Canadian Crossing

2021 CFL playoffs preview

The #RoadToTheGreyCup is paved.

Here.
We.
Go.
🏆

🗞 https://t.co/IS0oDqUJxO#GCPlayoffs | #CFL pic.twitter.com/FTD9X75dCT

— CFL (@CFL) November 20, 2021

We poked fun at the CFL schedule for scheduling all 3 of the Calgary-Saskatchewan games in a 4-week period. The Stampeders traveled to Vancouver in the middle while the Roughriders had a bye week.

Calgary won the first 2 games before Saskatchewan won the final game. The Stampeders had the tiebreaker but the Roughriders were undefeated against the league minus Winnipeg and Calgary.

Calgary is a surprising 5-2 on the road, including 1-0 in Regina. Saskatchewan is 5-2 at home. The winner travels to Winnipeg for the West final.

Hamilton and Montréal had to wait until the last week to know which team would host the East semifinal. Montréal's collapse at the end of the game Friday meant the Tiger-Cats got home field advantage.

The Tiger-Cats are 5-2 at home while the Alouettes are 4-3 on the road. The winner travels to Toronto for the East final.

This may be a confusing phenomenon for our U.S. readers but the CFL playoff games are on cable television, not your computer. ESPN2 will have the East semifinal while ESPNews had the West semifinal with the TSN feed.

ESPN2

Sunday
Montréal @ Hamilton, 1p

ESPNews

Sunday
Calgary @ Saskatchewan, 4:30p

TSN

Sunday
Montréal @ Hamilton, 1p
Calgary @ Saskatchewan, 4:30p

The Tiger-Cats and Alouettes split the season series. Hamilton earned its first win of the season in Montréal with a 27-10 win. The Alouettes needed overtime to edge out the Tiger-Cats in a rare home loss in Hamilton 23-20 on October 2.

Hamilton would have had the tiebreaker over Montréal on point differential in the games against each other.

Calgary won the first 2 of 3 games in 4 weeks over Saskatchewan. The Stampeders won 23-17 in Calgary on October 2. The same result came with a closer score October 9 in Regina.

The Roughriders finally got some respect with a 20-17 win in Calgary on October 23.

Year	Team	Result
2019	Edmonton (8-10)	beat Montréal (10-8), lost to Hamilton (15-3)
2018	BC (9-9)	lost to Hamilton (8-10)
2017	Saskatchewan (10-8)	beat Ottawa (8-9-1), lost to Toronto (9-9)
2016	Edmonton (10-8)	beat Hamilton (7-11), lost to Ottawa (8-9-1)
2014	BC (9-9)	lost to Montréal (9-9)
2012	Edmonton (7-11)	lost to Toronto (9-9)
2009	BC (8-10)	beat Hamilton (9-9), lost to Montréal (15-3)
2008	Edmonton (10-8)	beat Winnipeg (8-10), lost to Montréal (11-7)
2005	Saskatchewan (9-9)	lost to Montréal (10-8)
2003	BC (11-7)	lost to Toronto (9-9)
2002	Saskatchewan (8-10)	lost to Toronto (8-10)
1997	BC (8-10)	lost to Montréal (13-5)

We feel vulnerable in not listing the CFL crossover history even if this is the first season since 2015 with (gasp) 3 East teams in the playoffs. 2015 and 2021 are the only seasons since Ottawa returned to the CFL where there has not been a crossover.

The East Division has been an embarrassment in recent seasons.

Hamilton has made the playoffs 5 of these 6 seasons but twice at below .500 and once at .500. Ottawa has made the playoffs 4 of these 6 seasons but twice at below .500.

Toronto and Montréal made the playoffs 2 of these 6 seasons: once at .500.

2019 Hamilton Montréal 
2018 Ottawa Hamilton (8-10)
2017 Toronto (9-9) Ottawa (8-9-1)
2016 Ottawa (8-9-1) Hamilton (7-11)
2015 Ottawa Hamilton Toronto
2014 Hamilton (9-9) Montréal (9-9)

We noted earlier that Calgary has now made the playoffs 16 seasons in a row, the Winnipeg streak is at 6, and the Saskatchewan streak is at 5. Hamilton has a 3-season playoffs streak and Montréal has a 2-season playoffs streak.

Team	Total	Home	Road
Winnipeg	5	2	3
Saskatchewan	4	3	1
BC	3	3	0
Edmonton	3	1	2
Hamilton	3	0	3
Calgary	2	1	1
Toronto	2	1	1
Montréal	1	1	0
Ottawa	1	0	1

There were 12 ESPN telecasts in a shortened season, compared to 17 telecasts each in 2018 and 2019. There were 3 post Labour Day telecasts and none past October 1.

Winnipeg led the way with 5 games followed by Saskatchewan with 4 games. The 2019 Roughriders didn't make U.S. TV until the playoffs. The West dominated the TV time with 17 of the 24 appearances.

Tim Hortons Field, home of the 2021 Grey Cup, and TD Place were the only stadiums not on TV. BC and Montréal were not shown on the road.

August 5 Hamilton @ Winnipeg, 8:30p ESPN2
August 7 Ottawa @ Edmonton, 10p ESPN2
August 14 Hamilton @ Saskatchewan, 10p ESPNews
August 19 Edmonton @ BC, 10p ESPN2
August 21 Winnipeg @ Toronto, 4p ESPN2
August 27 Hamilton @ Montréal, 7:30p ESPNews
August 29 Calgary @ Winnipeg, 7p ESPN2
September 5 Winnipeg @ Saskatchewan, 6p ESPNews
September 6 Edmonton @ Calgary, 4:30p ESPNews
September 17 Toronto @ Saskatchewan, 9:45p ESPNews
September 24 Saskatchewan @ BC, 10:30p ESPN2
October 1 Winnipeg @ BC, 10p ESPNews

2021 CFL Week 16 preview

The 3 teams missing the playoffs had steep second-half collapses but found an upturn at the end. Edmonton won the middle game of the 3-game road trip in 7 calendar days and lost to the BC Lions on Friday.

These teams went winless in October. As a contrast, Montréal won all but 1 game in October.

Team	Previous win	Loss streak	Last win
Edmonton	September 6	8	November 16
BC	September 18	7	November 19
Ottawa	September 28	6	November 19

The CFL is a league where the teams are relatively close together in quality but these teams had injuries and not so great luck along the way.

