4 bounces on the rim. And then swoosh. The last of Kawhi Leonard's 41 points went through the net.
For the second time since 2016, the Toronto Raptors will play in the NBA Eastern Conference finals. The Raptors took care of the Philadelphia 76ers 4-3 in the conference semifinals.
The Raptors will play the Milwaukee Bucks, holders of the top seed, in the Eastern Conference finals. This is Milwaukee's first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since 2001. The Bucks won a NBA title in 1971 with Lew Alcindor.
The Raptors previous Eastern Conference finals trip was in 2016, losing to Cleveland 4-2. Milwaukee and Toronto met in the first round in 2017 with the Raptors winning 4-2.
Leonard had a flat-out steal in the first quarter; 3 steals overall. The team defence kicked in 3 shot clock violations in a key stretch.
The Bucks have only lost a single playoff game while the Raptors have lost 4 playoff games.
Milwaukee dominated the season series 3-1 over Toronto. The Raptors lone win 123-116 was in Milwaukee on January 5. The Bucks won 105-92 on January 31 and 104-99 on December 9, both in Toronto. Milwaukee also won at home 124-109 on October 29.
The Bucks finished 2 games ahead of the Raptors in the regular season standings.
The Raptors excellent defence will target Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Kawhi Leonard had an amazing second round with stellar defence and much higher shooting percentages than in the regular season.
Leonard scored 20+ points in 9 straight playoff games, a new team record surpassing Vince Carter's stretch in 2001.
The Raptors had their third-ever Game 1 win in a playoff series. Leonard dominated Game 1 with 45 points and Pascal Siakam added 29 points in the Game 1 win.
Kyle Lowry has also played very well in the playoffs.
Game 2 had the Raptors trailing big before a solid comeback but couldn't wrestle away the lead. The bench disappeared in Games 2 and 3 but made a strong comeback in the rest of the series.
The 125-89 score in Game 5 might undersell how dominant the Raptors in that crucial game. Game 6 in Philadelphia felt almost the opposite, even with a closer margin.
Toronto is now 3-2 in a Game 7; 4-3 in deciding games.
Game 4 proved to be rather unusual in that the game was carried by over-the-air networks. CTV carried the TSN (1/4/5) feed while ABC carried the ESPN-produced feed.
Rogers Sportsnet and TSN will split the coverage in the Eastern Conference finals in Canada. The Canadian outlets have split the 12 games evenly. TSN should have the extra game in the Eastern Conference finals.
TNT is the exclusive home for the Eastern Conference finals in the United States.
The 7th Canadian Screen Awards went without a host on purpose. Schitt's Creek, Anne with an E, and A Colony | Une colonie were huge winners.
Even without a host, we had the Red Wine Ladies from Baroness von Sketch Show; a parody of the Bradley Cooper/Lady Gaga moment at the Oscars with Jann Arden and Allan Hawco; and Annie Murphy throwing a little French out there to get some hot French-Canadian film work.
So let's take a look at the winners:
You have to go back to the spring of 2013 where Meg Tilly won for Bomb Girls for Best Lead Actress, Drama to hear a name other than Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black). Amybeth McNulty took the 2019 honour for Anne with an E.
Kim Coates won Best Lead Actor, Drama for Bad Blood.
Anne with an E won Best Drama Series as well as Best Supporting Actor, Drama for R.H. Thomson and Best Supporting Actress, Drama for Geraldine James.
Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse swept the top acting awards for a drama or limited series with their performances in Cardinal.
"Wouldn't we all be happier if we were able to love out loud?" — Dan Levy while accepting the Best Comedy award.
Schitt's Creek won for Best Comedy and 3 of the 4 major acting awards for Catherine O'Hara, Noah Reid, and Emily Hampshire.
Jared Keeso won Best Lead Actor, Comedy for Letterkenny.
Karen Robinson, who stands out on Schitt's Creek, won Performance in a Guest Role, Drama for her role on Mary Kills People.
Dominique Provost-Chalkley from Wynonna Earp won the Audience Choice Award. Provost-Chalkley brought up her co-star and fellow nominee Katherine Barrell onstage. The status of Wynonna Earp is up in the air. Hopefully, this award will help that cause.
