Tag Archives: CBC

Kim's Convenience

Link: Kim’s Convenience mines Korean grocery store for laughs

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Link: Kim’s Convenience mines Korean grocery store for laughs
Growing up in Toronto, Ins Choi worked at Jug City and Minute Mart.

What he didn’t know was that the frenetic world of the convenience store would eventually become his Walden Pond, an unlikely place of literary inspiration.

“It was my first high school job. I didn’t know it was research back then,” laughs Choi, the creator of Kim’s Convenience. Continue reading. 

The real store that became Kim’s Convenience
When Yong and Kyung Chung started a variety store business on Queen St. E. near Sherbourne St., they didn’t bother to take the old sign down.

So, almost 30 years later, Mimi Variety remained a thriving business, even though there was no one named Mimi.

“Oh, it wasn’t a big thing,” says Kyung, 53.

So it wasn’t a big deal either when a CBC location manager chose their store for the exterior shots, or that the store would be renamed Kim’s Convenience. Though it still took a little convincing. Continue reading.

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Featured

Exhibitionists exposes arts programming to CBC

Season 2 of Exhibitionists begins this afternoon on CBC, likely surprising many of you who didn’t realize there had been a Season 1. Or those of you who might have checked out CBC.ca. Besides the absence of a feature box promoting the show, the show’s link from the homepage schedule leads to “Sorry, we can’t find the page you requested”. CBC recommitted themselves—somewhat—to arts programming last year with the launch of series such as Exhibitionists and Crash Gallery, though a large TV audience—or marketing budget—hasn’t yet followed.

The 30-minute series highlights artists, their process and their impact on the community, and is hosted by the multi-talented Amanda Parris: artist, educator, scholar, producer, actor and playwright.

Fortunately, the TV audience is only a piece of Exhibitionists‘ mandate as a multi-platform program of short documentaries, digital series and arts-related content from across CBC. Parris calls it a flagship for CBC Arts, which is primarily a digital hub where original and aggregated content from around CBC is released year-round.

Parris is an engaging and passionate host who talks about the crucial role of digital platforms in what she and the CBC Arts team she works with are producing. “We realized we were attracting a great millennial audience online, so this season we’ve launched a YouTube channel that has some of the same content as the show, but also some content specific to YouTube.”

They’ve paid close attention to what people watched, liked and shared online, and of course what they comment on, so have a good sense of what their audience is attracted to: “Artists who are disrupting the conversation, challenging the status quo. Our audience is interested in diversity, so we don’t just stay in city centres, and we represent every medium—not just visual arts but dance, digital arts.”

“We’re interested not in presenting art that people will like all the time, but art that will spark conversations. The types of art that get the largest response are the ones that hit you in the heart or someplace intellectually or spiritually. People are interested in art that’s odd.”

Parris cites some season one standouts as photographer Dina Goldstein’s childhood icons twisted into a contemporary setting—“Ken might be a cross-dresser, Barbie looks really depressed”—and Marina Bychkova’s dolls that explore issues such as breast cancer and sell for tens of thousands of dollars.

“My hope  is we connect Canadians to art and that in turn inspires them to be more engaged with art in general,” said Parris. “Art can literally change the world. It’s not a coincidence that artists are some of the first to be targeted by repressive governments. Artists are powerful people.”

“We live in a very celebrity-obsessed culture—I just came out of a 45 minute conversation about Beyoncé, so I’m part of it—but there also needs to be room to talk about artists who aren’t necessarily interested in entertainment or celebrity but who are trying to create beautiful, provocative, innovative things that change our world. I’m so excited to be part of CBC’s commitment to doing that.”

Exhibitionists airs Sundays at 4:30 p.m. on CBC, or find segments online at http://www.cbc.ca/beta/arts/exhibitionists.

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Featured, Four in the Morning

Four in the Morning goes out in a blaze of surrealistic glory

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CBC ended its eight-episode run of Four in the Morning with the airing of the final two episodes back to back. The first, entitled “Four Christs,” riffs off of The Three Christs of Ypsilanti by Milton Rokeach (Parker hands us this one on a silver platter: William overhears a summary following a very long montage of memories). At any rate, all four of our protagonists are upset with each other, and yet all are feeling entirely blameless. After last week’s big reveal, William (Mazin Elsadig) and Mitzi (Lola Tash) sleeping together, Mitzi admits to William that she was mistaken, Bondurant (Daniel Maslany) and Jamie (Michelle Mylett) did not sleep together.