Winnipeg finished 11-3 on the other end of the scale with a 2-game losing streak. The Blue Bombers won the 2019 Grey Cup as the 3rd place team in the West. This year, Winnipeg finished 7-0 at home and hosting the West final.

With @elks cleaning house, former @calstampeders and @BCLions head coach/GM Wally Buono will serve in a transitional role until new GM is in place by start of new year. #CFL #Elks

— Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) November 22, 2021

The Edmonton Elks sent a not-so-subtle message, firing president and CEO Chris Presson, general manager Brock Sunderland, and head coach Jaime Elizondo on Monday.

Cries of "Chris Jones" will have to wait until Toronto is done with the CFL playoffs.

The decision to acquire Nick Arbuckle and not have him play spoke to problems in leadership on several levels. Arbuckle signed an extension through 2022 and will be playing for all new people.

The team had recent success in the playoffs, making the East final in 2019 and the West final in 2017. The 2018 squad finished at 9-9, losing a tiebreaker with BC to crossover.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

All-time passing yards quarterback Anthony Calvillo visited the TSN booth in Montréal. Calvillo, originally from the Los Angeles area, is now a Canadian citizen.

Calvillo spent 2015-2017 in various roles with the Alouettes coaching staff. He spent a hectic 2015 as receivers coach, then quarterbacks coach, and finally the co-offensive coordinator. Calvillo was the offensive coordinator with help in 2016 and the quarterbacks coach in 2017.

Calvillo spent 2018 as the quarterback coach for the Toronto Argonauts, working with his former bosses Jim Popp and Marc Trestman. Since 2019, he has been working with the Montréal Carabins football team in U Sports.

Short-term solutions for TSN to replace Chris Cuthbert on CFL telecasts

Rod Smith and Duane Forde stayed out east with stops in Montréal on Friday and Hamilton on Saturday. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor were in Vancouver on Friday and Calgary on Saturday.

We expect those same crews for the division semifinals and finals with Matthew Scianitti/John Lu in the East with Sara Orlesky/Farhan Lalji in the West.

Twitter captures: @CFL; @TSNDaveNaylor
photo credit: CFL

Canadian ads from fall 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

Welcome to the world of Canadian ads from the fall 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview. This was a breakthrough in that the NHL hadn't started in the fall since 2019 thanks to COVID-19.

The preview only lasted 6 days and the ads aren't as exciting as some great ones in the past. Still, we found a few good ads and are glad to showcase them.

If you want the best in hockey or other sports or any group, you need to be open to all individuals, regardless of boxes to check off on a sheet. Open for inclusion, treating people that you don't know like people that you know.

Scotiabank introduces voices of doubt or uncertainty followed by the certainty of those people on the ice.

P.K. Subban has won gold for Canada in the Olympics, excelled for the Montréal Canadiens, and have truly given back to his community. "This is where we belong." Exactly.

Low-priced Canadian supermarkets is truly a thing, given the high food prices in Canada, even before a pandemic. No Frills is truly no frills. Boring as the colour yellow that dominates the company's marketing.

The Haulerverse transforms that mundane shopping experience. The anime is beautiful and you will love this commercial, even if you couldn't tell us 10 minutes later what No Frills is and what they sell.

Saving money is exciting but not this exciting in real life.

Canadian ads from spring 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

Canadian government promos in the COVID-19 era

Canadian ads from winter 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

I know Lynn Crawford is Canadian from cooking shows. Crawford is listed as an innovation kitchen chef for Tim Hortons. "For me, the only way to cook chicken is to slow cook it." We do love low and slow in the food part of the brain, but hadn't considered low and slow for chicken.

We know Tim Hortons gets dogged for quality but the company tries harder in non-donut related enterprises. The company should be under Canadian control and have top people concentrating on overall food quality.

Connor McDavid comes across pretty easily in this Rogers 5G ad. The technology is used in a practical sports element. The idea that McDavid or anyone else will get 5G in that spot in a relatively remote part of Edmonton feels like a pipe dream. Possible but not what anyone would get now, even a NHL superstar.

The exchange between McDavid and coach Sylvie Tetrault in Toronto felt real and not contrived. Often, you just hope the commercial isn't lame on the small details.

We should note that Rogers is on the nameplate of the new Edmonton NHL arena downtown.

This feels more like an ad for grass-fed beef and grass-finished beef than for A&W burgers. Fast food burgers in the U.S. and Canada are overcooked anyway so part of the joy of a grass fed and finished burger is lost in cooking past medium.

Dan Carkner, executive chef in Kelowna, BC, said grass-fed beef burgers are more delicious. We concur. Applying quality to fast food burgers feels unusual but nice. No U.S. major fast food company would promote the quality of the meat in their burgers.

An university education is still important in the economy. Promoting one still feels surprising. The mom asks about college and her son talks about learning "real time, video compression algorithms." Clearly, something his mother didn't learn in university.

Ontario colleges are recruiting those interested in learning more about smartphones, smart homes, and smart watches to do so at a college in Ontario.

CanadianCrossing.com advertising coverage

Thanks for checking out our collection of Canadian advertising.

photo and video credits: the companies themselves

Vancouver Whitecaps FC eliminated from 2021 MLS playoffs

The 2021 Vancouver Whitecaps FC season is now done after some much needed MLS playoff experience. Cristian Dajome scored on a penalty kick in the 39th minute, the lone goal for the Whitecaps. Sporting Kansas City advanced with a 3-1 win over Vancouver.

The Canadian teams were at a significant disadvantage from the other MLS teams in 2021, starting the season in the United States. All 3 teams either started with a new coach (Montréal) or switched coaches in the middle of the season (Toronto, Vancouver).

Ryan Gauld and Brian White led the way, especially in the much improved second half of the season for Vancouver. Vanni Sartini went on a really nice run as the newest Whitecaps coach.

Sporting Kansas City outshot Vancouver 12-6.

Chins up#VWFC | @Bell pic.twitter.com/MAdcT2MaFi

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) November 21, 2021

This was the best season for Vancouver since 2017, the only MLS season with a playoff win.

The Whitecaps made the MLS playoffs in a season where both Los Angeles teams were on the sidelines. The challenge will be tougher in 2022; having half of their games in Vancouver for the first time since 2019 will help out a lot.

Consider the surprise element of making the MLS playoffs for the first since 2017 (Vancouver) versus a team in the playoffs for the 10th time in 11 seasons (Sporting Kansas City).

