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Featured, Masterchef Canada

Review: MasterChef Canada winner returns

Competing on a show like MasterChef Canada is an exercise in skill and humility. You may be excellent at what you do, but if you show up your competitors too much or—even worse—the judges, you will get burned for it.

Such was the situation Michael and Cody found themselves in on Sunday night.

Michael, who has never shown a lack of confidence in anything he’s done, was once again slapped down by Michael, Alvin and Claudio for his pretentious plating during the Elimination Challenge. Roasting three vegetables, creating a cylinder of truffle mashed potatoes and grilling a hunk of lamb and placing them on a long white plate may have looked cool, but it made him a target. Claudio especially took umbrage with Michael’s plating and ripped him for salty potatoes.

Cody, meanwhile, one-upped Michael in his douchebaggery by nullifying his Mystery Box win and participating in the Elimination Challenge. Why? Because he really wanted to cook with Season 1 winner Eric Chong’s favourite ingredient: truffles. Clearly riding an adrenaline high, Cody’s decision to compete was a slap in the face to the judges who had given him the win. Dude, if the judges tell you you’re safe and to go to the gallery … YOU GO TO THE GALLERY. Instead, Cody tried too hard to impress everyone and was on the verge of going home.

Thankfully for he and Michael, Kevin once again crashed an burned with an insipid-looking egg and asparagus dish that had a smattering of truffle on it. Kevin, the chef who included puff pastry wrapper in one recent recipe, was shown the door.

Next week, team captains David and Sabrina lead their teams to the University of Guelph where they’ll make poutine for a bunch of students.

Notes and quotes

  • I would have made a pizza with caramelized onions, roasted garlic, brie, smoked gouda and proscuitto on it.
  • When did Cody injure/burn himself? I either missed it or it happened off-camera.
  • “Essence of unicorn… angel tears…” — Jennifer mocking Cody
  • “They seem like they’re just overpriced little turds.” Quote of the night from Kwasi
  • “That’s like me … yellow magic.” Um, what, Alvin?

MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on CTV; the show is pre-empted for the JUNOS this coming Sunday.

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Featured, Heartland

Review: Separation anxiety on Heartland

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“Sometimes you make decisions for people even though they’ve told you it’s not what they want.” And with that Georgie finally got through to Lou.

Yes, Heartland fans, it looks as though the writers are going there. Lou and Peter seem set on separating, even though by the end of “Eclipse of the Heart” they were smiling at each other. Of course, there are still a handful of episodes left in this season for the pair to right their listing marital ship, but those smiles looked rueful and full of what has been instead of happiness to come.

Or perhaps, over the next few weeks as they prep for Amy and Ty’s nuptials, Peter and Lou will realize their marriage is fighting for and we’ll see a vow renewal alongside the wedding. I’m kind of on the fence about how I want things to play out. Part of me is interested in how Heartland‘s writers would handle the Lou and Peter being apart and the affect it would have on the girls, while another wishes they would stay together and have them both make some changes in the way they treat each other.

Marriage consumed the other two major storylines as well, with Jack stopping Tim from driving to Moose Jaw and possibly making a fool of himself in front of Miranda and her fiancé. I was thankful for the back and forth between the men by the side of the highway, first when Jack told Tim his truck wouldn’t start (an obvious ploy to slow Tim down) and then by taking his truck keys and pretending to throw them into a field.

As for Amy and Ty, they’re full speed ahead on wedding prep, with plans to use the hall for the ceremony and Amy narrowing in on the perfect dress. I was actually surprised she didn’t tell Lou she’d rather wear her mom’s old dress, but I’m sure that’s to come. After all, having the girls in the dress shop enabled the writers to continue Lou’s flashbacks to the good and bad times in her courtship, marriage and child-rearing with Peter and reflect on whether all that is worth saving. What do you think? Will Peter and Lou really separate? Will they renew their vows at Amy and Ty’s wedding? Comment below or via @tv_eh.

