Final Season Cold Open.
— Letterkenny Problems (@LetterkennyProb) November 27, 2023
You can stream the final season of Letterkenny on @CraveCanada December 25th and on @hulu December 26th if you want to.
From @newmetricmedia. pic.twitter.com/hEJUzia4wB
Season 12 of Letterkenny might be the best present you get or the only present you receive. That said, this is the last time you will be able to unwrap a season of the Canadian television, well, let's call it, a classic. This is the final season. Details, very limited ones, are available. If you read the press release, ask if your fellow fans want to know before telling them. Good to be polite.
Same rules apply as in the last few years: Christmas Day on Crave in Canada and Boxing Day on Hulu in the United States.
Finished Shoresy Season 2. The final 2 episodes were way better than the first 4 episodes. Hopefully, Season 3, which is coming, has more Laurence Leboeuf.
There is a new "multi-year creative partnership" with Crave and New Metric Media. "The deal encompasses 49 new episodes for Crave, including LETTERKENNY spin-offs, and the development of all-new series with multi-hyphenate talent, Jared Keeso."
We love the idea of a Bonnie McMurray (Kamilla Kowal) spinoff. Our, well, unusual idea has Katy (Michelle Mylett) in a spinoff with Mylett's (Jamie) co-stars from Four in the Morning: Daniel Maslany (Bondurant), Lola Tash (Mitzi), and Mazin Elsadig (William) and Michelle Mylett as Jamie. We can get that series' creator Ira Parker involved. Mylett starred in that comedy just before Letterkenny.
Four in the Morning would benefit Canadian television with a Netflix boost
BREAKING: The CBC is cutting 10 percent of its workforce. 200 jobs that are vacant will not be filled. 600 other jobs will be cut. Cuts are coming to staff & to programming in English & French. The Corporation will need to find $125 million in cost savings for 2024/2025.
— Tom Harrington (@cbctom) December 4, 2023
Bad enough that the CBC is undergoing significant cuts, especially around the holidays. The idea that executives would still get bonuses in light of the cuts or that those bonuses are tied to those cuts is truly terrible. Adrienne Arsenault's interview of Catherine Tait on The National is vital watching.
CBC resorting to an American show (Animal Control) in a key timeslot in its fall schedule happened before the cuts so we don't want to imagine how much worse things can get for the public broadcaster.
The fact that the cuts will also hit French language programming is also horrible.
Our original plan was to run this segment (below) from This Hour Has 22 Minutes on the opposition leader Pierre Poilievre's hypocrisy on the CBC. The CBC needs to be strong as it can be (if that means fewer executives, so be it) in case Poilievre becomes prime minister.
Canadian content means Canadian jobs. Someone should explain that to the Poilievre, the federal opposition leader.
Some thoughts on CBC a news, Pierre and defunding the CBC https://t.co/MLAaNtq0Lv
— Mark Critch (@markcritch) November 10, 2023
Pierre Poilievre also wants to defund the CBC
If aliens ever came to visit Earth, they would question why humans consider physical health and the health of their teeth to be separate entities. "Aren't your teeth part of your body?"
Few Americans seem to have dental insurance. The ones that do find dental insurance doesn't do all that much. Canada is slowly introducing a dental program for its citizens. Very slowly.
While Justin Trudeau could take credit for this improvement, the true leader in this is Jagmeet Singh, the NDP leader. The threat of taking down the government might have been theoretical, yet arms were twisted to get this going.
The one thing I've learned about Canadian politics is that more gets done with a Liberal minority government where the NDP is the difference. This is also how Canada got a single-payer health care system.
This is yet, when the program gets fully implemented, another way Canada will be better than the United States.
🚨The inaugural PWHL game will take place New Year's Day in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/8pnx2TAagn
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) November 28, 2023
We applaud the debut of the new Professional Women's Hockey League. We have cities yet not nicknames. The league is very eastern focused with Minnesota being the outlier.
We have heard bits and pieces about TV, all on the Canadian side. We will update when we find out more. The action gets underway on January 1.
Given the violent nature of men's hockey, watching women's hockey may be better for my blood pressure.
TSN and the NHL Network have the 2024 World Juniors from Gothenburg, Sweden starting on Boxing Day. The Scandinavium and Frölundaborg arenas are in play in Gothenburg. The gold medal game is on January 5, 2024. Canada has won the last 2 titles.
