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.

I never had a fake ID, but I knew plenty of fellow high school students who did back in the day. The thought of having one always intrigued me, but I was scared too. What if I got one and it was discovered? I imagined a months-long grounding. For best friends Zoe and Becca, grounding is the least of their worries.

Kicking off its entire first season for streaming on CBC Gem, Fakes tracks Zoe and Becca as they create a fake ID empire only to see it all come crashing down. Created by David Turko (Warrior Nun), Fakes is notable not just because of its subject matter but for its leads. Emilija Baranac, as Zoe, and Jennifer Tong as Becca serve up standout performances worthy of checking out. These friends have each other’s backs and you cheer them on from Minute 1, even if they’re doing something highly illegal. And, utilizing the popular trope of speaking into the camera only adds to the effectiveness of the storytelling, particularly when we get into who is really responsible for the pair getting caught.

In Episode 1, we’re introduced to Vancouver teens Zoe and Becca, who are in the midst of being collared by the police. Then, we’re transported back in time to Zoe’s first attempt (and success) making her first fake student ID. Impressed by her friend’s handiwork, Becca asks for one of her own. When they’re not growing their fake ID business, the girls are dealing with everyday drama, like Zoe’s thief brother and Becca’s family falling apart. And, in the debut, we’re also introduced to Tryst (hilariously played by Richard Harmon), a bleached-blonde stoner who works at the clothing store the girls frequent.

Fakes is the story of the pair’s ultimate betrayal, a comedy-drama with two unreliable narrators who are both competing for the last word. And, I have to say, it’s pretty great.

Stream Season 1 of Fakes on CBC Gem now.

Image courtesy of CBC.

This Hour Has 22 Minutes

CBC’s iconic This Hour Has 22 Minutes celebrates historic 30th season with a live taping in Toronto

August 31, 2022 Greg David

From a media release:

THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES (24×30) returns to CBC and CBC Gem on Tuesday, September 13 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) for a historic 30th season that includes a live taping at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto and a special episode that explores what has made the show a cultural touchstone for viewers across Canada over the past three decades.

TRENT McCLELLAN, ABA AMUQUANDOH, STACEY McGUNNIGLE, and 22 Minutes veteran MARK CRITCH are back on the news desk of Canada’s longest-running TV comedy series, continuing to push the boundaries of provocative satire; targeting politics, culture and world events with biting parodies and an unrelenting skewering of the weekly news. With a legacy that spans three decades, 22 Minutes remains a beloved staple for television audiences across the country and has also cultivated a large and dedicated online following. Throughout the duration of Season 29, the show’s social media audience grew by over 650,000 followers collectively. Season 29 also marked a successful introduction to TikTok, with their account earning roughly 82.2 million video views and 9.1 million likes over the course of the season.

This season, 22 MINUTES will celebrate 30 years with two special episodes:

22 MINUTES AT GLENN GOULD STUDIO (October 4), will be filmed in Toronto before a live studio audience of politicians, newsmakers and stars from the world of Canadian comedy.

THIS SPECIAL HAS 30 YEARS (October 11), is a retrospective episode that will look back at 22 Minutes’ history while exploring what has made the show such a groundbreaking cultural force over its 30 seasons, featuring interviews with cast, creatives, and collaborators including Rick Mercer, Mary Walsh and Peter Mansbridge.

The series is filmed in front of a reduced live audience in its new studio and production facilities at the Light House Arts Centre in Halifax, where the show employs an integral and experienced crew across all production disciplines to bring the show to life every week.

This Hour Has 22 Minutes is produced by IoM Media: Executive Producers Mike Allison and Michael Donovan; Producers Meaghan Clark, Carl Gosine, Tracey Jardine, and Dana Landry.

Children's Programming, Industry News

New animated children’s series, Jeremy and Jazzy, to launch on CBC Kids and CBC Gem

August 31, 2022 Greg David

From a media release:

Vérité Films, Jeremy Fisher Music, and Hidden Pony Records are proud to announce Jeremy and Jazzy, a new children’s animated television, music, and multi-platform brand about how feelings become songs, songs become stories, and music and friendship create joy. The series brings to life a new collection of children’s music written by three-time JUNO-nominated singer-songwriter Jeremy Fisher. Jeremy and Jazzy is set to debut in Canada on the free CBC Gem streaming service on September 5, 2022, followed by its linear broadcast premiere on CBC Kids beginning September 12, 2022 and then streaming on CBC Kids’ YouTube channel starting on September 19, 2022.

