From James Bawden:
Republic Of Doyle: Season Ender
CBC’s biggest drama hit Republic Of Doyle wraps up its successful season with a rollicking two-parter that begins this Sunday night at 8. Ratings are way up this season [Diane says: No. they’re not] because of the prime Sunday night slot but also because the writers seem to finally know what kind of a show they’re delivering: long on comedy characterization. Read more.
From Bill Brioux in the Toronto Star:
Paul Gross and Gordon Pinsent join Republic of Doyle season finale
They saw early on in Hawco a kindred spirit capable of taking on, as Gross calls it, that same “idiotic burden.†Cranking out a weekly series as both star and showrunner — which Gross did with Due South — is not something he ever wants to embrace again, he says, although he’s been a triple threat and more in subsequent films such as Passchendaele. “I think it’s bone crushing.†Read more.
From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:
Buckle up tight for Republic of Doyle’s rollicking season-ender
Far be it from me to speculate about your taste and the vital importance of Michael Bublé hosting the Juno Awards (see below) but I’d guess that for a lot of people the big deal this weekend is the two-hour season finale of Republic of Doyle (Sunday, CBC, 8 p.m.). Yes, boys and girls, it takes two hours of thrills and spills to wrap up the season. And what a mad, wild ride it is, without a Bublé to be seen. Read more.
Lost Girl, Showcase – “Those Who Wander” season finale
Bo attempts an unlikely rescue against an army to save two people who are dear to her – unaware of the dangers facing those she leaves behind. Kenzi has an epiphany about Hale; meanwhile Dyson is given an important clue to Bo’s past, just as doubt is cast on his own future.
Dragons’ Den, CBC – “Year of the Dragons” season finale
See what life is like as a Dragon on and off screen as camera crews follow them to uncover how they juggle their massive business empires, jam-packed schedules and coveted personal lives. From book launches and red carpets, to backing start-ups and demanding speaking tours, Year of the Dragons documents the Dragons’ hectic lives, along with their increasingly rare and precious down-time. In this revealing season finale, viewers will discover the secrets of the Dragons’ success, and hear of some mistakes they made in the pursuit of power.
Republic of Doyle, CBC – “The Devil Inside”
When a crazed bomber takes over the police station, it’s up to Jake to try and diffuse the situation from the inside before the hostage crisis can turn fatal; Trapped outside, Leslie leads the RNC command post with Jake’s life hanging in the balance. Guest stars: Luis Guzman, Cristina Rosato.
The Borgias, Bravo – “The Face of Death” season premiere
As Pope Alexander (Jeremy Irons) fights for his life after being poisoned, the Cardinals jockey for position to take over the Papacy. Cesare (François Arnaud) and Micheletto (Sean Harris) trace the assassination plot back to its source, but Della Rovere (Colm Feore) is ready to make his move – and his is not the only conspiracy.
If you were excited by this season’s lineup of shows on CBC, you’re bound to like next season. Safe is the word for our public broadcaster. All primetime scripted programs have been renewed, and no new ongoing series have been picked up. Further details will be provided at the upfront in May, so I’d still have hope that a new series or two is up their sleeve if I thought CBC could afford even the sleeve in this second year of imposed austerity.
Promising but short-lived additions are a television movie based on Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes – which, among other accolades, won CBC’s Canada Reads competition a few years ago — and the Best Laid Plans miniseries based on Terry Fallis’ political satire, adapted for television by Susan Coyne and Jason Sherman. Coyne’s association with Slings & Arrows means I already have impossible expectations for that miniseries, as well as the no-basis-in-fact expectation that, like Bomb Girls, if the ratings are decent it could become a maxi-series.
My reality-hating heart has to admit excitement about Battle of the Blades’ return after a season’s hiatus. I didn’t watch it regularly but it’s entertaining and a unique format amid all the [American Reality Show Title] Canada series out there, and it could only be a more quintessentially Canadian idea if they made the skaters ride moose covered in maple syrup. I mean that as a compliment.
The no-brainers for renewal included the resurrected Murdoch Mysteries, which gained even more of an audience in its City to CBC transition, Republic of Doyle, Rick Mercer, Dragons’ Den and Marketplace.
22 Minutes should be a sure thing based on ratings, but never quite seems to be based on network neglect. Slightly more surprising is the renewal of the under-the-radar and lukewarmly rated The Ron James Show, which nonetheless must be cheap to produce and James has earned his place with the network (but it’s not as though that always means much).
There were three titles I scanned for in the renewal list to see which one or ones caught the axe. Mr. D and Arctic Air have declined drastically in the ratings after great starts the previous year, and Cracked, while not completely DOA, never came close to cracking a million. But they were all there. Everything was there except The Big Decision.
Another kind of person would praise CBC for giving shows with middling ratings more than a season or two to find an audience. That kind of person would have thought all of them were shows deserving of a greater audience in the first place, would refrain from pointing out a couple of them found and then lost an audience, and would not have written this post after the 2012/13 season announcement.
The fact that everything was renewed to me doesn’t indicate CBC’s faith in all these shows – seriously, all of them? – but that they had no faith in any of their shows in development.
In sticking with a stable lineup, CBC is coming closer to fulfilling its impossible mission of having to be all things to all people and, in the process, making its schedule look a lot like a private broadcaster’s should, if Canadian private broadcasters didn’t look a lot like American broadcasters. CBC is staying the course with a staid lineup, and fewer people will note the loss of innovation than would have noted the loss of even a mediocre scripted show.
By Diane Wild
