Canadian Crossing

Stanley Tucci has plenty of love for Toronto

Full Release with Samantha Bee, the podcast not the TV show, doesn't mention Canada too often. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee loves its sarcastic Canadian references, mostly because the TV show is about comedy and current events.

Stanley Tucci, who has shown his love for Italy thanks to his CNN series Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy, was on the podcast with Samantha Bee some time ago (a little slow catching up for your humble narrator).

About 10 minutes into the podcast episode, Bee talked about growing up in Toronto around Italian families though not Italian herself. She loved the liveliness of the dinner table in those homes.

"Toronto's really interesting. I love Toronto. Actually, if I were to move back to North America, that's where I would live. ... It's an amazing city."

Tucci said he thinks Toronto has the highest concentration of Italians outside Italy (4th behind São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and New York City). There are Italian pockets in Toronto: College Street West is the most prominent but certainly one of several areas, including Pelmo Park-Humberlea and Maple Leaf as well as Corso Italia on St. Clair Avenue West.

Stanley Tucci — Full Release with Samantha Bee (Earwolf)

Tucci mentioned Brothers, a tiny place near where he was staying to make a film about 4 years ago. Brothers Food & Wine did close in 2020 but that team is behind a new place called Restaurant 20 Victoria. Amusingly, the new space is even tinier than the old establishment.

Bee wraps up the talk about Toronto by asking Tucci about whether he loves Kensington Market. Tucci agrees with how great the neighbourhood and the city is for him.

Samantha Bee might be channeling Anna Maria Tremonti in her new podcast

Where to visit Canada in 2022

CanadianCrossing.com travel coverage

Vancouver gets a lot of love for the weather and outdoor activities. Montréal gets a lot of love for its amazing food and cultural aspects. Toronto doesn't get as much love. Tucci lives in London so maybe he is biased toward Toronto or has done movies in Toronto. Toronto is a great gateway city, especially if you are an American who has never been to Canada.

Despite the food havens that are Vancouver and Montréal, Toronto deserves some travel love for its food and culture options. Toronto is a very cosmopolitan city. Kensington Market is very cool. Travel wherever you want in Canada. Don't dismiss Toronto without a bit of research.

Full Release with Samantha Bee comes out on Tuesdays. Full Frontal with Samantha Bee returns Thursday on TBS and CTV Comedy Channel at 10 pm Eastern.

photo credit: Full Release with Samantha Bee

Canada's role in using seaweed to reduce methane in cows

Seaweed, cows, and Prince Edward Island: the idea of cows eating local seaweed and having that seaweed reduce the impact of methane that comes from both ends of cows.

When your humble narrator first heard the story, that story seemed too good to be true. Further digging showed there is great potential in such a simple solution that would make a sizable impact on climate crisis.

We explored this topic for our sibling blog, BalanceofFood.com, in greater detail.

How seaweed can reduce the methane output from cows (BalanceofFood.com)

Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia also gets a mention in the story.

CanadianCrossing.com food and drink coverage

CanadianCrossing.com science coverage

Your humble narrator has walked on some Prince Edward Island beaches. The seaweed involved came from far western parts of the province, a different area from where my bare feet walked on in the province.

The seaweed is Canadian food in a truest sense. I was thinking of dulse from nearby New Brunswick. Dulse is seaweed that is used in different kinds of food. Dulse is truly a New Brunswick food that I have had and enjoyed. A bit of an acquired taste but worth trying if you are in New Brunswick.

video and photo credit: CBC News

Letterkenny shows the U.S. audience the different ways to make a Caesar

We are in fact drinking Caesars. America you need more clam juice @BaronessIFC @aurorabrowne @carolyntaylord

— Jennifer whalen (@JenniferWhalen) August 3, 2017

Americans call the drink a Bloody Mary. The Canadian Caesar is a similar drink with enough distinctions. IFC seemed confused and transferred that confusion, forcing the Baroness von Sketch Show in 2017 to change the wording in a sketch from "Caesar" to "Bloody Mary." How embarrassing this was for IFC that some untalented programming idiot didn't think people could do an Internet search such as "what is the difference between a Caesar and a Bloody Mary?"

Fortunately, Hulu had no issue with Letterkenny doing an episode devoted to the Caesar in its many forms. By doing nothing, Hulu proved to be smarter than IFC.

The basic difference between the drinks is that the Caesar traditionally uses Clamato juice, an actual product with clam juice and tomato juice as well as high-fructose corn syrup (glucose-fructose in Canada) and MSG. The Caesar usually has more elaborate garnishes than you will find in a Bloody Mary.

We can't vouch for a lot in this Reddit thread but this proves most Americans don't know the difference.

IFC should applaud the unique drink that is a Caesar

Happy Holidays 2021 includes Season 10 of Letterkenny

The New York Times introduces Americans to butter tarts and more Canadian food

Celebrating the Caesar

Even among Canadians, there are variances on what can go in a Caesar. Here are the recipes from Season 10, Episode 2 Dealership.

Hicks
Base	Booze	Rimmers	Boosters	Garnishes
100% clamato juice	3 oz. vodka	lemon juice	dash of Tabasco	celery stick
		celery salt	dash of Worcestershire	dill pickle
		Montréal steak spice	shot of pickle juice	Slim Jim

Hockey players
Base	Booze	Rimmers	Boosters	Garnishes
50% clamato juice	3 oz. vodka	lime juice	Frank's Red hot sauce	dill pickle
50% tomato juice		celery salt	10 dashes of Worcestershire	pickled pepper
		Montréal chicken spice	shot of dill pickle juice	pickled egg

Hard to see a Caesar and not want a Caesar.

— Letterkenny Problems (@LetterkennyProb) May 18, 2019

Skids
Base	Booze	Rimmers	Boosters	Garnishes
50% clamato juice	3 oz. Beefeater gin	soya sauce	horseradish	Baffin Island jumbo cocktail shrimp
50% V-8		celery salt	lemon juice	Salt Spring Island Dungeness crab leg
		lemon pepper	Macarico piri-piri sauce	PEI Malpeque oyster

Women of MoDean's
Base	Booze	Rimmers	Boosters	Garnishes
100% clamato juice	2.5 oz. vodka	Louisiana hot sauce	Slappy Mama hot sauce	jalapeno-stuffed olives
	0.5 oz. moonshine	Old Bay seasoning	spicy horseradish	spicy dill pickle
		Cajun spice	spicy garlic dill pickle juice	black pepper habanero beef jerky

Those are some amazing combinations. The Women of MoDean's went a very spicy route. The use of moonshine was new to me. The Skids scored wonderful points mixing in some V-8. Their garnishes are supreme, very tasty, and extremely Canadian.

The hicks get points for using Montréal steak spice though 100% clamato would be difficult to take. The hockey players added extra protein with a pickled egg though surprised jerky wasn't a garnish. Not sure about Montréal chicken spice; hopefully the spice is from Portuguese chicken from Montréal.

Your humble narrator
Base	Booze	Rimmers	Boosters	Garnishes
100% tomato juice	2 oz. vodka	lime juice	10-12 dashes of Worcestershire	deep fried dill pickle spear
2 oz. clam juice		celery salt	shot of dill pickle juice	singular ketchup chip
		Montréal steak spice	horseradish	buffalo jerky

My arrangement has the taste of clam without the excessive ingredients that take away from the taste. Clam juice is easy to find. My version is weaker on alcohol though the episode did state that 2 oz. was the standard portion. Prefer lime juice to lemon juice. Buffalo jerky is a nod to the Prairies. The ketchup chip is a highly unique flair selection but feels Canadian. (Picture not included.)

