Canadian Crossing

2024 CBC television upfront preview

We have the new and returning CBC shows for the 2024-2025 season. Let's see what we have in store.

Murdoch Mysteries (Season 18), This Hour Has 22 Minutes (Season 32), The Fifth Estate (Season 50), and Marketplace (Season 52) run in the fall and winter.

we’re on set filming for Netflix’s North of North comedy series pic.twitter.com/sizRcuRWht

— ulaaquti (@ulaaquti) April 2, 2024

Comedy

CBC needs a lot more comedies to fill holes taken by U.S. and British television shows as well as cancellations, such as Run the Burbs and One More Time.

North of North and Small Achievable Goals air in Winter 2025. Snotty Nose Rez Kids has a 2025 date without specifics.

North of North stars Anna Lambe as a young Inuk mother "who wants to build a new future for herself. After a spontaneous — and extremely public — exit from her marriage, Siaja has to find a job and a place for her and her young daughter to live, and fast. Her only option might be to go from one complicated living situation to another — where Siaja's dreams of a fresh start collide with some long-kept secrets."

Small Achievable Goals brings back Baroness von Sketch Show veterans Jennifer Whalen and Meredith MacNeill. They are somehow forced to work together on a podcast and discover "they are both undergoing “The Change” – aka menopause." Whalen and MacNeill co-created the show.

Snotty Nose Rez Kids is based off of the Indigenous hip hop group of the same name. Quinton and Darren move "from their remote Haisla Nation to the big city of Vancouver to chase their hip hop dreams." Jennifer Podemski is the showrunner.

That sounds really encouraging for the Tuesday (likely) winter schedule along with the return of Son of a Critch (Season 4).

The only other comedy for fall is Season 2 of You're My Hero, a Web series that ran on CBC Gem.

The other comedies mentioned in the release are comedy festivals from Halifax and Winnipeg (both in 2025) as well as The New Wave Of Standup (2025).

CBC should grab Shelved if CTV cancelled that show

Loss of 'Run the Burbs' a death knell for Canadian TV (Toronto Star)

Canadian TV notebook: Run the Burbs done after 3 seasons

2023 CBC television upfront preview

Drama

We only get a single truly new drama.

Saint-Pierre combines Allan Hawco and French star Josephine Jobert investigating crimes on Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, the French islands just south of Newfoundland. This is all I need to know to sign up for this. The show airs in Winter 2025.

Plan B returns late in the summer with new characters than we had in Season 1. Vinessa Antoine is back as a Montreal police officer "who uses the mysterious agency to alter the outcome of crimes."

The fall schedule features a return for Heartland (Season 18). The winter schedule has returning dramas Allegiance (Season 2), SkyMed (Season 3), and Wild Cards (Season 2). The U.S. audience will see the latter show on The CW in Winter 2025.

Moonshine went from fall (Season 2) to summer for Season 3. The press release does not mention the show. The 3 seasons are available on CBC Gem in Canada. Season 2 is now available on The CW Web site in the United States.

CBC unveils 2024-25 programming slate featuring over 40 original series and specials from Canadian storytellers https://t.co/xCQp5YqfD3

— TV, eh? (@tv_eh) May 23, 2024

Other

We have a single new entry, once again in Winter 2025. Locals Welcome, from food writer and expert Suresh Doss, "is a celebration of the lesser-known food places that make up the fabric of our rich communities."

Dragons' Den (Season 19), The Great Canadian Baking Show (Season 8), Still Standing (Season 10), and The Passionate Eye (Season 10) are back in the fall. No mention of Best In Miniature.

The Nature of Things (Season 64) along with Season 3 of Bollywed and Stuff The British Stole return this winter. No mention of Push or The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down.

Canada's Ultimate Challenge and Race for the Tide have been running on Sunday nights during the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Hockey fans aren't happy; we are confused, though the CBC makes money off those shows where they make no money on hockey (Thanks, Rogers).

2024 CBC television winter preview

Canadian TV notebook: CBC Gem only place to watch Sort Of in 2023

2023 CBC television fall preview

Much of the schedule that just ended were designed to be seat fillers, though Canadian seat fillers, such as Blackberry and Bones of Crows. To the best of our knowledge, CBC television still hasn't aired Sort Of (Season 3), though that show is available on CBC Gem.

We fear that the same Fox show that ran in the heralded Tuesday night 9 pm timeslot will be back on CBC. Beyond ridiculous for the public broadcaster to resort to this. The new shows all sounds promising but they aren't enough to fill a 13-hour schedule (2 hours M-F and 3 hours on Sunday).

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

CBC could show reruns of The Beachcombers and King of Kensington and draw amazing ratings. They could also draft more CBC Gem series and bump them up to CBC.

Random cancellations such as Run the Burbs, Tallboyz, and Frankie Drake Mysteries are met with holes filled by non-Canadian and definitely not creative programming. This feels a bit like the Toronto Blue Jays not signing Matt Chapman and not having anyone in the minors to play at 3rd base.

Plan B starts August 11, just after the Olympic Games Paris 2024 coverage (July 26-August 11). (The Paralympic Games Paris 2024 coverage runs from August 28-September 8.)

We criticize the private networks for not airing enough distinct Canadian TV shows. The CBC should be doing better for all Canadians.

Speaking of the private networks — CTV, Global, Citytv — we will cover their upfronts, hopefully on June 7.

photo credit: Saint-Pierre/CBC
Twitter captures: @ulaaquti; @tv_eh

2024 Victoria Day notebook: Vancouver, Edmonton meet tonight for Game 7

Welcome to Victoria Day 2024. Hope our Canadian readers are getting to enjoy a well deserved holiday long weekend.

The second round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs series with the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks ends tonight at 9 pm Eastern/6 pm Pacific at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. CBC and Rogers Sportsnet have the game in Canada while American viewers get a less than stellar play by play person on ESPN.

The winner faces Dallas for the Campbell Conference final starting Thursday. Our series ending story runs tomorrow.

2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard

2024 Stanley Cup notebook: Vancouver plays Edmonton in the second round

Today we say goodbye to #AliceMunro, a Canadian icon whose legacy lives on within our walls.

Along with readers around the world, we send our deepest condolences to the Munro family.