Notes and quotes

  • Congratulations on Heartland‘s season renewal!
  • “You’re not planning on driving to Moose Jaw and making a fool of yourself, are you?” Jack to Tim.
  • “The heart wants what the heart wants.” — Caleb
    “I don’t think you’re thinking with your heart. Or your head.” — Amy

Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Interview: Matt Watts on the life and death and life of Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays

Except that the official announcement got scooped by a tweet, one of the biggest surprises on CBC’s 2015-16 schedule was the return of Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays, cancelled a few years ago amid low ratings. Created by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and “based on the neuroses of Matt Watts,” the show featured Martin and Watts as maladjusted therapist and anxiety-ridden patient.

The news of its return was met with joy and puzzlement, particularly on the heels of low-rated Strange Empire‘s cancellation. Co-star and co-writer Watts offered some answers to pressing questions like “WTF?!” in an email interview:

How did the revival come about? Did you guys approach CBC, or did they approach you?

I think Sally Catto [CBC’s general manager of programming] approached the producers … I’m not entirely sure how it happened, really. All I know is I got an phone call from Bob one day saying, “We’re doing Michael again!” I was never really consulted.

Given it was based on your own neuroses, you co-wrote and co-starred, it was critically acclaimed but cancelled, now revived … it seems like the cancellation/revival has the potential to be even more of an emotional roller coaster than if it was less tied to you personally? How do you feel about it? Are you approaching this season differently?

Well, I think I made a huge mistake by getting so attached to the show in the first season. The truth is, MTT was never really my show, it’s always been Bob’s. I allowed myself to get sucked into the whole whirlwind because I play Michael, and yeah, it’s based on me. The line got blurred. The cancellation hit me really hard. I took it way too personally… and it wasn’t even my show, really.

So, this year, I’m going to throw myself into the writing and performing, but as soon as we wrap, I’ll just go back to working on my own projects.

I’m really excited to see everyone again. When we wrapped season one, I arrogantly assumed I’d get see the crew again the following summer. That was actually the biggest heartbreak: not getting to see the crew again. I loved the crew on MTT.

Will the show be retooled for the reboot?

We’re going to take advantage of the five year gap. I think that’s the part of the relaunch that really intrigues me, because I don’t think a TV show has ever really done it before.

Maybe there should just be one season every five years. That’d be cool.

Actually, as I write this, I realize that the first episode has a line about Michael and David working together for 15 years. So this would be 20. It’s almost like we could make it look like the show has been designed to come back every five years for one season. Like the 7 Up series.

There you go. How’s that for a premise? A co-dependent relationship between a therapist and his patient, over a long period of time, seen at various intervals. (I’m drunk as I write this btw, so this may be ludicrous … again, it’s not my show.)

As for the show itself, within the season we’re going to stick to a serialized story that plays out over the course of the season. It’s not going to become an episodic sitcom or anything. Although Don and I often talk about bringing the show back as a time-traveling farce, just to blow the audience’s minds. Bob hates the idea though.

Will it be set in Ottawa or Toronto or both?

That would be spoiling the fun!

How far into planning and writing the season are you already?

Not that far. We had developed a second season when the show was cancelled. We’re trying to salvage what we can from that (a lot of it doesn’t work because of the time gap) and then we’ll go from there.

Do you know if all/most of the cast will return?

Right now we have it so most of the characters will return, yeah. But it’s tricky since no one is under option and they’ve moved on to other projects. For example, Tommie [Amber Pirie] is on Bitten now. That could be a conflict. Technically, I’m not even signed on. Maybe the show will end up just being Bob talking to an empty chair for a season. Every five years.

It got what you called “boutique ratings” the first time around. Do you think there’s an opportunity to grow the audience? Obviously there’s been a change in management but what’s different now about CBC’s programming that makes it ripe for Michael to return?

The support is there. Michelle Daly [CBC’s senior director of comedy], Sally Catto and Heather Conway [executive vice-president of English services] are all fans of the show and want it to do well. I think they plan to advertise this time — that might help. There wasn’t a single poster anywhere in Canada the first year. Even if the CBC puts up one poster somewhere, that’ll be 100% more advertising.

I hope it does better. It’d be disingenuous to say ratings don’t matter. They should, because why else do we do all this if it isn’t for the work to be seen?