A Colony | Une colonie pulled off an impressive feat of winning Best Motion Picture and the John Dunning Best First Feature Award.
Émilie Bierre, who told the CSA audience she will turn 15 in May, won Best Lead Actress for A Colony | Une colonie. Bierre also appeared in Genesis | Genèse, nominated for Best Motion Picture.
Théodore Pellerin won Best Lead Actor for Family First | Chien de garde. My feelings on the film are well-known but Pellerin is the real deal.
Richard Clarkin received the Best Supporting Actor award for The Drawer Boy. Sarah Gadon, one of the few English-Canadian actors nominated for any film award, took Best Supporting Actress for The Great Darkened Days | La grande noirceur.
The Podemski sisters — Jennifer, Sarah and Tamara — presented Best Director, noting that 60% of the nominees were women (versus 0% for the Academy Awards). The honour went to Jasmin Mozaffari for Firecrackers.
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch won for Best Feature Length Documentary.
Best Original Screenplay went to Catherine Léger for Slut in a Good Way | Charlotte a du fun while Best Adapted Screenplay went to Robert Budreau for Stockholm.
Animal Behaviour from Alison Snowden and David Fine was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film but did win the Canadian Screen Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Stephan James won the Radius Award from the new Made Nous campaign for contribution to the world stage. The family theme of the evening included an introduction by Shamier Anderson, older brother of Stephan James and also U.S. Deputy Marshal Xavier Dolls on Wynonna Earp.
Susan Kent and Jonny Harris played Mary Walsh's children on Hatching, Matching and Dispatching. Kent and Harris introduced Walsh as she won the Earle Grey Award.
The Kids in the Hall won the Academy Icon Award. They had a fun sketch with the missing member Mark McKinney, who was in Los Angeles shooting NBC's Superstore.
Deepa Mehta won the Lifetime Achievement Award. Mehta was introduced by her daughter Devyani Saltzman, who is with the Art Gallery of Ontario.
The Canadian Screen Awards properly point out that the organisation voluntarily went without a host before the whole Kevin Hart/Oscars scenario. Andrew Phung handled the transition at the beginning and Brent Butt ended the show.
Previous hosts included Jonny Harris and Emma Hunter (2018) as well as Howie Mandel, Norm Macdonald, Martin Short, and Andrea Martin.
You can find out more on the nominees in all the categories.
The 3 Canadian Major League Soccer (MLS) teams are eager to forget the 2018 season.
Toronto FC starts its 2019 MLS season in Philadelphia on Saturday. Vancouver hosts Minnesota at BC Place and Montréal travels to San Jose for the season openers.
The Reds home opener will be March 17 against New England at BMO Field. The Impact don't open at home until April 13 with Columbus at Stade Saputo.
Marc Dos Santos is the new coach for Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Santos replaces interim coach Craig Dalrymple, who served starting September 25 after replacing Carl Robinson.
---
This is likely the final season for Ignacio Piatti in Montréal. Piatti is in the final year of his contract. In 2018, Piatti scored 16 goals and 13 assists in 32 matches.
Piatti did say in a recent interview that if his family is doing well back in Argentina, "I will stay in Quebec." Piatti's father has been in ill health.
A better start will help Piatti and the team. The Impact started 2018 with a 2-11-0 record.
---
If you hate freezing in late season Major League Soccer games, you'll enjoy the changes coming to the sport.
The break in between the regular season and playoffs will be 13 days instead of 3 days. The regular season will end on October 6. The 2019 MLS playoffs start on October 19. The 2019 MLS Cup final will be on November 10.
The playoff format will be single elimination with no more 2-leg formats. The number of teams in the playoffs expands from 12 to 14. There is a strong incentive to reach the top of the conference to get a bye. That top team will be joined by the winners of 2-7, 3-6, and 4-5. There will be no reseeding.
MLS will now have 24 teams with the addition of FC Cincinnati.
Complaining about the number of games on U.S. television feels insignificant since none of the Canadian teams are scheduled to play on U.S. television. That includes ESPN, ESPN2, Fox, Fox Sports 1, Univision, and UniMas. If a Canadian team is doing well, there is flex scheduling for the final 4 weeks of the regular season.
All games will be available via ESPN+. You are set if you already get the service for CFL, NHL, or some other reason.