A full tribute can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages. pic.twitter.com/Kq4UQvVjn3

— Munro's Books (@MunrosBooks) May 14, 2024

I had recently acquired a collection of Alice Munro short stories. I was curious particularly about The Bear Who Came Down a Mountain, the Alice Munro short story that Sarah Polley adapted for her directorial debut Away From Her. Polley received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and Julie Christie got a Best Actress nomination.

The casting fit the characters in the short story. Polley had worked with Julie Christie on No Such Thing (2001) and The Secret Life of Words (2005). Gordon Pinsent was wonderful as Grant, the husband left behind as Fiona goes into a home.

Made me think of Kristen Thomson, who played nurse Kristy in Away From Her and how good she was in that part. Polley cast Thomson in the short film I Shout Love (2001). You might also recognize Thomson from her role as Noelle Dyson on Cardinal and an appearance on a recent episode of Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent as an intense billet mom for a young hockey player.

Speaking of Victoria, the city has a wonderful downtown bookstore called Munro Books at 1108 Government Street. Munro and her first husband James opened Munro Books in 1963. The couple divorced in 1972.

The acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar adapted 3 of Munro's short stories — Chance, Silence, and Soon — into Julieta (2016). Other film adaptations of Munro's short stories include Martha, Ruth and Edie (1988), Edge of Madness (2002), and Hateship, Loveship (2013).

Alice Munro was 92.

TSN is mourning the loss of our friend and beloved SportsCentre host Darren Dutchyshen. pic.twitter.com/Mb7m1IzCCY

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 16, 2024

Darren Dutchyshen was a very well-loved TSN sportscaster. The accolades following his demise from fellow TSN people as well as competitors from CBC and Rogers Sportsnet showed us Dutch was a good human being besides being a top flight sportscaster.

Dutchyshen had dealt with prostate cancer and had been off the air since around Christmas. He was 57. Proof that cancer sucks.

British Columbia fine tunes decriminalizing drug policy

CBC should grab Shelved if CTV cancelled that show

We include some in-depth stories in our Victoria Day notebook. Hard drugs and Canadian television don't normally mix. Canadian storytelling is crucial as is dealing with the opioids crisis.

We are working on a story about the boycott of the many grocery store chains owned by Loblaws. Hope to get that story up this week here and on our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com.

Some stories are worth reading past a 3 minute minimum.

2024 Canadian Screen Award nominations

2024 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Film

2024 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

We still care about the Canadian Screen Awards even if we have serious doubt that the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television cares. The unexpected delay means the week honouring Canadian television and Canadian film will finally run next week. The May 31 ceremony on CBC means the public broadcaster will not carry Game 5 of the Vancouver or Edmonton series against Dallas.

We might get the CBC upfront this week. Maybe. 

We don't report on the Canadians on U.S. television because the universe is stronger than we are capable of reporting. We do want to note that Fox has a new medical drama series called Doc, starring Molly Parker. Parker plays Dr. Amy Elias, a Minneapolis surgeon who suffers a brain injury that erases the last 8 years of her life.

The U.S. network also acquired the U.S. rights to Murder in a Small Town with Canadian leads Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk, based on the 9-book Karl Alberg novel series by Canadian author L.R. Wright. The show will be shot on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.

Only White Sox have scored fewer runs than Jays. Ross Atkins says Jays hitters are working advantage counts & better results are ahead.

“We do believe in we do believe in the changes and adjustments (we’ve made) & feel like we have the time and the talent for that to correct.”

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) May 18, 2024

The Toronto Blue Jays will be on the MLB Network hosting the Chicago White Sox on Victoria Day. Game time is 3:07 pm. MLB Network will carry the Rogers Sportsnet feed unless you live in the Chicago area (d'oh). The teams will also meet in Chicago next week.

This has the potential of scoreless ties through 9 innings between the 2 teams. Blue Jays fans seem slightly encouraged on Saturday when Davis Schneider replaced George Springer in the leadoff spot.

The Blue Jays are weak on offence and not exciting to watch. While Toronto did score 3 runs on Friday, Tampa's Tyler Alexander (who?) was perfect through 7 1/3 innings.

The next 10 days has the potential to go better. Otherwise, the Blue Jays may be sellers at the end of July.

2024 Toronto Blue Jays preview

2024 CFL preseason schedule

The CFL preseason starts today with Winnipeg at Saskatchewan. The non-TSN games are on CFL+, home of the games in the United States.

Want to emphasize the positive and not think about Chad Kelly or Shawn Lemon.

Our season preview runs June 5.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

You might celebrate Victoria Day with a barbecue or watching a sports event. You might be an introvert and you celebrate by watching a Canadian film. We have film reviews and coverage. 

photo credits: NHL; Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television; CFL
Twitter captures: @MunrosBooks; @TSN_Sports; @bnicholsonsmith

CBC should grab Shelved if CTV cancelled that show

Editor's note: This is no longer a matter of "if" since CTV has cancelled Shelved. This would still be a great pickup by CBC.

American TV has a lot of shows that have aired on more than one network. Brooklyn Nine-Nine ran 5 seasons on Fox and 3 on NBC. Taxi had most of its run on ABC but finished on NBC.

Murdoch Mysteries started out on Citytv and ran for 5 seasons. CBC picked up the program and has aired it since January 2013.

CBC and Citytv had a production deal in 2015 where the CBC ran Young Drunk Punk reruns while Citytv ran Mr. D reruns. The shows originally appeared on the other network.

Ann Pornel wrote a recent column in the Toronto Star on how Canadian TV is falling short of diversity with the Run the Burbs cancellation. Pornel noted in the article that One More Time (CBC) and Shelved (CTV) were cancelled after a single season. This was news to a lot of people, including your humble narrator.

CBC has had a dearth of comedies of late. The home of Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience, and Workin' Moms hasn't replenished that comedy supply. Having to resort to mediocre American comedies (Animal Control) in key time slots. We know CBC is down one comedy with the cancellation of Run the Burbs and likely another if One More Time isn't returning.

We agree with Pornel about having more comedies that reflect underappreciated segments of Canadian society. We also love Shelved and that show deserves more of a life.

Loss of 'Run the Burbs' a death knell for Canadian TV (Toronto Star)

Canadian TV notebook: Workin' Moms final season is on Netflix

We first wrote about Shelved about a year ago after its first season run on CTV. We watched a few episodes while on Canadian soil in November. Loved this show. One of those shows Americans would love if they knew this existed.

Anthony Q. Farrell created this series. Farrell wrote for The Office, worked as an executive story editor for Little Mosque on the Prairie, wrote for The Thundermans on Nickleodeon, and co-created the CBC Gem show Overlord and the Underwoods.

Shelved takes place at Jameson Branch, a not-so-great branch in the Parkdale neighbourhood in the Toronto public library system. Lyndie Greenwood, Paul Braunstein, Dakota Ray Hebert, and Chris Sandiford are the leads in the show.

Robin Duke plays an unhoused recurring character. The drag queen storytime episode felt ripped from the headlines in Canada and the United States.

Comparison points would be shows such as Abbott Elementary and Parks and Recreation.

If CTV and Bell Media let go of the show, CBC would still be a winner in showing Season 1 of Shelved before producing and airing new episodes in the near future.

We thought the Young Drunk Punk and Mr. D relationship was a bit odd and that Young Drunk Punk deserved a second season. If that is what works for Canadian television, better than ditching good shows too soon. CTV could even run repeats of One More Time or even pick up more seasons of Run the Burbs. Even if CTV does renew Shelved, the network could make a financial deal with CBC to show Season 1 reruns this fall instead of more Animal Control. 

And yes, this is an open letter to the CW to pick up Shelved if that money helps out more seasons of this Canadian show.

Ann Pornel in @TorontoStar on “Run the Burbs” cancellation and the sorry state of current Canadian tv. Didn’t realize that “Shelved” and “One More Time” were also axed. Sucks all round. https://t.co/2nELfB3BNe

— Glenn Sumi (@glennsumi) May 8, 2024

Canadians have proven for decades that comedy runs through its veins. Canadians are funny, especially when given a proper chance to show off their talents. Dramas are easier to produce and get noticed in the TV landscape of late. The CBC Tuesday night comedy lineup was a dynamite collection of comedy. These days, the holes in that lineup are large enough to fit mice.

Canadian television can't afford to randomly throw away comedy gold in shows such as Shelved. Would be like throwing away steak or truffles for a starving person. There is a lot of potential in that show. CTV has every right to be foolish and throw out Shelved and CBC has every right to bring that show to the public broadcaster.

Canadians can watch Season 1 (for now) of Shelved on CTV.ca.

Canadian TV notebook: Run the Burbs done after 3 seasons

Four in the Morning would benefit Canadian television with a Netflix boost

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We noted at the beginning of the month that the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) overwhelmingly (96.5%) voted for an authorizing strike action against the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). Good news. The sides have reached a new agreement.

video and photo credit: Shelved/Bell Media
Twitter capture: @glennsumi

2024 Stanley Cup notebook: Vancouver plays Edmonton in the second round

This team.#AllTogether. All In. pic.twitter.com/JBYPXO0WpT

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) May 4, 2024

Edmonton beat Los Angeles for the 3rd straight year in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers won in 7 (2022), 6 (2023), and now 5 (2024).

Edmonton was 9-20 on the power play while Los Angeles went 0-12, not factoring in 2 goals in Game 5 just after the power play expired. The Oilers depth showed up in the opening round and Edmonton will need that through the spring.

The Oilers had lost 10 straight Game 1s in a series before winning Game 1 against Los Angeles.

The only thing more shocking than the Canucks comeback win is that Sportsnet took this long to give John Shorthouse a playoff series to call. His energy and keeping his breath is just masterful: pic.twitter.com/X3OU3yzPOZ

— Logan (@CanuckSkate) April 29, 2024

Vancouver's amazing comeback in Nashville for Game 4, featuring Brock Boeser with a natural hat trick. The U.S. announcers downplayed this rather remarkable effort. The Canucks won Game 3 with only 12 shots on goal.

The Canucks have had a bizarre pattern of injured goalies in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Thatcher Demko (2024) was the latest, being week to week. Demko joins Jacob Markstrom (2020), Ryan Miller (2015), and Cory Schneider (2013) on an atypical list.

Demko, Casey DeSmith (Games 2-4), and Arturs Silovs (Games 5-6) were the starters in the opening round. The image of JT Miller wearing Nikita Zadorov's unusual dress shirt in practice was the spark this team needed to win the series over Nashvillle in 6 games.

The Winnipeg Jets were known for their crafty defence, the kind of play suited for playoff hockey. Winnipeg gave up 6 goals in the Jets only win of the series against Colorado. They were without Cole Perfetti for the first 4 games and lost Brenden Dillon after Game 3.

While the Jets allowed 5 or more goals in every game, Winnipeg allowed 5 or more goals just 7 times in the regular season.

"You're probably not going to believe when I say I was playing some of the best hockey of my career, but that's truly how I was feeling," goaltender Connor Hellebuyck said on Thursday.

Regular season is not the playoffs but difficult to see a team go 3-0 in the regular season and 1-4 in the playoffs. Winnipeg is the only modern Canadian team to never get to a Stanley Cup final.

Winnipeg will be looking for a new coach since Rick Bowness announced his retirement today.

Goals through 3 games of 2024 playoffs:

Zach Hyman - 6
Maple Leafs - 6

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) April 27, 2024

The Leafs finished 2nd in scoring in the regular season…but did not score more than 3 goals in any game this series.

They haven’t scored more than 3 in 14 straight playoff games. Scoring 2 or fewer in 13 of those 14. #PlayoffHockey

— Tim Micallef (@tim_micallef) May 5, 2024

The pressure of a Game 7 that goes to overtime is that fate is tied into a random goal. William Nylander missed the first 3 games with bad migraines while Auston Matthews struggled physically at the end of the series.

The Maple Leafs were 1-for-15 on the power play in the first 4 games when Toronto went down 3-1. The team snapped a 6-game home playoff losing streak in Game 6. Close, but close does not count.

Scoring more goals in the playoffs would have meant the series didn't need to go 7. Having balanced referee work would have meant the series definitely would have been over before 7.

Last season was perhaps a fluke with an actual first-round series win in the last 8 years of making the playoffs.