The series stars Jeremy Fisher (Jeremy) and award-winning artist Aiza Ntibarikure (Jazzy). It’s set in Creation Station – a world that comes alive through the magic of music. The first 26 two-minute episodes and one 11-minute special (featuring a guest appearance from musician Joel Plaskett) will be available to stream at launch. A preview of the first short, “Jeremy and Jazzy (Theme),” is available here.

In addition, today Jeremy and Jazzy released the album Say Hello, a collection of 26 new songs via Hidden Pony Records and Universal Music Canada on all streaming services. Fronted by Jeremy and Aiza, the tracks showcase a diversity of styles – from vocal jazz to folky talking blues to funk, hip-hop, pop, and more. The songs are backed by children from the Dixon Hall Music School, the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, and Music For Young Children in Bedford, Nova Scotia. Listen to Say Hello here.

On September 6th, to celebrate the series launch on CBC Gem, the Jeremy and Jazzy song “Paper Heart” will be included in the CBC Canadian Music Class Challenge, and the short will be available here. Classrooms across Canada can submit their own version of the song for a chance to win musical instruments for their school or a chance to win a virtual classroom concert with Jeremy Fisher. Details are available at cbc.ca/musicclass.

September will also see the launch of Jeremy and Jazzy Learn, a free and fun series of educational resources for Junior Kindergarten-Grade 2, developed in collaboration with Sheridan College, that brings music into the home and classroom to help kids with literacy skills. Activities will be available on JeremyandJazzy.com.

More Jeremy and Jazzy shorts and songs are already in production and set to launch with CBC Kids and Universal Music Canada in 2023, alongside touring shows, books, and more Jeremy and Jazzy Learn educational content. Jeremy and Jazzy will inspire kids and parents to sing, dance, create, and learn on JeremyandJazzy.com, YouTube and Facebook.

About Jeremy and Jazzy, Vérité Films, Jeremy Fisher Music, and Hidden Pony Records
Jeremy and Jazzy is created by Jeremy Fisher, Robert de Lint, Mike “Parkside” Renaud, and Virginia Thompson. The project is produced by Vérité Films, the award-winning production company behind the iconic Canadian comedy brand Corner Gas, in association with Jeremy Fisher Music and Hidden Pony Records. Animation is provided by Vérité Films and Smiley Guy Studios with digital production by Vérité Films and Stitch Media. Jeremy and Jazzy Learn is produced by Vérité Films in association with Jeremy Fisher Music and Sheridan College’s Early Childhood Education program.

Children's Programming, Industry News

WildBrain Television announces three more original greenlights from Canadian producers exclusive to Family Channel

August 31, 2022 Greg David

From a media release:

WildBrain Television, one of Canada’s most-loved kids’ and family broadcast networks, announces that Family Channel, its flagship broadcast network, has greenlit three new content projects across live-action and animation, in partnership with independent Canadian producers. Exclusive to WildBrain Television in Canada, the new content will begin rolling out across the company’s broadcast and digital channels this September, continuing into 2023. WildBrain has also acquired global distribution rights for all three properties.

Heading up the live-action slate is Life with Luca, the 90-minute spin-off feature film of the beloved franchise, Life with Derek. Produced by Shaftesbury as an original commission by WildBrain’s Family Channel, the movie recently wrapped filming in Southern Ontario and will premiere on the network in early 2023. WildBrain is also now the exclusive worldwide distributor of the classic Life with Derek library (70×22′) and an earlier spin-off film, Vacation with Derek (1×90′).

WildBrain Television’s animation lineup features Slugterra: Ascension, produced in partnership with Epic Story Media. The shorts will premiere exclusively on WildBrainTV in Canada in a sneak peek on September 5 at 2:50 p.m. ET, with new episodes beginning September 18 at 11:45 a.m. ET, before rolling out globally across WildBrain Spark’s Slugterra YouTube channels. Also newly greenlit is an expanded order of five half-hours to the popular new series Summer Memories, produced in partnership with A&N Productions, Aircraft Pictures and Yeti Farm Creative. Summer Memories debuted on Family Channel this summer, and the new stories will begin airing on Family Channel in 2023.

Life with Luca (1 x 90′) – coming to Family Channel early 2023

Life with Luca is the spin-off of the long-running, beloved franchise Life with Derek. The movie picks up fifteen years later and follows Derek (Michael Seater) and Casey (Ashley Leggat) as they each navigate parenthood and raise distinctly different teenagers. Derek is a successful musician in Paris and the single dad of a 14-year-old girl named Skyler (Isabel Rose Silva) who is smart, funny, and studious and who has recently been testing the boundaries set by her father. Casey is a lawyer and a married mother of three in Toronto and is quite comfortable setting limits, though her eldest, 14-year-old Luca (Marcus Cornwall)—lover of pranks, gaming, and skateboarding—is constantly crossing them. Both Derek and Casey spontaneously decide to surprise their own parents at their recently constructed ‘forever home’ in rural Ontario but encounter each other instead. Casey and Derek are happy to see each other, but the teenaged cousins—who have barely seen each other over the years (and never really liked what they saw)—don’t get along at all, uniting only to get into serious trouble.

The 90-minute live-action film is produced by Shaftesbury, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and Shaw Rocket Fund, as an original commission by WildBrain’s Family Channel. The movie is set to debut on Family Channel in February 2023.

Life with Luca was created by Life with Derek series creator, Daphne Ballon and Life with Derek writer, Jeff Biederman. Ron Murphy (Jann, Trailer Park Boys) directs. Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Liz Levine, and Jennifer McCann are executive producers, and Marek Posival and Alex House are producers.

Slugterra: Ascension (20 x 4′) – coming to WildBrainTV and Family Channel fall 2022

The wait is over! For the first time in six years Eli Shane, Trixie Sting, and the slugs are back with more comedy, action, and exciting escapades in Slugterra: Ascension. After a rockslide leaves them trapped alone with only a few of their slugs, Eli and Trixie have to be smart and strategic to outwit and outrun villainous twins Locke and Lode and their deadly gattler blasters—that is until they find the legendary Universal Slug! At first glance “Uni” looks like any derpy little flopper. But once transformed, this powerful creature can imitate any slug’s strongest move! Too bad it comes with a price Eli and Trixie won’t be happy about paying. The twenty brand-new four-minute CG-animated shorts will join the classic library of Slugterra episodes, the fan-favourite adventure series set deep underground where fierce opponents collect, train and battle it out with their arsenals of fantastical transforming slugs.

Slugterra was created by Asaph Fipke, and Slugterra: Ascension is produced in association with Epic Story Media’s Ken Faier, acting as executive producer, along with showrunner Nancy Lees. The new series was animated at Island of Misfits (IOM) in Halifax. Additional executive producers include WildBrain’s Josh Scherba, Stephanie Betts and Anne Loi, and IOM’s Meaghan Clark. The series was directed by IOM’s Don Urquhart and produced by Epic Story Media’s Christine Cote and Marlene Schmidt.

Summer Memories (5 x 30′) – new episodes coming to Family Channel in 2023

Summer Memories adds five half-hours to the popular new series Summer Memories which launched this summer on Family Channel. The new stories dive further into the world and characters, following the adventures of best friends Jason and Ronnie as Jason looks back on the most pivotal summer of his life (which was just a few weeks ago). This is Jason’s summer of change…and he fears change. Lucky for him, he has charismatic, life adventurer Ronnie at his side. Summer Memories transcends time, space and memory—the good and the bad—as it chronicles Jason and Ronnie’s sweet, fun-filled relationship.

Summer Memories was created by veteran animator/producer Adam Yaniv and produced by A&N Productions, Aircraft Pictures and Yeti Farm Creative, with the financial support of the Canada Media Fund and Shaw Rocket Fund.

Featured, Podcast

TV, Eh? Podcast Episode 251: Moonshine and the Lisa LaFlamme debacle

August 28, 2022 Greg David 1 Comment

After a little break, where not a lot was going on, Greg and Amy go through debuts and returns on the Canadian TV calendar.

Then, we cover the latest Canadian TV news, including CBC renewing Moonshine for Season 3; ET Canada giving Sangita Patel co-hosting duties; Boat Rocker teaming with Jay Baruchel; AMI-tv’s fall schedule; and the CTV/Lisa LaFlamme debacle.

This podcast brought to you by coffee and Harvey’s Sussex Best.

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