MVP definitely worth my time

Last year while searching Youtube for a specific clip from Hockey Night In Canada I came across a trailer for MVP, a show that eventually debuted (this past Friday) on CBC. I must of watched the trailer at least twenty times. It intrigued me. It was like no other Canadian show I'd ever seen before. MVP is the story of a fictional NHL team called the Mustangs and it's about them and their loved ones in their lives off the ice. Now I'm a sucker for good drama, especially the soapy serial variety. I'm a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy, for instance, with it's intense ongoing storylines, a large ensemble of appealing characters, supercouples, dynamic relationships and villains and from the promos and trailers (of which I saw plenty of these past few months) I got the impression that perhaps MVP might follow Grey's formula so I tuned in the other night to watch it. So, was I happy with what I saw? The answer to that question is a definite yes. MVP did have those components of a good soapy serial drama as mentioned above. I'll go down the list:

intense ongoing storylines - By the end of the episode, there were definitely some storylines that are sure to continue for a long time to come. There's the story of mother-daughter duo Evelyn and Molly McBride (played by Deborah Odell and Natalie Krill), who, left grieving over the untimely death of Evelyn's hockey-legend husband and Molly's father, have gone from millionaires to paupers upon the discovery that all their money is gone. There's also the story of Gabe McCall (Lucas Bryant), the newly-named captain of The Mustangs. He's facing a great deal of pressure from his stern father, who also happens to be the team's coach, and is growing increasingly discontented with the glam and glitz of life at the top in the very public and unforgiving eye. He's looking for something more and he thinks he's found that when he meets and falls for Connie Lewis (Kristin Booth), the ultimate "nicegirl" who's unlike any woman he's ever met. The only problem is, she doesn't fit even closely into his world, and nor does he in hers. There's also the bad-boy womanizer of the team, Damon Trebuchet (Peter Miller), who, while acting like the biggest jerk alive, is seeing the ghosts of his dead wife and child in the late hours of the night. There's also the new guy on the team, rookie Trevor Lemonde (Dillon Casey), chosen first in the draft, who's leaving smalltown life and his small-town girlfriend Tabbi (Anastasia Phillips) behind for the big city and the pro sports world that's going to either make or break him.

a large ensemble of appealing characters - There is a large cast of characters on MVP. I've mentioned the main ones above but there are several others, and from what I've seen it's a good bunch of hot-looking actors that have been cast. As for character appeal itself, so far it seems that the male characters in the show definitely have more depth written for them than the female characters do. As of yet, the majority of the female characters, except for Connie, appear to be shallow and a bit one-dimensional. If the promos are any indication though, we will be seeing a lot more out of these characters in the episodes to come.

supercouples - Every successful drama needs a supercouple or two. Think of Buffy and Angel, Zach and Kelly, Vaughn and Sydney and Ross and Rachel. All those couples gave the shows they were in massive fanship. A supercouple essentially consists of two characters who viewers root for to get together and stay together romantically because of their extreme appeal as a couple. Grey's Anatomy has supercouples in spades, be they Isabelle and Alex, Meredith and Derek or Callie and George. Viewers flock in droves to the show each week to see if their favourite couple finally gets together. If MVP is to become a hit they need a supercouple. They may just have that in the form of Gabe and Connie. The first episode seemed to set things up so that they'll end up being that supercouple. Only time will tell if fans will buy them as such. I know I'm ready to.

dynamic relationships - This may be the most important element for a drama to have. MVP seems to have many dynamic relationships, thankfully. There's of course the aforementioned relationship between Evelyn and her daughter Molly, which appears to be less than stellar. There's also the friendship between Gabe and Damon, one who is the perennial good guy and the other who is the perennial bad guy, which leaves you wondering how they're even friends. Gabe also has a rather cold relationship with his father who's also his coach, which makes for some interesting dynamics. We also saw some of Trevor's relationship with his parents, who love him dearly but disprove of his girlfriend. These various relationships all add vast potential for future storylines and character development.

villains - The protagonist is only as good as the antagonist. It's a saying many television shows forget. Villains don't have to be like the evil-doing No-Heart from Care Bears (he was pure evil) but there do need to be characters who contradict or make things difficult for other characters. The best villains are multi-faceted with both good and bad qualities. A show needs well-written villains because they are what make the stories so good. The better the conflict, the better the story. Zero conflict, or weak conflict equals a weak story. In MVP, the bad guy appears to be Damon Trebuchet. He prevents Trevor from feeling accepted as a new player on the team. He treats women like crap, and video-tapes his sexual encounters with various women without their permission. He crushes fans' ideals when he refuses to give autographs or attend charity events. He's an all-around bad guy, yet we feel bad for him when we see him talk to his dead wife's ghost. Damon, as it turns out, is his own villain.

