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: The women of Baroness von Sketch Show: Our most embarrassing moments

From Andrea Karr of Canadian Living:

Link: The women of Baroness von Sketch Show: Our most embarrassing moments
“We probably wrote 300 sketches for season one and 90 made the show. It’s all about listening to the ideas. Is the idea relatable? Does it come from a true place? It doesn’t have to stay at a true place—a lot of our stuff goes to absurd places—but is it rooted in some element of truth?” Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Best day ever on The Amazing Race Canada

The latest Leg of The Amazing Race Canada contained two things I dread: eating wiggly bugs and performing karaoke. And, to be honest, it’s the karaoke that scares me the most out of the two. So I watched much of Tuesday’s episode with an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach because I knew both challenges were happening on the same night.

The Leg, through the hot and sweaty streets of Ho Chi Minh City, was a wild one where teams that were in middle and bottom of the pack jumped to the front while previously strong ones like Ashley and Joel and Jillian and Ashley were humbled as they dropped in the standings.

“Expect the unexpected,” Ashley said when Steph and Kristen revealed they’d gotten the Express Passes and handed them over to Frankie and Amy. Ashley was dead on. What seemed to be a relatively easy “Flip Flop” Detour—tossing around bottles of booze Cocktail-style—threw Ashley and her dad and Emmett and Jillian for a major loop, allowing other teams to roll in, complete the task and depart, while they struggled dozens of times to get in sync. The result? Joel and Ashley finished in fifth while the former Big Brother competitors were battling with Anne and Tanya for the last team to arrive at the Pit Stop.

Alas, it was the end of the road for longtime friends Anne and Tanya, who started the Leg in last place and never recovered. It was fun to watch them race this week; with no pressure to perform head-to-head with another team, they just soaked the experience in.

Meanwhile, Kelly and Kate had what they described as “Best. Day. Ever,” completing the scooter challenge in second place and devouring the bugs, bat and pulsating coconut worms with aplomb. Their Asian heritage served the girls well both with the insects—they both revealed they eat stuff like that all the time—and especially with the V-Pop Detour: they converted the karaoke lyrics to Chinese to help learn Vietnamese and charged through the challenge on their first try. It was a stunning Leg for the two friends, who landed in front of Jon Montgomery in first place.

The success of Kate and Kelly, Rita and Yvette, Julie and Lowell and mother-daughter team Frankie and Amy proved this may be one of the most equally-matched casts The Amazing Race Canada has ever put together and—as usual—appearances can be deceiving. Franke and Amy placed fourth for the Leg and scored the other Express Pass from Steph and Kristen, immediately giving them an advantage in the coming weeks.

What did you think of this Leg of the Race? Comment below or via @tv_eh.

Here’s how the teams finished up this Leg:

  1. Kelly and Kate (won trip for two to Los Angeles)
  2. Steph and Kristen
  3. Rita and Yvette
  4. Frankie and Amy (receive Express Pass)
  5. Joel and Ashley
  6. Julie and Lowell
  7. Jillian and Emmett
  8. Anne and Tanya (eliminated)

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

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

City’s Second Jen in Production

From a media release:

Production is underway on the original scripted comedy series Second Jen. The 30-minute, 6-part series from Don Ferguson Productions (DFP) began shooting July 5 in Toronto. Production continues until July 28, 2016. The series will roll out as a digital-first release on Citytv.com in August and join the City and Omni Television 2016/2017 prime-time schedule in the fall.

Second Jen is an ensemble comedy about two second-generation Chinese and Filipino-Canadian millennials experiencing all of life’s “firsts”. Caught between cultures and generations, two best friends move to their own apartment to prove to their immigrant families, and themselves, that they can make it on their own. Together, Mo and Jen straddle the gap between adulthood and childhood, between taking on family tradition and creating their own. With each step towards independence, Mo and Jen learn the sobering truth about growing up – everyone is faking it.

The series stars co-creators Amanda Joy (Devil’s Mile, Anxietyville) and Samantha Wan (Sudden Master, Ruby Skye P.I.) as best friends Mo and Jen, with Al Mukadam (Spun Out, Miss Sloane) as Lewis and Munro Chambers (Turbo Kid, Degrassi: The Next Generation) as Nate. Rounding out the cast are: Atticus Mitchell (Fargo, Young Drunk Punk) as Mo’s boss Garth; Nile Seguin (Winnipeg Comedy Festival, In The Ladies Room) as Mo’s co-worker Alister; and Janet Lo (Madam Mao, Pay the Ghost), Richard Tse (Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, Payday) and Timothy Lai (Heroes Reborn, Rookie Blue) as Jen’s mom Bunny, dad Harold and brother Eric.

The series is written by Amanda Joy, Samantha Wan, Kevin Wallace (Air Farce, Comedy Bar) and Carly Heffernan (The Hour, SketchersonsTV) and directed by Romeo Candido (Ang pamana: The Inheritance, Prison Dancer: The Musical).

Second Jen is produced by Don Ferguson Productions (DFP) in association with Rogers. Helming the project is showrunner Jeff Biederman, who also acts as executive producer alongside Don Ferguson, Lucy Stewart and Kevin Wallis. From Rogers Media, Nataline Rodrigues is Director of Original Programming, Hayden Mindell is Vice President of Television Programming & Content and Colette Watson is Vice President of Television and Broadcast Operations.

Photo by Oz John.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Link: Why the Baroness Von Sketch Show is the funniest thing on Canadian television since Kids In The Hall

From David Berry of the National Post:

Link: Why the Baroness Von Sketch Show is the funniest thing on Canadian television since Kids In The Hall
One of the funniest sketches Baroness Von Sketch Show has featured is also one of the simplest — not just for the show, but in terms of possible concepts for a sketch, period. “Moms Say Hello” features a series of moms, identifiable by their high-waisted shorts and plaintively inviting faces, cooing “Hello” into phones, down stairs and beyond locked doors. Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

TV, eh? podcast episode 208 — Corndogs and Horndogs

After a bit of a break, we’re all back and chatting about the next two weeks of programming in Canadian TV. We move on to W Network’s The Bachelorette Canada After Show hosted by former Breakfast Television‘s Jennifer Valentyne, Global’s Mary Kills People heads into production, HGTV greenlights two new original series and cameras roll on CBC’s adaptation of Kim’s Convenience.

Side note: after we recorded the podcast, CBC renewed Still Standing and Baroness von Sketch Show for additional seasons.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to support TV, eh?’s work? Become a Patreon!

SUPPORT

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail