Everything about Kim’s Convenience, eh?

Featured, Kim's Convenience, Murdoch Mysteries

Award-winning Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee joins the cast of Murdoch Mysteries

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From a media release:

Shaftesbury and CBC announced today that award-winning, Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Mandalorian) will join the cast of the CBC original hit series MURDOCH MYSTERIES as the series commences production on its 18th season in Toronto. Lee enters the “Murdoch-verse” as Inspector Albert Choi, who brings a whole new perspective to Station House #4. Best known for his portrayal as Appa on Kim’s Convenience, as well as Uncle Iroh on Netflix’s live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender, this new role marks Lee’s first foray into the world of period drama. 

CBC’s most-watched show and Canada’s top-rated long-running drama, MURDOCH MYSTERIES is set in Toronto in the early 1900s during the age of invention, where Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) enlists innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city’s most perplexing murders. Notable guest stars on the series have included William Shatner, Margaret Atwood, Geddy Lee, Chris Hadfield, Ed Asner and Nick Nurse, adding star-studded intrigue to its compelling tales. The 18th season, consisting of 22 episodes and celebrating the series’ 300th episode, will broadcast on CBC and CBC Gem in Canada this fall, Acorn TV and Ovation TV in the U.S. and on Alibi in the UK.

Ahead of the Season 18 premiere of MURDOCH MYSTERIES this fall, a special ‘Beginner’s Guide to Murdoch Mysteries’ collection is now available to stream for free on CBC Gem. The 10 iconic episodes are the perfect Murdoch primer pulled from across the series and highlight the show’s trademark mystery, murder and Detective Murdoch’s unflappable resolve. 

“We are delighted that Paul has joined us in the world of Murdoch,” says Executive Producer Peter Mitchell. “Paul brings a wealth of experience to his role as Inspector Albert Choi and we think the fans will really enjoy seeing him on the team at Station House 4.”

Season 18 is full of ‘Murdochian’ delights: a murder at a Charles Dickens convention; Murdoch acting as a bodyguard for a silent film star (Siobhan Murphy) and thrown into a cinematic adventure himself; foiling a theft of the world’s largest ruby; proving the veracity of a ‘Missing Link’ skull found in Milton, Ontario; and a holiday episode celebrating the ‘misfits’ and singletons.  Episodes that root mysteries in the social issues of the time are also explored: a worker’s strike at a factory; an early instance of low-income housing; competing public hydro projects; and immigrants trying to purchase land in the ‘paradise’ of the wilds of Canada. 

MURDOCH MYSTERIES was born out Maureen Jennings’ 1997 novel Except the Dying. Key characters in Murdoch’s world include Chief Constable Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), Constables George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch), Detective Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany), Chief Coroner Violet Hart (Shanice Banton), Margaret Brackenreid (Arwen Humphreys) and Effie Newsome-Crabtree (Clare McConnell) as Canada’s first female Crown Attorney. In addition, the milestone 300th episode will see Detective Murdoch visit the UK to see his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy), as they celebrate their wedding anniversary. This season will also introduce several fresh, new faces, as well as combining the history, humour, romance, and adventure that makes MURDOCH MYSTERIES so popular and unique for viewers around the world. 

MURDOCH MYSTERIES is developed and produced by Shaftesbury, in association with CBC, ITV Studios, and UKTV, and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the IPF’s COGECO Television Production Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and Ontario Creates. Shaftesbury Sales Company and ITV Studios hold worldwide distribution rights for the series. 

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Industry News, Kim's Convenience

Ins Choi to lead story room for first-ever comedy cohort of CFC’s Bell Media Prime Time TV Program

From a media release:

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and Bell Media are pleased to welcome award-winning playwright, actor and Kim’s Convenience co-creator, writer and executive producer Ins Choi as Executive Producer in Residence of the first-ever comedy cohort of The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program.

The comedy cohort, which will run from October 2022 to the end of March 2023, has been designed for writers specifically looking to gain experience in comedy writing and engage in a collaborative comedy series story room. The comedy cohort is an offering for Black, Indigenous and/or racialized creators in Canada, to celebrate and amplify a diversity of underrepresented voices and stories so they can ultimately be seen and heard on screens in Canada and around the world. Throughout the first half of the program, the writer residents will work as a team with Choi to develop an original new series. The selection process for the six writers who will be invited to participate in this cohort is currently underway; their names will be announced in early August.

Ins Choi is best known for his debut play, Kim’s Convenience, which was a nominee for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, won the Best New Play Award and the Patron’s Pick at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, and toured across Canada with Soulpepper. Choi adapted Kim’s Convenience into a TV series of the same name with Thunderbird Entertainment, where he served as a writer, executive producer and co-creator. The fan-favourite series ran for five seasons on CBC, was picked up by Netflix, and won multiple awards, including the Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series in 2018.

Choi’s select theatre acting credits include Banana Boys, lady in the red dress (fu-GEN); Hamlet, The Odyssey (Stratford Festival); and Death of a Salesman, Alligator Pie (Soulpepper). He is currently developing many other creative projects, including his play, Bad Parent, which is being produced for fall 2022 by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and Soulpepper.

The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program is recognized industry-wide for training emerging and mid-level TV writers and has played a vital role in the development of new and diverse television series. The program has attracted some of Canada’s most prolific and successful showrunners to lead the story room as Executive Producer in Residence, including Bruce Smith, Michael MacLennan, Brad Wright, Dennis Heaton and Shelley Eriksen. Learn more about the program here.

About the CFC
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable cultural organization that drives the future of Canadian storytelling. Our intensive, hands-on programs in film, television, and entertainment technologies empower, shape and advance opportunities for Canadian creators and entrepreneurs working in screen-based industries. Learn more at cfccreates.com.

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Awards, Kim's Convenience

Simu Liu to host The 2022 JUNO Awards in Toronto, live on CBC

From a media release:

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CBC announced today that Simu Liu, Marvel Studios star of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, is returning to his hometown to take on a new role: host of The 2022 JUNO Awards Broadcast. The first in-person iteration of the show since 2019, this year’s event will be held at Budweiser Stage in Toronto, on Sunday, May 15 and broadcast and streamed live across Canada at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.

“It’s an absolute honour to be hosting The 51st Annual JUNO Awards,” said  Simu Liu. “Canadian entertainment and culture hold a very important place in my heart and getting the chance to experience the festivities in my hometown makes the experience even more special to me.”

This past year, Liu made history as the star of the first Asian-fronted movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings (2021), which earned him The People’s Choice Award for Favourite Action Movie Star. He also made headlines last December after a widely-applauded hosting debut on Saturday Night Live. Prior to that, Liu starred for five seasons in the CBC original comedy series Kim’s Convenience, which won the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in 2017. The show later went on to win the award for Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards. Liu’s other film and television credits include ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens and NBC’s Taken. His memoir, “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story,” will be released by HarperCollins in May 2022.

Tickets for The 2022 JUNO Awards start at $39.95 and go on sale Friday, March 4.

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Kim's Convenience, Run the Burbs

Links: Run the Burbs, Season 1

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From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:

Link: Andrew Phung takes on suburbia in new CBC sitcom, Run the Burbs
There will be some Easter eggs in the new CBC sitcom Run the Burbs involving Calgary, little tributes sprinkled throughout the first season that astute viewers from the city’s northeast will recognize. Continue reading.

From Brad Wheeler of The Globe and Mail:

Link: In Kim’s Convenience star Andrew Phung’s new CBC sitcom Run the Burbs, family matters
“I don’t wake up every morning thinking I’m Vietnamese,” says Andrew Phung, co-creator and co-star of the new sitcom Run the Burbs. “I’m Vietnamese-Canadian, and this a show about a contemporary Canadian family.” Continue reading.

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: Canada, ‘we’re your new family’: Andrew Phung’s ‘Run the Burbs’ picks up the baton from ‘Kim’s Convenience’
Andrew Phung is standing in the middle of the perfect metaphor for what he’s bringing to Canadian television. Continue reading.

From Marriska Fernandes of The Canadian Press:

Link: Andrew Phung on seeking authenticity for Asian family comedy ‘Run the Burbs’
Andrew Phung says he brought plenty of lessons from his hit “Kim’s Convenience” over to his new show “Run the Burbs,” which shifts the focus from a family of Korean immigrants to first-generation kids. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Run the Burbs gives us a family big on love
The Pham fam has a whole lot of love to give and they want to share it with the world around them. Continue reading.

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Link: Hey, T-Dot: Andrew Phung’s Run the Burbs speaks today’s slang
If you live in the ‘burbs you’ll recognize the family at the heart of Run the Burbs, the second new sitcom to launch this week from CBC. Continue reading.

From Charles Trapunski of Brief Take:

Link: Interview: Run the Burbs’ Andrew Phung and Rakhee Morzaria
Run the Burbs is an exciting new series from one of our faves at Brief Take, Andrew Phung (who was previously seen as Kimchee in Kim’s Convenience and can be seen upcoming in Roast Battle Canada), and is created by Phung along with his creative partner Scott Townend. Continue reading.

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Featured, Kim's Convenience, Run the Burbs

Andrew Phung returns to CBC with his own creation, Run the Burbs

Like other fans, I was gutted when Kim’s Convenience came to an end. I missed the laughs, the family dynamic, and the diversity I was seeing on my television screen. Thankfully, that hole has been filled by Andrew Phung—Kim’s Convenience‘s Kimchee—in Run the Burbs.

Co-created by Phung and his best bud and collaborator, filmmaker Scott Townend, Run the Burbs—debuting Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on CBC—follows the Phams, a young Vietnamese-South Asian-Canadian family living on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs.

“Relatable” was the first word that came to mind as I watched the debut episode of Run the Burbs. In those opening moments, I witnessed something I’ve done myself: trying to deliver a trunkful of groceries from the car into my house in one trip. To see the Phams—father Andrew (Phung), mother Camille (Rakhee Morzaria), daughter Khia (Zoriah Wong) and son Leo (Roman Pesino)—draped like pack mules struggling in the heat, made me laugh out loud at them, and myself.

“For this family, in particular, they make these mundane moments big,” Townend says. “And there are the families around them as well. People are going to say, ‘I have a neighbour like that.’ I’ve got neighbours like this, Andrew’s got neighbours like that. It was important to find the comedy in those everyday moments.”

In the works since the summer of 2019, Phung says Run the Burbs came organically and easily, thanks in large part to their longtime friendship and the way they constantly supported each other. By December of that year, Phung was confident what they had created would end up on a network.

“We had something here that was so fun and full of life and energetic,” Phung says. “What’s wild to me is that, through the process, a lot of it has remained the same.”

At the centre of Run the Burbs is Andrew Pham, a whirling dervish of a man who is full of positivity, good-natured humour and truly believes in the good in everyone. Even when there are down moments, like in Episode 1, when a planned block party seems to be going off the rails, it doesn’t last long. And with high-powered and diverse comedic talent in Phung’s co-stars and supporting roles played by Aurora Browne, Ali Hassan, Julie Nolke, Jonathan Langdon, Chris Locke, Samantha Wan, Simone Miller and the late Candy Palmater, the laughs are loud and last long.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have the cast that we do,” Townend says. “It is a powerhouse of comedy and every episode, every actor brought something new to the part. They took what was on the page, directors included, elevated it and made it better.”

Run the Burbs airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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