Now, having gone through all of the necessary components of a good soapy serial drama, it's obvious MVP has what it takes. Some shows crash and burn after their first episode while others improve. MVP has the potential to be a hit but it also has the potential to be a miss. It's too soon to tell which will be the case. After all, only one episode has aired thus far.

I love Life but I'm tired of memorizing lines

Sigh...for the past hour I'm been trying to memorize a monologue for my drama class and I've gotten tired of repeating the same thing over and over so for a quick break, I ventured online to my blog to talk about one of my favourite new shows--Life.

Life is just about the most awesome new show of the season. Seriously. Damien Lewis is a fantastic actor who plays a fantastically-written character named Charlie Crews. It's one of the only shows this season that I've actually watched every episode of on the same day it aired (normally I DVR my shows and watch them periodically).

Life, for those of you who are as yet unaware, is about an L.A. cop named Charlie Crews (Damien lewis) who has just been let out of prison after 15 years locked in--it's been proven he didn't commit the triple murder he was convicted of. He's been given a wealthy multi-million-dollar settlement and instead of living the life of leisure and luxury, he's opted to rejoin the L.A.P.D. (Los Angeles Police Department), this time as a detective. The L.A.P.D. aren't so sure they want him back on the force, and Charlie's new partner, Dani Reese (Sarah Shahi) is ordered to keep a watchful eye on him so that they can gain a reason to kick him out. Dani, who was recently suspended after a drug addiction, is reluctant to rat her partner out, and with each episode, becomes more and more attached to Charlie, though she won't admit it.

The major thing that makes this show great, is the character of Charlie Crews himself. Charlie is full of quirks, attitudes and sensitivities, all caused by his fifteen years of being a former cop, stuck in a high-security prison with inmates who hated cops.

The show does have a murder-of-the-week subplot, but there are ongoing story threads as well, namely the one where Charlie digs deeper and deeper to uncover the conspiracy that put him in prison all those years ago. There are also the relationships he develops amongst the people around him, including Dani, his lawyer Constance Griffith (Brooke Langton), his financial manager and former white collar fellow convict Ted Earley (Adam Arkin), his ex-wife, who divorced him after he was convicted of murder, and his former partner, Robert Stark (Brent Sexton).

There is plenty in this show to keep viewers entertained, and if you haven't yet tuned in, do so. It's worth your time, trust me.

Now...back to memorizing my wonderful monologue.

My lack of short story ideas and the Viva-less Laughlin

This past week I've struggled with short story ideas. For my short fiction writing class tonight, I was supposed to hand in a short story written in the first person, five to ten pages long, but I failed to produce such a piece of work. I started about ten stories in the past week but I could finish not a one. That's what I'm supposed to be doing now, but the creative girl in me just refuses to surface. I keep drawing blanks...I almost handed in a story I wrote a few months ago but my conscience gave me a kick in the rear so I didn't...this happens to me sometimes. I can go months and months with ideas crawling inside my brain and then WHAM the ideas quit coming. Anyhow...

Viva Laughlin is viva-less. I watched the first episode on Thursday and I have the second one sitting in my DVR but I guess there's no use in watching it as it was cancelled today. Poor Viva Laughlin--it was doomed before it even started. While I admit to loving seeing characters break into song and dance numbers (seriously, I do), Viva Laughlin just didn't gel with me. None of the characters seemed likeable to me and having watched more than my share of 30s and 40s movies (where breaking into song and dance was the norm) I think I'll stick to those as the singing and dancing actually fit. In Viva Laughlin, it all just seemed way too tacky. Goodbye Viva--I won't miss you.

Now back to writing my short story...grrrr.....arghhh....

I hate geology but I like Life With Derek

I just got back from taking my geology midterm. Hours of studying and I thought I had it in the can. I didn't. I failed more than miserably. I'm taking this geology course as one of the science requirements for my Arts degree (damn liberal arts requirement!) and I suck at math and science A LOT. I knew it would be hard but...dangnammit, this is the second test I failed in the class so I guess I have to drop it. I can't afford to risk another F on my transcript. I have two previous failures, both from the cursed Introduction to Statistics class, which I took twice and failed twice (those were previous attempts to satisfy the science requirement). I''m required to complete six credit hours of math or science for my 4-year degree but after five years (I switched my major a few times so I've been at uni longer) I only have three credit hours, a physical geography course I worked my ass off in my second year to get a lowly D. I'd never been more proud to get a D...looks like next term I may have to try biology.

