All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Burden of Truth, Coroner, Diggstown, Family Feud Canada, Fortunate Son, Kim's Convenience, Schitt's Creek, The Detectives, Workin' Moms

CBC announces winter premiere dates for Coroner, Schitt’s Creek, Workin’ Moms and more

3 Comments

From a media release:

CBC today announced premiere dates for its winter 2020 lineup of new and returning Canadian series, featuring original programming that reflects contemporary Canada. With a new winter schedule launching Sunday, January 5, each series will be available on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service.

New original series premiering this winter include:

Hosted by Gerry Dee, FAMILY FEUD CANADA will introduce audiences to Canadian families from across the country four nights a week, beginning Monday, December 16 at a special time of 8PM (8:30 NT), before moving into its regular time slot at 7:30PM (8 NT) on Monday, December 23

New original factual series HIGH ARCTIC HAULERS, a high-stakes journey at sea that offers a look at Canada’s resilient, vibrant northern communities, premieres Sunday, January 5 at 8PM (8:30 NT)

Starring Kari Matchett (Covert Affairs), Darren Mann (Giant Little Ones) and Stephen Moyer (True Blood) and set in the social and political chaos of 1968, new spy drama FORTUNATE SON premieres Wednesday January 8 at 9PM (9:30 NT)

In a new take on the popular factual entertainment format, BACK IN TIME FOR WINTER follows one modern Canadian family on a winter time-travelling adventure beginning Thursday, January 9 at 8PM (8:30NT)

Epic sci-fi adventure series ENDLINGS produced in partnership with Hulu, follows four foster kids who make a startling discovery that affects the entire universe, and premieres Sunday, January 5 at 6PM (6:30 NT) with weekly back-to-back episodes

New culinary competition series and original Canadian format, FRIDGE WARS, premieres Thursday, February 27 at 8PM (8:30 NT)

New CBC Docs original series THE OLAND MURDER premieres Thursday, March 5 at 9PM (9:30 NT)

Returning titles include:

Last season’s most-watched new Canadian series* CORONER, starring Serinda Swan, returns for Season 2 Monday, January 6 at 9PM (9:30 NT)

CBC’s popular Tuesday night comedy lineup returns with the fourth season of KIM’S CONVENIENCE at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) and the sixth and final season of SCHITT’S CREEK at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) beginning Tuesday, January 7, with WORKIN’ MOMS returning for a fourth season Tuesday, February 18 at 9:30PM (10 NT)

The Kristin Kreuk-led legal drama BURDEN OF TRUTH returns for Season 3 Wednesday, January 8 at 8PM (8:30 NT)

Gripping Canadian true crime series THE DETECTIVES returns for Season 3 Thursday, January 9 at 9PM (9:30 NT)

CBC DOCS POV returns with a new series of documentaries from some of Canada’s most talented documentary filmmakers beginning Sunday, February 9 at 9PM (9:30 NT)

Halifax legal aid drama DIGGSTOWN starring Vinessa Antoine and Natasha Henstridge returns for Season 2 Wednesday, March 4 at 8PM (8:30 NT)

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Link: Anjelica’s 22 Minute Workout brings back the ’80s — spandex and all

From Melissa Hank of Postmedia:

Link: Anjelica’s 22 Minute Workout brings back the ’80s — spandex and all
“I wanted to make it modernized and more inclusive of people of all kinds. Those ’80s fitness shows only had one kind of person. And while I really admired the aesthetic of that era, the update was much called for.” Continue reading. 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Preview: Murdoch Mysteries, “The Final Curtain”

20 Comments

The last time John Brackenreid was on Murdoch Mysteries, it was in the two-part Season 12 finale. John had been shot, recuperated and announced to his parents that he was going to quit being a copper and pursue a career as an actor.

We catch up with John during Monday’s episode, “The Final Curtain,” written by Simon McNabb and directed by Mina Shum. Here’s what the CBC has revealed as the main storyline:

An actor is killed at a play attended by Murdoch, Ogden, Crabtree, and Brackenreid.

And, as always, here are a few tidbits from me after watching a screener.