.@WhitecapsFC finally end up on U.S. television thanks to @MLS playoffs. That was only helpful if your Spanish is muy bueno. @TUDNUSA normally has SAP in motion but not for the playoffs???

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) November 21, 2021

Update on this: Univision isn’t doing an SAP feed for its playoff games this weekend because there are English-language broadcasts in the participating teams’ local markets.

I assume (I’ll find out) that the free live stream on MLS’ website has an English feed. https://t.co/mCv7jmBdQc

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) November 18, 2021

MLS and its U.S. TV partners have worked together to eliminate Canadian teams from its national broadcasts during the regular season. Making the playoffs means access to U.S. television, though Vancouver drew a day where ESPN and Fox Sports 1 were not being used (as your humble narrator predicted).

The playoff game ran on Univision (Spanish) with an expected English language feed on TUDN. Except TUDN didn't have an English language feed for either playoff game. MLS points out that there was an English language feed on its Web site and app.

That doesn't help you if you were watching on TV or had a life and would watch the game at a later time. MLS handled this extremely poorly after getting things correct in previous seasons.

MLS allowed local feeds for the games on Univision and TUDN, but those were only for the local markets. The games specifically are on television, that is not on ESPN+. U.S. viewers outside of Seattle could see the final regular season game for the Whitecaps with the TSN feed. Access to the playoffs was considerably more difficult despite the game being on U.S. television.

The money saved by not having an English language feed is offset by the nasty taste of a public relations cluster[bleep].

Canadians could watch the game in English on TSN.

Even with a playoff appearance, the U.S. outlets almost certainly won't have Vancouver (or Montréal or Toronto) on TV in 2022. The only question will be whether those playoff appearances will have an English language feed.

2021 MLS playoffs preview: Vancouver Whitecaps FC as the #6 seed

Toronto FC, CF Montreal get to cross back into Canada

Romell Quioto had the lone goal in the 72nd minute to give CF Montréal the Voyageurs Cup as winners of the 2021 Canadian Championship. The win came at the expense of its primary MLS rival Toronto FC at Stade Saputo in Montréal.

Jordan Perruzza hit the goalpost for the Reds in the 90th minute, the closest Toronto FC came to a goal.

Quioto had 6 of CF Montréal's 23 shots compared to 4 for Toronto FC.

CF Montréal gets bragging rights and a 2022 Concacaf Champions League spot along with the New England Revolution, Colorado Rapids, Seattle Sounders, and the MLS Cup winner.

These teams met for the 2019 Voyageurs Cup as the then Montréal Impact won on a penalty shootout. The 2020 tournament came down to Toronto and Forge FC (Hamilton) that hasn't been scheduled.

CF Montréal had the edge over Toronto FC in the 2021 MLS regular season with 2 wins and a draw.

2021 MLS preview

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

The biggest soccer news in Canada might have been the fact that Canada is now at the top of the CONCACAF World Cup men's soccer group after a 2-1 win over Mexico 2-1 last Tuesday. Cyle Larin scored both goals with the snow at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Canada (4-0-4) with 6 more matches to play. The men haven't played in the World Cup since 1986. Canada is ahead of the United States by a point; 2 points over Mexico and Panama. The top 3 countries qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Canada, the United States, and Mexico are hosting the 2026 World Cup.

'Caps #MLSCupPlayoff merch is here! 🎉#VWFC #BringItHome

— Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) November 13, 2021

MLS Canadian teams playoffs results

Year	Date	Teams	Winner	Score
2021	November 20	Vancouver @ Sporting Kansas City	Kansas City	3-1
2020	November 24	Nashville @ Toronto	Nashville	1-0 (ET)
2020	November 20	Montréal @ New England	New England	2-1
2019	November 10	Toronto @ Seattle	Seattle	3-1
2019	October 30	Toronto @ Atlanta	Toronto	2-1
2019	October 23	Toronto @ New York City FC	Toronto	2-1
2019	October 19	D.C. United @ Toronto	Toronto	5-1 (ET)
2017	December 9	Seattle @ Toronto	Toronto	2-0
2017	November 29	Columbus @ Toronto	Toronto	1-0
2017	November 21	Toronto @ Columbus	Tie	0-0
2017	November 5	New York Red Bulls @ Toronto	NY Red Bulls	1-0
2017	November 2	Vancouver @ Seattle	Seattle	2-0
2017	October 30	Toronto @ New York Red Bulls	Toronto	2-1
2017	October 29	Seattle @ Vancouver	Tie	0-0
2017	October 25	San Jose @ Vancouver	Vancouver	5-0
2016	December 10	Seattle @ Toronto FC	Seattle	0-0 (5-4 PK)
2016	November 30	Montréal @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	5-2 (ET)
2016	November 22	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-2
2016	November 6	Montréal @ New York Red Bulls	Montréal	2-1
2016	November 6	Toronto FC @ NYCFC	Toronto FC	5-0
2016	October 30	NYCFC @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	2-0
2016	October 30	New York Red Bulls @ Montréal	Montréal	1-0
2016	October 27	Montréal @ D.C. United	Montréal	4-2
2016	October 26	Philadelphia @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	3-1
2015	November 8	Portland @ Vancouver	Portland	2-0
2015	November 8	Montréal @ Columbus	Columbus	3-1 (ET)
2015	November 1	Vancouver @ Portland	Tie	0-0
2015	November 1	Columbus @ Montréal	Montréal	2-1
2015	October 29	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-0
2014	October 29	Vancouver @ Dallas	Dallas	2-1
2013	October 31	Montréal @ Houston	Houston	3-0
2012	November 1	Vancouver @ LA Galaxy	LA Galaxy	2-1

photo credit: MLS
Twitter captures: @WhitecapsFC; @canadian_xing; @thegoalkeeper; @WhitecapsFC
video credit: YouTube/OneSoccer

2021 CFL Week 16 preview

The CFL teams finish this shortened 14-game season with mostly divisional matchups and one intriguing exception.

Ottawa goes east in a very short trip to Montréal to finish the season to start out Friday night.

Edmonton goes west to BC Place to visit the Lions in Vancouver. The Elks have the busiest road trip in CFL history with a stop in Regina, Toronto, and Vancouver in 7 days. The CFL and the Canadian Football League Players Association agreed that both teams on Friday can have an additional 5 players to their active rosters.

The lone inter-divisional matchup as the Saskatchewan Roughriders go to the site of the 2021 Grey Cup in Hamilton late Saturday afternoon. The Tiger-Cats will know whether they need to win before the kickoff on Saturday.

