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Blackstone, Featured, Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays, Orphan Black, Republic of Doyle, Schitt's Creek, Sensitive Skin, Sunnyside, Vikings, Young Drunk Punk

He Said/She Said: Canadian TV Shows to Binge-Watch this Summer

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Join Greg and Diane every Monday as we debate what’s on our minds. This week: Key Canadian TV shows to binge-watch this summer.

He Said:

The Canadian TV calendar is starting to thin out as we get into the summer months. Big Brother Canada, Remedy and Orphan Black continue to chug along, Rookie Blue returns and Between debuts on May 21 and CBC’s Fool Canada hidden camera series starring Will Sasso is scheduled to bow in June. Other than that, there’s not a heck of a lot on, which means it’s the perfect time to binge-watch a homegrown program or two (or four or five) during the rest of the spring and into the summer. Here are my picks:

Young Drunk Punk, City
Bruce McCulloch’s peek back at the 1980s is tender, funny and sweet, and showcases wonderful performances from its young cast in Tim Carlson and Atticus Mitchell alongside vets McCulloch and Tracy Ryan. Catch all 13 episodes on City’s website.

Sunnyside, City
Co-created by Gary Pearson and Dan Redican, Sunnyside is brash, envelope-pushing sketch comedy starring Kathleen Phillips, Pat Thornton, Patrice Goodman, Alice Moran, Rob Norman and Kevin Vidal playing a wide range of offbeat characters, from meth heads to meat heads, murderers to cops. Wacky co-stars include ponies, clowns, a bleeding wall and a guy who lives in the sewer. Season 1 is available on City’s website.

Vikings, shomi/History
If historical drama is more your thing, you should be watching Vikings. Game of Thrones may grab more headlines, but I like Vikings because it’s based on real history and Viking mythology. Travis Fimmel is Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking farmer who yearns for a better, more exciting life. With the help of his wife, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick), brother Rollo (Clive Standen) and buddy Floki (Gustaf SkarsgÃ¥rd), Ragnar successfully reaches England and begins a bloody campaign seeking riches and fame. Seasons 1 and 2 are available on shomi for Rogers and Shaw subscribers and Season 3 can be watched on History.ca.

Republic of Doyle, CBC
Allan Hawco’s co-creation is like The Rockford Files if it was set in Newfoundland. Jake Doyle (Hawco) and his dad, Malachy (Sean McGinley) tool around St. John’s in a GTO, solving crimes as PI’s and getting into trouble with the local RCMP detachment. Funny and dramatic, Doyle is one hell of a ride. The entire run of Republic of Doyle can be watched on CBC.ca.

Orphan Black, CraveTV
My apologies to die-hard fans of Orphan Black, but I like Season 1 more than the sophomore go-round or this current season. I think it’s because I was so blown away by Tatiana Maslany playing Sarah, Alison, Helena, Rachel and Cosima for the first time and the tight storytelling that made it so memorable. This was OB before the accolades and awards, when it still felt like a small #CloneClub was tuning in to greatness. Season 1 is available on CraveTV.

Blackstone, APTN
Created by Ron E. Scott, this gritty Gemini Award winner spotlights the fictional Blackstone First Nations band just outside of Edmonton. Issues of drugs, alcoholism, unemployment, corruption and abuse are acknowledged through an unflinching lens that is entertaining and thought-provoking. All four seasons of Blackstone can be seen on APTN’s website.

She Said:

The problem with recommending a binge-watch of Canadian series is many can be difficult to find. You can’t just sign up for CraveTV or shomi unless you’re with a qualifying cable or Internet company, and some of the binge-worthiest shows aired on cable channels that don’t offer episodes online, or aired years ago before online access was a consideration and a broadcaster or producer might not think getting those rights is worth the effort. Does anyone buy DVDs anymore? A handful are available that way.

I’d echo Greg’s Blackstone recommendation — I need to get caught up myself — and add that the first season of Young Drunk Punk will come to CBC in the fall, but you could be one of the cool kids (and possibly help the low-rated show get a second season) if you catch up now. Besides those, here’s my two cents:

slings_and_arrows-image

Slings & Arrows, DVD
If you’ve seen it already, isn’t it time to rewatch? If you haven’t seen it, you have to at least give a try to the show that tops my list of best Canadian series of all time. If you don’t fall in love, fine, be that way, but at least get a taste of the pathos and humour behind the scenes of not-Stratford starring Paul Gross, Martha Burns, Stephen Ouimette, Mark McKinney, Susan Coyne and, in the first season, a luminous Rachel McAdams. All three seasons are on DVD.

