From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:
Link: Why ‘The Porter’ deserves to be watched despite the cancellation
Some TV shows make you work to love them; some grab you right from their first moments. “The Porter” did the latter for me. Continue reading.
From a media release:
From a media release:
Reinforcing its status as Canada’s go-to destination for Canadian comedy, CBC today announced the renewal of popular original series RUN THE BURBS and SON OF A CRITCH for their third seasons, and long-running sketch comedy series THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES for its 31st season. These series join Peabody Award-winning comedy SORT OF, which was renewed for a third season in December 2022 by CBC and HBO Max, as part of CBC’s 2023-24 comedy slate. CBC comedies were recently recognized with 54 Canadian Screen Award nominations, including Best Comedy Series for SORT OF and Best Sketch Comedy Program or Series for THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES. SON OF A CRITCH is also among the Top 5 series currently in the running for the 2023 Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award.
Created by comedian, writer and actor Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience) and his best friend and collaborator, filmmaker Scott Townend (The Secret Marathon), RUN THE BURBS follows the Phams, a young, bold Vietnamese-South Asian-Canadian family taking a different approach to living life to the fullest, while changing the way we think about contemporary family values and life in the burbs. The series is produced by Pier 21 Films and distributed by Fifth Season. The Season 2 finale of RUN THE BURBS airs Wednesday, March 29 at 8:30 p.m (9 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem.
Based on Mark Critch’s award-winning, best-selling memoir, SON OF A CRITCH is the hilarious and very real story of 12-year-old Mark coming of age in St. John’s, Newfoundland in the 80s. Created by Critch (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and Tim McAuliffe (The Office, Last Man on Earth and MacGruber) and produced by Emmy® and Golden Globe® winning producer Andrew Barnsley (Schitt’s Creek), the series is an inter-provincial co-production between Barnsley’s Project 10 Productions Inc. and Newfoundland-based Take the Shot Productions in association with CBC and Lionsgate Television, which handles worldwide distribution rights outside Canada. This season, SON OF A CRITCH is the most-watched English Canadian comedy series and CBC’s most-watched program with 18-49 and 25-54 audiences.* The Season 2 finale of SON OF A CRITCH airs Tuesday, March 28 at 8:30 p.m. (9 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem.
Canada’s longest-running TV comedy series, THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES continues to push the boundaries of provocative satire, targeting politics, culture and world events with biting parodies and an unrelenting skewering of the weekly news. Produced by IoM Media, the series remains a beloved sketch comedy staple for audiences across the country after three decades, and has featured some of Canada’s greatest comedians – and most of the country’s political leaders. The finale of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES’ 30th anniversary season airs Tuesday, March 28 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and CBC Gem.
In addition, CBC continues its commitment to showcasing emerging and established Canadian stand-up talent with returning specials and series for the 2023-24 broadcast season. Recently captured at Just For Laughs Vancouver and produced by Just For Laughs TV, Season 4 of THE NEW WAVE OF STANDUP showcases Canada’s hottest new comedians (Season 3 debuts Friday, March 24 on CBC Gem). Also from Just For Laughs TV, Season 20 of JUST FOR LAUGHS GALAS will offer the best-known international and Canadian stand-up comedians, alongside exciting breakout performers, from the world’s biggest comedy event in Montreal. WINNIPEG COMEDY FESTIVAL (Season 22, Frantic Films) and HALIFAX COMEDY FEST (Season 27, Pilot Light Productions) round out CBC’s comedy lineup for the upcoming broadcast season, capturing some of the most dynamic performers on today’s circuit.
*Source: Numeris TV Meter, September 12, 2022 – March 5, 2023, CBC Total, Total Canada, Based on AMA, Confirmed Audience Data, generated by InfoSys+TV.
From a media release:
Paramount+, CBC and Piazza Entertainment today announced that production has begun on the sophomore season of the high-stakes medical drama series SKYMED. Filming in Ontario and Manitoba, Canada, the young medics and pilots flying air ambulances return for more life, death and drama in the skies of remote Northern Canada.
The original series will be available in Canada on CBC TV and CBC Gem, and streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and internationally in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, and Germany.
Produced by Piazza Entertainment in association with CBC and CBS Studios, SKYMED’S second season promises new hookups, break ups and heartbreaks as the medevac service expands into new territory, throwing the flight crew into intense new emergencies at work and in their personal lives.