Toronto FC had 4 U.S. TV dates in 2018, 4 more than Montréal and Vancouver combined.
CTV will have 8 games, all in the early part of the season. The Canadian OTA network carried 9 games in 2018 and 7 games in 2017. TSN will carry all the other Reds and Whitecaps games as well as some Impact telecasts. TVA Sports will have all the Impact games en Francaise.
Here is the CTV schedule, all games on Saturday afternoons:
March 16 Vancouver @ Houston, 3 pm March 30 Montréal @ Sporting KC, 3 pm April 6 Chicago @ Toronto, 3 pm April 20 Vancouver @ Orlando, 3 pm April 27 Portland @ Toronto, 3 pm May 4 Toronto @ Orlando, 4 pm May 11 Philadelphia @ Toronto, 3 pm May 18 Toronto @ Real Salt Lake, 3 pm
Congrats to 🇨🇦 Domee Shi who won best animated short for #Bao! First woman to direct a #Pixar short! 👏🏽 Shi: « To all the nerdy girls who hide behind their sketchbooks, don’t be afraid to share your stories with the world. » #oscars2019#oscarspic.twitter.com/5izOkrDytZ
Toronto-raised Domee Shi won an Oscar for best animated short for the Pixar production Bao. The category was filled with Canadians including David Fine and Alison Snowden for Animal Behaviour as well as Weekends set in 1980s Toronto by Canadian-born director Trevor Jimenez. Fine and Snowden now have 4 Academy Award nominations, including a win for Bob’s Birthday.
"To all of the nerdy girls out there who hide behind their sketchbooks — don't be afraid to tell your stories to the world," said Shi in her acceptance speech.
Paul Massey finally won an Oscar in his 8th try. Massey won the award with Tim Cavagin and John Casali for sound mixing for Bohemian Rhapsody. As you can tell from the acceptance speech, Massey was born in England but did live in Toronto for 13 years. Roma's Craig Henighan was also nominated in the sound mixing category.
Set decorator Gordon Sim was nominated for Mary Poppins Returns, but lost out to the crew from Black Panther.
The live action short film category had 2 finalists from Montréal in Jeremy Comte for Fauve and Marianne Farley for Marguerite, but both films lost out to Skin.
Stephan James and Mike Myers were Canadian presenters. James presented with Elsie Fisher for makeup and hairstyle. Myers and his Wayne's World buddy Dana Carvey introduced Bohemian Rhapsody as a Best Picture nominee. The song features prominently in Wayne's World.
Roma was a rare Best Picture nominee that was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, but did win the latter award. "I think the nominees tonight have proven we are part of the same ocean," said director Alfonso Cuarón.
Roma beat out Never Look Away (Germany); Shoplifters (Japan); Capernaum (Lebanon); and Cold War (Poland) for the honour.
This is the second film from North America to win Best Foreign Language Film. Denys Arcand's Barbarian Invasions won the award for Canada at the 2004 Oscars.
Will be curious if Canada can ever deliver a film that could make the impact Roma did last night. The film won Best Director and Best Cinematography and received 10 overall nominations. Good to see the Academy consider this in a film that is not in English.
The Canadian Media Fund debuted its Made | Nous campaign celebrating Canadian content during the red carpet special on CTV, the Academy Awards network in Canada.
Christopher Plummer narrated the ad; Plummer is the only living Canadian actor who grew up in Canada to have an Oscar. The ad notes the Canadian impact on such projects as Arrival, The Handmaid’s Tale, Orphan Black, Deadpool, and Stranger Things. The ad also features Canadian actors Karine Vanasse and Jacob Tremblay.
The ad is sharp and such a brilliant idea. We will likely write more about this in the future.
Won't You Be My Neighbor? won Best Documentary at the Film Independent Spirit Awards Saturday afternoon in Santa Monica, CA. The documentary on Fred Rogers, which recently aired on PBS, completely leaves out the crucial Canada portion of his career. The documentary didn't even get a Oscars nomination.
Roma (Mexico) won Best International Film over Burning (South Korea); The Favourite (United Kingdom); Happy as Lazzaro (Italy); and Shoplifters (Japan).
