Canadian Crossing

2019 CBC television winter schedule

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.

Schitt's Creek celebrates Christmas with a holiday special

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.

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

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.

Canadian TV notebook: CBS to produce U.S. version of 'Mr. D'

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.

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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.

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

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

2018 MLS preview

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.

photos credit: Major League Soccer

Super Bowl LII ads light on Canadian content

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.

Canada makes little presence in Super Bowl LI ads

Canadians can watch Super Bowl LI ads but not without U.S. pressure

The big year for a Canadian presence was 2016 for Super Bowl 50.

Canada has strong impact on Super Bowl 50 ads

• 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 Super Bowl LI ratings drop 39% from last year

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.

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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

2017 TIFF Canadian film wrapup

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 2017 preview

TIFF 2017 Canadian films preview

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.

The Handmaid's Tale, Jean Marc Vallee clean up at 2017 Emmys

Margaret Atwood getting new appreciation thanks to TV revivals

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

— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) September 13, 2017

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.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

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.

Donald Sutherland uses Cannes to not talk about Canadian identity in 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.

TIFF Rising Stars

We profiled the 2016 class of TIFF Rising Stars here. Here is the list from all the years.

2011 Sarah Allen, Katie Boland, Sarah Gadon, Keon Mohajeri

2012 Tatiana Maslany, Connor Jessup, Charlotte Sullivan, Charlie Carrick

2013 Megan Park, Johnathan Sousa, Evelyne Brochu, Cara Gee

2014 Shannon Kook, Sophie Desmarais, Alexandre Landry, Julia Sarah Stone

2015 Deragh Campbell, Stephan James, Aliocha Schneider, Karelle Tremblay

2016 Jared Abrahamson, Grace Glowicki, Mylène Mackay, Sophie Nélisse

2017 Daniel Doheny, Mary Galloway, Théodore Pellerin, Ellen Wong

Best Canadian Feature Film

I have seen a few of these films, adding Closet Monster to my list. A very fine choice for 2015.

Best Canadian Feature Film
Year	Film	Director
2017	Les Affamés	Robin Aubert
2016	Those Who Make Revolution Halfway Only Dig Their Own Graves	Mathieu Denis, Simon Lavoie
2015	Closet Monster	Stephen Dunn
2014	Felix and Meira	Maxime Giroux
2013	When Jews Were Funny	Alan Zweig
2012	Laurence Anyways	Xavier Dolan
2011	Monsieur Lazhar	Philippe Falardeau
2010	Incendies	Denis Villeneuve
2009	Cairo Time	Ruba Nadda
2008	Lost Song	Rodrigue Jean
2007	My Winnipeg	Guy Maddin
2006	Manufactured Landscapes	Jennifer Baichwal
2005	C.R.A.Z.Y.	Jean-Marc Vallée
2004	It's All Gone Pete Tong	Michael Dowse
2003	Les Invasions Barbares	Denys Arcand
2002	Spider	David Cronenberg
2001	Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)	Zacharias Kunuk
2000	Waydowntown	Gary Burns
1999	The Five Senses	Jeremy Podeswa
1998	Nô	Robert Lepage
1997	The Sweet Hereafter	Atom Egoyan
	The Hanging Garden	Thom Fitzgerald
1996	Long's Day Journey Into The Night	David Wellington
1995	Live Bait	Bruce Sweeney
1994	Exotica	Atom Egoyan
1993	Kanehsatake: 270 Years Of Resistance	Alanis Obomsawin
1992	Requiem Pour Un Beau Sans-Coeur	Robert Morin
1991	The Adjuster	Atom Egoyan
1990	H	Darrell Wasyk
1989	Roadkill	Bruce McDonald
1988	The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick	Allan Goldstein
1987	Family Viewing	Atom Egoyan
1986	Le Déclin De L'empire Américain	Denys Arcand
1985	Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga Of Hal C. Banks	Donald Brittain
1984	La Femme De L'hôtel	Léa Pool
Best Canadian Feature Film (1991-present); Excellence in Canadian Production (1984-1990).

 

Best Canadian First Feature Film

Haven't seen too many of these films: exceptions being Sleeping Giant, Marion Bridge, and Last Night. Some of those titles are quite enticing.

