Everything about Young Drunk Punk, eh?

Awards, Book of Negroes, Featured, Remedy, Rookie Blue, Schitt's Creek, Sunnyside, Young Drunk Punk

Top 5 reasons to be optimistic about Canadian TV

3 Comments

The days are getting longer, but they’re still pretty damn short. Spring with its warmer weather feels like a distant mirage. And there’s always something to complain about in Canadian television. But there are some hopeful signs this winter season:

  1. CBC is out of the gate this winter with fine ratings. Phew. Their newcomers Schitt’s Creek and The Book of Negroes found an audience, while returning favourites like Murdoch Mysteries continue to earn lots of eyeballs.
  2. Funny ha ha. City has launched two delightfully off-centre comedies in Sunnyside and Young Drunk Punk, and with them and CBC we now have a nice complement of the Canadian comedy old guard on our screens (Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, and Bruce McCulloch) without simply trying to recreate the good old days.
  3. Please sir, can we have some more? Global’s got Remedy, the possibly-in-its-last-season Rookie Blue and … ummm … not a lot else coming up for original series. So they must have an announcement coming sometime soon about what else is up their sleeve. Right?
  4. 101 nights of awards. OK, the Canadian Screen Awards have only four nights of awards, but now that sounds like nothing right? What better than the recently announced nominations to keep us chatting through the winter about who was snubbed, why there’s a separate category for Best International Drama that doesn’t include any international dramas that aren’t Canadian, and why Tatiana Maslany wasn’t just nominated for all five slots under best actress in a drama. The broadcast on March 1 will be hosted by Andrea Martin — another Canadian comedy legend — or at least they will be if she shows up this time.
  5. Jay Baruchel knows how to fix Canadian comedy. He says give CBC more money (yes!) and get rid of the old boys club who “regardless of the quality” keep getting jobs. It’s an uncomfortable position for me, defending old guys, but I’m not entirely sure who he means, or who we can blame when relative newcomers’ shows tank. Canadian TV executives or marketers? Maybe, but I’m not sure how many of them have successful original programming in their job performance plans, and many of them are not boys. Still, it can only help when a homegrown celebrity is passionate about improving our homegrown industry. I mean, it might be better if he wasn’t getting lauded for starring in an American show while advocating for Canadian content, but baby steps.
Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Young Drunk Punk

Link: Anarchy in Calgary: Bruce McCulloch revisits aimless teenagedom in Young Drunk Punk

From David Berry of the National Post:

In the first episode of Young Drunk Punk, the (fittingly) punk-era sitcom about a pair of kids trying to make a go of life after high school, the guidance counsellor asks Ian McKay (Tim Carlson), obviously a frequent visitor to the office, what exactly he wants to be. He’s got no answer: “I only know what I don’t want to be,” he shrugs.

“I think, sometimes, you have to start your disdain for people around you before you can actually look at yourself,” says Bruce McCulloch, Kid in the Hall and creator of the City series. “It’s a person admitting that they’re searching, that they’re lost, and they’re starting with everyone else, but the fun is going to be watching them get inside themselves.” Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Book of Negroes, Dragons' Den, Saving Hope, Young Drunk Punk

Tonight: Young Drunk Punk, Saving Hope, Dragons’ Den, Book of Negroes

Young Drunk Punk, City – series premiere
Young rebels, Ian (Tim Carlson) and Shinky (Atticus Mitchell) decide that instead of going to college or into the work force like their parents want, they must find their great destiny! But when Ian’s sister Belinda (Allie Macdonald) moves back home after a fight with her boyfriend, Ian becomes determined to restore Belinda’s honour, prove his father wrong, and blow some minds with the power of punk!

Saving Hope, CTV – “Trading Places”
Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) and Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) are faced with an intricate procedure to save a woman’s child when she and her partner refuse to be seen by Hope Zion Hospital’s top OB/GYN Dr. Sydney Katz (Stacey Farber). Meanwhile, Dr. Joel Goran’s (Daniel Gillies) father is in town to receive an award for stem‐cell research, but Joel has the feeling he’s hiding something. Plus, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) suspects foul‐play when a boy and his grandmother come in. This episode of SAVING HOPE is directed by Gregory Smith (ROOKIE BLUE).

Dragons’ Den, CBC
A musical entrepreneur tries to strike a chord with the Dragons; an honest storeowner lays it all on the table; and university friends want to team up with the Dragons to ice out big industry players. Plus, business partners think there’s an untapped market for their truly Canadian beverage.

The Book of Negroes, CBC – Part 3
When Revolution breaks out in New York, Aminata seizes her chance and escapes to freedom in the haven of Canvas Town.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Young Drunk Punk

Preview: Young Drunk Punk a sweet, funny postcard from the 80s

In 1980, the year Young Drunk Punk is set, I was nine. Old enough that—previewing Wednesday’s debut episode on City—I recalled the fashion (spiky hair, striped jackets, pornstaches), the music (Loverboy) and, most importantly, the small-town vibe.

I grew up in the smallish city of Brantford, Ont., a 30-minute drive from Hamilton and a whopping 60 minutes from Toronto. I lived far enough from those metropolis’ that visits were a big deal for me, a window to possible dreams and promises in my future. Certainly bigger opportunities—I thought as I got into my early teens—than I could ever have in Brantford.

So I totally related to Ian McKay (Tim Carlson, Flashpoint) and Archibald Shinky (Atticus Mitchell, Fargo), two kids just graduating from high school in 1980 Calgary and without a damned clue what to do next. Created by Kids in the Hall veteran Bruce McCulloch and inspired by his life (the sitcom was shot in and around the same Calgary townhouse complex he grew up in), Young Drunk Punk is certainly a wistful look back, but it certainly isn’t dated. The issues Ian and Shinky deal with in the first 30 minutes are the same every high school kid wrestles with: fitting in, kissing someone, distancing themselves from their parents and deciding who they are as individuals.

Adding to the laughs in Season 1 are Ian’s dad, Lloyd (McCulloch), who is the head of security at the complex, Ian’s mom Helen (Tracy Ryan, Nancy Drew) and his sister, Belinda (Allie MacDonald, Lost Girl). Belinda plays a large role in tonight’s bow, as Ian is planning to move into her place until she shows up at the family home with all of her belongings; she’s left her boyfriend. Ian and Shinky attend a party where they try to fit in, don’t, and get chased by local punks. The humour is there, but it doesn’t hit you over the head like most shows today. Instead, it’s subtle, heartwarming and family oriented. You get the idea that McCullogh is looking back fondly on his past rather than mocking it.

Sandwiched between The Middle and Modern Family on Wednesday nights, I would have rather seen it paired with Sunnyside for an hourlong block of Canadian comedies on City. That may eventually happen, but in the meantime I’ll enjoy Young Drunk Punk for what what it is, and cringe every time I see a piece of clothing I used to wear.

Young Drunk Punk airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on City.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail