Tag Archives: Featured

Featured, Masterchef Canada

MasterChef Canada: The home cooks welcome family but say goodbye to two

MasterChef Canada had a special treat for fans on Monday night, as CTV broadcast back-to-back episodes. Of course, the double-dose did have a dark side: we said goodbye to two home cooks.

In the first episode of the night, the Top 5 were surprised by some very special guests: a Mystery Box full of family. Josh’s wife, Cryssi’s sister, Jennifer’s boyfriend, Chanelle’s husband and Andre’s aunt was on-hand not just to cheer on their loved ones—which was what I expected—but to do the cooking instead. It was clear from the shocked looks the home cooks and guests weren’t prepared for the twist. Able to coach, cheer on and participate for a mere 18 of 60 minutes, the competitors could only look on as their beloved recreated a fried chicken dish with biscuits, gravy and coleslaw.

Josh opted to clock in almost right away, butchering the chicken and getting it marinating and prompting his wife to move faster. Jennifer jumped in next, working on the biscuits for her sweetheart’s plate. Andre tended to his biscuits, leaving his aunt to prepare the chicken and coleslaw. Chanelle stayed out as long as she could but buzzed in to help her husband and make sure he was making good use of his time. With 30 minutes to go, Cryssi (according to the episode’s edit) still hadn’t clocked into her sister’s aid, a clear indication of their closeness and confidence in each other.

Cryssi and her sister’s platter looked the tastiest and won rave reviews from Chefs Michael, Claudio and Alvin, but it was Andre and his aunt who was awarded the win. It landed Andre a much-coveted boost in the Elimination Challenge, which had the Top 5 spinning a wheel to determine the tropical fruit at the centre of their next concoction. Andre had his pick of the wheel and chose to make a savoury dish with passionfruit. Cryssi spun and landed on a sweet sugar apple recipe, Josh savoury tamarind, Chanelle sweet using soursop, and Jennifer a savoury coconut.

A group of people cheering.Andre was the only one that didn’t have trouble with their main ingredient—the sugar apple was full of seeds and Chanelle had no clue what soursop was—though Jennifer had a great game plan, opting to use coconut as the base of a seafood curry.

At the tasting, Andre’s passionfruit glazed scallop fritter was enjoyed by Alvin and Michael, Chanelle’s soursop filled crepes weren’t very flavourful, Jennifer’s curry en papillote was overcooked, Cryssi’s sugar apple tart was “Wow,” and Josh’s tamarind beef tostadas were disappointing because he failed to cut the meat all the way through and his tostadas weren’t hand made. The top home cook was Andre, and Chanelle, sadly, was shown the door.

In the second episode, the Top 4 travelled to Peterborough, Ont., to visit the Canadian Canoe Museum for an Indigenous ingredient-themed Team Challenge. There, they were greeted by Chefs Alvin, Michael and Claudio alongside Anishinaabe chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette of NishDish in Toronto. The task? To create a three-course tasting menu utilizing one of the Three Sisters—corn, squash and beans—for First Nations guests. Chef Johl also came with a gift: white corn.

Andre, who was tops in the Elimination Challenge picked both teams. Andre picked Jennifer to be on his Red Team and facing Josh and Cryssi on the Blue Team.

Two men cook food on a stove top.Jennifer and Andre opted for pemmican inspired bison steaks with corn, partridge with sour cherries and beans, and squash cake while Cryssi and Josh chose to make corn chowder with corn fritters, venison with warm butter basted bean salad, and bannock and squash pudding.

When it came to the best dishes of the night, the Red Team triumphed, whisking Jennifer and Andre into the Top 3 and leaving Josh and Cryssi to fight in the Pressure Test. They were given 70 minutes to replicate a tempered chocolate sphere containing a pistachio sponge cake and bruléed figs.

Josh, who admits baking isn’t his strong suit, was in tough against baking pro Cryssi. And yet, he was the first to land his chocolate sphere in the fridge while she struggled to get hers to work. In order to make it work, Cryssi ditched the mould for a balloon. Incredibly, they both completed the task, though Josh’s creation looked a little better and nailed the replication aspect.

Cryssi’s flavours were dead-on, but would they trump Josh’s dead-on replication? No, and Josh moved into the Top 3.

MasterChef Canada airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Featured, Pure

Preview: Pure deals a second season on Super Channel Fuse

When we last left Pure, its characters—and the show itself—were in disarray.

Eli Voss, the Season 1 villain who had forced Noah Funk (Ryan Robbins) and his wife, Anna (Alex Paxton-Beesley) into ferrying cocaine through Mexico into the United States, was killed by Noah. But the Funk’s actions led to them being excommunicated from their Ontario Mennonite community. Noah, despondent and feeling like he had failed his family—and gotten his brother, Abel (Gord Rand), killed—left the community altogether.

As for the show, CBC opted not to renew Michael Amo’s creation for a second season. Thankfully, Super Channel stepped in and ordered six more episodes. In the U.S., Season 1 was broadcast on Hulu and then picked up by WGN America; the American superstation will also broadcast Pure day and date with its Canadian counterpart.

A woman stands, facing two men who are walking towards her.When we catch up with the Funk family on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on Super Channel Fuse, Noah is nowhere to be found. It’s a year since the events of the Season 1 finale, and Anna and her children Tina (Jessica Clement) and Isaak (Dylan Everett) are still on the outs with their community. In danger of losing her home, Anna pleads to the elders for help. Of course, the colony knew what Voss was doing at the time but still blame the Funks for the sins brought among them. Anna was forced to pick up the pieces after her husband left and has shown great strength in doing that. She’s very different from the woman we first met in Season 1.

Meanwhile, Det. Gates (Cory Bowles) has been searching for Noah at Anna’s request. And it’s while he’s doing it that Gates stumbles upon a crime scene introducing viewers to Hector Estrada (Victor Gomez) and his hitman Orff (Conrad Pla), two dudes that are just as evil as Voss and intent on getting the cocaine pipeline going again. We’re also introduced to Det. Valerie Krochak (Zoie Palmer), a former hockey player turned forensic accountant who becomes embroiled in the case.

After over a year since Super Channel announced a sophomore season, it’s good to jump back into Amo’s world. For such dark subject matter, Pure is rife with humour and heart. The scenery is stunning (Nova Scotia stands in for Ontario) and while much of the dialogue amongst the Mennonite characters are spare, a lack of words is made up in facial expression, body language and eye movement. And, when they do speak, it’s to say something truly important, heartfelt and with conviction.

Pure airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Super Channel Fuse.

Images courtesy of Super Channel.

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Featured

Comments and queries for the week of May 24

1 Comment

I started watching my first episode about five years ago, thinking it was a new series only to find out I was wrong. I loved it so much I went back to Season 1 to be caught up. I hope it doesn’t end soon. Thanks for Season 13 and all your hard work on all the seasons. God bless you all including all the crew, staff and cast. —Dee

A fantastic show. It’s great to see the history of the late 19th century and early 20th century. Keep up the great work; can’t wait for Season 13. —Michael

I live in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, and I get to see this wonderful show every Monday night at 8 o’clock. It is by far the best show on TV. The only one that I liked as much was NYPD Blue and that’s gone. Thank you for another season. —Juneann

I lived in downtown Galt when they were filming Season 10. I went to watch and got talking to some diehard fans. I told them I hadn’t seen it. [One] said YOU’VE GOT TO WATCH IT. So I went home and binge-watched nine seasons. I was hooked. One of the best and my most favourite shows. I hope it goes for a few more years. —Phyllis

I love Murdoch Mysteries. Best show on TV. Love seeing episodes filmed in Galt. I lived there. A few episodes filmed a few blocks from the house my daughter was born in. Kids have been excited to see places they have played as little ones on the show. —Trish

I am so happy to see that there will be a Season 13. I enjoy watching the show, glued to the television each week. Please continue. —Marie

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

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Digital Series, Featured, Web series

Winnifred Jong explores diversity and inclusion in Tokens

With diversity and inclusion hot-button topics, Tokens couldn’t be more timely. Or scathingly on point.

Created by Winnifred Jong, the digital series—available online now—skewers representation in the entertainment industry through Tokens on Call, a casting agency that sends over actors of any stripe to a production in dire need of someone to fill a role. Whoever happens to be on call is sent, fulfilling the diversity quota for that project.

