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Featured, Hard Rock Medical

Preview: Hard Rock Medical checks in for Season 2

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Back when I was working for another website, I ignored Hard Rock Medical. I’d spent some time in and around its setting of Sudbury, Ont., and quickly dismissed what I imagined would be a low-budget Grey’s Anatomy. That was stupid and arrogant of me, because Hard Rock Medical is incredibly addictive television.

Season 2 returns to TVO on Sunday night with two back-to-back storylines (each episode will be available online following broadcast on TVO’s website) that begins with a sweeping view of the rugged Canadian Shield and its exposed rock and proud pine forests.

Told over the soundtrack of Derek Miller’s bluesy guitar playing—while he portrays Kyle—”Trouble” quickly gets back into the swing of things. Gary and Cameron are discussing Eva, who has jetted to Los Angeles to record with Kyle and Gary’s pretty sure she’s avoiding his calls. Cameron, meanwhile, is lamenting the fact he isn’t sure where he’s headed in life.

That same confused direction applies to Charlie, who is spending his days poking through goat poop in the vain hope the missing diamond earrings will be located and he can pay off mounting bills. I immediately felt badly for sad-sack Charlie, whose only happiness appears to be the Harley Davidson he going to have to sell if the earrings don’t show up soon.

And while I know Patrick McKenna has done a lot of dramatic acting since he left The Red Green Show, it’s still jarring to see him in an adult role. I like him just fine on Remedy, but he’s much better on Hard Rock Medical playing troubled Dr. Fraser Healy. Content to just sit in the woods and drink his life away, Fraser is dark and broody, frustrated by Raymond, refusing to return to the hospital and hoping Nancy will stay by his side.

With the next term back in session, everyone is going to have to get back into the swing of things pretty quickly. I expect Fraser will report to work, but he’s not going to be happy about it or make things easy for Raymond.

Notes and quotes

  • Hard Rock Medical has one of the most inventive opening credits I’ve ever seen.
  • I’m thrilled that Hard Rock Medical allows Andrea Menard to show off her fantastic singing.
  • “I pick you.” I want one of Kyle’s guitar picks.

Hard Rock Medical airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on TVO. Episodes are available for online viewing the day after broadcast.

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Bitten

Tonight: Bitten, W5

Bitten, Space – “Scare Tactics”
Happy Valentine’s Day from The Pack. If your idea of romance involves witches and werewolves (and really, whose doesn’t?) then this is the perfect way to cap off your night. Last Saturday’s season premiere picked up with Elena and the wolves hot on Malcolm’s trail and ended with the main Mutt in a cage at Stonehaven. Let’s see if The Pack can keep him there—or if the witches will intervene.

W5, CTV
“The Strep Connection” – The possible links between common infection and psychiatric and neurological disorders in children.
“Pot Paradise” – Remember how disorienting it was the first time you went into a liquor or beer store and purchased booze? My first visit to a legal weed store felt a lot like that.

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Uncategorized

Tonight: Marketplace, Fifth Estate

Marketplace, CBC – “Food Fiction”
No doubt you’ve spotted them in the grocery store: foods with labels claiming to be healthier choices. But are those claims supported by the facts – or are they really just Food Fiction? Hosts Tom Harrington and Erica Johnson hit the grocery store to check out some popular foods covering a whole day’s worth of meals. With the help of nutritional watchdog Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, we break down the foods, revealing what’s really inside, and tell you what the labels don’t.

The Fifth Estate, CBC – “After the Cameras Went Away”
This week, After the Cameras Went Away looks at the latest developments in four of our recent episodes. Three weeks ago the fifth estate told the twisted tale of Antonio and Francesco Carbone, two brothers from Toronto with big plans to build a gambling empire financed by Hamilton billionaire Michael DeGroote. Antonio Carbone now finds himself trapped in the Dominican Republic, in more trouble than ever before. Canadian ski cross racer Nikola Zoricic died in March 2012 when he suffered a spectacular crash at the finish of a World Cup event in Switzerland. A new interview with Nik’s parents details their push for an investigation into the conditions of the course. Shin Dong-hyuk is reputed to be the only known prisoner to have escaped from one of North Korea’s most notorious internment camps. But last month, it was revealed that parts of his story were untrue. The fifth estate speaks to North Korean defectors who knew Shin to gain insight into what might have happened. This week an Italian court will render its verdict on the actions of disgraced captain Francesco Schettino, who is charged with the deaths of 32 people in the January 2012 sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise liner. Watch Schettino’s exclusive television interview from December 2012 in The Captain’s Fate, for a first-hand account of why he did what he did.

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