2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs scoreboard

2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs preview for Canadian teams

For the first time since the Battle of Alberta in the 2022 playoffs, there is an all-Canadian matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The top 2 seeds in the "Smythe" Division meet in the second round.

Edmonton and Vancouver have played each other twice in the NHL playoffs. The Oilers swept the Canucks 3-0 in the Smythe Division semifinals in 1986 and won the Smythe Division finals 4-2 in 1992.

Vancouver went 4-0 against Edmonton in the regular season.

October 11 @ Vancouver 8, Edmonton 1
October 14 Vancouver 4, @ Edmonton 3
November 6 @ Vancouver 6, Edmonton 2
April 13 Vancouver 3, @ Edmonton 1

Rogers Sportsnet has a preview of this second round series. Thatcher Demko could return for Vancouver in this series. All we ask is that the winner of this series win the Stanley Cup.

The winner of this series will play the Colorado-Dallas winner for the Campbell/Western Conference title. The winning team will automatically win our award for the best Canadian NHL team of 2023-2024.

AJ Mlezcko, whom we genuinely like, worked Game 1 in Vancouver. Mlezcko kept referring to Dakota Joshua as "Dakota Johnson." She got reassigned to the Winnipeg series with John Buccigross, her regular ESPN partner. Mistakes happen but when ESPN covered its first Vancouver home game (and second overall) in the final days of this regular season, you might need more practice to cover the Vancouver Canucks in the postseason.

This is not on John Buccigross but his bosses put him on a Winnipeg-Bristol (CT)-Winnipeg travel schedule. This meant Buccigross didn't spend much time in Winnipeg. ESPN has never covered a regular season game in the modern contract from the Manitoba capital. Would have been good will for ESPN to keep someone from Game 1 in Winnipeg around for Game 2.

Cassie Campbell-Pascall covered Game 1 in Winnipeg before switching to Vancouver for Game 2 with Mike Monaco, her typical ESPN partner. Glad to see Campbell-Pascall on games in Canada.

Leah Hextall (above) was added for Game 2 in Winnipeg. Hextall told the original story of the Winnipeg Whiteout from 1987 while standing outside in the middle of the street crowd. She actually said an S-word that the NHL doesn't normally want people to say: Smythe. Hextall mentioned the Smythe Division. The NHL (Gary Bettman) frowned on the historical names for the divisions, so we mention them whenever possible.

Hextall noted in the report that she is a "proud Manitobian." Even if she was on Game 2 just for that, good on ESPN. Come up to Manitoba during the regular season. Still a great hockey city.

The Adam Lowry goal wasn't called that way in Game 1 in Winnipeg. Let's see how the coverage went down. Garry Galley got the Adam Lowry goal correct from the start and with confidence. Galley and John Bartlett have great chemistry and Bartlett let him go wild with the explanation. On ESPN, Buccigross was clear that he didn't think the goal went into the net. Cassie Campbell-Pascall was hesitant, perhaps not wanting to get in his way. Dave Jackson, the rules guy, wasn't terribly helpful but had doubts on whether the goal was good.

They didn't give a mea culpa after the referees announced a good goal. Good on Galley to know right away what was happening.

For the second time during this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, Steve Mears and Colby Armstrong are calling tonight’s Predators-Canucks game from the studio in Atlanta.

Previously, the pair called Game 2 of the Kings-Oilers in the studio as well.

— Braylon Breeze | NHL Zone (@Zone_NHL) May 1, 2024

Turner (TNT/TBS) filled its lineup with retreads from other teams, which is why the San Jose announcers called the Oilers series in Los Angeles. The Turner curveball was Pittsburgh announcers for Game 2 in Edmonton. Colby Armstrong is better in the studio than on game coverage but is enthusiastic and could teach Brian Boucher a few things. Steve Mears, who was demoted from TV to radio in Pittsburgh this past season, is more boring than toasted Wonder bread. To paraphrase Donald Sutherland (Canadian) in Animal House, even Mrs. Mears found him boring.

As if that wasn't bad enough, Mears and Armstrong weren't even in Edmonton or Canada. More like Atlanta.

Meaghan Mikkelson, who finished her first season as the colour analyst on Calgary Flames radio, served as the on-ice reporter on TBS live from Edmonton. Here is hoping Turner uses Mikkelson more, especially on Canadian soil.

Turner repeated this pattern for Game 5 in Vancouver with Mears and Armstrong not in Canada with a Canadian (Nabil Karim) at Rogers Arena. Turner is only doing this for games in Canada. Their travel expenses are cheaper in Canada because of the exchange rate yet they only pull these shenanigans in Canada.

Rick Ball and John Garrett would have been perfect for Game 2 in Edmonton and Game 5 in Vancouver.

John Forslund and Eddie Olczyk worked with Shane Hnidy for Game 3 in Denver yet Brian Boucher (boo) was there in place of Hnidy for Game 4. Steve Mears was utilized as a ice-level reporter. What the bleep?

Turns out this was more about logistics since Forslund and Olczyk were covering another series and barely made it to Denver for the start. The idea of Mears and Boucher as the backups is worse than a lot of actual nightmares.

Why did Shane Hnidy, who was at the same place where Forslund and Olczyk were, not come back to Denver? Flights from Denver to Las Vegas have to be fairly frequent. Hnidy used to cover the Jets for TSN3 though that feels like a long time ago.

NBC had a better backup plan in 2018 with Gord Miller going from Tampa via Chicago to St. Paul for Game 3 of the Winnipeg series. That was a trip for the record books. For those who often hate Twitter, Miller's tweets that day made for a travel log that Rick Steves would have endorsed. The fact that Joe Micheletti didn't get there until just about tip off adds to that story. Pat Micheletti, brother of Joe, was the backup plan and stayed to be part of the broadcast.

ESPN and TNT: this was one of the best teams the U.S. has used in a NHL playoff game.

Game 7 for the Maple Leafs was the second game on ABC in the current contract. Citytv sim subbed the ABC feed on Saturday.

Daily Hive in Vancouver reported that the Canucks didn't have a traveling radio team in the opening round. Hope that changes for this round.

Wasn't too long ago when there was speculation that TSN might want the Calgary Flames rights. Well, Rogers Sportsnet wants to be a long-term partner. Sportsnet just renewed those rights to 2035; the rights for Sportsnet goes back to 1998.