Winnipeg doesn't have to go too far to finish the year in Calgary in the evening in southern Alberta.

Toronto has finished all its games and gets to have cookies and milk with extra time off, not playing until December 5.

TSN

Friday
Ottawa @ Montréal, 7:30p
Edmonton @ BC, 10:30p
Saturday
Saskatchewan @ Hamilton, 4p
Winnipeg @ Calgary, 7p

Bye week: Toronto

The 2021 Grey Cup will go through Winnipeg and Toronto. The Argonauts went 3-1 against Hamilton in 2021 and 7-0 overall at home. Both teams will host the division final on December 5 and ironically their hockey counterparts play that night in Winnipeg.

Hamilton didn't reach the end zone until the final 2 minutes at BMO Field. The Tiger-Cats will host the East semifinal with a win or tie or an Alouettes tie or loss. Montréal kept its home playoff hopes alive giving Winnipeg its second loss of the season. The Blue Bombers rested a lot of regulars in the game. The Winnipeg winning streak is snapped at 9.

Trevor Harris had 3 touchdown passes while Sean McGuire had 4 interceptions.

Saskatchewan clinches a home playoff game, so the West semifinal will be in Regina. Calgary has a 2-1 edge in the regular season. 

Calgary reaches the playoffs for the 16th straight season. Winnipeg will now have 6 as of 2021 and Saskatchewan will have 5.

The Stampeders mark is more impressive when you consider Calgary has made the playoffs every year since 1989, except for 2002-2004. The NHL teams in Canada wish for that level of success.

The BC Lions have had a lousy playoff stretch lately, missing the playoffs in 2017, 2019, and 2021. The Lions have had only 1 playoff win (2016) since the 2011 Grey Cup win. 2016 was also the last time in the West playoffs for BC, doing the crossover twice in the East in that time (2014, 2018).

From 1991-2011, BC only missed the playoffs in 1992 and 1996. The BC Lions are trying to rebuild their base to come to games under new owner Amar Doman. The league is rooting for Doman to succeed. I have sat in the upper bowl at BC Place, an area that is currently closed. Winning will help.

You might argue that with 6 of 9 teams making the playoffs, making the playoffs is not a big deal. While every team but Hamilton won a Grey Cup in the 2010s, the teams on the early part of the decade (Montréal, BC) have itchy fanbases.

2021 CFL Week 15 preview

2021 CFL Week 14 preview

.@CFL didn't have a preseason in 2021. Tonight's game felt like a preseason game. The @elks did win and @TorontoArgos suffered first home loss.

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) November 17, 2021

There are 4 CFL teams with a negative point differential, surrendering more points than those scored. They are the 3 teams not going to the playoffs and the Toronto Argonauts.

The Argos had a -9 point differential: 309 points scored vs. 318 points given up. We noted earlier all of the close wins Toronto had this season. This is a surprise for a team that finished 9-5.

Edmonton snapped its 8-game losing streak on Tuesday; the last win was Labour Day. This was the Elks only win against an East team in 2021. The last win against the East for Edmonton was the 2019 East semifinal with a 37-29 win over Montréal.

.@CFL made great choice for #GreyCup halftime band. Though we were hoping for #RobinDaggers to make an appearance. #cdnmusichttps://t.co/BGUSA1D9tD

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) November 13, 2021

The Arkells got the Toronto Argonauts in June 2019 to move the CFL game to start earlier on a Saturday since the band was playing "300 feet" away at the Budweiser stage that night. The band playfully suggested the move. The teams and CFL were positive about the change and the announcement of that change came very quickly. 

Hamilton was the opponent that day and the hometown of the band. With the first Grey Cup in Hamilton since 1996, the Arkells were the consensus choice to be the halftime band.

Arkells lead singer Max Kerman talked with Kate Beirness at halftime and was in the booth with Rod Smith and Duane Forde Friday night in Toronto.

Robin Daggers was the alter ego of Robin Sparkles. How I Met Your Mother imagined Daggers played at the 1996 Grey Cup with her song P.S. I Love You. Someone please invite Cobie Smulders and Paul Shaffer to the Grey Cup December 12 in Hamilton.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

The NFL will never surpass the CFL in one area: on-air swearing picked up by microphones. The words said on the field match words said in living rooms while watching the game. Canada is more comfortable with swearing than in the United States.

The f-word was a bit more obvious in the Saskatchewan-Edmonton game. The league and the official both apologized; that might have been more about the context than the actual word.

Getting to BMO Field in Toronto should be a good experience

Construction can impede a route to get to BMO Field in Toronto, especially when that construction involves the GO train on a night where Hamilton fans were going to the CFL game in Toronto.

Seemed like GO train folks anticipated an influx of Tiger-Cats fans at the home of the Argonauts.

There was a robust 10,851 (season high) crowd in Toronto, quite a few fans from down the Queen Elizabeth Way made the trip.

The cameras show the north stands. We have heard whispers that the crowd sits on that side to look better on TV. I sat in the south stands in my lone visit to BMO Field.

The weather could turn by December 5 when Toronto hosts the East final. If Hamilton is the opponent, would be nice to see 15,000 people come out to BMO Field.

.@CFLonTSN you should fine @GlenSuitor every time he says @elks old nickname. Repeat offender is an understatement. Give $ to #Indigenous groups. And get him to just stop.

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) November 13, 2021

The Edmonton CFL team nickname change has had some backlash among some fans. Going 0-7 at home does not help. The whining is mostly about change and not understanding the significance of the need for that change.

Glen Suitor's slips in mentioning the old nickname have been numerous and aren't really slips. Suitor mentioned the old nickname about the current team Friday night in Vancouver. He might even think of his actions as a deliberate homage to the old nickname.

Duane Forde accidentally mentioned the old nickname Tuesday night before quickly saying the new nickname. Sounded by an accident though pretty late in the season.

Having people complain in online forums and in social media is understandable. Glen Suitor is a major face of the CFL on TSN coverage; Suitor using a slur against the Inuit people when he doesn't have to is an insult.

Suitor should pay out of his pocket for TSN researchers to count up how many times he used the word on the air in 2021. Then he should write a check for $1,000 x each mention and give that money to Indigenous groups. A heartfelt apology, if Suitor believes the apology, would also be nice.

