The television landscape looks very different for the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations for Canadian television. Lots of old favourites are gone, opening up new opportunities for rising Canadian TV shows.
The Porter got 19 nominations, best among Canadian TV shows. Sort Of received 15 nominations and Pretty Hard Cases had 11 nominations.
The CTV show Children Ruin Everything has a few major nominations on the comedy side as does Run the Burbs on CBC. Son of a Critch is surprisingly absent in these categories, especially Best Comedy Series. Strays is not on the list but Fakes somehow is.
Meredith MacNeill (Pretty Hard Cases) and Dani Kind (Workin' Moms) are 2 of the few repeat nominees for the same show. Andrew Phung received an acting nomination for his new show. Somehow Hudson & Rex has 2 of the lead role nominees on the drama side.
The gender-neutral acting awards mean that Bilal Baig got a very justifiable nomination for Best Lead Performer, Comedy. While the film roles are split in half by primary gender, only 4 of the 16 comedy acting nominations are for identifiable males. as a contrast, 10 of the 16 supporting acting nominations went to identifiable males.
One of those identifiable males is the late Christopher Plummer, up for Departure.
Jonathan Torrens wins our versatile Canadian actor award for guest performance nominations in comedy (Letterkenny) and drama (Moonshine).
Usually, foreign actors tend to have more of a force on the film side. Malcolm McDowell (Son of a Critch) and Alfre Woodward (The Porter) are up for Canadian Screen Awards. Absolute acting legends, even if they are not from Canada.
Comedy
Best Comedy Series
Astrid & Lilly Save the World (CTV Sci-Fi Channel)
Children Ruin Everything (CTV)
Fakes (CBC Gem)
Letterkenny (Crave)
Sort Of (CBC)
Best Lead Performer, Comedy
Meaghan Rath Children Ruin Everything
Meredith MacNeill Pretty Hard Cases
Adrienne C. Moore Pretty Hard Cases
Rakhee Morzaria Run The Burbs
Andrew Phung Run The Burbs
Bilal Baig Sort Of
Dani Kind Workin' Moms
Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms
Best Supporting Performer, Comedy
Ennis Esmer Children Ruin Everything
Tricia Black Pretty Hard Cases
Al Mukadam Pretty Hard Cases
Karen Robinson Pretty Hard Cases
Malcolm McDowell Son Of A Critch
Amanda Cordner Sort Of
Sarah McVie Workin' Moms
Enuka Okuma Workin' Moms
Best Guest Performance, Comedy
Anna Hopkins Letterkenny
Jonathan Torrens Letterkenny
Kardinal Offishall Run The Burbs
Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll Son Of A Critch
Amanda Brugel Sort Of
Amanda Brugel, who is a Canadian acting gem, is a repeat nominee for this last category switching from Pretty Hard Cases to Sort Of. Brugel, as 7ven's mother, was amazing in that role. Another fun nod in this category to Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll for Son Of A Critch. You might remember him as a frequent customer on Kim's Convenience. Making the audience love you and sometimes cringe is a difficult task for an actor and he pulled that off well.
Drama
Best Drama Series
Departure (Global)
Moonshine (CBC)
The Porter (CBC)
SkyMed (CBC)
Transplant (CTV)
Best Lead Performer, Drama Series
Mayko Nguyen Hudson & Rex
John Reardon Hudson & Rex
Jennifer Finnigan Moonshine
Aml Ameen The Porter
Ronnie Rowe Jr. The Porter
Mouna Traoré The Porter
Hamza Haq Transplant
Laurence Leboeuf Transplant
Best Supporting Performer, Drama
Thom Allison Coroner
Andy McQueen Coroner
Wendy Crewson Departure
Karen LeBlanc Departure
Christopher Plummer Departure
Dwain Murphy Diggstown
Kevin Hanchard Hudson & Rex
Daniel Maslany Murdoch Mysteries
Best Guest Performance, Drama Series
Jo Vannicola Diggstown
Natalie Brown Hudson & Rex
Allan Hawco Moonshine
Jonathan Torrens Moonshine
Alfre Woodard The Porter
Between Coroner, The Porter, and Departure, there will be a lot of upheaval for the 2024 version. Wendy Crewson was up for guest performance last year for Frankie Drake Mysteries and is up for a supporting role in Departure.
Hamza Haq and Laurence Leboeuf from Transplant won the lead drama awards last year but only one of them, or someone else, can win this year.
Interesting to see a summer show such as SkyMed make the cut for best drama series.
Somehow not a single Podemski sister was up for an acting award.
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CBC will carry the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards on April 16 at the Meridian Hall in Toronto. The telecast concludes a week of awards presentations.
Overview Canadian television Canadian film
photo credits: The Porter; Run the Burbs
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