From Bill Harris of Postmedia Network:
Link: Innovative comedy Nirvanna the Band the Show is ambitious in its amateurism
There are eight episodes of the new TV series Nirvanna The Band The Show. I have seen four of them.
So how does one describe a project that spells Nirvanna with an extra “N�
Hmmm … let’s see … you know, it’s on days like this that my ability to sum up TV shows in a few simple words really is pushed to the test. Continue reading.
From Jake Howell of the Toronto Star:
Link: Nirvanna the Band’s wild Toronto antics are supremely funny
Of all the legendary concert venues in Toronto, Nirvanna the Band frontmen Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol are interested in playing a show at only one: the Rivoli, a Queen St. W. club known these days for its standup comedy scene and cavernous pool hall.
In fact, playing a show at the Rivoli is entirely the premise of Nirvanna the Band the Show, Johnson and McCarrol’s hilarious new “semi-scriptedâ€Â television series that’s to debut weekly on Viceland on Feb. 2 and on City in March. Continue reading.
From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
Link: Women Behind Canadian TV: April Mullen
“If you enter the industry in the traditional sense it takes such a long time to slowly go up the ladder. If you’re a young woman that’s in love with film and want to be a director, you have to leave school and start creating work and directing shorts right away. If that’s the position you are vying for, then claim that position and start directing immediately because that’s what you’ll be seen as.” Continue reading.
From Etan Vlessing of The Hollywood Reporter:
Link: Len Cochrane, Pioneer of Canadian Kids TV, Dies at 71
Len Cochrane, Canada’s biggest impresario of kids TV, died Tuesday. He was 71.
Canadian broadcaster Corus Entertainment confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Cochrane died Tuesday morning, with no word on the cause of death. Born in 1946, he retired from Corus in January 2014 as president of Teletoon Canada, the country’s cable kids channel that Cochrane launched on Oct. 21, 1997. Continue reading.Â
From Bridget Liszewski of the TV Junkies:
Women behind Canadian TV: 2017 edition
They say a lot can change in a year. For the television industry on many levels that’s certainly been true, thanks in no small part to the rise of social media, which has given a platform to fans to use their voices to speak out against inequalities they see happening. Gone are the days where television shows can go an entire season without a female director and no one noticing or calling attention to it. It’s clear now that people are watching and listening, especially when it comes to diversity. Despite the fact that we’re still smack dab in the middle of the Peak TV era, unfortunately the problems with gender diversity behind the scenes in television haven’t changed all that much. Continue reading.