The series is created by Julie Puckrin and inspired by her sister and brother-in-law who met flying air ambulances. Returning to SKYMED is Natasha Calis as ‘Nurse Hayley Roberts,’ Aason (Ace) Nadjiwon as Golden boy pilot ‘Captain Austen Bodie,’ Morgan Holmstrom as no-nonsense ‘Nurse Crystal Highway,’ Praneet Akilla as ‘First Officer Chopper,’ Thomas Elms as icy-cool pilot ‘Captain Nowak,’ Mercedes Morris as ‘First Officer Lexi Martine,’ and Kheon Clarke as ‘Nurse Tristan Green’. Braeden Clarke reprises his recurring role as Crystal’s charming on-again-off-again love interest, ‘Jeremy Wood,’ and Aaron Ashmore returns as ‘Wheezer,’ the wise-cracking big brother that everyone looks up to.
Cast joining the second season includes Sydney Kuhne (“Ginny & Georgia”) as fiery new flight medic ‘Stef,’ Ryan Ali (“The Hummingbird Project”) as handsome young pilot ‘Reese,’ and Nadine Whiteman-Roden (“Faith Heist”) as Dr. Yana Noah.
SKYMED is produced by Piazza Entertainment in association with CBC, Canada’s national public broadcaster, and CBS Studios. The series is created by Julie Puckrin, who also serves as Executive Producer along with Gillian Hormel and Vanessa Piazza. Outside of Canada, SKYMED will be distributed internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
Who, honestly, hasn’t wondered what it would be like to hop in a time machine for a life do-over? I certainly have. If only I could go back to high school and take things more seriously, tell that certain someone how I felt, or reverse a decision I made. But, would doing any of those things change how my life ultimately ended up?
That’s the premise of Plan B, debuting Monday on CBC.
Adapted from the original Quebecois French-language series Plan B that premiered on Ici Radio-Canada Télé n 2017, the English version stars Patrick J. Adams (Suits) and Karine Vanasse (Cardinal) as Philip Grimmer and Evelyn Landry, a couple whose lives are literally in disarray. Whether it’s the clutter of the home renovation going on around them, to the erosion of their relationship, things are not good for the pair.
So, when Philip—after an evening out drinking and commiserating about his lot in life with his brother-in-law and business partner Patrick (François Arnaud, X Company)—enters a bar bathroom and sees a flyer for a company named Plan B promising to allow you to go back in time and right wrongs, he jumps at the chance. Make no mistake though, Plan B is not a sci-fi drama.
“I’m not fascinated with time travel,” says co-creator and co-writer Jean-François Asselin. “I’m fascinated with human beings. What was interesting to me was, when co-creator Jacques Drolet and I started writing [the French version], we were questioning the choices we made in life. When I watch a TV show or movie, I’m involved as a human being and question what I would do in my personal life. I want people, when they watch Plan B, to reflect on their own lives.”
In Monday’s debut, Philip is trying desperately to keep his relationship with Evelyn intact. After annoying her during their daily commute to the office they work in—he’s a lawyer and she’s suffering in silence as a paralegal/secretary—and stuck in Montreal’s gridlock, Evelyn hops out of the car, opting to take public transit. Things only go down from there. As a viewer, those scenes of conflict are hard to watch. But they’re incredibly real.
“This is a couple that struggles,” Asselin says. “The challenge was, how are we going to root for them and follow them through six episodes?”
That all comes down to the performances by Adams and Vanasse.
“We can all connect to that fear of losing something when you thought that everything was going well,” Vanasse says. “Viewers really want Philip to find that solution so that he doesn’t fuck up this time, and that everything is going to be OK.”
But, in trying to make everything OK between him and Evelyn, or he and the team renovating his home, or the relationship he has with his brother, Andy (Josh Close), things just get worse. The result? Going further back in time.
“He clearly loves this woman,” Adams says. “He clearly wants this to work and has this idea of what the ‘right thing’ is and he wants everyone to be happy and goes to extreme lengths to ensure that’s the case. He’s just also deeply flawed because he doesn’t ask a question or take a minute to listen in the moment.
“Philip is such a doer,” Adams continues. “I can relate to that. What do I need to do? How do I fix this? How can I make this better? I’ve lived long enough to know that half the time when I do that in my own relationship the answer is, ‘How about you just listen to what I’m saying or how I’m feeling?'”
Plan B airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.
Images courtesy of CBC.