Best Canadian First Feature Film
Year	Film	Director
2017	Luk' Luk'l	Wayne Wapeemukwa
2016	Old Stone	Johnny Ma
2015	Sleeping Giant	Andrew Cividino
2014	Bang Bang Baby	Jeffrey St. Jules
2013	Asphalt Watches	Shayne Ehman, Seth Scriver
2012	Antiviral	Brandon Cronenberg
	Blackbird	Jason Buxton
2011	Edwin Boyd	Nathan Morlando
2010	The High Cost of Living	Deborah Chow
2009	The Wild Hunt	Alexandre Franchi
2008	Before Tomorrow	Marie-Hélène Cousineau
		Madeline Piujuq Ivalu
2007	Un Film Sans Fusil Continental	Stéphane Lafleur
2006	Sur La Trace D'igor Rizzi	Nöel Mitrani
2005	The Life And Hard Times Of Guy Terrifico	Louise Archambault, Michael Mabbott
2004	La Peau Blanche	Daniel Roby
2003	Love, Sex and Eating The Bones	Sudz Sutherland
2002	Marion Bridge	Wiebke Von Carolsfeld
2001	Inertia	Sean Garrity
2000	La Moitié Gauche Du Frigo	Philippe Falardeau
1999	Just Watch Me:	Catherine Annau
	Trudeau and The 70's Generation
1998	Last Night	Don McKellar
1997	Cube Vincenzo	Natali
As determined by the Toronto International Film Festival.

video credit: YouTube/Cine Maldito
Twitter capture: @IdrisElba

Peter Mansbridge to leave CBC News after Canada Day

A message from @petermansbridge. pic.twitter.com/4XFYizJUBx

— The National (@CBCTheNational) September 6, 2016

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.

Peter Mansbridge to step down from 'The National' in 2017

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?

Canadian anchor John Roberts jumps from CNN to Fox

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.

Canada will join U.S. in having two nightly female anchors

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.

Twitter capture: @CBCTheNational

Summer 2017 Canadian TV preview

We normally get a CBC summertime TV schedule release but the summer of 2017 brought no release. So we'll do something a bit different in showing off what is new in Canadian TV this summer, not just on the CBC.

The CBC release for the fall schedule noted a pair of new shows coming this summer:

• Taken is a true-crime documentary 8-part series on Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women.
• 21 Thunder is a 8-part series on an elite under-21 Montréal soccer team on and off the field. This show debuts on July 31.

CBC will run new episodes of 3 summer shows.

• Baroness von Sketch Show (starting June 27)
• Still Standing (starting June 27)
• When Calls the Heart (starting June 18)

When Calls the Heart airs on the Hallmark Channel in the United States.

For fans in the United States, especially outside the CBC feed, IFC will run seasons 1 and 2 of the Baroness von Sketch Show beginning August 2.

We are thrilled to see Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Browne, and Jennifer Whalen back for another summer of their sketch comedy, now in both countries.

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

The next few weeks offers up some Canada Day type programming:

Becoming Canadian is a 6-part documentary on the stories of people who become new Canadian citzens. Canadian rapper and producer Kardinal Offishall supplies the narration. The show debuts with back-to-back episodes on June 26 at 8 pm local time. The show runs single episodes on June 28 and June 29, both at 8 pm followed by the final 2 episodes on June 30, also at 8 pm.

The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration gets a rebroadcast on CBC on June 24 at 8 pm local time except for 9 pm in the Maritimes and 9:30 pm in Newfoundland. Unlike last August's live telecast, the rebroadcast looks to be limited to CBC television. I can't shake last year's concert, even watching it on YouTube in the United States. Very powerful and meaningful.

Canada in a Day is a 2-hour summary of 16,818 videos shot on September 10, 2016 on the lives of Canadians. The videos are in more than 15 languages so the subtitles people will have plenty of work. The videos were shot in Canada and 22 other countries for those Canadians away from the country on that specific date. The debut on CTV and CTV Two will be June 25 at 8 pm. There will be Canada Day airings as well.

CBC announces 2017 fall schedule

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

The Great Canadian Baking Show will be a part of the CBC lineup this fall, but the public broadcaster will run the most recent season of the British series, The Great British Baking Show, starting August 23.

Despite our limited take, if you do have access to a CBC station, look over the guide to see what else may pop up on the schedule. If we get better information, we will update this story.

'You Gotta Eat Here' serves up Canadian restaurants exposure

You Gotta Eat Here is done after 5 seasons on Food Network Canada. The episodes ran in the United States on the Biography channel for awhile, but not lately. John Catucci would spotlight 3 restaurants and their specialties around Canada.

I enjoyed the light-hearted format and presentation, much better than the program is often compared to, the Canadian version of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I admit I was confused about the making of burgers that often involved bread crumbs and other meatloaf ingredients. Turns out that when you are legally obligated to overcook the meat, you have to introduce ingredients to try and give moisture to the burger.

Medium-rare burger a rare find in Canada, especially buffalo and elk

The series did win a pair of Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for Best Lifestyle or Talk Program or Series and Best Direction in a Lifestyle/Practical Information Program or Series.

I would love to see a U.S. channel bring us more episodes of You Gotta Eat Here. You can just fast-forward through the burger preparations.

photo credit: CBC/Twitter @BaronessShow; CBC

Day 2 for Kelly and Ryan in Niagara Falls: Howie Mandel and Nathan Fillion

Day 2 of Live with Kelly and Ryan could not possibly top Day 1 for Canadian content. Monday's show at the Oakes Garden Theatre had two of the hottest (in more ways than one) Canadians right now. But let's see how the show's Canadian content.

Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest spent part of the open talking about how dreamy Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Monday's interview. Seacrest went on more about Trudeau's eyes than even Ripa did. You could imagine Regis Philbin saying the same words in a way that was more funny. I don't know much about Seacrest, and he is new to the show, but his approach is not as clear to your humble narrator.

Ripa and Seacrest tried on funny Canadian hats, something that was reminiscent of the show's time in Banff, Alberta in 2012. I will absolutely agree that Ripa looks good in all different kinds of hats. She can sell the comedy in a silly hat really well.

Howie Mandel came into the interview with a pair of RCMP officers. He made the rather funny joke about the Mounties always getting their man-del.

Ripa and Seacrest played up Mandel's Canadian background. Mandel grew up in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and often went down to Niagara Falls as a young adult.

Nathan Fillion grew up in Canada, specifically Edmonton. But Live with Kelly and Ryan went well out of their way not to play that up. Ripa and Seacrest mentioned Mandel's Canadian roots but not Fillion's roots. Seacrest mentioned in a question that Fillion grew up in Canada but not near Niagara Falls. Fillion did point out that this was his first trip to Niagara Falls.

The show is on Canadian soil. You have a Canadian star. You talked about Saskatchewan with Tatiana Maslany in a segment that lasted less than 3½ minutes. This was a missed opportunity by the show.

What came across as more of a way to get companies to pay for the birthday celebration of Kelly's son Michael might have been a subtle presentation on the differences between being a young adult in Canada versus the United States.

Michael Consuelos, Ripa's oldest child, just turned 20. His weekend included gambling at the Fallsview Casino (more on that later) and drinking at the Two Sisters Vineyards at Niagara-on-the-Lake. These are activities Michael can do in Ontario but not the United States. "My son is legal to drink in your country," Ripa said about Michael being able to drink in Canada. She might be unaware but the drinking age in Canada is 19, except for the provinces where the age is 18: Quebec, Alberta, and Manitoba. Ripa was in Banff, Alberta in 2012 but might not have paid attention to the drinking age in that province.

Ripa is old enough to know about U.S. states that were able to experiment with different drinking ages. This was one of the few times the U.S. audience has been able to see an "underage" person drink legally in Canada. This might have been the most Canadian thing on Tuesday's show even it was subtly Canadian.

Day 1 for Kelly and Ryan in Niagara Falls: Justin Trudeau and Tatiana Maslany

Live with Kelly and Ryan goes to Niagara Falls

Fallsview Casino runs some pretty clever ads. I haven't included them in the wrapups from the NHL Center Ice and MLB Extra Innings preview mostly because they were regional ads in a part of Canada where you can literally see the U.S. from your room. And yes, I would feel that way about a business in Windsor.

Turns out the show stayed at the Fallsview Casino hotel property. Presumably, Michael gambled at the Fallsview Casino. The morning trivia game the show plays gave away a trip on Tuesday to the Fallsview Casino property.

They tried to give away a showcase on Monday to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa but the contestant couldn't come up with the answer. The Ottawa package was valued at $6000 while the Niagara Falls package was valued at $4200.

If I run across a particularly clever Fallsview ad next fall, I will consider running one in the preview wrapup.

photos credit: Live with Kelly and Ryan

Day 1 for Kelly and Ryan in Niagara Falls: Justin Trudeau and Tatiana Maslany

Tatiana Maslany didn't even get 3½ minutes on Live with Kelly and Ryan, but we did learn that Maslany and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met for the first time at the live broadcast from the Oakes Garden Theatre in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Maslany also set straight the pronunciation of Saskatchewan to Kelly Ripa and talked about growing up in her native province in Regina. Maslany talked about the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the cut-out watermelons the fans wear on their heads. She was asked about where the Emmy was; Maslany explained that the award was in a box.

Ripa asked which one of the Orphan Black characters that Maslany least liked to play. Maslany mentioned that Rachel takes about 2 hours of hair and makeup and Krystal involves fake nails and "all this stuff on top of me." Maslany said she stole some of the clothes as well as Cosima's glasses and nose ring as souvenirs from the show.

Prime Minister Trudeau was a last-minute add to the program and ended up with a pair of segments. The daytime talk show is not normally hard-hitting but Ryan Seacrest asked Trudeau about which one of his kids would he like to see be a prime minister.

"Definitely not. My father would have given the same answer." When Ripa followed up on the same question, Trudeau said "not a chance" but then responded, "Although I will say, I have one daughter and there is something very special about imagining a woman prime minister. I think it’s long overdue. I just don’t think we have to wait that long. I think it should be sooner than that."

Canada freaked out over the fact that Trudeau didn't mention Kim Campbell, who served as the prime minister from June 25-November 4, 1993. Even though Campbell was not elected, I'm with those who freaked out. Given how the 2016 U.S. election went, knowing of a female leader on North American soil is something the U.S. audience should know.

"Of course the PM did not forget that Kim Campbell was prime minister," Trudeau’s press secretary Andrée-Lynne Halle wrote in an email. "Now that was almost 25 years ago — I think we can all agree we’re overdue after 25 years!"

Trudeau was asked about the balance given recent terrorism attacks. His answer was similar to previous responses to similar questions. But I really liked the ending. "That balance — defending our security and keeping us Canadian — is what people expect of me. And I'm always going to do both of those things."

Live with Kelly and Ryan goes to Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls segments were centred around the falls on both sides. Seacrest became the sacrificial lamb for the segments.

The taped segments took place in the sunshine over the weekend. The live show had clouds as will Tuesday's taped show, which was taped on Monday. Tuesday's show will be the final one from Canada on this trip.

Live with Kelly and Ryan airs on CTV in Canada and syndication in the United States.

photos credit: Live with Kelly and Ryan

Live with Kelly and Ryan goes to Niagara Falls

The show that is now Live with Kelly and Ryan has a rich legacy of doing shows in Canada. Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa went to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 2010 and Ripa and various co-hosts were in Banff, Alberta in 2012.

The show goes back to Niagara Falls, Ontario next week for a pair of shows. Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford were there in 1996. Philbin and Ripa made a visit there in 2006.

Ryan Seacrest was recently named the new co-host of the daytime program.

The shows will take place at the Oakes Garden Theatre. Monday's show will air live with Tuesday's show being taped on Monday.

In terms of Canadian content for the shows, Tatiana Maslany will be the primary guest on Monday's show. They will definitely be talking about Season 5 of Orphan Black, which debuts Saturday. Tuesday's show will feature Canadian actors Howie Mandel and Nathan Fillion.

Day 1 for Kelly Ripa in Banff: Dog sledding, ice carving, and Regina jokes

Day 2 for Kelly Ripa in Banff: Poutine, Calgary Fiddlers, and Caroline Rhea

Day 3 for Kelly Ripa in Banff: Snow shoeing, Melanie Fiona, and a beaver hat

Day 4 for Kelly Ripa in Banff: Ben Mulroney, torchlight skiing, and Canadian cuisine

'Live with Kelly' Alberta schedule light on Canadian artists

'Live! with Kelly' to tape four April episodes in Banff National Park

We haven't seen any of the previous Niagara Falls episodes. We know that the 2010 and 2012 tours were filled with fun Canadian content. With Niagara Falls being so close to the border, hopefully we will still get plenty of Canadian content. The Canadian guests should help out, though Mandel is the one who grew up near the area in nearby Toronto.

Regis and Kelly Day 1: Seafood galore in Prince Edward Island

Regis and Kelly Day 2: Kelly goes Anne of Green Gables

Regis and Kelly Day 3: Kelly rides a horse, Regis 'hunts' for seafood

Regis and Kelly Day 4: Regis hosts a clambake with no clams

Regis and Kelly get ready to broadcast from Prince Edward Island

LIVE with Regis and Kelly to broadcast from Prince Edward Island

We will report on how the episodes go, starting Tuesday here at CanadianCrossing.com.

Live with Kelly and Ryan airs on CTV in Canada and various stations in the United States. Check your local listings for time and channel in your area.

photo credit: Live with Kelly and Ryan
video credit: Live with Kelly and Ryan

Wrapping up 2017 Canadian TV season

Schitt's Creek concludes its 3rd season on Pop TV tonight. Canadians and select Americans got the season finale last night on CBC. Schitt's Creek has been renewed for a 4th season on CBC and Pop TV. Though the Pop TV viewers struggle to get the show in HD, having the 3rd season in sync has been an absolute joy. In past years, CBC promos would talk about an episode that would air weeks later in the United States.

The show has clearly let the characters grow within the premise of living in this town. The show is character-driven and those characters get to stretch. Stevie doesn't have the laid-back experience of previous seasons. Moira has found the city council has opportunities. David is taking over the general store and maybe finding love. Alexis is back in high school. Johnny has been helping/bugging Stevie in running the motel.

Season 4 has great potential, though Americans still want that HD feed.

X Company reached its series finale on March 15. The program ended after 3 seasons on the CBC. The show, based in the real-life Camp X in between Whitby and Oshawa, Ontario. The camp trained covert agents in the methods required for success in clandestine operations. The camp even included Americans before the U.S. officially got onto WWII. A similar camp in the United States was built after the Americans got into the war; Camp X was the inspiration for that camp.

The program was shown in a number of countries. The Canadian-Hungarian production was shown in France, Latin America, Japan, Turkey, Iceland, the Middle East, Greece, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. A spy thriller with young, good-looking actors involving World War II in English; Americans wouldn't watch something like that. #sarcasm

We also had a soft spot for this show since Évelyne Brochu was one of the stars. Her shooting schedule, often in Hungary, reduced her Orphan Black appearances in recent seasons. There shouldn't have been any conflicts with Brochu in Season 5 of Orphan Black.

Speaking of Orphan Black, the final season debuts June 10 on Space in Canada and BBC America in the United States.

Workin' Moms provides CBC with Canadian humour for adults

Tatiana Maslany wins top prizes in TV and film at 5th Canadian Screen Awards

TV shows dominate 2017 Canadian Screen Awards nominees

CBC launches 2017 winter schedule

How Canadian should Canadian TV be?

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We already know that This Life is done after 2 seasons on CBC. The show was adapted from Radio Canada’s Nouvelle Adresse and set in Montréal. The French language version is still on the air, also having started a year before the English language version.

19-2 will have its final season on Bravo this summer.

Saving Hope on CTV is also not coming back. The show ran 5 seasons on CTV and will have its series finale later this spring. NBC carried the first season of the show, though the network only ran 11 of the 13 episodes in that season. Season 5 is currently running on Ion Television in the United States.

What Would Sal Do? is getting a second life on Crave TV after Bell Media rescued the program from SuperChannel.

You can check the full list of TV renewals and cancellations through the fine folks at TV, Eh. We were pleased to see Baroness Von Sketch Show will be back for another season on CBC.

We would need a therapist to figure out whether Michael: Every Day was an aberration or will the show see new life beyond the 6 episodes this season. The Sunday night timeslot didn't seem a good fit. Even if the show is reduced to a summer series, the program deserves a spot to continue.

The deal with the new Anne series on CBC is that the show will run on Netflix. We know the Netflix debut is May 12 and will be available globally.

CBC has aired 4 of the 8 episodes on Sunday nights. The Stanley Cup playoffs may push off the rest of the schedule a bit.

We've been hearing good things about the adaptation. Moira Walley-Beckett had a track record that would take Anne in a new direction: she worked as a writer and producer on Breaking Bad and created the drama Flesh and Bone.

Enjoying a lobster supper in Prince Edward Island

Canadian hamburger can taste good if you cook it yourself

When I told people I was traveling to Prince Edward Island, I heard a lot of memories of Anne of Green Gables. I hope the U.S. audience takes advantage to see this update on a classic.

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee reminds us what The Daily Show is missing

We have bemoaned the lack of a late-night Canadian talk show on Canadian television. One thing missing on both sides of the border is a late-night show that doesn't bow down to the latest project by the artist. But we may have found something that is pretty close on both accounts, even if that isn't on television.

Steve Patterson is the host of the The Smartass-ociates streaming online through the CBC Web site. The show involves experts matched up with comics and they discuss various topics with Patterson as the moderator.

There is an appetite for relevant and funny late night content on Canadian TV. If online is the place for experimentation, let's see what kind of talent is out there.

photos credit: Schitt's Creek/X Company/Anne/CBC