From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
Life in Schitt’s Creek is good for Emily Hampshire
Anyone who has watched Schitt’s Creek is aware that this isn’t your typical comedy, and that feel extends behind the scenes as well. “I feel like I’m super lucky to be on a show where the people are so great and nice. Schitt’s Creek is such a dream job.†Continue reading.Â
Last season, I reviewed X Company on a weekly basis, commenting on the characters, story structure, etc. It was a lot of fun, and satisfied the part of me that loves history. I decided that, for Season 2, I’d step back a bit and wait before writing anything about it. The reason? I wanted to let X Company wash over me and percolate before I wrote anything resembling a review. Now, after four weeks of episodes, I’m ready to write something.
X Company @#$%ing rocks.
Season 2 is tighter, packing drama, danger, emotion and levity into every 42-ish minute episode. There’s action at every turn, consequences to every decision and an understanding of what every character is going through regardless of what side of the Second World War they’re on.
The Allied group, headed by Aurora, is a much tougher and cohesive team. Alfred, has quickly evolved from a man struggling to control his warring senses into one willing to die to save both his team or those in need. I said, “What is he doing?!” to myself when Alfred ran out to replace the fallen POW in Wednesday’s latest episode. He quickly assessed the Allies needed someone on the inside to figure out how to bust five men out and decided the best way to do it was from inside the prison. Aurora has evolved too. Yes, her emotions are still very close to the surface, but she can make sacrifices to keep “the good guys” safe. She proved that last week when she killed René to keep him from spilling more secrets to the Nazis.
Speaking of the Nazis, I’ve been silently cheering for Franz Faber and his wife, Sabine. The pair made the awful decision to kill their developmentally disabled son, Ulli, rather than send him off to be murdered by strangers. Now the repercussions of that decision, including Faber eliminating that jerk Forst, are beginning to close in. Seeing Faber and Sabine struggle puts a human face to the side of the Second World War the Allies viewed as evil. But, of course, they’re people just like us, regardless of who or what they were fighting for.
Heading into Season 2, Dustin Milligan told TV, Eh? “the shit has hit the fan” for the team. He wasn’t lying. Time is running out for Aurora et al. to get organized in time for the invasion at Dieppe, while the mysterious scuba man has arrived in Whitby, Ont., intent on targeting Duncan Sinclair. The Second World War has arrived on Canadian soil, and I’m not sure what will happen next.
I can’t wait to find out.
X Company airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
From Luaine Lee of the Toronto Star:
How Yannick Bisson arrived at his starring role on Murdoch Mysteries
“It was getting to the point where you sort of have to cut your losses a little bit. You have to be responsible and I had opportunities. I was starting to do well at building homes and things like that. That interested me a lot as well. So I was debating whether to go do that full time or not. And I was looking for a sign, really.†Continue reading.Â
From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:
X Company preview: Let’s Build an Army!
If you’re thinking that the drama and intensity on Season 2 of X Company was going to take a break this week, think again. Following an emotional week for Aurora (Evelyne Brochu) that saw her have to make a difficult decision regarding René’s (François Arnaud) life, the team is back to work trying to build up their forces since the invasion at Dieppe is less than four weeks away. Meanwhile, on the other side of the lines, Franz Faber (Torben Liebrecht) is dealing with the repercussions of Forst’s (Julian Michael Deuster) demise and what he did to his son. Continue reading.Â
From a media release:
CBC‘s hit comedies have been renewed for 2016-17, with brand new seasons of SCHITT’S CREEK, MR. D and THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES. Also returning for its 14th season is Canada’s RICK MERCER REPORT. The four original productions currently air back-to-back on Tuesday nights.
CBC recently led the way with 164 nominations for the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards, receiving 15 nods for SCHITT’S CREEK, the most nominated TV series of 2016, 12 for MR. D, six for THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES and four for RICK MERCER REPORT.
SCHITT’S CREEK – Season 3 premieres winter 2017 on CBC Television
SCHITT’S CREEK centres around a wealthy family that suddenly finds itself broke and forced to live in Schitt’s Creek, a small, depressing town they once bought as a joke. The half-hour single-camera comedy is co-created by Eugene and Daniel Levy, who also star in the show alongside celebrated actress Catherine O’Hara, rising star Annie Murphy and funnyman Chris Elliott.
MR. D – Season 6 premieres fall 2016 on CBC Television
MR. D follows an under-qualified teacher trying to fake his way through a teaching job, just as he fakes his way through life. The show stars stand-up comedian Gerry Dee as the inexperienced and overconfident Mr. Duncan (Mr. D) and an all-star ensemble cast including Jonathan Torrens, Bette MacDonald, Wes Williams, Lauren Hammersley, Naomi Snieckus, Mark Little, Suresh John, Darrin Rose, Bill Wood and Kathleen Phillips.
THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES – Season 24 premieres fall 2016 on CBC Television
An award-winning and record-breaking Canadian comedy institution, THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES features cast members Mark Critch, Cathy Jones, Shaun Majumder and Susan Kent as they savagely satirize Canadian politics and world events. It was recently announced that the sketch/variety show will be honoured with the Academy Icon Award, to be presented during the Canadian Screen Awards in March.
RICK MERCER REPORT – Season 14 premieres fall 2016 on CBC Television
This fall, RICK MERCER REPORT returns to CBC-TV for a 14th season. Rick Mercer’s highly anticipated topical rants, funny takes on the week’s top stories and Canada-wide adventures have made him a longtime audience favourite.