"I'm optimistic right now that it seems we are reaching a moment in which a greater diversity is happening in cinema. And I think that diversity is going to very soon make this category irrelevant," said Roma director and writer Alfonso Cuarón. I would argue that the category should remain to give love and appreciation to cine mundial as defined as film outside the United States.
If Beale Street Could Talk won major awards for Best Feature, Best Director (Barry Jenkins), and Best Supporting Female (Regina King) but Stephan James wasn't even nominated.
Twitter capture: @ZulekhaNathoo video credit: YouTube/Made_Nous
Schitt's Creek and Anne with an E each have 15 nominations for the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards. Cardinal on CTV has 14 nominations.
Drama
The best lead actress opened up with Tatiana Maslany and Orphan Black in the mix. A bit surprised to not see Lauren Lee Smith in that category for Frankie Drake Mysteries. A bit surprised to see Kristin Kreuk for Burden of Proof in that category. I'm a big fan of Caroline Dhavernas in Mary Kills People.
Best Dramatic Series Anne with an E Bad Blood Blood and Water Frankie Drake Mysteries Vikings
Best Lead Actor Kim Coates Bad Blood Jerry O'Connell Carter Aaron Ashmore Killjoys Yannick Bisson Murdoch Mysteries Eric McCormack Travelers
Best Lead Actress Amybeth McNulty Anne with an E Caroline Dhavernas Mary Kills People Wendy Crewson The Detail Melanie Scrofano Wynonna Earp Kristin Kreuk Burden of Proof
Best Supporting Actor Salvatore Antonio Mary Kills People Daniel Petronijevic Cardinal Louis Ferreira Bad Blood R.H. Thomson Anne with an E Brent Carver Save Me
Best Supporting Actress Sharron Matthews Frankie Drake Mysteries Chanelle Peloso The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco Mackenzie Porter Travelers Geraldine James Anne with an E Selena Lee Blood and Water
Comedy
Kim's Convenience is missing from the comedy awards, but for a very good reason. The show aired in the fall of 2017 and the winter of 2019, but not in 2018. Seeing Private Eyes in the comedy category might be a one-time thing since, well, the show isn't a comedy. Amanda Brugel, who also appears on Kim's Convenience, got a nod for her work on Workin' Moms.
For U.S. viewers, the second half of the second season of Private Eyes finally starts on Ion Television starting this Sunday.
Best Comedy Series Letterkenny Mr. D Schitt's Creek Second Jen Workin' Moms
Best Lead Actor Jared Keeso Letterkenny Jason Priestley Private Eyes Gerry Dee Mr. D Daniel Levy Schitt's Creek Eugene Levy Schitt's Creek
Best Lead Actress Cindy Sampson Private Eyes Annie Murphy Schitt's Creek Catherine O'Hara Schitt's Creek Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms Dani Kind Workin' Moms
Best Supporting Actor Chris Elliott Schitt's Creek Noah Reid Schitt's Creek Peter Keleghan Workin' Moms Ennis Esmer Private Eyes Colin Mochrie Tiny Plastic Men
Best Supporting Actress Mary Walsh Little Dog Emily Hampshire Schitt's Creek Jennifer Robertson Schitt's Creek Jann Arden Workin' Moms Amanda Brugel Workin' Moms
A pair of films received 8 nominations to lead the way: Just a Breath Away | Dans la brume and The Great Darkened Days | La grande noirceur) from Maxime Giroux, who directed Felix and Meira.
The best motion picture nominees are all French-language films, including the nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Family First (Chien de garde). I haven't seen the other nominees but Chien de garde was horrible. Anthropocene: The Human Epoch leads the nominees for best feature-length documentary.
Maxime Giroux The Great Darkened Days | La grande noirceur
Daniel Roby Just a Breath Away | Dans la brume
Best feature-length documentary
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
Immaculate Memories: The Uncluttered Worlds of Christopher Pratt
Letter from Masanjia
The Devil's Share (La Part du diable)
What Walaa Wants
I can't speak to the other nominees in the best actor category but Pellerin should win this without a fight. I may have hated the film but he acted his way into a win. The performances in The Grizzlies were wonderful, but those 3 are the only ones I've seen on these lists. I like Sarah Gadon but haven't seen this film.
