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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Featured, Mr. D

Review: Mr. D hits a home run with Roberto Alomar

When Mr. D executive producer Mike Volpe told me a few weeks ago that Baseball Hall of Famer—and former Toronto Blue Jays second baseman—Roberto Alomar would be guest-starring this season, I was giddy.

How would he be worked into the storyline, written by my former classmate, Anita Kapila? Would it be baseball-related? Would it involve Gerry knowing Alomar somehow or at least acting like he knew him?

In an interesting twist in “President Jimmy,” Alomar didn’t even appear on-screen with Mr. D at all. Instead, he was part of a secondary storyline involving Robert, Trudy and Malik. See, every year during Xavier’s student council elections, someone plasters the school with posters with Alomar for President emblazoned on them. Fed up, Robert banned all Alomar posters and pins from the premises. And still they magically appeared. The way the storyline rolled out, it was assumed Trudy was behind the whole thing, until the episode’s closing minutes when Alomar appeared on-screen, helping Malik post more election signs.

“I just retired, and I get bored. So I drop by the schools and I mess around,” Alomar said to the camera. (Alomar’s acting skills from those McCain fruit punch commercials paid off.)

It should be noted that Mr. D‘s filming style changed for “President Jimmy,” with cameras capturing the action like a mockumentary. It made for several funny moments (like Alomar’s admission), especially when it came to scenes involving Jimmy, Mr. D, Lisa and new librarian Miss Terdie (Kathleen Phillips, Sunnyside). With the elections in full swing, Lisa’s class project was to record the process for posterity and they captured democracy in all its glory. Like Mr. D convincing Jimmy to run for president because Gerry didn’t want Natalie to three-peat as president.

The best part of the instalment for me—aside from Alomar—was footage of the ongoing feud between Lisa and Miss Terdie. Both ladies have their quirks—the former neatness and cleanliness and the latter a deep love for books and their fair treatment—so when Lisa didn’t put books she’d pulled off the shelf on Terdie’s “To be shelved” cart, it was war. Terdie drew a caricature of Lisa on her classroom board, titled it “Demon Mason” and removed the erasers from the class so Lisa couldn’t eliminate it.

I miss Mr. Leung, but Miss Terdie promises to be a memorable character as well. Especially if her feud with Lisa continues.

Notes and quotes

  • How many teachers use Wikipedia as their source material? I’m hoping not many.
  • “He’s a Golden Glove-wearing baseball slugger.” I love Robert’s sport savvy

Mr. D airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on CBC.

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Featured, Saving Hope

Three thumbs up for Canadian broadcasters

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There are times — many, many times — when I prod our Canadian TV industry to do better. Make more original shows. Schedule and promote them more wisely. Believe the Internet isn’t just a fad.

But sometimes, kudos are in order. This last week a few small actions made me cheer loudly:

  1. A few years ago, the previous CBC regime decided against picking up a weirdly hilarious pilot called Gavin Crawford’s Wild West. Like many a failed pilot in Canadian TV, it aired almost surreptitiously at some point, because a requirement of funding is often that a produced episode must see the light of day. Well, it’s back, less surreptitiously, in a smart use of existing content for their Punchline website. It’s been chopped up into sketches and given a second life, sitting alongside made-for-the-web series such as Bill & Sons Towing and online extras for CBC comedy series such as 22 Minutes and Schitt’s Creek. Check out Punchline here.
  2. In the battle of the online streaming services, Netflix wins for me hands down given it’s the only one accessible to me. It also has shows I can’t see anywhere else. For years I’ve pointed out that original content is the currency of the changing TV business and that Canadian networks were being left behind. But Bell-owned CraveTV has been doing something savvy with the content they do own. They may never want to produce originals just for the streaming service — Canadian broadcasters like to maximize their spending by spreading shows across all their properties — but they can entice Saving Hope fans to sign up for the opportunity to see episodes a day before they air on conventional television. Smart programming for a new platform.
  3. Sure, Bell gets a lot of credit for its Bell Let’s Talk campaign that raised over $6 million this year for mental health causes. But shomi, the streaming service owned by competitors Rogers and Shaw, gets the good sportsmanship award for joining the conversation:

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Income Property hits the road for Season 10

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HGTV

From a media release:

Income Property returns with a bang this winter, celebrating ten seasons of house hunting, messy demolitions and mind-blowing transformations. Handyman and real estate expert Scott McGillivray is back and ready to help eager home hunters find their ideal investment property. The new season of Income Property premieres Thursday, February 26th at 9pm ET/PT on HGTV Canada with four, special vacation rental episodes rolling out in April.

For the first time in the series’ history, Scott takes Income Property on the road as he helps four sets of homeowners renovate the vacation rentals of their dreams.  In these episodes, Scott and his homeowners trade in their tool belts for surf boards, fishing rods, and canoes to take in some of the local activities.  Featured in one of these episodes is Entertainment Tonight Canada’s own Roz Weston as he enlists Scott’s help in transforming his dated country cottage into an upscale rental retreat.

 

To honour the 10th season milestone, HGTV will air a marathon of one Income Property episode per season leading up to the new season premiere. As a unique added bonus, fans will get to see Scott and the Income Property team hijack the network’s master control during the marathon.  Interspersed between episodes will be a series of 25-second promos that give fans an inside look at the series as well as Scott’s personal life.  Viewers will see clips from some of Scott’s wildest stunts on the Income Property set, his first national television commercial, his wedding video, his boy band, behind-the-scenes bloopers with the crew, ‘where are they now’ check-ins with homeowners, and much more.

 

Scott was just 21 when he bought and renovated his first rental home and has since built a real estate empire across North America. He has not only proven himself as an outstanding contractor and investor, but as a relatable and loveable host. He was recently named PEOPLE Magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Week and is now tucking a tenth season of Income Property under his tool belt.

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Featured, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 175 – Ground Up Groundhog

After digging themselves out from a snowstorm in Ontario, Greg and Anthony chatted with Diane about the ongoing Vikings contest on TV, Eh? and Kelly Lynn Ashton’s column about the latest CRTC decisions, including the impact banning simsub could have on Bell Media’s broadcast of the Super Bowl.

Also on tap: will Spun Out ever see the light of day, Schitt’s Creek‘s ratings drop and Rogers blames Numeris for faltering hockey ratings. And finally, Reel West Magazine‘s poll got the trio talking about the most impactful Canadian series of all time.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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