Bob Cole, the legend from The Rock, has died at the age of 90

PWHL sets another new attendance record for women's hockey

Here is the CBC schedule for the Canadians and those in the States with a CBC feed. This schedule will be updated as needed in the second round.

Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson (Scott Oake) cover the Vancouver-Edmonton series. Expect them to cover the Western final.

John Bartlett and Garry Galley (Kyle Bukauskas) handle the Florida-Boston series. Harnarayan Singh and Louie DeBrusk (Shawn McKenzie) call the New York Rangers-Carolina series. These crews likely apply only to games on CBC, since those games have to be produced. Sportsnet almost certainly will carry U.S. national feeds for the other games as well as the Colorado-Dallas series.

Playoff games on CBC no longer are streamed in Canada via cbcsports.ca.

May 6 Boston @ Florida, 8p
May 7 Carolina @ NY Rangers, 7p
May 8 Boston @ Florida, 7:30p
May 8 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p
May 9 NY Rangers @ Carolina, 7p
May 10 Florida @ Boston, 7p
May 10 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p
May 11 NY Rangers @ Carolina, 7p
May 13 Carolina @ NY Rangers, 7p
May 14 Boston @ Florida, 7p
May 14 Vancouver @ Edmonton, 9:30p
May 16 NY Rangers @ Carolina, 7p
May 16 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p
May 17 Florida @ Boston, 7p
May 18 Vancouver @ Edmonton, 8p
May 20 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 9p

U.S. viewers in Detroit, Buffalo, Seattle, and other markets get a great option, even for select U.S. games.

NHL Network, TNT, and ESPN/ESPN+ games in 2024 season analysis

NHL notebook: Wrapping up the end of the 2024 regular season

May 8 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p Mike Monaco/Cassie Campbell-Pascall ESPN
May 10 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p Alex Faust/Jennifer Botterill/Nabil Karim TNT
May 12 Vancouver @ Edmonton, 9:30p Alex Faust/Jennifer Botterill/Nabil Karim TBS
May 14 Vancouver @ Edmonton, 9:30p Mike Monaco/Kevin Weekes ESPN
May 16 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 10p John Forslund/Eddie Olczyk/Nabil Karim TNT
May 18 Vancouver @ Edmonton, 8p John Buccigross/Kevin Weekes/Leah Hextall ESPN
May 20 Edmonton @ Vancouver, 9p John Buccigross/Ray Ferraro/Leah Hextall ESPN

Canadian TV notebook: Run the Burbs done after 3 seasons

We noted that CBC likely chose not to carry Sunday NHL games because of new programming with Race Against the Tide and Canada's Ultimate Challenge. The CBC promos don't mean as much without a lot of new programming and the public broadcaster makes zero money from Rogers for carrying the games.

This also means Game 3 of the Vancouver-Edmonton will NOT air on CBC.

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

We will add CBC telecasts and U.S. crews for the Vancouver-Edmonton series later. We will update this story through the second round.

Twitter captures: @Canucks, @CanuckSkate, @lukefoxjukebox, @tim_micallef, @Zone_NHL
photo credit: ESPN/NHL

Canadian TV notebook: Saying goodbye to Sort Of

3 seasons. 18 episodes. The tales of Sabi Mehboob and the people in their lives has come to a close, at least in this form. Sort Of taught us about love in many forms. An overall safe space for everyone involved from 7ven (Amanda Cordner) all the way down to the Kaneko-Bauer children: Violet (Kaya Kanashiro) and Henry (Aden Bedard).

The star was Bilal Baig as Sabi Mehboob; Baig and Fab Filippo were the show's creators. They gave us some amazing characters in a wonderful world that was Toronto. Definitely Toronto.

The father character had mostly an invisible presence on his wife Raffo (Ellora Patnaik) and Aqsa (Supinder Wraich). They broke away for themselves and saw Sabi in very different ways from the paternal presence. Aqsa and Sabi had a strong sibling relationship. The show allowed Aqsa to have her own feelings separate from Sabi, something lesser shows struggle to feature. Aqsa was comfortable in her body, a strong female character who isn't part of the primary cast.

Raffo showed a lot of growth over the course of the show, especially in understanding Sabi, supporting Aqsa, and learning about herself in widowhood.

Your humble narrator can't come up with a word to describe the relationship between Sabi and Bessy Kaneko (Grace Lynn Kung). The biking accident impacted her existence through a lot of the show. A mother and a wife, yet not wanting the constraints of those "titles." They had a love of some kind that was glorious and should serve as an example for future TV and film projects.

Paul Bauer (Gray Powell) — husband to Bessy and father to Violet and Henry — anytime you thought you had Paul figured out, you learned more was below the surface.

A show that allowed a quiet character such as Henry to exist without ridicule or overt concern.

Sort Of gave us wonderful characters that we will think about for a long time. A gracious thank you to Baig and Filippo for showing us love in 18 episodes.

Canadians have only been able to watch on CBC Gem. There hasn't been an airing on CBC. Sort Of debuted on January 18 on Max in the United States. We have empathy for the Americans who watch CBC through cable over a long wait for Season 3.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent finally comes to Citytv on Thursday (February 22) at 8 pm Eastern. How excited is Citytv about an actual Canadian show? Rogers, owner of Citytv, had Kyle Bukauskas interview Aden Young and Kathleen Munroe before the beginning of the 3rd period of the Toronto Maple Leafs game Saturday night.

The amusing part was that the interview ran on the CBC game while Citytv had the game from Montréal. Oh well: Citytv viewers are used to seeing CBC promos when the 2 networks carry the same Hockey Night in Canada game.

Your humble narrator figured Season 1 would have a take on the murders of Barry and Honey Sherman. However, showrunner Tassie Cameron (Pretty Hard Cases) said the episodes will have a mix of scenarios, so the obvious ones might have to wait for Season 2.

Unlike some of the Law & Order shows overseas, this show will feature original episodes drawn from Canadian stories.

Transplant has finished its 4-season run on CTV in Canada. The U.S. viewers watching NBC have finally seen the end of Season 3. Not the best season for the show, if we are being honest.