Twitch City, DVD
I dare you to find a more intentionally surreal Canadian show than this, co-created by and starring my favourite oddball Don McKellar (see also: Slings & Arrows) as a TV addict shut-in. Costars included Callum Keith Rennie, Molly Parker, and both Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney as the same character, believe it or not. As far as I can tell, DVD is your only hope.

19-2, CraveTV
The ratings of this acclaimed cop series suggest many of you, like me, haven’t been watching as it aired. I got part way through season one during my CraveTV trial, and a seemingly random selection of season two episodes are on bravo.ca. I’ll likely wait to complete my binge until Bell starts selling their shows to Netflix (aka when hell freezes over), or if they do the smart thing and rerun the series from the beginning on CTV this summer.

Sensitive Skin, HBO Canada on demand
If  you have access, check out this Kim Cattrall-starring black comedy about a woman’s mid-life crisis, with Don McKellar and Elliot Gould.  It never got its due while it aired, but it is getting a second season so binge away if you can … unlike me.

Schitt’s Creek, Netflix
Ah, CBC, a Canadian channel that actually allows their shows to be sold to Netflix. One of my favourite shows of this past season (no “Canadian” qualifier needed), Schitt’s Creek is my choice for a binge rewatch of the antics of Eugene and Dan Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Emily Hampshire, Annie Murphy and Chris Elliot. You can also find the season on CBC.ca but let’s be honest: Netflix is a much better user experience.

Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays, CBC
A surprise renewal years after its cancellation means you need to catch up on season one before season two arrives likely next year. Starring Bob Martin and Matt Watts as a codependent therapist and patient, the series is hilarious and heartfelt. All episodes are available on CBC.ca.

What about you? What Canadian shows will you be binge-watching, and how? 

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Children's Programming, Featured

Jonathan Torrens scores comedy touchdown with Samantha Bee on Game On

Jonathan Torrens never expected he’d be the hero of the Nova Scotia film and television industry. But he sprang to its defence when the government announced they’d be cutting the province’s tax credit in the newest budget, effectively killing a burgeoning community of creative people. A recent full day of rallies in Halifax—with Torrens addressing the crowd from on-stage—led to the Liberal government backing off on some of its proposed changes. There is still a lot of talking between sides to take place, but things aren’t as dire as they were a few short weeks ago.

“I have so many things that I’d rather be doing, I did not want to take this on,” Torrens tells TV, Eh? “But I said from the get-go that I would not be speaking up if I didn’t know in my heart and see in my town that it’s working.”

When he’s not fighting for the future of the craft he loves, Torrens is starring in one of several projects. He’s set to return to Trailer Park Boys to play J-Roc next month, followed by Season 5 of Mr. D, and is one-half of the hit podcast Taggart and Torrens with former Our Lady Peace drummer Jeremy Taggart.

His latest TV project—Game On, debuting tonight on YTV—finds Torrens in a familiar setting, portraying a sports commentator named Bob opposite The Daily Show‘s Samantha Bee as Geri. The duo serve as offbeat play-by-play reporters for the life of Toby Martin (Grayson Gurnsey, The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell), an awkward 14-year-old whose most embarrassing moments and personal triumphs are noted in Game On.

“I feel like I’ve done the ‘guys in sport coats’ thing, so that it was a woman, and that it was Samantha Bee specifically, and that it was directed by Jacob Tierney, was the neapolitan of flavours that brought me to the table,” Torrens says with a smile. A long-standing respect for what Bee has done in her professional and personal life was a major draw, and he hoped they’d mesh during filming scenes in Montreal. The pair provide what Torrens calls “traffic copping” with dialogue describing Toby’s movement and interaction with friends Seth (Jamie Mayers) and Jessica (Alice Morel-Michaud), sister Mel (Teale Bishopric) and parents Erica (Rebecca Croll) and Jeff (Marcel Jeannin), with the opportunity to riff during the intros and extros.

The chance to ad-lib provides hilariously uncomfortable moments; in Monday’s first of 20 episodes, “Small Change,” it’s hinted Geri and Bob may have been in a relationship that fizzled because one of them “closed their borders” to the other. Having that creative space to play, Torrens explains, came via Game On‘s executive producer and director, Tierney (The Trotsky), who encouraged going off script.

“Sam is every bit as funny, cheeky and acerbic as you’d hope,” Torrens says. “But it takes somebody in the driver’s seat to say, ‘Yeah, take five seconds and pan for gold.”

Game On airs Mondays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on YTV.

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Featured, Masterchef Canada

Review: High end to Southern comfort on MasterChef Canada

“I may not have won MasterChef Canada, but I definitely was the best-looking throughout.” And with that, the series said goodbye to Michael, one of the most compelling and entertaining characters in the franchise.