As much fun as Glen Suitor writing a very expensive check would be, the whole point is not to mention the word again. Using the slur in the context of sports was "justified" because that was the team nickname. Changing the nickname is set up to not sports people repeat the slur.

TSN personalities have been good or perfect in not repeating the old nickname, except for Suitor. Just make him stop.

Short-term solutions for TSN to replace Chris Cuthbert on CFL telecasts

As we noted, Rod Smith and Duane Forde were in Toronto Friday night. Smith and Duane Forde were also in Toronto on Tuesday for the makeup game. Farhan Lalji and Glen Suitor called the game in Vancouver with Calgary in town.

Smith and Matt Dunigan called the game in the rain in Montréal. Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor were there for the start of the Edmonton road trip in Regina.

logo credit: CFL
photo credit: TSN
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing (x3)

Three Amigos are back after 5 years but feels unbalanced

We thought the Three Amigos was on a permanent siesta after the end of 2016. The return is sweet with a giant dose of bitter thanks to the CUSMA | USMCA aka really messed up trade deal.

Energy issues, including the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline; "buy American"; trade disputes; climate crisis; easing border crossings and dealing with COVID-19 — just some of the many issues in the discussion in Washington on Thursday.

The way Mexico went behind Canada's back in the trade negotiations went against the very idea of the Three Amigos so we are a bit surprised they brought back the name. A true spirit would be to renegotiate a trade deal between the three countries that could be signed without feeling like a proverbial gun to someone's head.

The Three Amigos sessions up until 2016 were meaningful to extend discussions behind close doors in smaller sessions. A symbol — si, oui, yes — but an important symbol.

We know about U.S. President Joe Biden and Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been in power since December 1, 2018. This grouping has great potential to improve the relationship between the countries. The power of the Three Amigos could be taking positive steps, such as connecting the countries by train to transport goods.

The challenges are greater with building back economies after COVID-19 and with a faulty trade deal.

The impact of the Joe Biden presidency on Canada

U.S. may not pick a permanent replacement for Ambassador to Canada until well into 2021

David Cohen nominated to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Canada

Justin Trudeau appears on Meet the Press on Canada-U.S. relations

Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau meeting virtually is still important symbolically

One crucial step in the U.S.-Canada relationship is having a permanent U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Former Comcast executive David L. Cohen has been confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Cohen was approved by unanimous consent in the full Senate.

We sometimes joke about a low bar being sent; we don't have much faith in Cohen but we almost don't care since a reasonably competent human being would be a step up. There is a lot at stake and the ambassador isn't even in place.

Hopefully Cohen will actually end up in Ottawa soon. Joe Biden has been president since January 20.

The interim Chargé d'Affaires have been helpful and productive but the interim label limits their effectiveness.

Person	Start Date	End Date
Richard M. Mills Jr.	August 23, 2019	November 9, 2020
Katherine Brucker	November 9, 2020	May 28, 2021
Arnold A. Chacón	May 28, 2021	Incumbent

Meanwhile, Canada Ambassador to the United States Kirsten Hillman is on TV talking about the future of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline and relations with China.

The delays have Democratic and Republican roots. The idea of installing ambassadors based on how much money they raise is a poor practice. Hillman was on the ambassador team before getting the primary position.

The U.S. is multiple miles and kilometres behind in the process and there are a lot of issues needing resolution.

One perhaps trivial note from the past few years to note: We had mentioned the name Aldona Wos as a potential replacement. Her name was never advanced. Turns out her husband is Louis DeJoy, the person appointed head of the U.S. Postal Service who basically was there to slow down postal service. While Wos is her own person, her association with DeJoy would have tainted her appointment.

Canada secretly passes heavily flawed CUSMA during the COVID-19 corornavirus pandemic

CanadianCrossing.com trade coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian politics coverage

The mixing of the North American countries has never been really smooth. NAFTA was designed for employers, not employees in all 3 countries. The trade deal was a way to dump jobs from Canada to the United States to Mexico but not even all throughout Mexico.

The revised trade deal is true in spirit and form due to the imbalance in negotiations. Words that travel through a relationship can be damaging or forgotten, unlike words on a trade deal where signatures don't come from free will. Three Amigos is back as a name but can't be true in deed until the trade relationship is of balance.

photo credit: Government of Canada

Canadian film review: Beans

Tekehentahkhwa is a Mohawk girl trying to get into a private school. When the person in charge can't pronounce her name, she says to call her Beans because everybody does.

Beans is a coming of age story for the young girl, trapped between Grade 6 and Grade 7, girl and womanhood, all in the summer of 1990 during the Oka Crisis.

This is a fictionalized version drawn from Tracey Deer's experiences that summer. Deer co-wrote the story with Meredith Vuchnich and Deer directed the film. You might know Deer from Mohawk Girls, which she created back in 2005 (original documentary) and 2014 (TV show).

Kiawenti:io Tarbell, who worked with Tracey Deer on her acting debut on Anne with an E, stars as Beans. She starts the film being very timid. Beans wants to please her father and dotes over her younger sister Ruby. Her mother Lily wants her to get into that private school. Lily is also quite pregnant.

The coming of age story runs alongside how these characters live through the Oka Crisis of 1990. Her father is mostly off screen because the men are in a different place defending their land. Being at a supermarket and denied food because they were Mohawks. Hiding in a car as your windows are being smashed by people throwing rocks. Watching the police not care when the townspeople throw rocks at the cars with the Indigenous characters exemplifies why this film is important.

The cast includes Brittany LeBorgne (Zoe on Mohawk Girls) and a couple of members of the core group on Reservation Dogs: Paulina Alexis and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.

Kiawenti:io does a tremendous job with a mix of fear, curiosity, and yes, lust as puberty and hormones make their presence known. She offers that mix of maturity and childlike wonder. The film does a rather good job of balancing these stories.

2021 TIFF Canadian film preview

We can't really talk about Beans without also mentioning Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance, the documentary on the Oka Crisis from legendary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin. You can find the documentary via the National Film Board of Canada.

We mentioned this and other documentaries during the tribute to Alanis Obomsawin at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.

The documentary can give the background if you are curious about the Oka Crisis. English and French Canadians should know this story and likely don't. Americans, well, this will give some insight into Indigenous history in North America.

Canadian film review: Rustic Oracle

CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage

There is a back and forth in the film about what the white people say about the Indigenous people and vice versa. You hear a lot of "frogs" as some of the Indigenous characters refer to the French Canadians. Like in Rustic Oracle, you don't really hear the Indigenous characters speak French even though they live in Quebec.