The core 4 of the series had a rocky time in Season 3. Dr. Bash Hamed (Hamza Haq) and Dr. Magalie "Mags" Leblanc (Laurence Leboeuf) finally got together romantically. The tension in the first 2 seasons was more fun than the actual relationship in Season 3. Mags also had physical struggles with her pacemaker and the life decisions she has to make.

Mags and Dr. June Curtis (Ayisha Issa) made odd roommates yet they fit together well. June's struggles with her stepsister added to a full plate of problems at work with surgery and professional relationships.

Dr. Theo Hunter (Jim Watson) had the worst of Season 3. Yes, he was emotionally recovering from the helicopter crash. Dr. Hunter grew a beard and had his life collapse. Your humble narrator kept saying to the screen that if he only shaved his beard, his life would get better. If Dr. Hunter is clean shaven in Season 4, his life will improve. Dr, Hunter's Season 3 beard woes did remind us of this classic Kids in the Hall sketch.

We were overjoyed to see one of our favourite Quebecois actors in Pascale Bussières, who played a doctor in the camp where Bash goes to help out near where he is from. We have seen a large number of films featuring Bussières, including August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 août sur terre (1998) from Denis Villeneuve and When Night is Falling (1995) from Patricia Rozema. Bussières appears mostly in Episodes 10-12 and briefly in the season finale.

To no one's surprise, NBC has not issued a start date for Season 4. There are only 10 episodes in Season 4.

Canadian film review: August 32nd on Earth

Canadian film review: When Night Is Falling

The CW putting Wild Cards and Family Law back-to-back on Wednesday nights is serving as a tourist campaign to come to Vancouver. Both series are shot there, filled with wonderful scenery in and around downtown Vancouver. The city is that beautiful even in the rain, which somehow never gets on the shows. I think Vancouver is that beautiful even in the rain.

Wild Cards is pretty good. 2 steps above The Spencer Sisters and still below Pretty Hard Cases. Chemistry is surprisingly good. Never hurts to have shots from the boat where Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti) lives. The recap scenes with Max Mitchell (Vanessa Morgan) and Cole's cat on the boat are often the highlight of the episode.

If there is a criticism, the supporting characters need to be more human. Chief Li (Terry Chen) tends to be stuck on the "play it by the book" note. Perhaps that will come out in time but better sooner than later.

Each show has 10 episodes in its current season. Though Global will air Season 3 at a later undetermined date, there will be a Season 4 of Family Law.

Peter Keleghan did an episode of Family Law in Season 3. For those used to Keleghan in comedic roles, he does a wonderful job in a dramatic role.

For those who don't know Vancouver, Stanley Park is at the bottom of the photo, looking southeast into the rest of the downtown area.

Speaking of the Vancouver metro area, Allegiance launched on CBC television on February 7. The police drama focuses on Sabrina Sohal (Supinder Wraich) as a rookie police officer in Surrey, British Columbia also dealing with the arrest of her father Ajeet for political corruption. Vince Brambilla (Enrico Colantoni) serves as Sabrina's supervising officer.

Canadian TV notebook: 2024 CW premiere dates

2024 CBC television winter preview

The CTV drama Sight Unseen will debut on the CW Wednesdays at 9 pm Eastern on April 3. This is also a CW co-production, along with Wild Cards.

CTV has been running Sight Unseen on Monday nights at 10 pm Eastern since January 22.

The CW tinkered slightly with the Thursday schedule, moving Son of a Critch up to 9 pm ET on Thursdays leading into Children Ruin Everything. The Connors reruns are still the lead-in to the Canadian comedies. SMH. Run the Burbs is on Hulu in the United States and CBC Gem in Canada.

By my count, the CW will run out of new Children Ruin Everything episodes in mid-March. Interesting, Canadian filmmaker Kelly Fyffe-Marshall directed a couple of Season 3 episodes: (7) Spontaneity and the season finale (10) Careers.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Watched the pilot episode of One More Time, the new comedy on CBC this winter. Sometimes, Canadian comedy is a lot softer and this show definitely qualifies. Have to love the cast. Is is better than Strays? Both are softer comedies. I can imagine a Season 2 for One More Time, even if it isn't on the cutting edge.

Talk that American streaming service Tubi is bringing back Wynonna Earp as a 90-minute special. The core cast members Melanie Scrofano, Tim Rozon, Dom Provost-Chalkley, and Katherine Barrell are on board.

Speaking of Rozon, we got through Season 2 of Surrealestate on Syfy and CTV Sci-Fi Channel. Loved Season 1 but having Rozon's character lose his powers and Sarah Levy mostly gone for a few episodes didn't make for interesting TV. Rare to say a show should have stopped after a single season. Great characters stuck in less than honourable episodes.

photo credits: Sort Of; Rogers Sportsnet; Transplant; Family Law

Canadian film review: Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe

As much as I learn about Canada, there are some impressions, memories that you can't experience as an outsider. I certainly knew of Mr. Dressup in many conversations with Canadians. The warmth was there but I didn't know much about the show.

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is a straightforward documentary about the life of Ernie Coombs aka Mr. Dressup. The documentary points out that Coombs wasn't originally Canadian, born and grew up in Maine.

Coombs meets Fred Rogers, yes that Fred Rogers, working with him in Pittsburgh. Rogers was invited to work in Canada for the CBC and asked Coombs to join him in Canada. Coombs worked as a puppeter for Rogers on Misterogers. When Rogers went back to Pittsburgh, Coombs stayed in Canada.

Butternut Square featured Coombs from 1964-1967. This is where Coombs created Mr. Dressup and met the puppets Casey and Finnegan. Mr. Dressup was the spinoff of sorts. Coombs would go into the Tickle Trunk to put on costumes. Judith Lawrence, who created Casey and Finnegan, featured prominently in the prime years of the show. Casey was a child whose gender wasn't clear in a time where boys and girls were very specific. Finnegan was Casey's dog.

Robert McCallum interviewed prominent Canadians who have memories of growing up with Mr. Dressup, including Eric McCormack, Michael J. Fox, Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bif Naked, Scott Thompson, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, and the Barenaked Ladies. There is an unfortunate practice in documentaries to rely too heavily on these types of celebrity mentions. Fortunately, McCallum knew a little was good and avoided too much, which would have been bad. Sometimes, the art of editing is knowing when to stop.

