From Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter:
From Scott Stinson of the National Post:
From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:
From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:
From Jennifer Cox of Crave:
Seed, Citytv -“Ill Conceived”
Harry (Korson) discovers his trips to the sperm bank (a.k.a. bank machine) as a young man have resulted in kids – lots of them. When the story begins years later, Harry receives a knock on the door from nine-year-old Billy (William Ainscough), a kid with two moms, who has just hacked into the sperm bank’s database. While Harry quickly becomes Billy’s missing father-figure, Harry learns of another offspring, 15-year-old Anastasia (Abby Ross), who instantly idolizes him as the cool parent she thinks she deserves. Though Harry’s eager to reap the benefits of fatherhood – without any of the responsibility – Billy’s and Anastasia’s parents are loath to let him into their lives. Meanwhile, Harry meets Rose (Carrie-Lynn Neales, The L.A. Complex), a beautiful, albeit neurotic, single woman who’s tired of dealing with men and their games, and decides to have a baby on her own. Despite his permanent bachelor lifestyle, Harry comes to believe that his many sessions with that swimsuit catalogue at Cryobank may bring some meaning to his life, a legacy beyond his mastery of video games.
Murdoch Mysteries, CBC – “Murdoch Au Naturel”
Murdoch enlists some revealing detective work while investigating a murder at a nudist community.
Being Human, Space – “I’m So Lonesome I Could Die”
Sally (Meaghan Rath, FLASHPOINT) reaches out to Aidan (Sam Witwer, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) as his struggle to survive becomes grimmer. Josh (Sam Huntington, Fanboys) and Erin (Lydia Doesburg, SUPERNATURAL) accompany Nora (Kristen Hager, A Little Bit Zombie) when she visits her family, and Josh helps Aidan locate untainted blood.
Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan, OLN – “Namibia – Black Hairy Thick-Tailed Scorpion”
Dominic Monaghan (Lost) braves the remote wilderness of Namibia in search of the continent’s largest and deadliest scorpion.
From Emily Gagne of TV Guide Canada:
By Diane Wild of TV, eh?
After the forced defection of Murdoch Mysteries to CBC, City debuts its first scripted series in ages on Monday. Seed has enough comedic and storytelling confidence to signal hope for the network’s recent rebrand and its upcoming series such as Package Deal and Mother Up. It’s also the first new Canadian show in a while that’s compelled me to add it to my regular viewing list after viewing the first two episodes.
But before I put too much weight of a network and an entire industry on one enjoyable series, I spoke to Toronto born-and-bred Seed star Adam Korson about the emotional appeal of a potentially prurient premise.
Korson plays Harry, a charming and manipulative bartender whose longest relationship seems to be with a sperm bank. Seed‘s premiere, “Ill Conceived,” has Harry meeting a couple of the fruits of his labours: nine-year-old Billy and 15-year-old Anastasia, and the families who reluctantly let him into their lives.
“At the root of it all it’s about a family, a group of strangers who come together to form a family, and what’s your responsibility as a parent to your child,” said Korson.
“The topic could lend itself to potty humour but it’s really not. Joseph Raso, Mark Farrell, and all the other writers make sure it has heart. They push the envelope with the humour but there are stories, there are relationships, you really get invested in these characters. It’s grounded.”
It’s also laugh-out-loud funny, including a great turn by Carrie-Lynn Neales as Rose, a single woman ready to have a child on her own who sees Harry as a potential one-night-stand sperm donor.
Korson was drawn to acting after a grade 7 assignment to give a presentation on the life of an explorer. “In my mind I took that as ‘do a one-man show,’ so I picked Christopher Columbus and did a one-man show on his life. I got perfect on the assignment which was nice, but getting the response from my classmates like that it was like a drug. That was it for me.”
He’s seen some initial audience reaction to his latest production — the Seed pilot was released online a week prior to its television premiere — and is gratified at the response already. Soon he and the network will see if Seed takes root with a larger audience.
Seed premieres Monday, February 4 on City.