This might seem like a small detail but this speaks to an isolation in living in that part of Canada and not knowing or speaking basic French words as needed.

Deer explains this in her Mohawk Girls documentary (2005). They spoke in English despite being in a French-speaking province. Deer said that the French was somehow seen as the enemy. 

Tracey Deer's powerful film Oka Crisis coming-of-age story (q from CBC Radio)

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

We rarely say this about a film but at about 90 minutes, the film is really short. The story goes by fast in a good way, surprised at how easy the story is to absorb.

Tracey Deer goes into her past to tell this story, leaving a lot on screen. As difficult as that must have been, the viewers are rewarded for her courage in telling this story. Tekehentahkhwa goes through a lot in just one summer, but what a summer that was.

A Canadian film doesn't need The New York Times level attention though the paper's review and coverage had high praise for the story and film.

Beans won Best Picture at this year's Canadian Screen Awards and won the John Dunning Best First Feature Film Award. The film was second runner up for the People's Choice Award at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

Beans has played in theatres in Canada and is available on demand and in select theatres in the United States.

video credit: YouTube/FilmRise Releasing
photo credit: Beans film

Telefilm Canada adds language flexibility for funding Canadian films

Natasha. a 2015 Canadian film, is in English and Russian. A Canadian film could be primarily in Russian or any other language other than French, English, or Indigenous languages, but wouldn't qualify for Telefilm Canada funding. Now the rules are changing on language.

This adjustment is one of several changes in Telefilm Canada funding for Canadian films.

Making the case for Canadian film in 3 parts

Deepa Mehta made the case in making the case for Canadian film for changes in the language requirements. One of her reasons for Bill C-10 was to get the language barriers removed. Bill C-10 and its equivalent is in a high layer of purgatory yet Telefilm Canada did change the rules.

Mehta told the story during the panel discussion of shooting Water in English as well as Hindi to get Telefilm Canada funding.

Mehta's latest film Funny Boy would have qualified for Telefilm Canada funding since the majority of that film (63%) was in English. Then again, Telefilm Canada nominated the film in an Academy Awards category that only allowed up to 49% of English language content.

"While we agree with Mehta on language, she wants to use the changes to make films to get taxpayer funding that are not in Canada with a majority of non-Canadians. We argue that funding priorities should be given to filmmakers who want to shoot in Canada with a majority of Canadians. We fear that a deluge of requests will deprive filmmakers who want to make films in Canada."

We wrote that at the time about the panel discussion. Our thoughts were more about Canadian films such as Natasha rather than Funny Boy.

Canada is a country of immigrants and those stories are Canadian. Featuring them in that language shouldn't be a penalty for Telefilm Canada funding. Encourage a point system that rewards using Canadians on and off screen and filming in Canada.

Telefilm revamps aim to usher in new era for Canadian film industry rocked by COVID-19 pandemic (The Globe and Mail)

Canadian films now will need an eligible distributor if the overall budget is at least $3.5 million. Here are some of the rest of the highlights, in the words of Telefilm Canada.

• The "two strikes" rule will be discontinued for the 2022-2023 fiscal year to take into account the pandemic's impact on the industry.
• Funding participation is increased for projects with budgets between $1.5 million and $3.5 million.
• The cap on "greenlight" funding has increased.

There are more details to those changes.

Canadian film notebook: Marketing Canadian films as not Canadian

Canadian film case study: My Salinger Year

Canadian films in name only such as French Exit and My Salinger Year get Telefilm Canada funding without having to put much of Canada into those films. There is very little French in French Exit but a small amount of another language has never been an issue.

The issue is that Telefilm Canada has limited funding. While we agree on lifting the language barriers, there will be more slices on a limited sized pie.

Pablo Rodríguez is back as heritage minister; What that means for a new Bill C-10

Dream of a Starlight Canadian film channel should shift to a streaming service

Starlight is key to opening up eyes to Canadian film

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

The funding from a potential Netflix tax. A requirement that cable companies carry a Starlight cable channel to showcase Canadian film. These have been some of the ideas to get more revenue to help grow the Canadian film industry.

Canada is already making great films but few Canadians know how good they are. They hear about Canadian films in name only and international films made in Canada while pretending to be anywhere else but the Great White North.

photo credit: Natasha film

2021 CFL Week 15 preview

Hamilton has its shortest road trip with a visit up the Queen Elizabeth Way to Toronto to start things on Friday night. This game was originally scheduled to be on ESPNews but the network picked up a game in mid-September.

The Argos get a few days to rest up for another game on Tuesday.

Calgary works its way west for a very late start in Vancouver in the nightcap on Friday.

Winnipeg returns the favour to play the Alouettes in Montréal. The game was rescheduled to a more sensible early afternoon start on Saturday due to the Elks COVID-19 scenario earlier this season.

Saskatchewan and Edmonton switch places and visit the Saskatchewan capital in an afternoon start. That is a change from the original schedule.

Toronto returns with a home game on Tuesday to host Edmonton in the makeup date for the previously postponed game due to COVID-19 issues with the Elks. The CFL and the Canadian Football League Players Association agreed that both teams on Tuesday can have an additional 5 players to their active rosters.

Ottawa rests its collective feet watching other teams play football.

TSN

Friday
Hamilton @ Toronto, 7:30p
Calgary @ BC, 10:30p
Saturday
Winnipeg @ Montréal, 1p
Edmonton @ Saskatchewan, 4p
Tuesday
Edmonton @ Toronto, 7:30p

Bye week: Ottawa

For the first time since 2015, @CFL will not have a crossover in the playoffs. 3 East teams, 3 West teams. Balanced.

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) November 6, 2021

Hamilton's win over the BC Lions brought the Tiger-Cats and the Montréal Alouettes into the CFL playoffs. The BC Lions lost a tunnel to the east to attempt to make the playoffs.

The Lions have lost 6 games in a row and yet still have a path to the postseason. If BC beats Calgary this week, the Lions will have the tiebreaker. A BC win over Edmonton and a Calgary loss at home to Winnipeg next week, and BC is in the West playoffs at 6-8.

Speaking of tiebreakers, Hamilton needs a win to tie up the season series with Toronto. The Tiger-Cats have the point differential in the first 3 games so even a 1-point win will give Hamilton the tiebreaker between the teams. A Toronto win or a tie and the Argos get the tiebreaker and the division title.

