Tag Archives: Featured

Featured, Schitt's Creek

Review: Schitt’s Creek – “The Candidate”

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The quips continue fast and furious in this episode and it is laugh-out-loud funny.

Johnny is determined to run for town council, but he’s got his work cut out to convince Moira it’s a good idea. She thinks it’s beneath him. Right at the moment he tells her he has changed his mind and agrees it is beneath him, she announces she’s running. These two actors are like an old married couple. The timing and the chemistry between them is wonderful.

Before Johnny came to the decision not to run, he asks Bob and Roland for their support. Roland is heard having a personal phone conversation and as he hangs up he says, “I’m looking forward to catching up.” He tells Johnny he was just rescheduling his colonoscopy. Seriously, who thinks of these things? But it wouldn’t work with anyone other than Roland. The interaction with Bob is equally funny and unique to Bob. These are all unique, funny characters.

David really shines for me in this episode. I have always found him funny, but at times he had a tiny smirk like he was going to laugh – outside of the character of David – that I found distracting. There was none of that in this episode. His facial expressions are priceless. He doesn’t need to say much to be funny. He can say it all with a look.

Every character delivers his or her lines with precision. It is so refreshing to have this calibre of comedy on TV. It makes me proud to be Canadian. Our humour is unique … like this show and these characters.

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Featured

Support TV, eh?’s support of homegrown shows

Patreon AdTV, eh? covers news, reviews and interviews about Canadian television shows, with the odd foray into the odd industry that produces them. We support homegrown content. Consider supporting us with a monthly donation through Patreon?

For eight years, TV, eh? was  a passion project for Diane. As you know, “passion project” is code for “time suck with no financial benefit.” Since Greg joined in 2014, we host even more original content. The kind of content for which writers should be compensated. Consider contributing $1, $3, $5 or more each month and be part of the effort to let Canadians know about Canadian television shows.  (Please note Patreon uses $US currency. )

If you already donate to the podcast, fear not – you will get the same love and perks. 

 

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Cardinal, Featured, Motive, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 200 – The Bicentennial Ides of Mayday

To celebrate Episode 200 of the TV, Eh? podcast, you get a twofer: our newsy chat about the latest goings-on in the industry followed immediately by Anthony’s chat with Mayday narrator Stephen Bogaert!

Diane, Anthony and Greg highlight the next two weeks in Canadian TV programming, Motive‘s final season return date next month and how cameras have started to roll on CTV’s production of Cardinal, the six-part series based on Giles Blunt’s novels.

Want to contribute to the discussion? Post links and discussion topics on our Reddit page.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Debbie Travis finds the sweet life in OWN’s La Dolce Debbie

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Debbie Travis wasn’t looking to get back into television. The DIY star of shows like Debbie Travis’ Painted House, two seasons of From the Ground Up and All For One was burnt out by the medium. But a flippant remark at a speaking engagement in Vancouver almost seven years ago changed all that … and her life.

“I made this stupid story up where I said, ‘I have a villa in Tuscany and I’m going to invite everybody out to stay with me,'” she recalls. “And I didn’t have one. But within a short time, I had women signing up to take part.” She rented a retreat and gave it a shot. It was such a success, Travis decided to buy a property and renovate it so she could offer the experience annually.

That multi-year journey from flippant remark to reality is documented in OWN Canada’s La Dolce Debbie, where she, husband Hans Rosenstein and an army of construction dudes turn a 13th century farmhouse and property into an idyll for themselves and—for part of the year—a week-long haven for women looking to be recharged and inspired. Debuting Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET, La Dolce Debbie revisits the exhaustive search to find the perfect property, a trek that took Travis and Rosenstein all over Italy. But discovering a tumbledown farmhouse was just the beginning. It took two years of paperwork and planning before a shovel turned the soil.

The six-episode program isn’t only about transforming a farmhouse into a 14-bedroom oasis. It’s as much a relationship tale about a young model who fell in love with a young man she met in France and the life they built in Canada. Travis commented on more than one occasion that Rosenstein wasn’t supposed to appear in La Dolce Debbie, but I’m glad he does, providing levity and patience when things go wrong and Travis becomes frustrated by bureaucracy and blips in construction.

It’s also, as Travis says, a series about next chapters. Upcoming episodes spotlight several of the women who attend the Tuscan getaways she offers where, as she says, you can “put your handbag under the bed” and everything is included. With responsibilities on hold, real contemplation begins via yoga, hikes, swimming, eating drinking, talking and laughing.

“I wanted to create a space where women can come and empty their minds,” she says. “Women today are looking for that next step in their lives and I want them to come and be spoiled with the best of everything, declutter their minds and think about what’s next.”

And, in the process, find their own dolce vita like Travis did.

La Dolce Debbie airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on OWN Canada.

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Featured, Masterchef Canada

MasterChef Canada returns with plenty of tears

MasterChef Canada is manipulative as heck. With two seasons under their belts, producers Proper Television know exactly how to tug at our emotions. With just one hour of this go-round underway, I was already cheering for finalists like Mary Berg and Jennifer Baglioni because of their backstories, and want them to go all the way to the end.

Of course, I’m supposed to feel this way, and once you just accept it, episodes like Sunday’s are entertaining both in the slick production but the storytelling as well. And with three seasons under their belts, judges Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung and Claudio Aprile know how to inject their own brand of drama into the proceedings too. All three took turns being critical with the first handful of home cooks to shoot for the Top 14, and stated more than once the talent bar had been raised. Thankfully, several contestants met the challenge or exceeded them.

One was Mary Berg, who overcame personal tragedy (her family was in a car accident years ago, claiming her father’s life) to score an apron. Another was Jennifer Bagione, who told her own tear-induced tale. Both parents were deaf and she learned to communicate through sign language. After their mother left, Jennifer took over cooking duties, ensuring Dad had a hot meal to come home to every night. The Maple, Ont., salon manager broke down in tears while the judges communicated through her to her father that she had won a spot in the Top 14.

Not everyone was so lucky. A montage captured several wannabe MasterChef Canada contestants eliminated because their plates were too pedestrian, under-seasoned or just plain bad. Folks like Sean Hickey—he of the bacon-themed headband and apron—bombed out with their audition plate but will battle it out for a spot in the show via kitchen cooking because the judges saw a glimmer of talent.

Who will win the $100,000 grand prize and MasterChef Canada title? It’s too soon to tell, but it’s going to be a fun (and tear-filled) ride on the way to deciding. Tell me who you think will win via the comments below.

MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

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