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Michael Rowe Crown and Anchor
Theodore Pellerin Family First | Chien de garde
Martin Dubreuil The Great Darkened Days | La grande noirceur
Paul Nutarariaq The Grizzlies
Brandon Oakes Through Black Spruce
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Emilie Bierre, A Colony | Une colonie
Carla Turcotte Sashinka
Valeria Henríquez The Padre
Rose-Marie Perreault Fake Tattoos | Les faux tatouages
Brigitte Poupart Les Salopes or the Naturally Wanton Pleasure of Skin | Les salopes ou le sucre naturel de la peau
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Richard Clarkin The Drawer Boy
Paul Doucet With Love | L'Amour
Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie A Colony | Une colonie
Paul Ahmarani Genesis | Genèse
Michel Robin Just a Breath Away | Dans la brume
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Kate Moyer Our House
Romane Denis Slut in a Good Way | Charlotte a du fun
Sarah Gadon The Great Darkened Days | La grande noirceur
Anna Lambe The Grizzlies
Irlande Côté A Colony | Une colonie
You can find all the nominations in film, television, digital media, and special awards. The 7th Canadian Screen Awards will be on March 31 and will air on CBC.
photos credit: Critic Choice Television Awards/CW network
Editor's note: Cavendish moved to Tuesday nights, switching places with Workin' Moms.
With no offence to Rick Mercer, the Tuesday night CBC lineup for winter 2019 is a comedy machine. Kim's Convenience has shifted to winter in the old Rick Mercer Report timeslot with new seasons from Schitt's Creek and Workin' Moms. This Hour Has 22 Minutes is definitely missing Shaun Majumder on and off camera.
CBC has plenty of new winter dramas to keep you warm. Coroner is from the mind of Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope) about a recently widowed coroner in Toronto. Street Legal marks the return of the long-running CBC series from 1987-1994. Cynthia Dale is back as Olivia Novak. The 2 dramas will split the post-Murdoch timeslot on Mondays with the latter premiering on March 4.
Burden of Truth is back for Season 2 on Wednesday nights. The drama will split that early time slot with Diggstown, a Halifax-based legal aid drama with the first black Canadian female lead in Vinessa Antoine (above). The latter show premieres March 6. Unspeakable is a fictional account of the very real tainted blood scandal in Canada. The show will run in the late slot on Wednesdays.
Burden of Truth will be on the CW but not until the summer. Unspeakable will air in the United States on Sundance TV.
Cavendish is the only new comedy in the winter lineup. Brothers Mark and Andy return to Cavendish for the first time in 30 years ago to take care of their dad. The show teams up with Season 2 of Little Dog in the post-Dragons slot on Thursdays.
The Stats of Life is back for Season 2 in the post-Marketplace slot on Friday nights. Arlene Dickinson from Dragons' Den has a 4-episode series called Under New Management about buying and selling small businesses that debuts March 15.
Heartland took the fall off but is back for Season 12 in its traditional Sunday timeslot.
The genuine surprise is that CBC is not using British shows to prop up the prime time lineup.
All the shows debut next week unless otherwise noted.
Monday
Murdoch Mysteries 8p Coroner/Street Legal 9p
Tuesday
Kim's Convenience 8p This Hour Has 22 Minutes 8:30p Schitt's Creek 9p Workin' Moms 9:30p
Wednesday
Burden of Truth/Diggstown 8p Unspeakable 9p
Thursday
Dragons' Den 8p Cavendish 9p Little Dog 9:30p
Friday
Marketplace 8p The Stats of Life/Under New Management 8:30p CBC Docs POV 9p
Saturday
Hockey Night in Canada 7p
Sunday
Heartland 7p The Nature of Things 8p The Fifth Estate 9p
bold indicates new series; ital indicates new timeslot
Murdoch Mysteries, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Dragons' Den, Marketplace, CBC Docs POV, Hockey Night in Canada, The Nature of Things, and The Fifth Estate stay in their timeslots.
Pure finally makes its WGN America debut on January 23. The initial 6 episodes have been available on Hulu in the United States. There will be a Season 2 for CBC and WGN America but those details will come later.
We thought Crawford would eventually air on Comedy Central given the articles when the show was first announced. We don't have info if there is a U.S. release.