Anyways, let's forget about my insidious geology midterm failure and get to talking about a show I came across a few weeks ago on Family Channel. Yes, you heard me right--I'm actually watching a show that's made on Family Channel. As a rule the shows that come on that channel are corny and bubblegummish but Life With Derek is different. I began watching it at two in the morning at work (I work the night shift). There isn't much on at that time and with only thirty channels I often can't find much to watch. However, I recently discovered reruns of Boy Meets World, an old fave of mine on Family Channel at that time, and after Boy Meets World, Life With Derek came on. I gotta say, I really like it.

The premise of the show is that a single mom with two daughters and a single dad with two sons and one daughter, get married. The mom and daughters move into the dad's house. The mom's oldest daughter, overacheiver Casey (played by the up and coming Ashley Leggat) is about fifteen years old and is none too thrilled about moving to a new home and having to go to a new school. She immediately begins a feud with her new stepbrother Derek (Michael Seater) who is the same age and much more popular than she is (he has a rock band and is the captain of his hockey team). I find the constant battling that ensues between both Casey and Derek extremely entertaining. I also like seeing all the mayhem that develops in Casey and
Derek's new blended family as everyone learns to get along. This show is great, and it's Canadian to boot. What's more, it comes on Family Channel a lot so it's easy to catch up on episodes.

The top 10 new shows of the fall (in my humble opinion)

Of all the show's that have premiered this fall, these are the ten that I like the most:

1. Heartland (It's a rural drama set on a horse ranch, taking place in the Canadian prairies with a good cast and good storylines so I love it.)
2. Life (Damian Lewis who plays the lead in this show is phenomenal and so is the character he plays, excellant supporting cast and storylines as well)
3. Cane (I love this show because of the ongoing storylines and family dynamics, it's becoming more and more of an addictive show for me. The complex characters and the cast who play them are awesome.)
4. Waterloo Road (This British drama is pheomenal. It's such high quality with moving storylines and characters. I urge people who get the chance to watch it to do so.)
5. Dirty Sexy Money (A really entertaining show. Donald Sutherland and Peter Krause are awesome in this.)
6. Blood Ties (While it doesn't have a big American budget for expensive sets, I find the characters in this show about a private eye and a 400-year-old vampire intriging. I was surprised how much I liked it because before I watched it I thought it would be cliche but it isn't.)
7. Samantha Who? (It only debuted a couple days ago, but it started off really strongly. Christina Applegate sure proved herself as a talented actress.)
8. Kyle XY (Even though it debuted in the States a couple years ago, it only began airing in Canada this year, and I really like it so far.)
9. Bionic Woman (While I think there are plenty of flaws with this show, I have become a regular watcher)
10. K-Ville (While it started off great, it's fading. I was hoping for more in the way of ongoing storylines but the show is seeming to go in more of a procedural direction.)

Burnt soup & my thoughts on Cane

Yesterday I tuned in happily to see Cane, a show that's quickly becoming a fave of mine this year. I typically gravitate to shows with storylines involving family dynamics and what I really like about Cane is that three generations of the main family on the show--the Ducque family, to be specific--all have major storylines, giving the show a multigenerational appeal. The family dynamic angle is not enough for me to watch a series though, as my detest for Brothers and Sisters and 7th Heaven will prove. A series needs riveting ongoing stories, appealing and well-developed characters and worthwhile settings to make me like it and Cane has all that in full force.

The show revolves (as previously mentioned) around the Cuban-American Ducque family who own a rum and sugar-cane empire near Miami, Florida. The head of the family is Pancho Ducque. His wife is Amalia. They have three natural children named Francisco, Isabel and Henry. Pancho also has an honorary son, Alex Vega, who was taken in by the family as a boy. Alex is married to Isabel and they have three children together named Jaime, Katie and Artie.
The show has an excellent cast playing all these complex characters but because I don't feel like clicking back and forth to read the names on the imdb website to name them here, you can go there yourself.