Rojek misses the Oscars shortlist cut for Best International Feature Film
TIFF selects Top 10 Canadian films of 2023
Canadian film case study: What Walaa Wants
CanadianCrossing.com film coverage
Rojek somehow missed the Oscars shortlist for the Best International Feature Film. Seriously, Telefilm Canada might as well nominate a film that is visibly Canadian that may not win over a film that people will struggle to find or watch if they can find the film.
Odd that the Oscars nominee didn't make the TIFF Top Ten list of 2023 Canadian films. That is a bit sarcastic. Only 2 films in the last 7 years have been the Academy Awards nominee and made the TIFF list: Antigone (2019) and Drunken Birds | Les Oiseaux ivres (2021). There is a difference between Telefilm Canada and TIFF.
Shockingly, To Kill a Tiger made the shortlist for Best Documentary Feature over a year after playing at TIFF. Canadians can (hopefully) access the film via the National Film Board of Canada. Your humble narrator tried accessing the film in November and that wasn't an option. Perhaps making the shortlist can increase the chances of those outside Canada watching the film.
We try reasonably hard for someone in our position to see as many from the TIFF Top 10 list that I can. Booking a trip to the Bell Lightbox (which might get a new name in 2024) in Toronto January 25-28 would be easier. We've seen 6 from the 2023 list and have 6 more to see from the 2020-2022 lists.
We have finally seen every film from the 2017, 2018, and 2019 lists. The final one we saw from 2018 was What Walaa Wants.
The lists are mostly good films. Allure (2017) is a great example on how not to make a film where Adventures in Public School (2017) is a well-woven film.
You might be able to find some of TIFF's best films from recent years and eventually catch up on the 2023 list.
CanadianCrossing.com music coverage
Chad Allan (Guess Who) and Myles Goodwyn (April Wine) recently passed away.
Allan was 80. He was a founding member of what was the Guess Who out of Chad Allan and the Reflections (later Expressions). Allan sang a cover of Shakin' All Over that got a boost when a promo copy of the single went to radio stations with "Guess Who?". Burton Cummings, who eventually became the lead singer, joined the band in 1965. Allan left the band in early 1966.
Goodwyn was the lead singer for April Wine and had recently left the band. He was 75. Just Between You and Me is one of those songs that is in my sweet spot. For years, I didn't know April Wine was Canadian. I liked them because they were good.
We didn't write about Matthew Perry when he died. Not everyone gets an obituary. Sorry. Perry seemed like a really interesting person outside of Chandler. He will be missed. RIP.
On Christmas Eve (sometimes New Year's Eve), in many French-speaking areas of Canada, Réveillon is celebrated!
— Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx (@CraigBaird) December 5, 2023
This celebration dates back to the 1700s, so let's learn more about it!
Réveillon was first documented in the 1700s in France. Back then, it was a night-long dinner… pic.twitter.com/xi2owYix8C
I know nothing about Réveillon yet definitely enjoy a tourtière (meat pie). Je ne parle pas Francaise bien. I do try to incorporate the French-Canadian approach when possible. Happy Réveillon to those who celebrate.
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
We are running what we know about the CBC winter 2024 schedule over the holidays. No obvious over-the-top American shows airing on the winter schedule as far as we know. CBC has decided to air Season 3 of Best in Miniature next week from December 26-29. If that is your jam, you are in good fortune. The show will also stream on CBC Gem.
We got last-minute news that Hulu is picking up Run the Burbs. The program had been dropped by the CW after Season 2, Episode 3. The first 2 seasons are set to be on Hulu on New Year’s Eve. A beautiful present.
The fine folks at CanadianCrossing.com are taking a holiday break. The CBC winter schedule preview runs on December 29 while the NHL January month in preview runs on January 1. The year to come in travel and politics will run that first full week in January. Breaking news will run as needed, such as if a famous director passes away over the holidays. Schedules are subject to change. We have a lot of archive material to read over the holidays, including many film reviews.
Twitter captures: @LetterkennyProb; @cbctom; @markcritch; @TSN_Sports; @CraigBaird
photo credits: Four in the Morning; Professional Women's Hockey League
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