The Fifth Estate, CBC – “The Unmaking of Jian Ghomeshi”
Jian Ghomeshi was the break-out success the CBC needed. There were always whispers and allegations — but he seemed untouchable. Did stardom blind people to what was really happening? Gillian Findlay investigates.
Marketplace, CBC – “Shot of Confusion”
Some health practitioners are discouraging Canadians from vaccinating and selling them alternatives that can put kids at risk.
From Bill Brioux of the Canadian Press:
This Hour Has Seven Days was part of Canadian TV’s ‘golden age’
Imagine a TV show that was a mash-up of 60 Minutes and The Daily Show. Fifty years ago, Canada had such a show in This Hour Has Seven Days. An episode of the series, plucked from the CBC archives, was screened recently at the 2nd annual Canadian International Television Festival in Toronto. Combined with a couple of shows from the 1970s — Party Game and The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour — it offered a glimpse at what could be argued was Canada’s “golden age†of television: the mid 1960s through mid-’70s. Continue reading.
From David Berry:
There tends to be a lot of handwringing in this country about producing good television, but Corner Gas managed to do something that is even more rare: It was a Canadian TV show that Canadians actually watched. At the peak of its popularity, it could break even with, or outdraw, the American imports that make up most of our TV watching.
Corner Gas doesn’t present as a particularly prestigious show, one of those things that changes our ideas of what television can do, or even just takes a novel or insightful look at the modern world. Its unabashedly rural setting is reasonably unique among even semi-modern TV comedies, though it does play perfectly into a certain regional, steadfastly quaint Canadiana that runs back to Sunshine Sketches and plays out still in Vinyl Cafes and Kraft Hockeyvilles, one of our main national myths. (The new movie actually revolves around a competition for quaintest Canadian town, but even its point that these ostensibly serene places are populated by free-range loons with good intentions is keeping with tradition.) Continue reading.Â
The Nature of Things, “Two of a Kind,” CBC
Why one twin and not the other? Filmmaker Leora Eisen wants to know how her identical twin – who has exactly the same DNA – could get life-threatening leukemia. Recently scientists have begun to study the differences, rather than the similarities, between twins, making ground-breaking discoveries that will affect us all.
Doc Zone, “The Psychopath Next Door,” CBC
A journey into the world of the non-criminal psychopath – a predator every bit as dangerous as his violent counterpart.
Package Deal, City (two back-to-back episodes)
“Tea For Too Fewâ€: When a new branch of big chain tea shop opens across the street from The Loose Leaf, Sheldon helps give Kim’s business a competitive edge.
“Storage Loreâ€: Sheldon buys a storage locker full of White family memorabilia that’s being auctioned off, reuniting the brothers with past treasures they thought had been lost.
From Rob Salem:
Thought Corner Gas was gone? Well look closer baby, you’re so wrong! More than five years after the hit sitcom ended its unprecedented run, the eccentric denizens of Dog River, Sask. return in an 87-minute feature film follow-up. The limited run will be in select Cineplex Theatres across Canada from Dec. 3 through Dec. 7th, following a series of red-carpet premiere events in Saskatoon, Regina and Ottawa. Continue reading.