The show's name comes from the sugar-cane empire that the Ducques own, and is also perhaps a reference to the Cane/Abel story from the Bible in which one brother hates the brother that he thinks his parents love more. In the show's case, middle brother Frank (short for Francisco) is resentful of his father Pancho's decision to make oldest brother Alex the new CEO of the family company, despite the fact that Frank is the natural-born son (Alex is honorarily adopted). Frank is also secretly having an affair with Ellis Samuels, the daughter of the rival enemy sugar-cane family, and she's manipulating him into giving up precious Ducque secrets. The Samuels cause a fair amount of problems for the Ducques, so much so that Alex is forced to hire a hitman to get rid of a man they sent after him. I won't get into the plot because it might give alot away but I urge you to check it out. The show needs better ratings desperately as it's not doing so well in the States. It seems every year the shows I like most get cancelled early. I'm hoping this won't be the case with Cane.

I like Cane so much, that yesterday when I was watching it on my TV, I was so into it that I forgot all about the tomato macaroni soup I had cooking on the stove. It burnt BADLY. The pot it was in is beyond washing. It's in the garbage bin beside my apartment building now. My apartment smells horribly of burnt tomatoes. But watching Cane was worth it. Honestly.

Show Review - Life Is Wild

So far, I've seen two episodes of Life Is Wild, a new show which debuted on the CW network in the States last Sunday. I found the show good and bad on several levels. I had high expectations but maybe I shouldn't have. It really wasn't that good.

The show is about a New York blended family who move to South Africa so the dad can start a vetrinary practice there. This is actually an American version of the British drama Wild At Heart, which, from what I can gather of the small amount of clips I've seen of it, is much better in quality then Life Is Wild. I just wish Wild At Heart would air on BBC Canada so I can watch that instead...

I loved the South African setting, and love the fact that the show is trying to explore issues unique to South Africa. I also loved a few of the storylines BUT there are a few major annoyances which I can't ignore. The biggest one is the lead actress in the show, Leah Pipes, who I find completely and utterly wrong for the role she's portraying--that of 16-year-old teenager Katie Clarke. I find Pipes extremely annoying and though I like enough about the show itself, with Katie as the main character, it is incredibly hard to ignore her. Now normally I don't like to criticize an actor so harshly, but sheesh, the girl needs to quiet down in her acting. She speaks too loudly and emphasizes her words too much. Perhaps it's only a result of nervousness or the awkwardness that occurs in the first few episodes of a new series, but I really am finding it hard to enjoy it with her in it.

Another thing that annoys me is something that I guess comes as a result of not being American. The American characters in the show come across as ethnocentric and naieve to other cultures. They unabashedly insult South African people by insulting their culture, without realizing they are doing so. They appear so uneducated about the outside world that it amazes me. I don't think that was the intention of the writers at all but I can clearly see it with non-American eyes. The stupidity of some of the characters frustrates me. The teenage boy goes skateboarding in the bush while there's an injured lioness on the the loose nearby. Another character takes a lion cub for a walk. Katie accepts a ride from complete strangers at a gas station. Watching some of the actions of these characters makes me want to bang my head against the wall. Yet I will stay watching. As I said earlier, the unique setting and storylines are enough for me to keep watching--for now.

Show Review - Heartland

[aired Oct. 14, 2007 on CBC]

Well, this show just went down as my favourite new show of the year. I love almost everything about it. The sibling dynamics, the horses, the drama and the prairies all work to together to make Heartland the best show CBC has had in years.

Not all shows have to be dark and edgy to be good. Nor do they have to have gratuitous violence and sex to be entertaining. I miss good wholesome family dramas. Give me the early 90s with shows like Dr. Quinn and Road to Avonlea any day.

The characters are well-written and the actors who play them are incredibly well-cast. Sure, there were a few awkward scenes, but that's to be expected with a new series (I've watched enough pilot episodes in my time to know that).

Heartland takes place on a ranch at the edge of the prairies, right near the Alberta foothills and revolves around two sisters, Lou (Michelle Morgan) and Amy (Amber Marshall) and their grandpa Jack (Shaun Johnston), after the death of the girls' mother and Jack's daughter. Lou is in her 20s and has lived in the big city for years, but she returns home for her mother's funeral. Amy, only 16, still lives on Heartland and is left badly injured in the same accident that killed her mother. Both girls don't get along at all and Jack is left to act as the peacemaker. Lou eventually decides to stay after realizing the ranch needs her in order to bring it out of debt. Also starring in the show are Nathaniel Arcand, Graham Wardle, Aedan Tomney, Jessica Amlee, Chris Potter, Wanda Cannon and Cindy Busby. This large ensemble cast gives the show plenty of complexly intriguing characters well worth tuning into the show for.

