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.
Great Canadian Baking Show

CBC announces a new batch of bakers for The Great Canadian Baking Show Season 2

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From a media release:

CBC today announced the 10 amateur bakers who will compete on the second season of THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW, premiering Wednesday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC, the CBC TV streaming app and cbc.ca/watch. Over the course of eight episodes, this diverse group of dedicated bakers from across the country will bring their whisking skills to a series of culinary-themed challenges, each contestant aiming to be the last baker standing. Based on the beloved British format, THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW Season 2 is hosted by actor and writer Daniel Levy and actor Julia Chan, with acclaimed pastry chefs Bruno Feldeisen and Rochelle Adonis also returning as the series judges.

Each week, the bakers will compete in three challenges – the Signature Bake, the Technical Bake, and the Show Stopper – during which they will rely on their personal interests, styles and cultural backgrounds to make their delicious dishes stand out to the judges. After the bakes are tested and critiqued, the judges will decide who will be the week’s Star Baker and who will be sent home. In the final episode, the remaining three bakers will vie for the title of Canada’s best amateur baker. This season’s bakers are:

· Tim Chauvin, 38, a hardware store manager from Brockville, ON

· Mengling Chen, 30, a market research account manager from Toronto, ON

· Timothy Fu, 19, an undergrad student from Edmonton, AB

· Andrei Godoroja, 58, a software engineering consultant from Vancouver, BC

· Sadiya Hashmi, 38, a homeschooling mom with an MBA from Edmonton, AB

· Wendy McIsaac, 54, a senior policy analyst from Cornwall, PEI

· Sachin Seth, 43, a dentist and dentist professor from Halifax, NS

· Megan Stasiewich, 30, a hair stylist from Leduc, AB

· Devon Stolz, 27, a gravestone carver and substitute teacher from Regina, SK

· Ann Marie Whitten, 49, an operations manager from Pickering, ON

Twenty-four-year-old graphic designer Sabrina Degni of Montreal, QC, the youngest baker in the first season, took the inaugural Canadian title after competing against semi-finalists Linda Longson of High River, AB and Vandana Jain of Regina, SK. Fans can relive her Season 1 journey anytime at cbc.ca/watch.

THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW is produced by Proper Television in association with CBC and Love Productions. The executive producers are Lesia Capone and Cathie James, and the series producer is Marike Emery.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

True crime in agriculture and farming is the focus of CBC’s excellent, unique Farm Crime

True crime is a hot genre right now thanks to podcasts like My Favorite Murder and Someone Knows Something and television series like Making a Murderer and The Detectives. But where those—and the genre on the whole—mostly deals with crimes against humans, Big Cedar Films’ Geoff Morrison takes the craze in a different direction.

Morrison, whose latest projects for CBC were Brand Canada and the excellent and creepy “The Missing Tourist,” returns to the network for the six-episode web series Farm Crime. Now available for streaming on the CBC site and app, Farm Crime investigates offences in the world of agriculture and farming. Morrison notes the infamous maple syrup heist of 2011—when 3,000 tons of the sticky stuff was stolen from a storage facility in Quebec—was the inspiration for Farm Crime. Each instalment is free-standing, so I checked out “George of Green Gables” first.

In it, co-producer and director Christina Carvalho tells the tale of PEI oysterman George Dowdle of Green Gables Oysters, who spends his waking hours tending to his oyster crop. Buoys mark each oyster farmers’ plot of water. But, unlike a piece of property being fenced in to stop thieves, there is nothing like that on the water. The result? As George says, an “arsehole” can abscond with tens of thousands of dollars in oysters in a short amount of time. But once such theft in 2016 was particularly tough on George; it occurred at the same time his wife battled brain tumours. Set against the rustic beauty of PEI, George’s story is heartbreaking and horrible as he and partner Andy Black retrace the poaching, capturing the culprit, and its aftermath.

Morrison and his team pack a lot into an episode, managing to not only outline the crime but explore the life of the victim or victims and the legal entities involved. That’s a tough job to do in an episode that clocks in at under 15 minutes, but he does it well.

Other Season 1 stories include pigeon and cattle theft, a black market butcher, a blueberry bandit (this one plays out like a good mystery) and disappearance of five million bees. All six episodes of Farm Crime are streaming on CBC’s website and the CBC App.

Image courtesy of Big Cedar Films.

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This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Link: Shaun Majumder jumping ship from CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes

From Bruce DeMara of the Toronto Star:

Link: Shaun Majumder jumping ship from CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes
This Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC’s long-running comedy show, is losing a key cast member with the departure of Shaun Majumder.

Majumder made the announcement on Saturday, on the final night of The Gathering, a three-day festival of food, comedy and music that he founded in his hometown of Burlington, N.L. Continue reading. 

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Killjoys

Links: Killjoys: “Baby, Face Killer”

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Thom Allison talks about playing the chameleon Pree in Killjoys 
“Much of what happens in Season 4 involves The Lady and Pree ends up mixed up with Turin and the Armada and Zeph and getting information on what’s happening with her plan, which we don’t quite know just yet. [They form] a posse together, which was great fun.” Continue reading.

From Kelly Townsend of The TV Junkies:

Link: Killjoys: Julie Puckrin talks “Baby, Face Killer”
“We talked a lot in the writing room about how parenting a child re-frames how you feel about your own parents, and how we unconsciously repeat things our parents did–and how easy it is for negative cycles to creep up on us.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Julie Puckrin talks Killjoys Season 4 and “Baby, Face Killer”
“The great thing about [doing 4 and 5 together] was that we knew the show was ending and could plan for that ending and have this continuity of thought and be aware as we were moving through 4 what we needed to set up for 5. We all knew each other really well and have a good shorthand so that worked out really well. It was a challenge, but we pulled it off. It’s amazing what you can do when you have to.” Continue reading.

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Wynonna Earp

Link: Wynonna Earp: Emily Andras talks “If We Make it Through December”

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Wynonna Earp: Emily Andras talks “If We Make it Through December”
“I feel like we earned it and because it’s always winter when we film we thought ‘what can we do that’s special?’ I thought ‘do these guys ever celebrate Christmas?’ It also felt like a natural, fun, family celebration.” Continue reading.

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