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Review: Mr. D hits a home run with Roberto Alomar

When Mr. D executive producer Mike Volpe told me a few weeks ago that Baseball Hall of Famer—and former Toronto Blue Jays second baseman—Roberto Alomar would be guest-starring this season, I was giddy.

How would he be worked into the storyline, written by my former classmate, Anita Kapila? Would it be baseball-related? Would it involve Gerry knowing Alomar somehow or at least acting like he knew him?

In an interesting twist in “President Jimmy,” Alomar didn’t even appear on-screen with Mr. D at all. Instead, he was part of a secondary storyline involving Robert, Trudy and Malik. See, every year during Xavier’s student council elections, someone plasters the school with posters with Alomar for President emblazoned on them. Fed up, Robert banned all Alomar posters and pins from the premises. And still they magically appeared. The way the storyline rolled out, it was assumed Trudy was behind the whole thing, until the episode’s closing minutes when Alomar appeared on-screen, helping Malik post more election signs.

“I just retired, and I get bored. So I drop by the schools and I mess around,” Alomar said to the camera. (Alomar’s acting skills from those McCain fruit punch commercials paid off.)

It should be noted that Mr. D‘s filming style changed for “President Jimmy,” with cameras capturing the action like a mockumentary. It made for several funny moments (like Alomar’s admission), especially when it came to scenes involving Jimmy, Mr. D, Lisa and new librarian Miss Terdie (Kathleen Phillips, Sunnyside). With the elections in full swing, Lisa’s class project was to record the process for posterity and they captured democracy in all its glory. Like Mr. D convincing Jimmy to run for president because Gerry didn’t want Natalie to three-peat as president.

The best part of the instalment for me—aside from Alomar—was footage of the ongoing feud between Lisa and Miss Terdie. Both ladies have their quirks—the former neatness and cleanliness and the latter a deep love for books and their fair treatment—so when Lisa didn’t put books she’d pulled off the shelf on Terdie’s “To be shelved” cart, it was war. Terdie drew a caricature of Lisa on her classroom board, titled it “Demon Mason” and removed the erasers from the class so Lisa couldn’t eliminate it.

I miss Mr. Leung, but Miss Terdie promises to be a memorable character as well. Especially if her feud with Lisa continues.

Notes and quotes

  • How many teachers use Wikipedia as their source material? I’m hoping not many.
  • “He’s a Golden Glove-wearing baseball slugger.” I love Robert’s sport savvy

Mr. D airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on CBC.

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Three thumbs up for Canadian broadcasters

There are times — many, many times — when I prod our Canadian TV industry to do better. Make more original shows. Schedule and promote them more wisely. Believe the Internet isn’t just a fad.

But sometimes, kudos are in order. This last week a few small actions made me cheer loudly:

  1. A few years ago, the previous CBC regime decided against picking up a weirdly hilarious pilot called Gavin Crawford’s Wild West. Like many a failed pilot in Canadian TV, it aired almost surreptitiously at some point, because a requirement of funding is often that a produced episode must see the light of day. Well, it’s back, less surreptitiously, in a smart use of existing content for their Punchline website. It’s been chopped up into sketches and given a second life, sitting alongside made-for-the-web series such as Bill & Sons Towing and online extras for CBC comedy series such as 22 Minutes and Schitt’s Creek. Check out Punchline here.
  2. In the battle of the online streaming services, Netflix wins for me hands down given it’s the only one accessible to me. It also has shows I can’t see anywhere else. For years I’ve pointed out that original content is the currency of the changing TV business and that Canadian networks were being left behind. But Bell-owned CraveTV has been doing something savvy with the content they do own. They may never want to produce originals just for the streaming service — Canadian broadcasters like to maximize their spending by spreading shows across all their properties — but they can entice Saving Hope fans to sign up for the opportunity to see episodes a day before they air on conventional television. Smart programming for a new platform.
  3. Sure, Bell gets a lot of credit for its Bell Let’s Talk campaign that raised over $6 million this year for mental health causes. But shomi, the streaming service owned by competitors Rogers and Shaw, gets the good sportsmanship award for joining the conversation:

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TV, eh? podcast episode 175 – Ground Up Groundhog

After digging themselves out from a snowstorm in Ontario, Greg and Anthony chatted with Diane about the ongoing Vikings contest on TV, Eh? and Kelly Lynn Ashton’s column about the latest CRTC decisions, including the impact banning simsub could have on Bell Media’s broadcast of the Super Bowl.

Also on tap: will Spun Out ever see the light of day, Schitt’s Creek‘s ratings drop and Rogers blames Numeris for faltering hockey ratings. And finally, Reel West Magazine‘s poll got the trio talking about the most impactful Canadian series of all time.

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

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

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Review: 19-2’s Daddy issues and PTSD

Monday’s latest episode of 19-2, “Borders,” had a couple common themes running through them, namely the relationship between fathers and their children and the ongoing stresses suffered by Ben and Audrey.

Audrey clearly isn’t over the effects of her beating, something that came to a head during an electric scene involving she, Beatrice and several citizens. What began as a yelling match and snide remarks degenerated into Audrey tackling a well-known folk singer on his doorstep. Things only got worse when his friends came to his defence. Being surrounded by all those men clearly brought Audrey back to the beating, and I’m actually surprised she didn’t pull her gun on anyone. (This is, by the way, the second week 19-2 has stacked a large man against one of Montreal’s finest. Audrey riding on the singer’s back earned a chuckle from me.)

Bear has got to be wondering what she’s done wrong to get such flawed partners. First it was Tyler and now Audrey. She must be pining for someone like Vince to be with her. Speaking of Vince, it appears as though the girl he shagged last week has got the hots for him, though I’m not sure how she managed to get J.M. and Vince sent to her place for the 911 call.

Daddy issues popped up for Ben, Nick and Commander Gendron. Ben and Nick arrested a homeless man named Leon (Serge Houde) who was scaring folks with his row of dead squirrels and form of Tourette’s, and Ben had visions of his alcoholic father in the man. Despite trying to get Leon the help he wanted for him, there was none to be had and Leon was last seen flipping Ben off and wandering away. Ben had a lot on his plate Monday, alternately faking showers to keep up on his notes regarding his fellow officers, discovering Nick’s iPhone unlock code for the SQ and attempting to find out what sort of business his partner and Kaz had cooked up.

Charged with finding Gendron’s drug-addicted daughter—who has some Daddy issues of her own—Nick and Ben used the downtime to discuss the former’s father, who was a criminal of some stripe and whom Nick assumes is dead though no body was found. I’m glad that, now that we know these characters, the writers are exploring their back stories. It’s fascinating to me that Nick’s father was a crook, and goes a long way to explaining why he became a cop. Is Nick a bad cop, or a good one? It’s too soon to know for sure.

As for who the mole in 19-2 is? I think it’s Audrey. Just a gut feeling. What does everyone else think?

Notes and quotes

  • “Idiot.”—J.M. to Vince
  • I can’t tell you how happy I am that Tyler is clean. I like a basketball bouncing, orange shoe wearing Tyler way better than a slurry, drunk one
  • “It’s such bullshit. A folk singer with clout?”—Beatrice

19-2 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.

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Review: Strange Empire’s last stand

It felt inevitable and yet impossible. The just-completed season one of Strange Empire seemed to build toward Captain John Slotter self-destructing and being brought to justice, whether by a noose or by Kat’s hand. It ended up being that hand, taunted into drawing a bow and snuffing out whatever light was left in that tormented heart, at the wagon camp where their fates were first entangled.

It turns out Aaron Poole signed on for that one great arc, and if there’s a season two — not a sure thing, given the ratings, but never something to rule out in the mysterious world of Canadian TV — the series will evolve without Slotter running the strange empire he shaped. He is putting his affairs in order and cutting all ties to people and things, turning everyone against him, in preparation for the strange kind of redemption he sought.

This last episode, “The Dark Riders,” hints at what a new driving force may be: the long-lost Jeremiah Loving turns up at the end, stumbling toward a Kat who had given him up for dead and accepted Marshal Caleb Mercredi’s proposal before he’s captured (once again, presumably) by Indians on horseback.

But to begin at the beginning, the episode starts with love, or as near to it as some of these characters can get. Mercredi is off to Washington for a political career, to help fight for Native people, and Kat can’t refuse the love and stability — probably more the stability — he offers her and her children.

Morgan still longs for Rebecca despite what she witnessed in last week’s episode, and despairs that she’s the wrong sex for her. “It is not a man I want but a mind,” counters Rebecca. Which could be the start of a declaration that she feels the same for Morgan but no, the good doctor means John Slotter. “You would hold me back from all I am,” she tells Morgan, whereas Slotter provides her with fresh bodies and a license to take what she likes from them. Not what most women mean when they want a man to give her his heart, but Slotter leaves his body to her in his newly revised will. (Though in the most Rebecca-ish signs of affection, she leaves him buried in peace.)

He has reason to believe she’ll benefit from that promise soon: he announces his intention to stop Isabelle from inheriting his estate, and makes his father nervous about a change that could affect the money he’s sunk into his son’s mine. Both make attempts against his life. Both fail. Isabelle looks pleased, perhaps admiring this man she’s loved.

But Slotter’s creepy lawyer points out Slotter can’t disinherit a wife, so he picks the most devious solution: Isabelle will get 49% but only if she marries, Cornelius gets his 26%, and Ling — to the surprise of the other two — is revealed to already have a 25% stake. No one person holds a majority share, but any two combined would. Cornelius instantly proposes — never mind the fact that his son is still inconveniently alive — but Isabelle looks less than thrilled at that prospect. Ling also proposes, but she points out no investors or landowners would do business with a black woman and Chinese man.

Instead, Isabelle saves Slotter from the noose but if her intention was to keep his will from coming into effect, she fails again. She sets him up for a more fitting death — one where his downfall began, the site of the massacre that made Kat his enemy and also his redeemer.

Captain Slotter is no more creative than Mrs. Slotter: Isabelle marries Kat in the end, fulfilling her legal obligation in the eyes of the law and gaining her share, while providing Kat the means to leave with her girls and set up her ranch (so much for the poor Marshal?). That is, until Jeremiah shows up. Bad timing, Jeremiah.

The biggest legacy Slotter leaves, though, is the birth of Janestown and the new direction of its inhabitants. Rebecca blames the untamed land for bringing out savagery in Slotter, Kat and herself and bonding them together. “He’s something to us that we are not yet sure of”; she believes they’re cut from the same cloth. There’s no doubt, however, that though John Slotter dies, he has influenced the women profoundly.

Rebecca has embraced her dark side and more comfortable attire (pants!), Isabelle has set herself up for independence, and Kat has the justice she sought and her dreams in sight — though again carried off in front of her eyes. Without Slotter, though, what will hold Janestown together? And more importantly — will CBC give us the opportunity to find out?

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