TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 115
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television

Links: The Porter, Season 1

From Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post:

Link: Labour of love: Sabryn Rock’s latest acting job was a life-changing experience
“It was this interesting kind of synchronistic thing … having this huge life event of motherhood happen and then portraying somebody who all she wants is to be a mother.” Continue reading.

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: CBC’s ‘The Porter’ sheds light on part of Canadian history with ‘energy,’ ‘sexiness’ and ‘fun’
If you want to know what CBC’s historical drama “The Porter” is about, there’s a lot to be gleaned from the television series’ opening minute and 10 seconds. Continue reading.

From Sadaf Ahsan of the Toronto Star:

Link: CBC’s ‘groundbreaking’ new drama series ‘The Porter’ is a story of Black ambition
When CBC’s “The Porter” debuts Monday, it will become one of the network’s largest Black-led television series, ringing in Black History Month in a “powerful” way, says Toronto star Ronnie Rowe Jr., who adds that he’s “honoured to be a part of history.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Previewing CBC’s The Porter with the creative team
A rich, wide-ranging story of Black Canadians during the 1920s, the series follows the story of the titular porters who work the railways and their extended community of family and friends in Montreal. Continue reading.

From Johanna Schneller of The Globe and Mail:

Link: The Porter is an overdue win for Black representation on Canadian TV
When the cast wall went up, everyone got a lump in their throats. Headshots of the actors playing the 100-odd characters in The Porter, an eight-part CBC series in partnership with BET. Row after row of faces. Ninety-five per cent of them Black. Continue reading.

From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:

Link: The Porter takes a rare look at the injustices, triumphs of Canada’s Black Diaspora in the 1920s
In the new CBC series, The Porter, part of the action takes place in a lively night spot called Club Stardust. It’s a gathering place for many of the characters in the series, a hotspot in Montreal’s Black neighbourhood of St. Antoine in the roaring 1920s. Continue reading.

From Alicia Cox Thomson of Chatelaine:

Link: How CBC’s The Porter Made Me Reexamine My Own History
The Porter takes place in 1921 when train travel for wealthy white people was the height of luxury; train porters were always male and Black. Continue reading.

From Sherlyn Assam of Broadview:

Link: ‘The Porter’ showcases Black Canadian train workers’ historic fight for equality
CBC’s new original series The Porter tells the fascinating story of how Canadian train porters helped organize North America’s first Black labour union. Continue reading.

From Bill Brownstein of the Montreal Gazette:

Link: Brownstein: CBC-TV’s The Porter revisits the Black experience of 1920s Montreal
Some had just returned from fighting overseas for Canada during the First World War. Others were recent immigrants from the Caribbean. They had dreams of finding promising jobs and earning the respect of their fellow countrymen. Continue reading.

From Etan Vlessing of The Hollywood Reporter:

Link: ‘The Porter’ Creators Talk Black Representation and Canadian TV’s Culture Shift: “It’s a Pretty Powerful Moment”
Canada is making a giant step forward in representation with the civil rights drama The Porter, to air on the CBC and BET+ stateside. Continue reading.

From Carolyn Hinds of The Gate:

Link: Loren Lott and Aml Ameen talk The Porter on CBC
“Colorism has affected me all my life, you know? But it’s something that I always swept under the rug, just like I think the Black community has.” Continue reading.

From Norman Wilner of NOW Toronto:

Link: The Porter gives Black Canadian history a new look
Mostly, the show is about the path to social justice for its idealistic characters, which is paved with tragedies, betrayals and setbacks. But it makes room for Black joy, and that feels important. Continue reading.

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Link: The Porter is a dazzling train ride 100 years into Canada’s past
Set 100 years ago in the early 1920s, the Canadian railway drama tells the story of train porters Junior Massey and Zeke Garrett (Ami Ameen and Ronnie Rowe Jr.) and their families as they strive against fierce resistance to form North America’s first Black labour union. Continue reading.

From Charles Trapunski of Brief Take:

Link: Interview: The cast and creators of The Porter
It was extremely resonant hearing from Marsha Greene, in particular, about the ways in which The Porter developed along the way, finding the correct track, so to speak. Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: The Televixen chats with the women of The Porter
In the final part of my chat with The Porter team during the press day, series stars Mouna Traoré (Marlene), Loren Lott (Lucy), and Oluniké Adeliyi (Queenie) discuss working on the show. Continue reading.

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Link: Yannick Bisson on ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ Season 15: ‘Some Pretty Wonderful Surprises in Store’

From Jeff Pfeiffer of Central Jersey:

Link: Yannick Bisson on ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ Season 15: ‘Some Pretty Wonderful Surprises in Store’
The 15th season of Murdoch Mysteries, the popular Canadian-produced drama set in turn-of-the-20th-century Toronto, has almost completed its run in Canada but is just beginning in America. Continue reading.

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Preview: CBC’s The Porter is an important story of Black history in Canada

The first thing that struck me about The Porter, CBC’s newest series—debuting Monday at 9 p.m.—was the sound. The flick of a lighter, the crackle of a tobacco cigarette igniting, the scrape of glass on a wooden bar. Then, it was the colour of the clothing, a peacock of brights, followed by the music. This, I told myself, was going to be different. And I was right.