Often, you could argue about the use of shorthand that Mr. Dressup was the Mister Rogers of Canada. Similar in tone: not talking down to kids, using puppets to deal with friendship and similar values. Mr. Dressup did more with crafts, which reminded your humble narrator of Ray Rayner on WGN-TV in Chicago, Rayner making children feel better about being imperfect.

Coombs also did a traveling live show. You can imagine a child's excitement at seeing Mr. Dressup live in person.

Mr. Dressup lasted 3 decades (1967–1996), 32 years when you count Butternut Square. Coombs became a Canadian citizen in 1994.

How Mister Rogers got his start on camera in Canada on the CBC

The appeal of the documentary is obvious to those Canadians who grew up watching the show. The film does a good job at telling this wonderful story. The children of today don't have the same kind of relationship with television.

Americans should watch this documentary because of the parallels between Coombs and Rogers, their friendships, and similarities of the shows. You also should watch this documentary to find out elements of Rogers career missing from Won't You Be My Neighbor?. We have noted that when famous Americans have Canadian chapters, somehow those chapters aren't told (e.g., Jackie Robinson).

2023 TIFF wrapup

2023 TIFF preview

2023 TIFF Canadian film preview

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe won the People's Choice Award for Documentaries at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe is available on Amazon Prime Video in Canada and the United States.

video credit: Prime Video Canada
photo credit: Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe

Canadian TV notebook: 2024 CW premiere dates

We recall the "large" gap between the CBC debut of Schitt's Creek, as in about a month, versus the Pop TV debut of that same show for Season 1 way back in 2015.

Wild Cards debuts on CBC on January 10 and the CW on January 17. We wrote about the show for the CBC winter preview. The show runs in the same timeslot in both countries, though the CBC feed runs at 8 pm within each time zone, except for Newfoundland.

Giacomo Gianniotti, Vanessa Morgan, and Jason Priestley are well-known on both sides of the border.

The CW is also picking up Sight Unseen from CTV. We don't have a CW debut date. We found this paragraph compelling for a Deadline article on the shows:

"The CW says its creatively involved in all aspects of production and developed both series from scratch in partnership with CBC and CTV. While they will also be airing on CBC and CTV, they are fully CW original series, the network added."

We like the idea of sharing television between the countries. We do think shows end up better if they are not too influenced by the Hollywood mentality.

The Spencer Sisters felt more like a CTV show that aired on the CW. Sullivan's Crossing felt like a CW show that happened to air on CTV.

Sight Unseen will air on Monday nights on CTV at 10 pm Eastern starting January 22. CTV will air the pilot early at the same time on January 21 following the NFL Divisional Playoffs.

2024 CBC television winter preview

The 2 surviving Canadian TV comedies on the CW have Season 3 debuts this month. Season 3 of Son of a Critch debuts January 9 on CBC and January 25 on the CW. Season 3 of Children Ruin Everything ran this fall on CTV and debuts January 11 on the CW.

Son of a Critch stays at 8 pm while Children Ruin Everything shifts to 9:30 pm. The CW, in lieu of not having Run the Burbs on its schedule, is showing reruns of The Conners, a program that airs on ABC. WTAF?

Hulu picked up Run the Burbs as of New Year’s Eve, a wonderful holiday present. While we prefer Run the Burbs to Children Ruin Everything, we would have fought for either show. The CW halted airings after Season 2, Episode 3. Season 3 of Run the Burbs is on CBC (and CBC Gem) this winter.

If you thought "didn't we just see Season 2 of Family Law," you might wonder why we are getting Season 3 of Family Law so quickly. Season 3 of Family Law debuts January 17 following Wild Cards at 9 pm Eastern and Pacific. We don't have a debut date for Season 3 on Global, the show's network in Canada.

Season 1 of this show was a lot more fun than Season 2. Let's hope for more entertaining/less depressing episodes in Season 3.

Hamza Haq gives the inside scoop on the viral ambulance scene from season 3. Stream #Transplant now on https://t.co/yKJiHIYIjM and the @CTV App, and don’t miss all new episodes starting Jan 5th on CTV pic.twitter.com/oQivTkWnWY

— Transplant (@TransplantCTV) December 8, 2023

There are 3 more Transplant episodes on the Canadian side on CTV for Season 4, the final season. The show returns tonight on CTV.

Those on the American side are more than a bit behind. Transplant took a holiday break and finally came back last week. Here is where things get tricky, not that we are surprised. The show currently airs on NBC on Thursdays at 9p/8p Central and is moving to Fridays — starting January 12 — at 8p/7p Central. The NBC release says that timeslot is in place "until its finale." This means either the Season 3 finale or the Season 4 finale, which would be the series finale.

Time placement doesn't mean as much as it once did but Transplant is not a first-hour prime time show. Ugh.

The U.S. audience would rather not wait too long between Season 3 and Season 4 of Transplant. There are 13 episodes in Season 3 and 10 episodes in Season 4 of Transplant.

Citytv will debut Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent on February 22. There will be 10 episodes in Season 1. Rooting for an eventual deal in the States.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We primarily cover more film than television on the blog. We recognize that Canadian stories are just that: stories. A nice The Globe and Mail story talks about 3 popular Canadian TV shows that are ending on their own terms: Sort Of, Letterkenny, and Transplant. All 3 have been impactful and have a home on the U.S. side.

photo credits: Family Law/Global; Wild Cards/CBC/CW
Twitter capture: @TransplantCTV
video credit: Citytv

2024 CBC television winter preview

.@cbc unveils its winter 2024 slate on @cbcgem and CBC TV featuring more than 20 series from Canadian storytellers, including One More Time (Jan. 9), Wild Cards (Jan. 10), For the Culture with Amanda Parris (Jan. 30) and Allegiance (Feb. 7). Read more: https://t.co/DSpyWXzuJw pic.twitter.com/80OV5Aw44S

— CBC PR (@CBC_Publicity) December 4, 2023

Unlike the fall 2023 CBC schedule, we have a slightly better sense on what the lineup actually looks like for the CBC winter 2024 schedule.

Returning Canadian TV shows for the winter looks like these:

Murdoch Mysteries (Monday); This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Son of a Critch, and Run the Burbs (Tuesday); Dragons' Den and The Nature of Things (Thursday); Marketplace and The Fifth Estate (Friday); Hockey Night in Canada (Saturday); as well as Bollywed, Push, and feature documentaries (Sunday).

As for the new shows, here are the titles and descriptions:

Wild Cards will air on CBC in Canada and the CW in the United States. The Vancouver-set drama features Giacomo Gianniotti, Vanessa Morgan, and, as a recurring guest star, Jason Priestley. Allegiance has Supinder Wraich and Enrico Colantoni in the cast.

The lone new Canadian comedy on the list is One More Time, featuring stand-up comedian D.J. Demers in a workplace comedy about a hard-of-hearing manager of a second-hand sporting goods store.

CBC will air CBC News Explore About That with Andrew Chang segments on Friday nights. The new reality show The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down stars Jennifer Robertson (Schitt's Creek). Ghosting is listed as a factual entertainment series.

In amazing news, KP comic D.J. Demers is getting his very own TV show! On @CBC! WHAT?! Yeah, on CBC! It's a sitcom about a used sports store—in other words, a recipe for crushing victory! One More Time: let's go D.J.! 🏒🏓🍁https://t.co/08YuLWtIv1

— KP Comedy (@KPComedy) December 5, 2023

Sort Of has had Season 3 on CBC Gem yet there is no announcement on when Season 3 will run on CBC (or Max in the United States). Winter 2024 seemed logical yet as we are learning, logic and the CBC schedule run parallel, not perpendicular.

Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo — co-creators, executive producers, and showrunners — deserve a better fate.

Canadian TV notebook: CBC Gem only place to watch Sort Of in 2023

2023 CBC television fall preview

The schedule is filled with non-Canadian programming such as Miss Scarlet & The Duke, Belgravia, Trigger Point, and Di Ray.

Monday
Murdoch Mysteries, 8p
Miss Scarlet & The Duke/Belgravia, 9p

Tuesday
This Hour Has 22 Minutes, 8p
Son of a Critch, 8:30p
One More Time, 9p
Run the Burbs, 9:30p

Wednesday
Wild Cards/Trigger Point, 8p
Di Ray/Allegiance, 9p (starts 2/7)

Thursday
Dragons' Den/The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down, 8p
The Nature of Things, 9p

Friday
Marketplace, 8p
About That with Andrew Chang, 8:30p
The Fifth Estate, 9p

Saturday
Hockey Night in Canada, 7p

Sunday
Bollywed, 7p
Push, 7:30p
Feature Documentaries/Ghosting, 8p

3 of these Canadian documentaries featured on Sunday nights were at the 2023 Windsor International Film Festival. Satan Wants You; The Man Who Stole Einstein's Brain; and Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella.

January 7 Satan Wants You (Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams)
January 14 Malcom Is Missing (Robert Osborne and Jari Osborne)
January 21 The Man Who Stole Einstein's Brain (Michelle Shephard)
January 28 Coven (Rama Rau)
February 4 Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella (Barry Avrich)
February 18 Cynara (Sherien Barsoum)
February 25 Skymaster Down (Andrew Gregg)
March 3 I Am Sirat (Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja)

2023 CBC television upfront preview

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

Watching the CBC cancel shows such as Frankie Drake Mysteries and Tallboyz seems rather foolish, given the lack of depth the public broadcaster has. The CBC padded its fall lineup with limited series based on Canadian films such as BlackBerry, Bones of Crows, and Swan Song. We need more Canadian comedies. Hoping One More Time makes an impact yet the public broadcaster didn't have a Tuesday 9 pm comedy this past fall, going with an American show in a key timeslot.

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

The Tom Harrington tweet is worth repeating with the announcement of cutbacks at the CBC. The CBC winter 2024 schedule was announced before the cutbacks were disclosed.

Enjoy this while you can??

Twitter captures: @CBC_Publicity; @KPComedy; @cbctom
photo credit: Wild Cards

Happy Holidays 2023 includes the final Letterkenny season

Final Season Cold Open.

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

— Letterkenny Problems (@LetterkennyProb) November 27, 2023

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!

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

— Craig Baird - Canadian History Ehx (@CraigBaird) December 5, 2023

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

Hoping the CW brings back the rest of Season 2 of Run the Burbs

Son of a Critch, Run the Burbs, and Children Ruin Everything have been peas in a pod as Canadian comedies on the CW this summer and fall. They were supposed to be on Tuesdays in the fall, started on Mondays, and switched to Thursdays in October.

Unfortunately, the CW made a change this week, benching Run the Burbs and moving Children Ruin Everything into that 8:30 pm Eastern timeslot on Thursdays this past week.

The CW ran 15 episodes of Run the Burbs, all 12 episodes from Season 1 and 3 episodes from Season 2. There are still 10 more episodes from Season 2. The network is running reruns in the 9-10 pm Eastern block on Thursdays.

The U.S. network has run 17 of the 26 episodes for Son of a Critch and 17 of the 24 episodes for Children Ruin Everything covering the first 2 seasons.

The 10 remaining episodes could return to the CW later in the year, such as during a non-sweeps month. Funny how we leaned toward Run the Burbs over Children Ruin Everything while the CW audience went in the other direction.

We would fight for all of these shows, maybe not Sullivan's Crossing.

Canadian TV notebook: CBC Gem only place to watch Sort Of in 2023

Canadian TV notebook: Fall 2023 premiere dates on both sides of the border

CW announces summer schedule filled with Canadian television

Several U.S. reports have used the word "cancelled" or "ax" to reflect the CW change on Run the Burbs. We can agree to disagree about not carrying further seasons but the U.S. network should air the remaining episodes in the near future or allow fans to stream them through the CW Web site. The ratings could not have been that bad for that specific show.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We realize that divorce from a U.S. network can come quickly. Private Eyes and Mary Kills People have seasons unseen in the United States but the U.S. outlets finished the seasons they aired.

We figured that the CW running shows with strikes all around would gamble to stick with shows rather than running reruns over original programming. Apparently, we were mistaken. Sigh.

Canadians can catch up with Run the Burbs on CBC Gem. Season 3 airs this winter on CBC and CBC Gem.

photo credit: Run the Burbs
video credit: CBC Comedy