years alongside her husband. While viewers have seen Sarah weighing in on design tips during House of Bryan: The Last Straw, where the couple built a forever home, and participating in Season 1 of Home to Win, she’s been part of Baeumler Quality Construction since Day 1.
“I’ve always been involved in the company, but more on the office side,” she says. “Bryan’s the guy on-site managing the projects and I was part of the office team looking at marketing and branding. I dabbled in design in House of Bryan. This is the first time Bryan has said, ‘I think it would be good for you to see our side of the business and understand what it means, from the ground up.'”
“I think the view out there is that Sarah shops,” Bryan says. “She runs the Baeumler Family Foundation, totes our four kids around and has been heavily involved in the construction company for 15 years. The only difference with this show is that we’re filming Sarah’s involvement.”
The education starts immediately on Sunday night when the pair purchase two homes, with a plan to renovate and flip them for profit. Sarah, project manager, quickly learns working within home-buying and design budgets is easier said than done. Throw in designing the company’s offices, keeping their media company and production company on track and … oh yeah … parenting four kids, and the duo have a tough task ahead of them. Episodes catch the pair on the construction sites, in the office, with the children … just a typical day in the Baeumler’s lives.
“There are big, big stakes with this show,” Bryan explains. “There is a name on the side of my truck that my father threatened me with my life if I ruined. The reality of that, versus let’s just break the bank to get exactly what we want … I think people will get a welcome peek into that side of it.”
Moving the McGillivrays airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.
Bryan Inc. airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.
After discussing our ongoing charity auction in support of Kids Help Phone and Tatiana Maslany’s epic Primetime Emmy win for her work on Orphan Black, Greg and Anthony break down the next two weeks of Canadian TV programming.
Last week on Wild Archaeology, we left off at the Little John site and Jacob had just broken his freshly-found artifact: an 11,000-year-old piece of bone. OOPS!
We begin this week’s adventure learning Dr. Norm Easton and his team have found artifacts at this sub-arctic dig site estimated to be between 11 and 12,000 years old—more than twice as old as the pyramids of Egypt. What is singularly unique with this particular dig site is Dr. Easton’s approach. Not only is he an archaeologist, but he is an ethnographer. As a result of his loyalty to White River First Nation, he has gained the people’s trust and been formally adopted into the family for whom the dig site is named. The community has his back.
A significant chunk of Tuesday’s instalment focuses on culture: regaining, establishing and maintaining connections to traditional culture. We also get a glimpse into Jenifer and Jacob’s connections to their own cultures through song and stories as we begin to get acquainted with our hosts.
Dr. Rudy and Dr. Easton discuss how they believe ancestors of White River First Nation experienced the land and utilized the resources available to them. Trails still exist that were used millennia ago, the ground still hard-packed beneath overgrown vegetation. Jenifer and Jacob demonstrate the use of atlatls. Acting essentially as arm extenders, these tools serve to amplify the force of a spear throw. Using their ingenuity, these ancient people created technology from the materials they had available in order to hunt the mega fauna.
On the artifact discovery side of things, Jacob finds the remains of an 11,000-year-old bison bone that was subjected to an impact fracture, indicative of human interaction with the local fauna. I think that makes these two tied for interesting finds.
I cannot help it, I know I am a broken record but I have to repeat myself. I LOVE THIS SHOW. One of the perks of reviewing is that networks supply us with advanced screeners. So what did I do? I binge-watched the whole season last week despite having other work to do (a thesis thing I have looming). That same day, I also shared a brief conversation with co-host Jenifer Brousseau and we chatted about her own experience as she tunes in to watch.
“I’m glad they’re capturing our authentic journey, of what really was a powerful journey of reclamation,” she said. “There was something spiritual that took place, to touch these artifacts and be a part of history. Seeing the beauty of my ancestry and the strength and resilience of my ancestors.”
Wild Archaeology airs Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. ET on APTN.
