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.
Amazing Race Canada, Featured

Amazing Race Canada: Mayhem on Mother’s Day in Panama

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After spending more time in Canada exploring this country, The Amazing Race Canada went international on Tuesday, jetting to Panama City where teams battled temperatures and tempers. My biggest questions heading into the Leg were whether or not Sam and Paul could dominate the way they did last week and if Ivana and Korey could pull themselves out of their recent lower-place finishes. With just two more Legs to the final three, everyone was on edge.

It was touching, and ingenious, for producers to celebrate Mother’s Day by spotlighting Karen, the only mother left in the competition. It offered a break from the frenzy of the competition and was an opportunity for viewers to throw their support behind the couple. I’ve liked them since the second Leg of the Race, but this season has been a little dry when it’s come to real personalities to cheer for.

Korey and Ivana began strongly, grabbing the first cab at the airport and speeding to the Frank Gehry-designed Biomuseo. The building, a riot of bright colours and angles, offered the first clue of the Leg: well-hidden instructions to a seawall. Despite being in the lead cab, Ivanka and Korey were quickly outpaced by Team Give’er, Sam and Paul and Karen and Bert, who all had faster drivers. Leads changed quickly on the way to the seawall, and Sam and Paul jumped out early … and ran to the wrong spot. Karen and Bert arrived at the clue box first, unveiling a clothing-themed Road Block that involved memorizing an intricate Panamanian design and locating the one matching mola worn by a woman walking around the sprawling old town.

Karen, Korey, Adam, Paul and Ryan all chose to complete the task, an arduous thing that tested everyone’s patience as well as their stamina and attention to detail. Ryan thought he was looking for four butterflies in his design and walked right by the woman wearing the two butterflies he was keeping an eye out for. That left the door open for Paul, who identified his design and patiently waited for the woman wearing it to follow him back to the kiosk.

The Leg’s Detour was an interesting couple of choices. In “Up for a Drink,” teams were tasked with identifying five distinct flavours contained in a tray of craft beers. In “Down for the Count,” duos trained and then executed several sparring moves. (I would have chosen the beer, though heat may have lead to some lightheadedness.) Sam and Paul went with the beer, as did Adam and Andrea and Kenneth and Ryan. Ivana and Korey chose to box and with their personal trainer backgrounds, looked ready to deliver a knockout punch.

Sam and Paul were hilarious to watch, making choices, asking for refills and becoming more buzzed as the minutes went by. Frustrated, they departed for the boxing challenge, followed by Andrea and Adam and Kenneth and Ryan. Who knew tasting beer would be such a challenge? The only issue was that, like Sam and Paul, the teams were day drunk and having to throw punches.

Meanwhile, Karen’s Mother’s Day was the pits; she wandered all over the place without seeing the matching mola or anyone else at all really. In tears, she considered taking a penalty; she re-read the clue and realized she’d been in the wrong spot the entire time. They were off to throw some punches and still in the Race.

Korey and Ivana were monsters in the ring and departed after their first try, putting them back into the No. 1 spot. Sam and Paul completed the task next and was off to join them. Kenneth and Ryan edged out Karen and Bert, leaving them in last. Celebrating Panama’s top marching band, teams had to perform the same intricate moves the drum majorette did. (Producers must have had a field day putting drunk contestants in front of a loud marching band.) No one nailed it in their first try—no surprise—and by the time night fell nerves were frayed. Sam and Paul eventually completed the task first and departed to locate Jon Montgomery at one of two Panama signs, arriving in first place again. Korey and Ivana’s cab driver went to the other sign location and they were forced to backtrack; in the meantime, Kenneth and Ryan captured second spot. Bert and Karen arrived at the incorrect location too, but Jon had a Mother’s Day gift for Karen: this was a non-elimination Leg, meaning they were still in the mix.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

  1. Sam and Paul (trip to New Orleans)
  2. Kenneth and Ryan
  3. Adam and Andrea
  4. Ivana and Korey
  5. Karen and Bert (non-elimination Leg)

What did you think of this Leg of the Race? Who do you think will win? Let me know in the comments below.

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

 

 

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Industry News, Motive

Award-WinningWriter/Producer Dennis Heaton to Lead Story Room for the 2017 Bell Media Prime Time TV Program

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From a media release:

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and Bell Media are pleased to welcome renowned writer/producer Dennis Heaton as the Executive Producer in Residence of the 2017 Bell Media Prime Time TVProgram, presented in association with ABC Signature Studios. From September to December 2017, Heaton will lead the story room as well as the soon-to-be-announced television writers selected to participate in this year’s program as they work together to develop Heaton’s original series.

