Tag Archives: Featured

Review: No love lost for Racers in Paris

They may have been in the city of love, but Tuesday’s installment of The Amazing Race Canada saw a dog fight between vindictive Racers armed with the almighty double U-Turn. Yet despite having to perform a Detour, get through a U-Turn, and survive a Speed Bump, Rob and Ryan pulled off the impossible in Paris, scraping past the originally second-place Michel and Pierre to the finish line and leaving the Québec duo in the dust.

The serious turn of events in the Race standings can be blamed on one thing: the world’s most tedious Road Block. But before they could get to there, the teams were scrambling to make it to the double U-Turn mark. Continuing their hot streak were Natalie and Meaghan as the first duo to soar past the Plat Du Jour Detour challenge, something I perceived to be the easier of the two options. I mean, as Canadians you have to have at least an ounce of proper French food pronunciation in you somewhere, right? However, instead of making enemies, the duo decided to take the diplomatic approach and forgo throwing the first name up for the double U-Turn.

Also breezing past the Detour Du Jour were Pierre and Michel, whose pronunciation of the French food they had to serve was like Parisian music to my ears. But in an entertaining twist of events, the duo decided to separate from their fellow Quebecers, throwing Audrey and Alain under the U-Turn bus. It was bold, gutsy, but most of all hilarious to see Audrey and Alain’s distain, especially since the couple had already lost time switching to the difficult Haute Couture Detour challenge and struggled to recreate a couture dress.

Speaking of lost time, the always chill Mickey and Pete completely salted their game thanks to a miscommunication between their cab driver and the pronunciation of Place Du Canada versus Places Des Canada. Like last week, I was scared my favourite Racers had screwed themselves for time, but luckily their likeability saw them avoid getting U-Turned, saving them in the end. Instead, the other U-Turn honour was bestowed upon Rob and Ryan thanks to Jinder and Sukhi, throwing salt in the boys’ already sore wounds knowing they had a Speed Bump to get through as well. But by some miracle the boys made it through the challenges and learned the world’s worst rendition of “Au Claire De La Lune” on the accordion, keeping them from a sealed fate as losers.

No matter what place the Racers were in, it all really came down to the Road Block of recreating a French piece of art with coloured Mentos, a task that proved to be so tedious it completely halted the Race. Originally it seemed like it paid being in the lead, with Natalie and Meaghan arriving first and being the first to assemble their art. But as teams continued arriving, and as the originally second-place Michel continued to stumble with figuring out what he was replicating wrong, one by one teams managed to get their Mentos aligned and approved before heading off to the Love Locks Bridge to meet Jon Montgomery.

I was in near cardiac arrest as Rob and Ryan even caught up to Pierre and Michel, who had fallen to the back of the pack. Not even Alain’s proposal to Audrey–prompting a change from “dating” to “engaged” in their relationship bio line–really fazed me much thanks to my disbelief over how tight the Race had become. To my utmost shock, it was Rob and Ryan that figured the Mentos art out first. And after more than a six-hour struggle with the Road Block, Pierre and Michel were forced to bid the show au revoir. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Here’s how the teams finished:

  • Natalie and Meaghan
  • Suhki and Jinder
  • Mickey and Pete
  • Alain and Audrey
  • Rob and Ryan

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

What did you think of the episode? Comment below!

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

DVD/Blu-ray: Vikings season 2 coming October 14

In its first season, Vikings was the #1 new Canadian scripted specialty debut, premiering to over 1.1 million viewers on History and averaging 942,000 total viewers. Now the second season of the Irish/Canadian coproduction is being released on DVD and Blu-ray October 14 by Phase 4 Films, which was recently acquired by Entertainment One.

Vikings has been renewed for a 10 episode third season.

“Who needs a reason for betrayal? One must always think the worst Ragnar, even of your own kin. That way, you avoid too much disappointment in life.” – Floki


Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

TV, eh? podcast episode 164 – “The Black Hole of Saturday Night”

kaGh5_patreon_name_and_message

 

Anthony, Greg and Diane gather once again to talk about the Canadian TV news of the past two weeks:

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release starting with next week’s discussion with Anthony and Dennis Heaton. 