Show Review - Whistler

[aired Sep. 29 on CTV]

It's been forever since the first season of Whistler ended its run on CTV (actually, it was 12 months) and FINALLY the first episode of the second season aired on Saturday. There were some developments that I didn't like--I absolutely hated that they killed off Ethan (I understand that the actor Nick Lea left, but still--couldn't they have just said he'd left town?) and I hated that Carrie lost the baby (I would have loved it if Carrie had Beck's baby--would have left so many storylines, including a reason for Beck's ghost to stick around). However, that all being said, this episode was awesome. I am so thrilled that the show decided to take advantage of its Whistler setting alot more than it did in its first season. This season looks like it'll feature a ton of snowboarding-related storylines and there's many new characters who are part of Whistler's snowboarding world.

The main story in this episode has Quinn, the main character, returning home to Whistler after many months at university in the States for the commemoration of a training facility named in honour of his dead brother, and Olympic snowboarding champion, Beck Mackaye. He reunites with Carrie, his ex-girlfriend (and also Beck's ex as well) and after they share a passionate night together, he rethinks going back to school, deciding, after a snowboard run on the mountain, to stay in Whistler.

Twelve months of waiting anxiously for Whistler to return my TV screen was worth it.

Commentary - ratings for Rick Mercer Report and The Tudors

Well, I just saw an article which announced that Rick Mercer Report and The Tudors, two shows which premiered on CBC last evening, both got nearly one million viewers. That's fantastic news. I guess all of CBC's promotions paid off. I actually enjoyed The Tudors very much, history buff that I am (even though I realize some of the historical facts on the show are slightly skewed) and am happy that it got so many viewers, especially since it's a quasi-Canadian production (sort of). It brings more viewers to CBC, and that makes me happy because CBC, unlike CTV or Global, produces much more Canadian content (as they should) and more viewers for one show means more viewers who see the promos for other shows on the pubcaster. As for Rick Mercer Report, I really think the guy is a genius. One of my tiffs with other personalities on Canadian TV, is that they fail to truly grasp the regional identity of this country (ie. the east/west divide and diversity) but Rick Mercer appeals to the whole country, be it north, south, east or west. His is a truly national show in focus, and he is really good at diving into the grey areas of national politics and opinions. I've been a fan of him through his ventures in This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Made In Canada, Monday Night Report and now this, the Rick Mercer Report. I will admit to not having watched his show yesterday, but I had a good excuse--I had a class (Shakespeare) so wasn't home. I got home in time to watch The Tudors and Rick Mercer is sitting contentedly in my DVR. I will watch him after I get off my computer. For the article that I got the info on the ratings for the two above shows, visit Channel Canada at the following link:

http://www.channelcanada.com/Article2013.html

My take on last week's ratings

Well, last week's ratings, published today, basically outlined the state of Canadian television in a nutshell--American-dominated. Only five Canadian-produced shows made it into the top 30, and four of those were newscasts. Only one was a scripted series--the past hit Corner Gas, which, disappointedly, dipped below the million-viewer mark for the first time in it's history (that's counting first-run episodes only). That may be attributed to the fact that the show's timeslot was changed to Mondays at 9:30pm ET (8:30pm CT) where it is now up against big shows including Heroes and K-Ville (and soon, also, Samantha Who? and Intelligence). Plus it's later in the evening, so that may account for some loss in ratings too. I'm not too upset though--Corner Gas is a show that I can take or leave. I've never quite gotten into it. It'll be interesting to see, though, since most Canuck sitcoms and dramas begin airing in the next few weeks, how those shows will do. Maybe there'll be a few more Canadian shows which make the Top 30.

As I said, the shows that made the Top 30, were, with the exception of the aforementioned one sitcom and four newscasts, all American. I'm actually fairly disapointed in the ratings of the American shows as well. Out of all 25 of them, I actually only took the time to watch two of them--Prison Break and Back To You, the former which was awesome, the latter one which I actually hated and won't watch again. The cursed CSIs took four spots (#4, #11, #20 and #21) and the boring Law & Orders took four spots as well (#10, #12, #13 and #17) although I admit, I have the SVU premiere saved on my DVR for viewing as I want to check out Adam Beach in his new role. I also have the #26 show, Desperate Housewives, saved on my DVR to watch too, although I'm not so sure I care to see it. That leaves fourteen shows that made the charts that I haven't mentioned, none of which I care enough about to do so.

Show Review - Las Vegas

Las Vegas definitely earns my title of the best "comeback show" of the season. Last year, it was learned James Caan, the awesome actor who played the most awesome character on the show--Ed Deline--for the first four seasons, wouldn't be back for a fifth one. Fans of the show gasped in horror, believing without question that the show would flounder and fail. James Caan, after all, left big shoes to fill and the writers couldn't possibly write in a good enough new character to replace him, could they?

