From Martin Patriquin of Maclean’s magazine:

• In this show, the hero really sweats: Gangsters, insurance money, and two Canuck alums of HBO’s Deadwood and The Wire
  “The show was born out of horror stories MacRury heard from a friend of a friend in the industry. HBO commissioned a pilot in 2001 but ultimately passed, though the script caught the eye of Deadwood creator David Milch, who brought MacRury on to write for the first season of the acclaimed series. MacRury was privy to Milch’s foibles as well as his approach to writing dialogue: he does it out loud as assistants type his words. When MacRury first went down to L.A. to meet Milch, he found the director in his office lying on the ground, reading Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men out loud. Milch offered MacRury some ‘walking around money’ from a wad in his pocket. MacRury demurred—until Milch looked him in the eye and said, ‘I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t take money.’ MacRury took to ‘drinking in the morning just to go to work.'” Read more.

From Sammy Younan of the National Post:

• Q&A: Luke Kirby from Cra$h and Burn
  “Fresh from the HBO series Tell Me You Love Me and Slings and Arrows actor Luke Kirby now finds himself immersed in the dynamic world of insurance and fraud. Kirby plays the lead Jimmy Burn in Showcase’s new comedy drama Cra$h and Burn which debuted on Showcase earlier this month. The Ampersand’s Sammy Younan sat down with Kirby on the set of the new show.” Read more.

From Canwest:

• Painting insurance biz a comic black; Adjusters duke it out in a legal world far-removed from ICBC
  “The private insurance companies lobbying for work, these big advertising billboards up all over southern Ontario — when I first moved here I thought it was totally bizarre, how commercial it is,” says Cave, who nonetheless got some input from her dad on the legal world. “There’s stuff I don’t understand that he’s been able to answer. I grew up meeting female lawyers, watching them. I’ve seen how they had to operate — it’s a male-dominated world, they have to be tough.” Read more.

From Ian Johnston of Metro:

• New series shines spotlight on Steeltown
  “t doesn’t happen too often, but Hamilton actually gets to play itself in the new Showcase series Cra$h & Burn. ‘It’s rather unapologetically Hamilton,’ says actress Caroline Cave, who plays company lawyer Catherine Scott in the ensemble show about the ruthless insurance game. ‘It really gives Hamilton a personality, which it always had, but maybe it doesn’t get a chance to show all the time.'” Read more.

From Cameron Archer of URBMN:

• Cra$h & Burn 1.1 – “God Protect Us”
  “I appreciate that Cra$h & Burn is set in the Hammer, but its high concept shouldn’t work. Insurance isn’t normally seen as a sexy profession. This is Showcase’s first hour-long drama, so Showcase’s reputation in this genre will be defined by how well C&B does. It’s not a good start so far.” Read more.