In the early stages of this season, Michael was painted as the villain, a well-dressed home cook with high-end tastes who looked down on his small-town competitors. But as with all reality TV, the story is all in the editing; as Season 2 has progressed Michael not only was shown to be a likeable dude but a valuable team player to have in your corner. Unfortunately, it all came to an end on Sunday after a raw piece of fried chicken resulted in him hanging up his apron for good. It was a shame, really, because Michael would have been great as a finalist. Still, I’m sure we’ll see him as a sous chef for the two competitors who do go into the finale on May 24.

Luckily, Michael was able to show off his skills in a professional kitchen, as “Fine Dining Under Fire” began with the Top 6 ascending 54 storeys to cook in Canoe, Michael Bonacini’s landmark restaurant. It was there the Blue Team led by Cody and with David and Christopher on board faced off against Line captaining the Red Team with Michael and Sabrina.

The results were eerily similar to Season 1’s venture to Claudio Aprile’s Origins: both teams struggled early before getting into a groove and serving up respectable plates to the 60-odd seated in the restaurant. Cody took a more collaborative approach to his leadership and the Blue Team flourished, finishing their service with just a couple of blips. The Red Team never recovered from a slow start and Sabrina stepped in to lead when Line got overwhelmed. It got so bad that Chef Bonacini donned his whites and got in there to help out.

That, paired with plating that was a little off, handed the win to Cody, David and Christopher and sent Michael, Line and Sabrina to the Elimination Challenge, to prepare fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans in just 45 minutes. And though Michael’s chicken breast was the best of the bunch, that raw leg was his undoing.

Next week the finalists get teary when their families drop by for support and to cheer them on.

Notes and quotes

  • I was playing “find the Canadian TV industry people” during the episode and spotted Bell Media execs, one television critic and Marilyn Denis.
  • “She’s acting like my daughters did when they were teenagers.” Line with the line of the night about Sabrina.
  • “I’ve been working on a fried chicken recipe for 10 years.” And I would like to sample it, David.

MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.

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Featured

Over-the-air antenna, you complete me

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Almost four years after becoming a cord cutter, I finally bought an over the air antenna. Until then I’d been subsisting on a diet of Netflix, screeners, network websites, streaming videos from my computer, the kindness of friends, iTunes and Xbox video purchases. My TV habits had quickly turned to binge watching series once they were finally available to me, or catching up next day, and I found to my surprise that it wasn’t a great hardship to give up on shows that aren’t easily accessible to me.

But finally, earlier this year, I decided to replace the antenna I’d had to return back when I first cut the cord, after it started smoking when plugged in — a feature I felt unnecessary.

A friend’s recommendation and then reviews led me to select the Winegard FL5500A FlatWave Amplified Razor Thin HDTV Indoor Antenna. Easily assembled and nearly paper-thin, it sticks on a window, wall, or other flat surface, with either the white or the black side exposed. Plugged in, it offers me seven high definition channels with clear and consistent reception. I get CBC, CTV, CTV 2, Global, City, Radio-Canada and, I think, OMNI. This means I can get various seasons of Murdoch Mysteries nearly 24 hours a day in 2 official languages as well as a wide selection of commercials punctuated by some shows. 

If I lived elsewhere I could get US network signals as well, but since Canadian networks love nothing better than to simulcast US programming, I don’t feel the loss. I still sometimes forget I have live TV now, but I’ve been able to watch the Oscars, The Voice, and The Good Wife live and so all is well in my world.

MicronAbout a month after I purchased my own OTA antenna, Antennas Direct offered to send us a couple of ClearStream antennas to test. Their Micron XG is just as easy to assemble, compact and can sit relatively unobtrusively on a shelf — and gets me the same number of channels as my Winegard. The decision between them, then, was purely a matter of aesthetic preference.

2VThe ClearStream 2V can be used as an indoor antenna as well, but it’s primarily designed for outdoor use and promises the greatest number of channels. Outdoor mounting is impractical for me so when I opened the box and saw the bulk of the antenna, and couldn’t get past the first step of assembly without tearing my hair out, I abandoned the effort. (ClearStream has a toll free number for help but I didn’t think they could do much about “how in the world can I make that contraption fit with my decor?”)

Chromecast_dongleI also have added another tool to my cord cutting arsenal: Chromecast. A thumb-sized media streaming device attaches to an HDMI port on the TV and plugs in, then with a quick setup it can stream from apps, the Chrome browser or from iOS or Android devices. I haven’t played with this as much as I expected, since most of the apps and online streaming are available to me in via my Xbox (which came with my Internet contract), either through the apps or by the video player networked to my laptop. Still, I love how portable the Chromecast dongle is for travel, perhaps, and look forward to experimenting further.