Its fifth season premiere proved the show won't sink like many viewers expect it to, at least if you go by the show's storylines and characters themselves. Tom Selleck, the big name actor who was brought in this year to replace James Caan, proves to be a fantastic addition to the cast. His character, slightly unpredictable A.J. Cooper, is intriguing and brings a real freshness to this show.

Last year, I only watched the occasional episode, but this year, so far, I intend on watching every episode.

My take on last week's ratings

[based on BBM ratings for Sep. 10-16]

Canadian Idol's performance show on Monday and results show on Tuesday got the highest national ratings with both garnering over 2 million viewers each. I watched both shows so I guess that means I'm on that bandwagon. It's a really entertaining show, plus it was one of the only good shows to watch this summer. This season came to a good conclusion, though I will say it won't go down as one of my favourite seasons, as I've liked previous seasons much more.

The Emmy awards came in third place with 1.6 million viewers. I never bothered to watch this year. None of the shows I like ever get nominated so I don't see much of a point. Besides, the shows that do get nominated are all from HBO, which we don't get in Canada until long after they premiere, so when they finally do air up here, we're at least a season behind. Another thing I don't like about the Emmys, is all the focus on fashion. I couldn't care less what so-and-so is wearing.

The CTV Evening News got fourth place with 1.4 million viewers. Personally, I like CBC news better, although I admit I don't really even watch the evening news. I get most of my news from Canoe.ca, which happens to be my Internet homepage.

In fifth place is that danged C.S.I. Miami with over 1.3 million viewers. I loathe all the C.S.I.s. I'm not a fan of procedural dramas. Shows with ongoing storylines and a focus on character development are more to my liking. A couple of my friends are avid C.S.I. watchers. I've been made to watch it at their insistence. I find the writing poor, with little or no character development at all. I can't figure out why the C.S.I.s continue to garner such high ratings. I guess any joe schmoe can pick up watching it and understand what's going on. It's really not that complex. It's dumb and I wish there weren't three whole C.S.I. shows on the air. The reruns are on several channels at several times of the day. Please people--enough with the C.S.I.s!!!

In sixth place with just under 1.3 million viewers is Law & Order: SVU. I don't watch any of the Law & Orders (there's three of those as well). Again, I'm not a fan of the procedurals...

In seventh place with 1.25 million viewers is the despised Big Brother, a reality show that earns much vehemence from me. I am NOT a fan of Big Brother. I can't understand what's so appealing about watching grown adults walking around a house acting like they're in junior high, starting cliques and holding popularity contests then voting the person they don't like out of the house. Puh-Lease.

In eighth place is Jeopardy and Access Hollywood (since they combine to make an hour of programming, they're counted as one show in the ratings scheme). I actually like Jeopardy, watched it steadfastly as a kid but rarely watch it now but I won't watch Access Hollywood--should I honestly care if Paris Hilton is going to jail for four and a half minutes again?

Corner Gas takes the ninth place spot with a little over one million viewers, not bad considering it was a repeat. Sometimes I watch Corner Gas and sometimes I don't. It's one of those shows I could take or leave.

And finally in tenth spot with just under a million viewers is Criminal Minds, a show I have never watched, and do not plan to watch in the future.

Show review - Grand Star

[pilot episode aired Sep. 22 on Space TV]

Sigh...this show really wasn't worth my time. The premise (the one I read prior to watching) seemed like it had possibilities for success, but really, I just didn't get it...so glad it was only a half hour show.

This is one of those sci-fi shows, set years in the future with weird props (reminicent of oldschool Star Trek backdrops), weird technology, weird buildings, and weird characters. The main storyline involves a young man (played by Kyle Labine, the brother of the more well-known Tyler Labine) who accidentally sees the sun, but never having seen the sun, has no idea what it is. All he knows is that he had better keep his discovery a secret since the two people who saw it and bragged about it, end up mysteriously dead, probably the misfortunate victims of the government who want the sun to remain a secret for some reason which I don't even care to know about.

I admit that I'm not a sci-fi junkie to begin with but just the same, there have been several sci-fi shows which have managed to gain my liking. Grand Star just isn't one of them.

My thoughts on City TV's new season's shows

Originally, earlier this year, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of Canuck shows planned to air on City TV's stations for the 2007-2008 season but since City TV was recently purchased by Rogers Media the smallest Canadian network's schedule has changed slightly. CTV Globemedia, which temporaily held options on all City TV's shows after taking over CHUM Media, kept some of the shows, while passing on a few others to Rogers. Shows originally planned for City TV's 2007-2008 season were Across the River to Motor City, Blood Ties, Murdoch Mysteries, The Bridge, Terminal City, Less Than Kind and Grand Star.

Across the River to Motor City is, at least from what I can gather from the vague info I've found online, is the story of a father and daughter at two different times in history--the present year and 1963. The show is also set in Detroit and Windsor, two cities across the Canadian-American border from each other. It is the story of murder, mystery and conspiracy. To me it seems exceptionally complex but the critics have praised it so I definitely intend to check it out when it debutes November 19th.

Blood Ties is the real diamond in the rough for this TV season. It debuted early in August and from the handful of episodes I've seen, I've been thoroughly impressed with the writing. The show isn't flashy or expensive-looking but the characters are exceptionally intriguing and it's a show I plan on watching for a long time to come. The show's main characters are Vicki, a private investigator, Mike, her former partner from her days as a police detective and Henry Fitzroy, a 500-year-old vampire. Put the three together and you have an amazing show.

Murdoch Mysteries is a show which was scheduled to debute on City TV this fall, but since CTV Globemedia retained the rights of it when it bought out CHUM, the show is in a bit of a limbo. It's scheduled to air on CTV Globemedia's specialty channel Bravo sometime in 2008 but no word yet if it's gonna end up on the big network itself. Hopefully it will because from what I hear, it'll be good and it deserves all the exposure it gets rather than getting burnt off on a channel not very many people watch. The show, by the way, is about a detective in Victorian-era Toronto (late 1800s for those who aren't history know-it-alls) who solves a variety of mysteries of the supernatural sort. There's something refreshing about watching a mystery series set in a time before the internet and cell phones existed--it feels more mysterious if you ask me.

The Bridge is a cop drama set in Toronto. That's all I know about it. It's set to air in 2008.

Terminal City is a ten-part miniseries which originally aired on Movie Central last year. It garnered a few awards and the critics loved it. It's about a woman who becomes terminally ill with breast cancer who hosts her own reality show. I will give this show a chance as breast cancer has hit my family in the past and I am interested to see how this show deals with the real issues. It debuts September 10th.

Less Than Kind is a quirky comedy set in Winnipeg. It's main character is a teenager whose family runs a failing driving school. I'm definitely gonna watch it when it airs in 2008 as I lived in Winnipeg two years and it'll be interesting to see if I recognize anything in the background.

Grand Star is a show with scarcely any info available. From what I can gather (please feel free to reply with a correction if I'm wrong) the original title of this series was Ice Planet. It's a sci-fi show which takes place far into the future on earth where an ice age has encased the planet after the explosion of nuclear waste on the moon. Yes, you've heard me right. I may or may not let curiosity get the best of me and watch it when it airs September 22nd on Space TV. It will not be airing on City TV as was originally fortold.

Looking back at Road to Avonlea

In my previous post, I mentioned the long-running 90s show, Road to Avonlea, a Canadian-made hour-long drama. I loved Road to Avonlea. It was exported worldwide but in some countries, including the States, it was just called Avonlea. The show was based on the book The Story Girl by L.M. Montgomery initially but original storylines were written following the first season. The show lasted 7 seasons! It was watched by an average of 3 million Canucks every episode! The only other Canadian show to get that high of average ratings is Hockey Night In Canada! The show starred Sarah Polley, Gemma Zaprongna, Michael Mahonen, Zachary Bennett and a bunch of others. It was really well-written. After Road to Avonlea ended in 1996, the producers wanted to shoot a series with another one of L.M. Montgomery's books so they produced Emily of New Moon which lasted for 4 seasons. It ended in 2000. After it ended, the Canadian Television Fund was cut in half so CBC had to scrap alot of their shows.

It's a shame because dramas used to be so good. I have high hopes though, that with this new leaf CBC seems to be turning over, in terms of bringing back dramas to the network,
that we once again get good quality Canadian-made drama series again.

My complaint about the lack of Canadian hour-long dramas

What irks me is that in the current television season--the fall of 2007--there are very few new episodes of Canadian dramas set to air. And by dramas, I mean hour-long scripted series ( I don't count sitcoms and reality shows as "drama" like the Cancon execs whose job it is to ensure homegrown drama makes the networks' schedules do). From the four major networks, there are only five Canadian hour-long dramas set to air. CBC is going to be airing the first season of its new family drama Heartland and the second season of its crime world drama Intelligence. City TV is going to be airing its new shows Across the River to Motor City and Blood Ties (which also aired this summer in the States with a successful run). CTV is going to air its second season of the ski resort mystery series Whistler. Global TV is the only network without an hour-long drama on its fall docket--I wonder how that got past the Cancon regulators...

So, my point, of course, is that while, if you go by ratings, it is the hour-long dramas which garner the best ratings on both sides of the border, Canadian networks scarcely produce any. Canada did, during the 90s, have several successful hour-long dramas of its own. Shows such as Street Legal, North of 60, Traders, Neon Rider and Road to Avonlea got well over a million viewers per episode. So what the hell happened to make networks think producing drama was a waste of time? Sure, hour-long dramas cost more money to make than sitcoms and reality shows, but really, the hour-long dramas bring in better advertising revenue, don't they? Someone please explain this to me!

Show Review - Back To You

[pilot episode aired Sep. 19 on Global TV]

First of all, I will admit to not having high expectations for this show. I'm not big on this type of sitcom and I was never a fan of either Frasier or Everyone Loves Raymond, the two shows which Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton, the two stars of Back To You, each respectively starred in. I expected to be bored, but I watched it anyway. And I was bored, all the jokes were corny and the storyline was predictable. This is one situation comedy that I won't be watching in the future.

The show is about a news anchor named Chuck Darling (Kelsey Grammar) who returns to the news station he worked at in the 90s after he is fired from a national newscast for an incident that appears relentlessly on YouTube. His new co-anchor, Kelly Carr (Patricia Heaton) is also his old co-anchor from his old days at the station, and is anything but thrilled at his return. Yada yada...I couldn't care less. I'm not surprised that I hated it.

So you ask, why did I watch it to begin with? Well...just to give me leverage when I insult it while having conversations about the show with other people. They'll ask me if I've even seen an episode of the show, and I can say "Yeah, sure I did, I gave it a chance and it sucked." This is a boring predictable typical sitcom, the type American networks have been spinning this past decade. Give me a good 80s or early 90s sitcom any day...

Show Review - St. Urbain's Horseman

[part 1 of a two-part miniseries, aired Sep. 19 on CBC]

You may or may not recognize the title of this one. St. Urbain's Horseman is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by acclaimed Canadian novelist, essayist and screenwriter, Mordecai Richler. The novel won the Governor General's literary award way back in 1972 (that's eleven years before I was born just so you know).

Having only seen the first part, I can't give an overall opinion on the miniseries yet, but so far so good. I've never read the book, but after watching this, maybe I will. It's set in several places, but the main settings are in Montreal and London (England). The story centres around the life of a Jewish young man named Jacob Hersh (played exceptionally well by David Julian Hirsh) as he rises to prominence as an established television director. The title character, "St. Urbain's Horseman" refers to his cousin named Joey Hersh, who in more ways then one, causes problems for Jacob over the course of his life. While everyone else sees Joey for who he is--a conniving scoundrel--Jacob continues to idolize Joey, an adoration which started when he was was a kid.

I have mixed feelings about watching miniseries'. I hate to see stories come to an end. I become attached to characters then bam, the story's over. That's the case with St. Urbain's Horseman--I'm getting attached to the characters--but as this is only a miniseries, I will have to say goodbye to them tomorrow. This is probably why I enjoy television over film. I like stories to go on and on and on.

Show Review - Kyle XY

[pilot episode, aired tonight on Space TV]

On a lark, I decided to check out the first episode of Kyle XY that aired tonight. I'm glad I did because I might've missed out on a reasonably good show if I hadn't. There's a major likelihood I'll become a regular watcher now as it was definitely worth my time.

The show revolves around a teenage boy, possibly 17 or so years old, who wakes up naked in the middle of the forest without a belly button. Sure, the premise sounds extremely weird until you figure out he was created by some sort of alien beings to explore human life on earth. Sure, sure, I see your "huh?" reaction but trust me, if you watched it yourself, it would all make sense. The boy, who is given the name Kyle by the psychologist who takes him into her home to live with her family, knows nothing about anything. Essentially, all the world is a complete mystery to him. However, as he's gifted with an exceptionally superior brain, he learns things easily although plenty of confusion and mistakes ensue for him. Throughout this episode he struggles to understand the people he is now living with, including the mothering psychologist, the computer technician father, the awkward pre-teen son and the rather well-developed party-girl daughter. While initially the kids and dad of the family aren't happy with having him there, by the end of the episode they have agreed to keep him around rather than putting him into foster care. So, I'm tuning in next week to see where the story goes from there.