The Final Curtain
Not only is this the name of the episode, but it’s also the name of the play John Brackenreid stars in. As the episode begins, we join the main characters at the theatre. Watts makes quite the entrance and Murdoch asks a question I always wonder when I attend the theatre. Watching the performance, and how our favourite characters consume and comment on it, is several minutes of fun. And, I think, more than one gentle poke at some critics along the way.

Margaret gets some attention
And Brackenreid isn’t bloody happy about it.

Guests aplenty
Look for Jim Mezon as Grayson Howard, Sara Garcia (X Company) as Ada Cunningham, Jessica Huras as Joan Dalloway, Aidan Moreno as Barney Finch and Ivan Sherry as Herbert Gould (he portrayed Mayor Hopkins back in 2012).

A bottle episode
A traditional bottle episode of television refers to the fact the storyline takes place on just one set. It’s traditionally done to keep production costs down. I have no idea if that’s why Monday’s episode stays in the theatre, but it’s a nice (and literal) change of scenery.

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

Images courtesy of CBC.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Transplant

Link: On location in Montreal with upcoming CTV drama Transplant

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Link: On location in Montreal with upcoming CTV drama Transplant
Here’s the great irony of Canadian TV: I was in Montreal earlier this week on the set of Transplant, a medical drama set to premiere early next year on CTV. It’s about a Syrian refugee played by Hamza Haq (The Indian Detective) returning to his medical training roots as a resident in the emergency ward of a downtown Toronto hospital. Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
New Eden

Unbelievable true-crime story about Canada’s all-female cult, New Eden, drops January 1 on Crave

From a media release:

In 1991, two Canadian filmmakers uncovered the gripping story of Katherine Wryfield and Grace Lee’s drug-addled, alien-goddess worshipping, all-female cult, New Eden. Now, decades after their story faded to black, Crave “revisits” the infamous cult and its founders in the eight-part Crave Original Series NEW EDEN, dropping New Year’s Day, it was confirmed today.

Based in Halworth, BC, the New Eden cult, and the infamous 1980s trial that put its founders behind bars, dominated the Canadian news cycle of the day. Originally directed by two LA-based filmmakers named Travis Meeks and Jake Dermay, the docuseries was televised by Broadcast Network Television (BNT) as NEW EDEN: WHEN WOMEN SIN.

The original docuseries premiere was one of the largest in BNT history, but just as the story of New Eden disappeared from Canadians’ collective memories, the BNT docuseries literally faded as well, never to be broadcast again. Decades later, with true-crime fascination at an all-time high, Crave has uncovered the original broadcast tapes from the now-defunct BNT and restored them to their former glory. After months of restorative work, the original series is presented to Canadian viewers once more as it was seen in 1991. A teaser trailer for Crave’s NEW EDEN is available HERE.

NEW EDEN transports viewers back in time to 1991, as cult founders Grace and Katherine prepare for their release after serving eight years in federal prison. Having gone from true-crime sensations, to national jokes, to largely forgotten altogether, they are persuaded to talk on-camera by a pair of unassuming documentarians seeking to tell their story. The series traces Grace and Katherine’s attempt to start a large-scale feminist utopia in the 70s; the sensational 80s murder trial that landed the founders in prison; and finally their decline and seeming rehabilitation behind bars.

Featuring astounding undercover footage captured on the New Eden compound, news footage, and interviews with those closest to the events, NEW EDEN is the shocking tale about an ill-advised plan executed by two overwhelmed women that quickly spirals into a darker narrative of murder, betrayal, and manipulation.

About WHEN WOMEN SIN
Travis Meeks and Jake Dermay met as UCLA film grads in 1987. Inspired by Errol Morris’ boldly unconventional Thin Blue Line in 1989, Meeks and Dermay began searching for a true crime subject worthy of their own self-proclaimed “shock doc” style.

Produced and co-financed by Magnus Meeks, Travis’ father, NEW EDEN: WHEN WOMEN SIN was originally intended to be a film, but got expanded into a docuseries when BNT stepped in as partners in early 1991. Released later that year, the series was as shocking as it was unprecedented. According to Meeks, the piece was about revealing the intricacies of female friendship and crime through the lens of “our inevitable ‘male gaze.’”

While Meeks-Dermay Films continued to collaborate following the original release of the series, none of their later projects achieved the infamy or impact of WHEN WOMEN SIN, and both men have since faded into obscurity. Until now.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail