Canadian Crossing

2019 MLS preview

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.

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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.

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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.

2018 MLS season wrapup: no Canadian playoff teams

2018 MLS preview

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

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

MLS Canadian teams playoffs results

Year	Date	Teams	Winner	Score
2017	December 9	Seattle @ Toronto	Toronto	2-0
2017	November 29	Columbus @ Toronto	Toronto	1-0
2017	November 21	Toronto @ Columbus	Tie	0-0
2017	November 5	New York Red Bulls @ Toronto	NY Red Bulls	1-0
2017	November 2	Vancouver @ Seattle	Seattle	2-0
2017	October 30	Toronto @ New York Red Bulls	Toronto	2-1
2017	October 29	Seattle @ Vancouver	Tie	0-0
2017	October 25	San Jose @ Vancouver	Vancouver	5-0
2016	December 10	Seattle @ Toronto FC	Seattle	0-0 (5-4 PK)
2016	November 30	Montréal @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	5-2 (OT)
2016	November 22	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-2
2016	November 6	Montréal @ New York Red Bulls	Montréal	2-1
2016	November 6	Toronto FC @ NYCFC	Toronto FC	5-0
2016	October 30	NYCFC @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	2-0
2016	October 30	New York Red Bulls @ Montréal	Montréal	1-0
2016	October 27	Montréal @ D.C. United	Montréal	4-2
2016	October 26	Philadelphia @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	3-1
2015	November 8	Portland @ Vancouver	Portland	2-0
2015	November 8	Montréal @ Columbus	Columbus	3-1 (OT)
2015	November 1	Vancouver @ Portland	Tie	0-0
2015	November 1	Columbus @ Montréal	Montréal	2-1
2015	October 29	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-0
2014	October 29	Vancouver @ Dallas	Dallas	2-1
2013	October 31	Montréal @ Houston	Houston	3-0
2012	November 1	Vancouver @ LA Galaxy	LA Galaxy	2-1

photos credit: Major League Soccer

Domee Shi wins for best animated short at 2019 Oscars

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 #oscars pic.twitter.com/5izOkrDytZ

— Zulekha Nathoo (@ZulekhaNathoo) February 25, 2019

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.

Stephan James, Ryan Gosling fall short of 2019 Oscar nominations

Canadians Oscars nomination scoreboard

Chien de Garde fails to make Oscars shortlist

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.

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

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, Anne with an E lead TV nominations for 2019 Canadian Screen Awards

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

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Film

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.

Chien de Garde fails to make Oscars shortlist

60% of the best director nominees are women.

Best motion picture

• A Colony | Une colonie
• Family First | Chien de garde
• Genesis | Genèse
• Just a Breath Away | Dans la brume
• The Great Darkened Days | La grande noirceur

Best director

• Sophie Dupuis Family First | Chien de garde
• Jasmin Mozaffari Firecrackers
• Geneviève Dulude-De Celles A Colony | Une colonie
• 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

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