Dennis Heaton is an award-winning writer and producer whose work spans multiple genres and formats, from animation to live-action, web series to feature film, half hour comedy to hour-long drama. Heaton is currently executive producing and writing for Ghost Wars, a new horror series for SyFy and Netflix. Heaton recently completed showrunning the internationally renowned police procedural Motive. His additional live-action credits include Call Me Fitz, The Listener, JPod, Blood Ties and the feature film Fido. When not working on live-action projects, Heaton sneaks off to write episodes of animated shows, create web series and write and direct short film projects. Motive and Call Me Fitz have both received multiple Canadian Screen Awards nominations, including Best Drama Series and Best Comedy Series, respectively, which Call Me Fitz won in 2014. Heaton has also been nominated for four Gemini Awards, four WGC Screenwriting Awards (winning for his Yvon of the Yukon animation script, “The Trouble With Mammoths”) and nine Leo Awards (of which he won five). His 2009 web series, My Pal, Satan, won Best Web Series and Best Theme Song at the New York Television Festival. His 2006 short film, Head Shot, premiered in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, won Best Canadian Short Film at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, and went on to play in film festivals around the world. Heaton has multiple projects in development, including Damage Control, a new police procedural with Lark, NBCU and Corus Entertainment, and the feature comedy Larry’s Awesome Kegger, which he hopes will be his directorial debut.

The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program, presented in association with ABC Signature Studios, delivers a real-world story room experience and an intense professional and project development process for six TV writers a year. The program has attracted some of Canada’s most prolific and successful showrunners to lead the story room as Executive Producer in Residence, including Michael MacLennan, Graeme Manson, Avrum Jacobson, Peter Mohan, Shelley Eriksen, Karen Walton and Brad Wright. Alumni of the program have gone on to create their own series and write for hit TV series, including Tara Armstrong, whose is currently in production on Season 2 of her series Mary Kills People (Global TV); Andrew De Angelis, whose first comedy series, What Would Sal Do?, aired on CraveTV in March 2017; Blain Watters, who wrote for Season 1 of Between (Netflix); and Karen Nielsen, who is set to write an episode of the next X-Files revival season. The program also helped develop smash-hit Emmy Award-winning series Orphan Black, which recently saw its series finale, in the 2008 story room, and Travelers, whose second season is set to premiere this Fall on Netflix, began its development during the 2014 Prime Time TV Program.

The 2017 Bell Media Prime Time TV Program participants will be announced in the coming weeks, with the program getting officially underway on September 18, 2017. To learn more about the program, please visit:http://cfccreates.com/programs/15-bell-media-prime-time-tv-program

 

 

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19-2, Featured

19-2: The squad loses one of its own

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The advantage of being a television critic are many. Invites to cool events, the chance to interview folks about their latest projects and seeing episode images and screeners in advance. The disadvantage? In the case of Monday’s new episode of 19-2, seeing images minutes before watching the screener.

The result? I thought I had a pretty good idea of how J.M.’s storyline was going to end up. One image offered for me to use in my review showed Sgt. Suarez lying on the floor next to J.M. His eyes were open, so I wasn’t sure if he was conscious or not. I hoped he was because, as bad as that was, J.M. could still come back from it.  That image, and the one of J.M. looking down, shattered, was in sharp contrast to the others, with members of 19 at a cottage, shucking corn, barbecuing and consuming cold beer.

But I was totally wrong about J.M.

Monday’s “Labour Day,” written by Lynne Kamm, began with Ben haunted—literally—by the ghosts of the men dying amid the mob war in Montreal. After getting up to close his opened front door, Ben returned to see the body of the drug dealer in his seat, plastic bag fastened over his head. Ben didn’t even flinch … he just walked over to the chair and sat down again.

J.M. wasn’t flinching either, at least not on the outside. He walked the gamut of hospital staffers on the way to leaving, thanking them for the sponge baths—and in some cases smirking “You’re welcome!”—before walking out on to the street into the rain. Alone.

After mentioning Montreal’s traffic in last week’s review, it played into a dramatic setting when Audrey and Roxanne came free of bottlenecked construction-affected traffic to find an unmarked car had pulled over a vehicle. Problem was, unmarked cars aren’t used for officers. Audrey and Roxanne knew something was wrong. It was a guy impersonating a cop and brandishing a pellet gun. According to Rozanne, more than one had been collared in the last couple of years … and had been released after being given fines. If you can’t trust the police, who can you trust? It’s a recurring theme this season on 19-2.

The squad converged at Suarez’s rental cottage (all but J.M., that was), ready to let off some steam and relax for two days. It was so good to see the team out of uniform, laughing, Tyler taking over the kitchen and ordering everyone around, the sun dappling on the lake and the tension of their jobs left behind in the strangling city. We also learned, over some serious corn-shucking, that Bear and Roxanne’s date was a success until Bear chickened out at the end of it. Her plan? To unleash the dragon (tattoo) during the weekend. Ben’s trip to the store to get some fresh buns landed him a straddling from Audrey on the way, breaking the tension within them for at least a few hours.

Kamm’s script included a stunning scene couple of scenes involving Dulac. The first between Ben and Dulac had the former defending Tyler and his loyalty when the latter disparaged him as “a fuckup waiting to happen.” (I audibly cheered when Tyler opted to pour, rather than consume, the booze he was doling out.) Then, minutes later, Dulac and Suarez recalled their childhoods, with Suarez explaining how his father had hoped he’d become an engineer, but marks meant a police career. Dulac confided his father’s expectation was his son would be a cop.

“Then you haven’t disappointed him,” Suarez said.

“Not yet,” was Dulac’s reply. Those two words had so much meaning. Did Dulac’s reply mean he would inevitably disappoint his father? Was he hinting being a cop wasn’t what he’d wanted to do with his life?

A raw—and overdue—discussion about J.M. followed, with Audrey tearing into the team for not visiting once during his three-week stay.

“He tried to kill himself, and he’s going to try again,” she advised. “What the hell is wrong with you people?! You’re a bunch of cowards. I hope no one visits you.” She had a point, but I understood everyone else’s stance too. J.M. had been such a thorn in their sides over the years it was easier to cut him off than deal with him. As Ben said, he and Nick had pulled J.M. off his wife; if they hadn’t he’d have killed her.

Then it was back to work. J.M. returned to 19—gluten cookies in hand—to make friends. Ben told him no one wanted him there; Audrey told him that wasn’t true. But instead of J.M. turning his gun on Suarez, it was the impersonator Audrey and Roxanne arrested that did, arriving at 19 in his fake uniform. He opened fire inside, shooting Suarez and the more officers. J.M. stood up and took several shots at the man before he himself was gunned down. J.M. looked relieved as the bullets entered his body … this was his way out, decided by someone else. A hero. The perp killed himself before Tyler, Dulac, Ben and Nick could do it themselves.

J.M. was a remarkable character and congratulations to Dan Petronijevic for playing him in such a memorable way. He was alternately funny and frustrating, a fiercely loyal officer who believed in fairness for his fellow men and ladies in blue. He had his flaws, but I’m going to miss him as the rest of this final season rolls out.

What did you think of this week’s episode of 19-2? Were you glad J.M. was a hero in the end? Let me know in the comments below.

19-2 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

 

 

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21 Thunder, Featured

21 Thunder: Fixed

I knew, prior to 21 Thunder‘s debut, there would be a lot of action on the soccer pitch as well as off. I envisioned the sexy times between players and girlfriends (and perhaps fans), a little painkiller addiction and coaching scuffles thrown in for good measure.

But 21 Thunder has been so much more than that. It’s a complex interweaving of stories where some are kind of what I expected. Others have been a total shock, like Guy, the thrice-mortgaged referee who, at the beginning of Monday’s new episode “Fixed,” opened his front door to reveal an envelope full of cash on his stoop. The story, involving Thunder’s team intern Lara Yun, was a total departure from my expectations for 21 Thunder. I watch a lot of television, and I didn’t see the angle coming.

I chuckled when I tuned to the debut episode and was presented with Nolan’s gang member past. At the time it seemed cheesy and over-the-top, an unnecessary character trait added to a guy that seemed engaging enough. I was wrong about that too; that backstory was integral to what’s quickly turned out to be one hell of a back and forth between Nolan and Declan. Colm Feore is a damned national treasure and can do nothing wrong in my book, but RJ Fetherstonhaugh has been a revelation in the scenes he shares with Feore as son and father attempt to outwit the other in their prison visits.

This week’s scene at the prison between Declan and Nolan was particularly good. With Emma there to meet Declan, Nolan’s papa took the time to reminisce on his son’s childhood, connecting her with the elder Gallard and infuriating the younger one because of the guilt he feels over his mother’s death.