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Sebastian Clovis tackles renovation nightmares

Mike Holmes, Scott McGillivray and Brian Baeumler have become household names thanks to HGTV Canada. Those lads have spent several television seasons informing, educating and instructing homeowners on how to get the dream homes Canadians crave.

Now there’s a new player on the block in Sebastian Clovis.

“It would be a wonderful thing if I could step up to a level where they could put me up there to become the face of HGTV,” the host of Tackle My Reno says humbly.

For now, the former CFL player–he was a defensive back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and 2006 Grey Cup-winning B.C. Lions–is just happy to return to his construction roots. Clovis swung his first hammer at the age of 15 when a contractor working on the family’s kitchen took on the young man as an apprentice. A football career sent renovations to the sidelines but now he’s back at it.

Debuting Tuesday night on HGTV, Si Entertainment’s Tackle My Reno isn’t your typical renovation series. Yes, Clovis drops by on an unsuspecting homeowner–in the first episode it’s Ben, who still hasn’t completed the family basement after 16 years of hacking away–and gently chastises them for their slipshod attempts at home building. But unlike, say Holmes on Homes or Disaster DIY, there isn’t a lot of time spent on the intricacies of grout or taping drywall. As Clovis tells it, Tackle My Reno is more focused on the entertainment than the nitty-gritty.

The result? A series that spotlights both the homeowners and host on a level not served in most home renovation programs. The strapping Clovis–muscles rippling under a tight tee–is shown equally comfortable threading beads into a necklace or helping sort through basement detritus as he does buttering the back of tile for a shower stall. You can’t fake the natural charm Clovis exudes while sharing a laugh with the folks he’s trying to help; the dude is a natural for the small screen despite having no aspirations for hosting a home reno show.

“It really came about by chance,” he says. “I had sent a video to my director friend where I said, ‘I bring energy to the work site like I’m still playing football, baby!’ It was a joke between friends, but he showed it to production and the next day they were at my renovation site with the cameras, doing a three-hour interview. Two days later I was at HGTV. Four days after that I was in somebody’s house with a TV camera behind me.”

Tackle My Reno airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Fan Expo Canada highlights Murdoch Mysteries and Showcase stars

FanExpoSpanning comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and gaming, Fan Expo Canada is the largest such event in Canada and the third largest in North America. Organizers expect more than 125,000 fans over the four-day event from August 28-31 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and some of them will be there for Canadian TV stars.

Among the CanCon  is a spotlight on Degrassi (stretching the genre definition unless it’s taken a turn since I last watched), the upcoming Killjoys, plus Lost Girl, Bitten and Total Drama Island.

The Expo ends with The Two Captains — Patrick Stewart and William Shatner — fresh off the debut of HBO Canada’s William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge.

TV, eh?‘s own Greg David will be moderating two panels at Fan Expo Canada on Saturday, one for Murdoch Mysteries and one for stars of Showcase’s biggest shows including Lost Girl and Haven.

Meet the stars of this season’s Showcase television series

Greg will lead Anna Silk (Lost Girl), Lucas Bryant (Haven), Kyra Zagorsky (Helix) and Trenna Keating (Defiance) in a discussion of the sci-fi genre and its popularity.

Meet the cast of Murdoch Mysteries

Following the Showcase panel, Greg will host a panel and Q&A session with the cast of Murdoch Mysteries, which will include an exclusive preview of Season 8. Expected to attend are Hélène Joy (Dr. Julia Ogden), Jonny Harris (Constable George Crabtree), Georgina Reilly (Dr. Emily Grace), Arwen Humphreys (Margaret Brackenreid) and Lachlan Murdoch (Constable Henry Higgins). The new season premieres on CBC this fall.

Planning to go?

For more information and to buy tickets, see the Fan Expo Canada website.

[amazon template=image&asin=B00IK481FO]

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail