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.

Link: CraveTV ’continues to grow:’ Bell CEO

From Steve Lambert of The Canadian Press:

Link: CraveTV ’continues to grow’: Bell CEO
The president and CEO of Bell Canada is expressing confidence in his company’s streaming video service even as a competitor in the Netflix-dominated field prepares to shut down.

“There’s no change in the status of CraveTV,” George Cope said in an interview Tuesday with The Canadian Press. Continue reading.

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Cackles, crying and crafts on The Bachelorette Canada

The sun was shining and the abs were on display in Week 2 at the Sandals resort served as the backdrop for this week’s Bachelorette Canada episode. Of the 13 men remaining, David was the only one who didn’t go on some sort of date with Jasmine last week.

“Dateless Dave” continued his streak off the top as Scott the carpenter was selected for a group date alongside Mike, Drew, Thomas, Benoit and JP. Drew kept up his douchebaggery by mocking Dave and asking if he wanted to go in Drew’s place. I think Dave got off easy, as Jasmine and the chosen few headed off to dance. Kudos to the show’s producers for throwing two tests at the boys that challenged not only their skills (singing last week, dancing this week) but how willing they were to be outside their comfort zone. Conray and Andrew of Shady Squad demanded a lot of the fellows, encouraging them to instil confidence in their dance routines. Scott, who has had almost zero airtime, grabbed a lot on Tuesday as he admitted to having no signature moves. Infuriatingly, moments after Drew told producers he tells girls exactly what they want to hear, he was doing it with Jasmine, leading her to believe that had a pure connection. Was it careful editing, or is Drew really a bad guy who’s playing Jasmine?

The boys hit the street to perform, where Scott did an arm spasm, Mike ate an imaginary banana, Thomas whipped his hair around, JP did pushups, Benoit shook his butt and Drew did Drew things. At dinner, JP piped up to the rest of the guys that he didn’t trust Drew. That’s two guys who don’t think he’s there for Jasmine. In an interesting twist, Drew let his guard down and revealed he’d been engaged, showing a side no one had seen. The most awkward conversation of the night went to Scott, whose social skills mirrored that of the dance floor. Drew got the ever-important rose and the expression on JP’s face was classic.

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Next up was Kevin W. and a one-on-one with Jasmine. After connecting with her on a personal level last week, I wasn’t really surprised. Kevin is a modern-day superhero, a former soldier, firefighter and all-around good guy. The pair headed aloft in a helicopter where hand-holding gave way to a make-out session before feasting on jerk chicken and caving before having dinner in a grotto. (Hope no bat guano fell into their Two Oceans wine.) But after flying high, Jasmine was brought down to earth when he admitted to being a serial first dater. Now, it may just be he hasn’t fallen in love with anyone and is very particular, but it was a red flag for her nonetheless. An awful story about his brother being stabbed later, and Kevin was given a rose and several smooches.

David didn’t go 0-for-6 as he joined Mikhel, Kyle, Andrew, Kevin P. on an art-related group date. Each guy was tasked with creating a piece of art for someone special—Jasmine, obviously—with help from students. But where guys like Kyle, Kevin P. and Andrew had fun with the kids, Mikhel struggled and admitted he was intimidated. Kevin P. was awarded precious one-on-one time with Jasmine and a rose.

At the rose ceremony, Mikhel landed a massive kiss on Jasmine and presented her with a coral necklace; Chris talked kids’ charity; and Kevin W. interrupted Scott, frustrating the other guys. Sticking around for another week with the Kevins and Drew were Andrew, Mike, Kyle, Mikhel, Chris, Thomas, David and Benoit. I was shocked JP was shown the door, though perhaps Jasmine wasn’t a fan of him being a butler-in-the-buff. As for Scott, well, he was too awkward and shy to make a real connection.

Are you hoping one of the guys tells Jasmine that Drew is there for the wrong reasons? Comment below or via Twitter @tv_eh.

The Bachelorette Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

Images courtesy of Corus.

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Link: ‘Baroness Von Sketch Show’: The Best Comedy You’ve Never Seen (Probably Because It’s Canadian)

From Jude Dry of Indiewire:

Link: ‘Baroness Von Sketch Show’: The Best Comedy You’ve Never Seen (Probably Because It’s Canadian)
Unlike the fattened up sketches of “Saturday Night Live,” which often meander into boring set-up and linger on actors breaking character, the sketches on “Baroness” get in and out as quickly as possible, keeping the jokes snappy and fresh. Continue reading.

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Link: This Life showrunner previews a season of hope

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: This Life showrunner previews a season of hope
“It was really important to us that we framed the season with the idea of hope. There’s a careful balance to be had between Natalie being hopeful and Natalie living in denial, so we have a character like Romy that can point that out to her. We didn’t want it to appear like she was living in denial, but we really wanted her to be in a genuine position where she was allowed to be hopeful.” Continue reading.

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Link: Why Shomi failed and why CraveTV is next

From Peter Nowak of Alphabeatic:

Link: Why shomi failed and why CraveTV is next
The Canadian streaming scene will get a little darker come the end of November, when Shomi closes its virtual doors. Unless, of course, someone else comes along before then to fill the void, but that’s a post for another time.

In the meantime, we’re left to puzzle out what happened to what was supposed to be Netflix’s biggest competitor in Canada. Continue reading.

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