I was able to watch a few episodes of Crawford. My assessment is that the shows are interesting but you feel like there is something missing within the episodes. The characters were very interesting but there wasn't much cohesion between the characters. They felt like random people together in a house than actual family members.
There are 12 episodes; I got through 5 or 6 episodes and had to stop. The show isn't bad but isn't all that good.
Mr. D finished its Canadian sitcom life with 8 seasons and 86 episodes. By Canadian comedy standards, those numbers are rather amazing. Gerry Dee, teacher turned comedian and actor, took his teaching experience and applied it to the show.
CBS looked into an American version back in 2015 involving Will Arnett but that fizzled quickly. Mr. D was never a flashy show and the humour was even more subtle than what you would find on Schitt's Creek. The show did keep coming back again and again.
While Mr. D was a CBC show, Season 4 of the program also ran on Citytv in an exchange where CBC got to air Young Drunk Punk.
---
IFC finished its run of 10 episodes of Baroness von Sketch Show from CBC. The program ran Thursday nights at 9 pm Eastern though moved to midnight for the final 2 episodes.
The higher 10-episode request didn't dampen the quality. There might have been fewer memorable moments but offered a quiet consistency.
Aurora Browne and Jennifer Whalen of the troupe mentioned on the Christmas Eve show on Q with Tom Power that they were filming 10 more episodes for Season 4, presumably for next fall.
This is mostly a CBC update but we had to update other Canadian TV shows.
Mary Kills People will be back for the final season on Global. In an immature move, Lifetime will NOT show Season 3. 6 episodes wouldn't hurt the bottom line. Hopefully, there will be a U.S. deal for Season 3 likely on a streaming service.
Caroline Dhavernas and the rest of the cast deserve a better fate in the U.S.
There are 9 more episodes of Private Eyes that Ion has not shown in the United States. We don't have a target date. There will be a Season 3 for the show on Global and hopefully Ion.
Season 3 of Cardinal with Karine Vanasse debuts January 24 on CTV.
photo credit: Diggstown/CBC video credit: Crawford/CBC
The 2018 MLS season for Canadian teams offers some promise. A MLS Cup title for Toronto FC. A playoff win for the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Montréal Impact have a good chance to be competitive.
U.S. television isn't so convinced ordering up 4 Toronto FC games in 2018, the same amount as in 2017. Montréal and Vancouver each had a scheduled TV appearance in 2017. In 2018, neither team is scheduled to be on U.S. television. How does a playoff team get shutout of TV appearances?
Toronto FC starts its 2018 home schedule facing the Columbus Crew, the team the Reds defeated in the East final. The game at BMO Field is Saturday at 1 pm Eastern. Montréal travels to Vancouver on Sunday for the start of the season for both teams at 6 pm Eastern, 3 pm local time.
Here is the highly limited U.S. national telecasts for 2018:
May 9 Seattle @ Toronto 7:30p FS1 July 1 New York Red Bulls @ Toronto 4:30p FOX August 4 Toronto @ Atlanta 4p ESPN August 12 New York City FC @ Toronto 4p ESPN
Games can be added down the stretch to the U.S. TV schedule.
TSN will carry Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps games. TVA Sports will carry Montréal Impact games.
CTV continues with an early-season package of Saturday afternoon MLS telecasts. The Canadian network has 9 games, up from 7 in 2017.
March 10 Columbus @ Toronto 1p March 17 Toronto @ Montréal 3p March 31 Vancouver @ Columbus 3p April 14 Toronto @ Colorado 3p April 21 Toronto @ Houston 3p April 28 Chicago @ Toronto 3p May 5 Vancouver @ Minnesota 3p May 12 Philadelphia @ Montréal 3p May 19 Vancouver @ FC Dallas 4p
If you are looking for MLS Live, the out-of-market rights for TV games has been shifted to ESPN Plus, not to be confused with Watch ESPN or ESPN3. Reportedly, the cost of ESPN Plus will be $60/year ($5/month) compared to $79 for MLS Live. Games airing on national TV would not be available on the service.
Editor's note:This story has been updated to reflect this year's Super Bowl ratings on CTV, CTV Two, and TSN.
Super Bowl advertisers have certainly relied on Canadians to sell their products. So in the second year where Canadians can watch Super Bowl ads on their TVs, we only have a single Canadian as a spokesperson. Squarespace had Keanu Reeves as its 2018 spokesperson.
Reeves uses Squarespace for his Arch Motorcycle company Web site. The company says Reeves did his own stunt on the motorcycle.
In 2017, Justin Bieber was the sole Canadian used in a Super Bowl ad, this one for T-Mobile commercial.
Ryan Reynolds in Ryanville for the Hyundai Elantra
Seth Rogen for Bud Light along with Amy Schumer where they recruit people for the non-partisan Bud Light Party
Drake poking at his Hotline Bling video for T-Mobile
Drake for Air Jordans
Norm Macdonald as Colonel Harlan Sanders for Kentucky Fried Chicken
John A. Macdonald via the Canadian $10 bill for PayPal
Eugene Levy for Snickers
This feels like revenge since Canadians can watch the Super Bowl ads as a time to stop hiring Canadians to promote the American products.
Like last year, there was a commercial for a Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson movie. In 2017, the movie was Baywatch while this year, Skyscraper is the movie. Baywatch looked a lot better than this movie. As we noted, Johnson's father was Canadian; the younger Johnson was on the Calgary Stampeders practice roster as a linebacker in 1995 but didn't last long.
Bell Media lost 2.85 million viewers between 2016 and 2017. In 2017, Bell Media expanded the game to be shown on CTV, CTV Two, and TSN.
Like last year, Bell Media offered cash and prizes to entice Canadians to watch their feed instead of a NBC TV affiliate. Russell Peters was added to the showcase effort this year.
In 2016, the viewership was 7.32 million. In 2017, the numbers were 4.47 million. When we get numbers for 2018, we will update this story.
The Canadian TV ratings for Super Bowl LII were comparable to last year's numbers. Super Bowl LII drew 4.45 million Canadians, down from 4.47 million for Super Bowl LI in 2017. The slight drop mirrored the U.S. ratings with a 7% drop from 111.3 million in 2017 to 103.4 million viewers in 2018.
At least this year, there wasn't a screwup with how the contest worked.
---
In the only other Super Bowl played in Minneapolis, Mark Rypien became the only Canadian to win the Super Bowl MVP award in Super Bowl XXVI at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome as Washington defeated Buffalo 37–24 on January 26, 1992.
video credit: YouTube/Squarespace photo credit: Squarespace
The Toronto International Film Festival gives out major awards to Canadian film: Best Canadian Feature Film and Best Canadian First Feature Film. The 2015 winners got a lot of recognition from winning their awards. The 2016 winners virtually disappeared at the box office. We might get a split decision in 2017.
The Best Canadian Feature Film went to the Quebecois zombie film Les Affamés from Robin Aubert. Zombies might make people forget their fears over subtitles. Then again, as you can see in the trailer above, I couldn't find a trailer that had English subtitles.
The Best Canadian First Feature Film went to Luk' Luk'I, directed by Wayne Wapeemukwa. The documentary showcases 5 Vancouverites on the low rungs on society during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The film was built out of a 2014 short from Wapeemukwa about a full-time mother/part-time sex-worker who goes missing in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
I had to look back to find Luk' Luk'I and barely remembered Les Affamés. They weren't on my obvious radar. Same goes for the 2016 award winners. Neither came close to playing in Windsor and have had little notice since.
The baseball analogy is that the Best Canadian First Feature Film is Rookie of the Year while the Best Canadian Feature Film is the Most Valuable Player. I've seen 7 MVP films since 2007 but only 1 ROY (Sleeping Giant) in that same time frame. I've only seen 3 ROYs on the whole list going back to 1997. That isn't about desire but access.
People pay attention to TIFF and its award winners. But those awards should be meaningful beyond the end of September and the GTA limits.
TIFF CEO Piers Handling was asked about which film might be Canada's submission for the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. Handling said he didn’t think there was a clear frontrunner. "That's a bit of a mystery this year, I think. It will be a surprise for all of us."
Handling suggested Sadaf Foroughi's Ava, which captured the Discovery program prize. Other contenders were Les Affamés and the Francois Girard historical drama Hochelaga.
The Iranian leads in Ava were banned by Canada immigration authorities from coming into the country to help promote their film.