That being said, I’m keenly aware of the possibility that after all this, it could get cancelled again.

How crazy would that be?

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Featured, Motive

Secrets keep Motive rolling into Season 3

Motive is all about the mystery. Who is the victim and why did they become a chalk outline? Who committed the crime? It’s a show that delves into hidden stories and—most of all—secrets.

Turns out Motive‘s lead, Kristin Lehman, has been keeping a little secret of her own.

“I cut my hair and I wear a wig on the show,” Lehman divulges during an in-person interview, sporting a closely-shorn ‘do. The Vancouver-based actress is doing press for Motive, returning Sunday, March 8, on CTV.  The drama series that introduces the victim and the killer within each episode’s opening minutes and then spends the ensuing instalment linking the two, bows with the same core characters, though two find themselves in different places.

Sunday’s return, “Six Months Later,” finds Det. Angie Flynn (Lehman) out of the homicide department and interviewing cop wannabes. She’s stuck in a small office with high windows far away from Det. Vega (Louis Ferreira), Sgt. Mark Cross (Warren Christie), coroner Dr. Betty Rogers (Lauren Holly) and Det. Brian Lucas (Brendan Penny), who is the lead in Sunday’s case.

Motive‘s unique storytelling technique, coined “whydunit,” enables the Vancouver-shot project to feature notable actors and actresses as witnesses, victims and murderers, and Season 3 is no different. “Six Months Later” boasts Victor Garber, Jessica Lowndes, Tony Plana and Luisa D’Oliveira with Alexis Bledel, C. Thomas Howell, Ally Sheedy, Chris Klein and Dylan Walsh all participating in future storylines. Lehman loves the opportunity to have guest cast to interact with because it ups the game of the regulars on the call sheet.

Though the victims and criminals rotate every week, some things never change. Vega and Angie, for instance, will never become romantically linked like so many characters do on long-running series. Lehman says it’s something she and Ferreira have talked about at length.

“These two people are so aware of their limitations in their personal lives that they’re conscious the degree of intimacy they have with each other is the most valuable relationship they have,” she explains. “We’re both playing characters that are in their 40s and there is a strong codependence between them. We’re taking out the sexuality, but we’re enhancing the intimacy.”

That intimacy and familiarity between Vega and Angie will likely be tested this season. Lehman teases Sunday’s storyline becomes a story arch that echoes through the 13 episodes and keeps veteran thespian Garber around.

“In the course of doing so, it provides for a little bit of space for Angie and Vega to continue exploring how they are with each other personally,” she says.

Motive returns Sunday, March 8, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

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Awards, Featured

Comments and queries for the week of March 6

2 Comments

Readers headed online to comment about several things this week, including the Canadian Screen Awards and what we can do to fix them, and what Canadian literature should be the next project the CBC adapts for the small screen.

I think the awards should be pushed off a month or two so the actors can show up on the red carpet without winter coats. And is Orphan Black produced by BBC America? If thats true then I don’t feel its truly Canadian.—Tom

I was disappointed two years ago when they amalgamated the two awards. I personally think TV should have their own night as well as film. I do love Canadian Screen Week and the opportunity for fans to meet their favourite stars. I would hate for this industry to become Hollywoodized. We have our own culture but we are still very much in infancy and are still finding our way or “voice.” We do need much more support to get our films “out there and seen.” —Nancy

 

So many wonderful suggestions have been made already.

My suggestions are:

* Any of Miriam Toews’ novels would make great adaptations – in particular, I would love to see All My Puny Sorrows, A Complicated Kindness, or A Boy of good Breeding.

* Elizabeth Hay’s Late Nights on Air could be wonderful!

* Annabel, by Kathleen Winter – wonderful story, amazing settings.

* Galore, by Michael Crummey. I love this novel so much and it could be a brilliant TV series. —Jennifer

COPPERMINE by Keith Ross Leckie. A must. And a true story. And written by a screenwriter.—SW

I’d love to see The Orenda – history and gripping story.—Steve

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or head to @tv_eh.

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