Hamilton controls its own fate. Win out and the Tiger-Cats will be the East champion. Montréal can't win the division. If the Alouettes lose to Winnipeg or Hamilton beats Toronto, the Als clinch 3rd place.

If Toronto loses against Hamilton, the Argos have to beat or tie Edmonton while the Ticats tie or lose to Saskatchewan to claim the East title.

Hamilton has the tiebreaker over Montréal and the Alouettes have the tiebreaker over the Argonauts.

Saskatchewan clinched a playoff spot. The Roughriders won their 3rd straight road game in a schedule dominant with road games in the second half. Saskatchewan is 2 games ahead of Calgary but the Stampeders have the tiebreaker. Calgary is 2 games ahead of the BC Lions with the tiebreaker to be determined tonight. A Saskatchewan win means hosting the West semifinal and a Calgary win puts the Stampeders in the playoffs with the BC Lions joining Edmonton and Ottawa in the home for the holidays group.

2021 CFL Week 14 preview

We noted last week that the Argos have excelled at winning close games. Toronto defeated Ottawa by 3 points in the RedBlacks final home game. Ottawa won a single home game against Edmonton, the only team the RedBlacks have beat this season.

Best stat of the week: Winnipeg has outscored the opposition 116-6 in the 4th quarter this season. The Alouettes and Blue Bombers were tied through 3 quarters. Montréal didn't score in the 4th quarter.

2021 CFL Week 13 preview

Since BC last played a home game on October 16, the British Columbia government expanded to 100% capacity for indoor spaces. The Lions finish the last 2 weeks with home games.

The upper bowl will still be closed. BC is 1-4 at home in 2021.

Saskatchewan and Edmonton normally travel well to Vancouver.

2021 CFL Week 12 preview

The CFL missed out on not offering a travel package for the Edmonton tour of Canada. The tour starts in Regina on Saturday, Toronto on Tuesday, and Vancouver on Friday.

The football will be ridiculous, even with the extra players the teams will get for the last 2 games. Edmonton already knows going into the trip that the playoffs aren't an option and will have several months to rest up.

You could fly into Regina today, fly to Toronto on Sunday morning, struggle to find restaurants in Toronto open on Sunday and Monday, fly out Wednesday morning to Vancouver, and stay an extra day in Vancouver before flying home on Sunday.

Games were adjusted due to the Elks COVID-19 outbreak earlier this season. The Saskatchewan-Edmonton locations were flipped so the Elks would be on the road to finish the season.

Nick Arbuckle will get a chance to show what he can do with the northern Alberta team, though away from home.

The Elks finished the first season in franchise history without a home win. The last Edmonton home win came on October 12, 2019 with a 19-6 win over the BC Lions. The current home losing streak stands at 8 until 2022.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Toronto has to play 2 games in 5 days with playoff implications. The Argos played 2 games in 6 days last month leading up to Thanksgiving, so the team has done this. The team had a home game before going all the way to Hamilton. The Argos stay at home for these games. They do get 5 extra players for the second game and then they get to rest for the final week. If they clinch home field, the Argos will get an extra week of rest.

Thanks and goodbye, Angie.#RememberingMosca pic.twitter.com/k2cOKaXlrq

— x - Hamilton Tiger-Cats (@Ticats) November 6, 2021

Angelo Mosca was a CFL legend, especially for his time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In a year where Hamilton will finally host the Grey Cup perhaps with the Tiger-Cats on the field, having Mosca be a part of all of that would have been electric. Unfortunately, Mosca passed away on Saturday at the age of 84 after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's.

If you recall a fight among old CFL players in 2011, Mosca was swinging the cane at Joe Kapp. RIP to a legend.

Short-term solutions for TSN to replace Chris Cuthbert on CFL telecasts

That’s it for my 2021 @CFLonTSN season.

Heartfelt thanks to all the behind-the-scenes crew who make our broadcasts possible, Producers Chris Edwards, Jon Hynes & Mike Marshall for guiding a TV rookie and @TSNScianitti, @DuaneFordeTSN, @MattDuniganTSN for embracing a new voice 🙏 pic.twitter.com/gJ9ezCWuy8

— 🇨🇦 Marshall Ferguson 🏈 (@TSN_Marsh) November 6, 2021

Marshall Ferguson and Duane Forde covered the biggest game of the week with the Lions in Hamilton. Good to see Ferguson getting some reps. Either Ferguson or Dustin Nielson would call the Grey Cup on radio, something Rod Black used to do with Forde.

Dustin Nielson and Glen Suitor stayed out west in Edmonton on Friday night and an early evening in Winnipeg on Saturday.

Rod Smith and Matt Dunigan hung out in Ottawa on Saturday afternoon.

Ferguson showed a lot of promise in his brief introduction. Nielson went from a couple of handfuls of games in 2019 to a division semifinal in 2021.

logo credit: CFL
Twitter captures: @canadian_xing; @Ticats; @TSN_Marsh

Canadian film review: Maria Chapdelaine

Maria Chapdelaine is like Little Women in that the society keeps putting out newer versions onto the screen from a classic book. While the latest version of Little Women is considered the best, the same may not be said about the latest version of Maria Chapdelaine.

Sébastien Pilote, whose work we enjoyed in La disparition des lucioles | The Fireflies Are Gone (2018), adapted the screenplay from the Louis Hémon 1913 novel and directed the film.

The plot is rather simple: Maria Chapdelaine (Sara Montpetit) is a young woman in rural Péribonka, Quebec. There are potential suitors. François Paradis (Émile Schneider), a local boy with whom she knows and is interested; Eutrope Gagnon (Antoine Olivier Pilon), a local farmer who comes over to the house quite often; and Lorenzo Surprenant (Robert Naylor), an area man who lives in the United States and offers her a comfortable life.

This may sound like a love story. There is very little of the conventions you might associate with a love story. Despite the film and novel named after her, the focus really isn't on Maria Chapdelaine. Pilote doesn't have the character say or do much; hard to tell if this is the source material or a conscious choice.

Do we know or understand her motivations? Are we supposed to care about them? The story tends to focus on how hard life was back then in northern Quebec.

Her mother talks about when she had 3 suitors as well. There is some doubt as to whether she made the right choice. Her husband, patriarch of the family, keeps the family moving north once they clear the land and are surrounded by neighbours.