“This is a commentary on the fact that, because there are so many choices for every role, people tend to bring in people that they know,” Jong says during a recent phone call. “Until you try to create a change in the dynamic, there is no change.” For Sammie Pang (Connie Wang), that means being cast as a well-built tattooed bouncer who takes out her enemies using kung fu. Written, directed and produced by Jong and produced by Trinni Franke, the eight-part series stars a plethora of familiar faces in Sharron Matthews, Daniel Maslany, Shelley Thompson, Jonathan Cherry, Christina Song, Russell Yuen and Amy Matysio as members of Sammie’s family of part of the productions she works on.

Three people sit on a couch, side by side, wearing the same clothes.One of the most outrageous scenes in Tokens finds Sammie, Demar (Ryan Allen) and Vasant (Gabe Grey) playing triplets in a scene. It’s giggle-inducing and outrageous and part of Jong’s commentary.

Known for directing episodes of Coroner and Private Eyes, the Frankie Drake digital series A Cold Case and Global’s upcoming medical drama, Nurses, Jong has been juggling making Tokens between paying gigs, and called on favours from actors to help her make it. She cast Matthews—the two worked together when Jong was a script supervisor on Frankie Drake Mysteries—after sending the flame-haired actress all eight episode scripts and letting her choose her favourite role.

“I told her, ‘If you want any role, you can have it,'” Jong recalls. “She came back and said, ‘I’d like to be Director No. 2.”

Season 1 of Tokens is available online now.

Images courtesy of A Token Entertainment Company.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

John Catucci returns to Food Network Canada with Big Food Bucket List

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In June 2017, Food Network Canada made it official: they had cancelled You Gotta Eat Here! after five seasons. I, like many, was upset. It seemed like the series, with host John Catucci, could go on much, much longer.

But all is forgiven. This is 2019, and Catucci is back on Food Network Canada with a new series. Big Food Bucket List, from the same production company as YGEH, finds Catucci gamely travelling around sampling food and interacting with the folks who make and taste them. What sets Big Food Bucket List—bowing Friday with back-to-back episodes at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT—apart from his previous project? We asked Catucci.

Before we talk about Big Food Bucket List, let’s go back. I just want to get your reaction to You Gotta Eat Here’s cancellation.
John Catucci: You know what? It was mixed feelings. It was hard because I loved shooting the show, and I had an amazing crew, and the production company was fantastic. It was just nice to grow with everybody. So, that was definitely hard. There was part of me that was like, ‘OK, I could do with a little break. I could do with being home for a while.’ It had been five years of being on the road pretty steady. So, it was kind of like mixed emotions. I mean, definitely sad. I don’t think it hit me until a good maybe month after.

Big Food Bucket List is on Food Network. It’s starring you. It’s from Lone Eagle Entertainment. You’re eating food. What’s setting this apart from You Gotta Eat Here?
JC: The main thing is the style of restaurant that we’re hitting. On You Gotta Heat Here, we were doing a lot of diner stuff and Mom and Pop shops. We’re still doing the Mom and Pop stuff. That exists. But the restaurants are elevated a little bit. On You Gotta Eat Here, we never talked about the idea of having a farm-to-table kind of place. It’s just like, ‘No, no, no, we’re going to do burgers.’ We’re really celebrating that food, or celebrating a lot of farm-to-table restaurants, and celebrating restaurants that are doing really unique and interesting dishes. If the restaurant makes a sandwich that is completely out of this world, that’s the thing we’re going to go for. Is that dish something you want to knock off your bucket list.

We’re also travelling all across North America, so it opens up a different market for the show and for myself. It was pretty cool, man. It was pretty exciting. I forgot what it was like to start a new show because it happened such a long time ago. It was a lot of, ‘OK, what’s the show going to be? Do we like this? Do we not like this? We definitely don’t like this.’

The first two episodes are back-to-back, where you’re in Chicago and then Toronto. What are some of the cities that you go to?
JC: We’re going back to Vancouver and Calgary and Halifax. We’re bouncing all over the States, too. We’re going to Philadelphia, New Orleans, Austin, and we got to go to Lafayette. I went to Houston for the first time, St. Louis, San Diego. We got to go to San Diego and L.A., so that was pretty wild. San Diego was just like shooting right down the street from the ocean here. We’re like, ‘OK, we’re on a five-minute break, we’re just walking down to the ocean right now.’

Big Food Bucket List airs Fridays at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

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