I still intend to see what’s available once cable companies begin offering skinny basic and pick and pay, but with all these gizmos available to me, I feel less and less tempted to uncut the cord.

Do you want one of my test antennas? Comment with your own TV-watching solutions and indicate which of the ClearStream antennas you’d like: the Micron XG or the ClearStream 2V. I’ll draw a winner for each one randomly on May 15 at 5 pm PT. 

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Featured, Orphan Black

Review: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? on Orphan Black

SPOILER ALERT: Please do not read on unless you’ve seen the Season 3, Episode 3 of Orphan Black, titled “Formalized, Complex, and Costly.”

Oh my god, the clones are actually sisters and brothers! OK, so maybe it’s not that exciting as far as revelations go (in fact, it’s kind of obvious that they would be related), but it does add another dynamic to Orphan Black, and even offers the possibility that they can team up and take on Dyad … and maybe even the Prolethians, who are back in fine flower-dress form this week.

It’s hard to tell who the real enemy is in Episode 3. Is it Rudy, who had to kill his own brother because he was defective and it was “protocol”? He goes to extreme measures all the time, but we can’t forget that he’s had a military life, is a messed-up clone, and is on an assigned mission to bring back the genetic material.

Is it Mark? The poor guy genuinely wants to separate himself from the clones and just go off with Gracie. Sure, he tortures Willard Finch (Nicholas Campbell looking his grizzliest) for information on Henrik’s scientific work and inadvertently kills him, but Mark’s motivations are as pure as Sarah’s.

Sarah is looking for Helena, and will stop at nothing to get it. If it means killing someone, she will. So does that make her any less of a villain than Mark? Nope. We sympathize with Sarah because we know her struggles. We don’t know the male clones’ stories—at least not in full. And hey, we’ve gotten to know Mommy a bit better now, and she seems to be a few shades of crazy. Having her raise a bunch of boys (which is what I’m assuming at this point) under a military structure probably provided some serious scars, both internal and external.

To put it simply, I’m having trouble figuring out who to root for. Obviously I love Helena and ultimately want Sarah to succeed in her quest to bring her home, but I feel badly for the Castor clones. I’m a tad concerned that these guys were just introduced to be killed off one by one, with Rudy and Mommy eating bullets in the Season 3 finale.

I’m assuming Mark is dead at this point. If Bonnie (Kristin Booth, represent!) missed from that distance with that rifle, then she’s a terrible shot. So that’s two Castor clones in as many episodes. It’s going to be impossible to form any real attachment to them, and makes me really fear that one-by-one concern, above.

This main-storyline tedium is what makes the Cosima-Scott-Felix brain extraction so fun, and so necessary. As disgusting as it was—I had to stop eating for the duration of the scene—it was a nice break from the cryptic conversations and runarounds of the plot. There was humour, amazing special effects, and hey, it’s interesting! We want that science nerd stuff, it’s engaging; it also brings the story forward when we learn that the Castor clones are suffering from irreversible brain disintegration. And who doesn’t love the occasional Felix rejoinder?

The other other subplot is ticking along according to plan: Alison and Donnie are successfully winning over the local housewife population with their drug dealing, and getting support for her school trustee campaign. I still stand by this subplot as being totally ridiculous and pretty unrealistic, but this is a show about clones who’ve found another group of clones, so who am I to judge? The scene in the garage was entertaining, mostly because watching Alison one-up anyone is a joy. We’ll see if this matures into anything of substance, or if it’s just another distraction from the density of the main plot.

One thing I will ask for is: more Helena. I can’t tear my eyes away when she’s on-screen. She’s either going to beat the Castor clones, or join them, and honestly I don’t know which one I prefer.

Clone of the Week: Helena. Her sassy comebacks make my night.

Random Thoughts:

  • Holy Canadian TV actor cameos! Nicholas Campbell as Willard Finch and Kristin Booth reprising her Bonnie role, all in one night! Such a pleasure.
  • The scene with Rachel undergoing rehabilitative therapy was spellbinding. Couldn’t get enough. Her dialogue reiterated to me that she will eventually go after/try to kill Delphine. So she can’t say “key” right now, but in a matter of weeks she’ll be back to the same ol’ Rachel, except with a badass eyepatch.
  • Did anyone else hear Cosima still coughing? That scared me.
  • Alison: “Go sell a house, Marcie!” and then “I need to cut something.”
  • Why was Sarah still talking/whispering into her phone when she’s trying to sneak into the barn? Who does that? Stealth 101: No phone talking.
  • Shout-out to Jilly’s, the now-gone strip joint in downtown Toronto, which makes an appearance in the background when Sarah and Art question the midwife.

Orphan Black airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Space.

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