The major flaw within the film is that Pilote chose to make his version over an hour longer than any of the 3 versions before his interpretation. We know of wonderful films around the 2:38 mark. Xavier Dolan's Laurence Anyways leaps to mind. That film takes a long time and tells a lot in the story. This version of Maria Chapdelaine doesn't say a whole lot.

The film is beautifully shot and filled with scenes of little to no dialogue. 90 minutes into the film, when most movies are finishing up their tale, very little has happened in this film. Film creators should take the time they need but use that time well.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Sébastien Ricard and Hélène Florent are marvelous as Samuel and Laura Chapdelaine, Maria's parents. Martin Dubreuil as Edwige Légaré has a small but memorable performance. You might remember him as Felix of Félix et Meira. These are much more interesting characters than the lead.

2 older boys are often gone and are virtually invisible on screen. There are 3 younger children that Maria sort of watches over. They get very little recognition in the story. This likely reflects how children were seen back in those times.

Sara Montpetit is a lot closer in age to the character. The previous versions reportedly cast women in their 30s to play a woman in her late teens. Pilote deserves credit for casting someone closer in age. The problem with Montpetit's performance is that the audience is not invested in the character. We don't know if that is the actor or the director.

2021 TIFF preview

2021 TIFF Rising Stars

2021 TIFF Canadian film preview

If time is on your side, or if you are familiar with the original novel, this film would be worth the effort. If you don't have to pay much and you can do a lot of fast forwarding, the film might be worth that effort.

Maria Chapdelaine played at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival and has been released theatrically in Canada.

photo credit: Maria Chapdelaine film
video credit: YouTube/Item 7

Canadian TV notebook: Sort Of makes its CBC television debut

Canadian TV occasionally innovates faster than what we see in the United States: Little Mosque on the Prairie seemed like an obvious show to cross south of the border. There was even talk of a U.S. version on Fox. Really.

Sort Of makes its CBC television debut tonight with back-to-back episodes at 9 pm local time on Tuesdays. Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo are the forces behind the show. Baig plays Sabi Mehboob, a non-binary person who works as a caregiver.

The show debuted with select episodes at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. Canadians have been able to stream the show on CBC Gem since October 5. U.S. viewers can watch Sort Of on HBO Max on November 18.

There are 8 episodes in the 22-minute range.

The idea of a Canadian TV show airing so soon in the United States is extremely rare. Schitt's Creek Season 1 aired later on Pop TV than the length of time between the debuts on CBC television and HBO Max.

Gray Powell, Amanda Cordner, Ellora Patnaik, Grace Lynn Kung, Supinder Wraich, Aden Bedard, Greg Calderone, and Alanna Bale are among the supporting cast. The series has gone beyond the continent with Sky Comedy in the United Kingdom, M6 in France, and Stan in Australia.

2021 CBC television upfront preview

2021 CBC television fall preview

Having a sitcom with a Black family at the lead is not a big deal on American TV. Too many shows to mention above and beyond Good Times. Overlord and the Underwoods is reportedly the first Canadian TV show to do just that.

The program debuted on CBC Gem on October 29.

The show has a Harry and the Hendersons vibe with a visiting alien that is a distant cousin of the mother in the family.

"I think it's the first mainstream comedy on CBC with a Black family at the lead and that's huge," said showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell, a Black writer, actor and comedian who's been trying to add more diversity to Canadian comedies for several years.

Given that Diggstown is the first Canadian TV drama with a Black female lead, something that the U.S. did with Julia with Diahann Carroll in 1968.

Nicholas Campbell, Wendy Mesley, and others: Just stop using the n-word

Coroner ended its Season 3 run on the CW last month. Lots of changes along the way. Tamara Podemski left the show, which was a shame. The on-show friendship between the Serinda Swan primary character and Podemski's character will be greatly missed. We were a bit amused when Tamara's sister Sarah made a few appearances in Season 3 just after Tamara left the show.

We saw Jennifer Dale as someone from Jenny Cooper's past and a nice appearance from Charlotte Sullivan in the final 2 episodes.

The Nicholas Campbell situation is still under investigation. We won't know until Season 4 as to how much Campbell filmed before word of him using a racial slur on a movie shoot.

Season 4 will start airing in January 2022 on CBC and CBC Gem. The show has been running in the United States on the CW.

TONIGHT! 9pm on @CBCComedy or watch it now on @cbcgem! @eOne_TV #moonshineseries pic.twitter.com/48qdJfq65O

— Moonshine (@moonshineseries) November 2, 2021

Sort Of moving in meant that Moonshine ended its Season 1 run. Your humble narrator saw the pilot for Moonshine. Very different than what we used to seeing on CBC. A soap opera of sorts with comedic elements.

We noted the unusual state of having an 1-hour long show on the traditional comedy lineup on Tuesday nights. There will be a Season 2 and Allan Hawco (Republic of Doyle) will join the cast.

Speaking of Tuesday nights, I tried watching Strays. Can't say the pilot did much. The idea was that the Shannon from Kim's Convenience would be a similar Shannon on Strays. The confident, fun-loving person on the former sitcom lost a lot in translation going from Toronto to Hamilton.

The feel was almost like a documentary, where you wouldn't laugh.

If you are a fan of Kim's Convenience, you aren't missing a thing with Strays. Others have been kinder to the show.

The Season 1 finale airs next Tuesday on CBC.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

Ovation is 6 episodes into the 10 episodes of Season 4 of Frankie Drake Mysteries. The CBC show was abruptly cancelled without a chance to end on its own terms.

Like Kim's Convenience, we have to appreciate knowing this is the end, whether we like this as fans (we don't) or not. Frankie Drake Mysteries deserved to go out on its own terms.

Canadians can watch both shows on CBC Gem.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

The big 4 Canadian TV shows that made its way south during the COVID-19 pandemic: Coroner, Trickster, Transplant, and Nurses.

We noted the CBC entries Coroner earlier in the article and the Trickster story was great before the Michelle Latimer controversy. CBC had greenlit the show for Season 2.

We are expecting Transplant on CTV and NBC in winter 2022. We will be curious as to whether they will run close together. CTV simsubbed the NBC run of Season 1 for awhile before switching that simsub to CTV2.

Season 2 of Nurses ran on Global in Canada this past summer. While we think Transplant is better, Nurses might be a better fit for the U.S. audience expectations. We have not heard up or down about whether NBC will pick up Season 2 of Nurses.

video and photo credit: Sort Of/CBC
Twitter capture: @moonshineseries