But, they did, long before Jamie and William got together. Despite his own adulterous guilt, William wallows in his delusional belief that he is the affronted party. The rest of this episode is angst-ridden with a little soupçon of string theory. The episode closes with a long shot on an empty booth at the diner setting the stage for “The Music.”

A few weeks have passed and this final episode begins like the first: in the Patrician Grill, the clock flipping over to 4:00, indicating that we have come full cycle. However, Tatiana Ratowski (Alison Brooks),  the ratty admissions director from Julliard, has come to notify Bondurant he is the worst trumpet player to ever approach her school. To console himself, Bondurant again breaks into Massey Hall and takes centre stage for a final time. Leaving his trumpet at centre stage, he finds a jet pack and rockets off in search of Shangri-La.

But Bondurant has been preyed upon by the backstabbing Ms. Ratowski. Seems she and Rat Man Tom (Micheal Therrault) are guarding a secret about the music program at Julliard.

Meanwhile, William recognizes he is in love with Jamie after-all. In a weak moment, he contemplates suicide and unwittingly shoots himself in the ear.

Mitzi, having had her apology rejected by William, heads to Amadeus’ falafel shop, and asks for the washroom key.

This is where things get weird … or weirder.

Instead of a washroom, the key unlocks a deserted hospital where Mitzi has a miscarriage, giving birth to a pig. Albert the talking pig returns to explain to Mitzi that she is not at fault for all of the disharmony in her friends’ lives.

The season closes with Jamie, Mitzi and William leaving the hospital with baby Margaret whereupon they see Bondurant, a.k.a. a shooting star, blazing across the morning sky.

Four in the Morning has been such a fun little show. The characters, despite their narcissistic tendencies, won me over. There has not been any word yet whether CBC will pick this up for another season. I hope it does. I really enjoy programs that don’t spoon feed you, but rather make you think. But should it not, I am content where the story closed.

What did you think of Season 1? Comment below or @tv_eh.

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This Life

Link: This Life writer on the challenges of deep character dramas

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: This Life writer on the challenges of deep character dramas
“As a writer of character drama we really have to have an empathy gene to us. We talked about our lives but also talked about the lives of people we knew. But more than writing our own experiences, it was bringing these characters alive so that they felt like they existed.” Continue reading.

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Murdoch Mysteries gets fired up for Season 10

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The wait is over, Murdoch Mysteries fans and we’re plenty thankful Season 10 is finally here. After a dramatic Season 9 finale, “Cometh the Archer,” that saw a final showdown between Julia and Eva Pearce, the series returns on Monday to tackle one of the biggest events in Toronto history: the Great Fire of 1904.

It all begins with “Great Balls of Fire, Part 1″—written by showrunner Peter Mitchell—and a debutante ball where a handful of the city’s most notable single ladies vie for the affections of bachelor Rodney Strong (Kyle Cameron). Among the gals are Elizabeth Atherly (Wynonna Earp‘s Dominique Provost-Chalkley) who has the unwavering support of her mother, Lady Suzanne (Downton Abbey‘s Samantha Bond).

Here are some other non-spoilery episode notes to get you primed for Monday night.

Crabtree is a gossip hound
George always has his finger on the pulse of the latest “thing” in society, and the debutante’s ball is no different. A very funny scene between Crabtree and Murdoch has the former educating the latter about who—and who doesn’t—have a shot at winning Rodney’s heart.

Julia isn’t herself
The events of “Cometh the Archer” has affected Julia in a very dramatic way, and while those closest to her try to help, Julia is in a fragile emotional state. I personally like the fact Eva’s death isn’t just glossed over, and that Brackenreid steps forward to help the good doctor.

Who started the fire?
A certain constable has picked up a dirty, smelly habit, and may very well be the person who starts the conflagration that consumes part of Toronto.

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Related—Videos: Unlock the Mysteries of Murdoch: The Ultimate Insider Conference

 

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