The drama hasn’t strayed too far from the pitch, however. “Fixed,” featured the Thunder matched up against the worst team in the league. Coach Rocas explained that meant the Vancouver team would be playing loose and with nothing to lose: a dangerous combination. Adding to the tension? The first-team coach was in attendance looking to poach talent. The match didn’t start out well; it appeared Guy was living up to the bribe when he nailed goalie Alex on a little-known—and almost never called—penalty. That, of course, lead to a Vancouver goal and a 3-0 hole by halftime. After Rocas and Nolan were tossed, it left Davey Gunn running the show. And, with some major help from Christy and Junior Lolo, it seemed the Thunder would win. Until that is, Guy blew the whistle ending game play just as Junior was closing in for this game-tying goal. Lara may have said this was a one and done game, but having $75,000 sitting in front of you is a sufficient enticement to keep the payoffs coming, especially with a desperate K pulling Declan into the whole mess.

The loss didn’t sit well with Christy, and she was going over game tape when a drunk Davey showed up at her home. He was looking for a roll in the hay but Christy’s mom had other plans: whiskey. Christy appreciated Davey tossing back booze and talking soccer with her mom; her mouth may have told him their night together was a one-time thing but her eyes were saying something else. (I wish more time was spent showing Davey and Mom getting drunk.) Christy followed up with Ana, expressing her concerns about Guy’s refereeing. Ana dismissed the allegations and doled out some advice: Christy needed to be more “active with the brand on social media.”

Finally, we got a little more insight into Junior’s brother, Gregoire. According to Mr. Bamba, he is “a very bad man.” At least, that’s what he told Fatima when she confronted Bamba and accused him of defrauding Junior of the $10,000. Turns out Bamba did find Gregoire and was the worse for it. He handed back the remaining $500 of that cash and told Fatima he was washing his hands of the whole thing.

I said off the top how pleasantly surprised I’ve been with 21 Thunder‘s first season. The writing is taut and the characters are anything but cookie-cutter; 21 Thunder has turned into my sleeper hit of the summer.

21 Thunder airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

 

 

 

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Mary Kills People

Production Begins on Season 2 of Global’s Critically-Acclaimed Mini-Series Mary Kills People

From a media release:

Canadian broadcast and production partner Corus Entertainment, with Entertainment One (eOne) and Cameron Pictures Inc., are pleased to announce that production has begun on the second cycle of Global’s critically-acclaimed drama Mary Kills People. Following a hugely successful first season with praise from critics both in Canada and south of the border, the six-part, one-hour event series will film in and around Toronto into the fall, with the premiere set for winter 2018 on Global.

The series’ multi-talented powerhouse team behind the scenes returns, including creator and executive producer Tara Armstrong, executive producers Tassie Cameron and Amy Cameron, along with newly added directors Kelly Makin, Norma Bailey, and David Wellington with Holly Dale as co-executive producer. Also returning to Season 2 is Caroline Dhavernas as Dr. Mary Harris, along with Richard Short as Mary’s sidekick Dr. Desmond “Des” Bennett, and Jay Ryan as Ben Wesley, the undercover cop who was investigating Mary last season. New this season are Canadians Rachelle Lefevre (Under the Dome, Twilight) cast as Olivia Bloom – a mysterious woman with ties to Mary’s past, and Ian Lake (Bitten, Rookie Blue) cast as Travis Bloom, Olivia’s husband.

In the new season of Mary Kills People, Mary (Caroline Dhavernas) plummets deeper into the criminal world as she searches for a steady supply of pentobarbital, the highly regulated and highly lethal “death drug.” As she becomes more entangled in her illegal work, Mary continues to risk her family and ER doctor career as she tries to keep her worlds separate. But when the mysterious Oliva Bloom (Rachelle Lefevre), approaches Mary and her partner Des (Richard Short) with a lethal request — and when Mary crosses unexpectedly with Detective Ben Wesley(Jay Ryan) — she realizes her secrets can only be hidden for so long.

Mary Kills People is produced by eOne and Cameron Pictures Inc., in association with Corus Entertainment, and with the financial participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. The series is executive-produced by Tassie Cameron (Ten Days in The Valley, Rookie Blue), Amy Cameron (The Book of Negroes), Jocelyn Hamilton (Private Eyes) and Tecca Crosby (Private Eyes). The series will be directed by Kelly Makin, Norma Bailey and David Wellington with Holly Dale as Co-Executive Producer. Tara Armstrong (Private Eyes) created the series and is executive producer and writer. Additional writers include Tassie Cameron, Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope), Lara Azzopardi (Backstage) and Marsha Greene (Private Eyes).

 

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