Co-created by Arnold Pinnock and Bruce Ramsay, showrun by Marsha Greene and Annmarie Morais, and based on true events, The Porter delivers a rich and dramatic look at the Black community in St. Antoine, Montreal—known at the time as the Harlem of the North—the key characters who live in it and the relationship the community has with the train line between Montreal and Chicago.

The eight-episode journey begins in Montreal in 1921 and follows train porters Junior Massey (Aml Ameen) and Zeke Garrett (Ronnie Rowe, Jr.). While Zeke fights the railway to change how Black porters are treated by unionizing them, Junior takes advantage of the existing structure to pursue money and power through gambling and bootlegging. Meanwhile, Junior’s wife, Black Cross nurse Marlene (Mouna Traore), and club performer Lucy (Loren Lott) are set on different paths to a better life after an awful tragedy.

In CBC’s press material for The Porter, series creator, executive producer and writer Pinnock, an avid reader and history buff, first came across the story of the sleeping car porters and the first Black Labour Union. It resonated with him, and the first seeds of The Porter grew in his mind.

I’m a history buff as well, and a series like The Porter not only tells a story from Canada’s past but an important Black story from this country’s past. The Porter has been grabbing a ton of headlines for its storytelling, creative team, cast and crew. So, is it worth the hype? Absolutely.

The Porter airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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CTV orders Season 3 of original drama Transplant

From a media release:

CTV announced today that it has renewed Canada’s most-watched drama series TRANSPLANT for a third season. Produced by Sphere Media in association with CTV and Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, Season 3 of the CTV Original drama consists of 13 one-hour episodes. New episodes of TRANSPLANT’s second season continue Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, before moving to its new timeslot of Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning March 1.

Filming on Season 3 will take place in Montréal, with Hamza Haq (MY SALINGER YEAR) reprising his role as Dr. Bashir Hamed – known to most as Bash – a talented doctor and Syrian refugee who fled to Canada and was granted a second chance to practice Emergency Medicine at York Memorial Hospital in Toronto.

The series continues to resonate with audiences across Canada as the most-watched Canadian drama series with total viewers and in the key A25-54 demo, with a current season average of 1.1 million viewers. TRANSPLANT has also had international success, having been embraced by U.S. viewers on NBC, with Season 2 set to premiere March 6 at 10 p.m. ET. The drama has also launched across the UK, Australia, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and more.

TRANSPLANT has also received critical acclaim and recognition, including nine 2022 Canadian Screen Award nominations for Best Drama Series, Best Lead Actor, Drama Series for Hamza Haq, Best Lead Actress, Drama Series for Laurence Leboeuf, and Best Supporting Actress, Drama for Ayisha Issa.

Season 2 of TRANSPLANT stars Hamza Haq (MY SALINGER YEAR) as Dr. Bashir “Bash” Hamed; Laurence Leboeuf (19-2) as Dr. Magalie “Mags” Leblanc; John Hannah (MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.) as Dr. Jed Bishop; Ayisha Issa (POLAR) as Dr. June Curtis; Jim Watson (DESIGNATED SURVIVOR) as Dr. Theo Hunter; Sirena Gulamgaus (ORPHAN BLACK) as Amira Hamed; Torri Higginson (DARK MATTER, THIS LIFE) as Claire Malone; Linda Smith (19-2) as Dr. Wendy Atwater; Kenny Wong (PRETTY HARD CASES) as Arnold De Luca; and Sugith Varughese (Kim’s Convenience) as Dr. Aajay Singh.

TRANSPLANT is created by Joseph Kay who also serves as Executive Producer and Showrunner.

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Cineflix Productions options the Wakeland novels by award-winning Canadian author Sam Wiebe

From a media release:

Cineflix Productions has begun development on a gripping new crime series based on the Vancouver-born author Sam Wiebe’s critically acclaimed Wakeland Novels—Invisible Dead, Cut You Down, and Hell and Gone.

The rain and blood-soaked mysteries feature Wakeland, a 29-year-old ex-cop turned P.I. as a modern-day Marlowe, fighting for justice, his clients, and the soul of Vancouver.

“Sam is one of the most exciting writers in Canada, and the Vancouver-noir world he’s created is an incredible foundation for an original series. I believe Wakeland and the gritty world he inhabits is primed for a global audience,” said Jeff Vanderwal, Executive Producer, Cineflix Productions.

“Sam’s fast-paced novels are cinematic in scope with complex stories driven by strong characters whose deep flaws only make them more seductive. We’ve been fans of Sam’s work for years,” said Lisa Baylin, Director of Development, Cineflix Productions.

“I’m thrilled to partner with Cineflix Productions and I’m excited to bring my characters to the screen while also shining a light on one of the most dynamic cities in the world,” said Sam Wiebe.

Cineflix Productions’ slate of scripted crime content continues to expand with the recent addition of movies Stolen By Their Father with Sarah Drew and Left for Dead: The Ashley Reeves Story starring Jennie Garth and Anwen O’Driscoll, along with the critically acclaimed, award-winning Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey and I Was Lorena Bobbitt.

Cineflix Productions brokered the TV rights deal with Michael Levine at Westwood Creative Artists for Chris Casuccio.

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