We have had back-to-back different 3-year patterns on the award. The only thing I know is that this year's entry will start a new pattern.
We talk about access to Canadian films coming out of TIFF. Netflix will show a couple of them, though Alias Grace was already destined for Netflix.
Besides a Canadian theatrical release after running in the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, The Tragically Hip final tour documentary Long Time Running will air on CTV on November 12 at 8 pm ET. The documentary film will then run on CraveTV on November 13.
The composite areas in the United States that can receive a CTV signal are significantly smaller than the reach of the CBC.
Those outside Canada will be able to watch Long Time Running on Netflix starting November 26, a nice post-Thanksgiving (U.S.) treat.
The film was the first runner-up for the People’s Choice Documentary Award.
The first 2 episodes of Alias Grace made its debut at 2017 TIFF. The show has a Netflix premiere date set for November 3. The series had to clear the CBC window before airing on Netflix. The CBC debut of the miniseries is on September 25.
"I just realized what TIFF actually stands for: Toronto Is Fucking Fantastic".@IdrisElba, giving the Festival a helpful rebrand. pic.twitter.com/nIRzhfTJG3
The language is a bit rough for some but Idris Elba is one of the coolest famous people on the planet. Toronto may not use that in its branding, but I love the idea of TIFF also representing this sentiment.
Piers Handling, the long-time head of the Toronto International Film Festival, will step down after the 2018 festival. Handling has been with the festival since 1982. When he retires, he will have been at the helm for 24 years.
Handling has lots of legacies for his time but I can't help but think of the TIFF Bell Lightbox, the gorgeous behemoth of a building on the northwest corner of King Street and John Street. Even if you aren't seeing a film when you visit Toronto, go see the building. There is a bookstore in the lobby devoted to film.
The legendary Donald Sutherland will receive an honourary Oscar award at the Governors Awards on November 11. Sutherland joins French New Wave director Agnes Varda, writer-director Charles Burnett, and cinematographer Owen Roizman who will also be honoured at that ceremony.
Sutherland, 82, from Saint John, NB, has had an amazing career and is still going strong with his latest film The Leisure Seeker with Oscar-winner Helen Mirren.
Hopefully, the Oscars will make a reference to the honourary Oscars at the traditional telecast next spring.
Peter Mansbridge will anchor The National one final time on Canada Day on Saturday. But if you were wondering who will be the new anchors on the new revamped edition of The National launching on October 30.
There will be 3 hosts for the updated newscast. Jennifer McGuire, general manager and editor-in-chief of CBC News, says the show will be brought more into how viewers consume news in a digital world.
Wendy Mesley, Ian Hanomansing, and David Common could easily be the new hosts. If CBC does anchors in different cities, Hanomansing can stay in Vancouver and offer a West Coast base.
ABC tried a 3-headed monster in 1978 in different cities with Frank Reynolds in Washington, Max Robinson in Chicago, and Canadian Peter Jennings in London. That strategy worked until 1983 when Reynolds became ill and passed away. Robinson was reassigned and Jennings became a solo anchor from New York City in 1983.
Andrew Chang, Diana Swain, Andrew Nichols, Kim Brunhuber, Mark Kelley, and even Rosemary Barton would be other good internal candidates. Are there outside candidates who might be in the CBC mix?
Kevin Newman is the host and managing editor of the weekly investigative program W5 and fill-in anchor for CTV National News. John Roberts became the Fox News White House correspondent in 2017 and has been at Fox since 2011.
Neither is likely to leave and bringing either in would undermine those already at CBC. The taint of Fox News would make Roberts' path troublesome. Newman has been an anchor at Global so he has experience but left an anchor situation in 2010.
CTV and Global both have female national anchors. Dawna Freisen took over from Kevin Newman on the Global newscast in 2010. Lisa LaFlamme replaced Lloyd Robertson on CTV National News in 2011.
Freisen had worked at NBC News in London before coming back to Canada.
Most likely, CBC will use different anchors to try them out over the next few months. There is usually a lot of summer fill-in anchors but their presence has a higher purpose.
Mansbridge has been the anchor and chief correspondent of The National since May 2, 1988. There will be anchors on October 30, but replacing Mansbridge will be rather difficult.