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

CanadianCrossing.com food and drink coverage

Both sides of the border can get on board with making a homemade Caesar. Nothing wrong with doing a virgin Caesar if alcohol does not fit into your life. You have some very good designs with which to start enhancing your drink making experience.

Jared Keeso & Jacob Tierney co-wrote the episode. Letterkenny was created by Keeso, developed by Keeso and Tierney, and directed by Tierney (who makes occasional appearances as Glen).

Letterkenny is available on Crave in Canada and Hulu in the United States.

Twitter captures: @JenniferWhalen; @LetterkennyProb
photos credit: Letterkenny/Bell Media

Canadian ads from fall 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

Welcome to the world of Canadian ads from the fall 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview. This was a breakthrough in that the NHL hadn't started in the fall since 2019 thanks to COVID-19.

The preview only lasted 6 days and the ads aren't as exciting as some great ones in the past. Still, we found a few good ads and are glad to showcase them.

If you want the best in hockey or other sports or any group, you need to be open to all individuals, regardless of boxes to check off on a sheet. Open for inclusion, treating people that you don't know like people that you know.

Scotiabank introduces voices of doubt or uncertainty followed by the certainty of those people on the ice.

P.K. Subban has won gold for Canada in the Olympics, excelled for the Montréal Canadiens, and have truly given back to his community. "This is where we belong." Exactly.

Low-priced Canadian supermarkets is truly a thing, given the high food prices in Canada, even before a pandemic. No Frills is truly no frills. Boring as the colour yellow that dominates the company's marketing.

The Haulerverse transforms that mundane shopping experience. The anime is beautiful and you will love this commercial, even if you couldn't tell us 10 minutes later what No Frills is and what they sell.

Saving money is exciting but not this exciting in real life.

Canadian ads from spring 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

Canadian government promos in the COVID-19 era

Canadian ads from winter 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

I know Lynn Crawford is Canadian from cooking shows. Crawford is listed as an innovation kitchen chef for Tim Hortons. "For me, the only way to cook chicken is to slow cook it." We do love low and slow in the food part of the brain, but hadn't considered low and slow for chicken.

We know Tim Hortons gets dogged for quality but the company tries harder in non-donut related enterprises. The company should be under Canadian control and have top people concentrating on overall food quality.

Connor McDavid comes across pretty easily in this Rogers 5G ad. The technology is used in a practical sports element. The idea that McDavid or anyone else will get 5G in that spot in a relatively remote part of Edmonton feels like a pipe dream. Possible but not what anyone would get now, even a NHL superstar.

The exchange between McDavid and coach Sylvie Tetrault in Toronto felt real and not contrived. Often, you just hope the commercial isn't lame on the small details.

We should note that Rogers is on the nameplate of the new Edmonton NHL arena downtown.

This feels more like an ad for grass-fed beef and grass-finished beef than for A&W burgers. Fast food burgers in the U.S. and Canada are overcooked anyway so part of the joy of a grass fed and finished burger is lost in cooking past medium.

Dan Carkner, executive chef in Kelowna, BC, said grass-fed beef burgers are more delicious. We concur. Applying quality to fast food burgers feels unusual but nice. No U.S. major fast food company would promote the quality of the meat in their burgers.

An university education is still important in the economy. Promoting one still feels surprising. The mom asks about college and her son talks about learning "real time, video compression algorithms." Clearly, something his mother didn't learn in university.

Ontario colleges are recruiting those interested in learning more about smartphones, smart homes, and smart watches to do so at a college in Ontario.

CanadianCrossing.com advertising coverage

Thanks for checking out our collection of Canadian advertising.

photo and video credits: the companies themselves

Canadian ads from spring 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

We unveiled the collection of Canadian ads from various NHL telecasts a bit differently in 2021. Grouping ads into Canadian government promos and highlighting less expensive pizza made for stories of their own. There is also the oddity of a mid-April free preview but not one at the end of the season. 2021 changes a lot in our world.

We did run a collection in early February from the beginning of the season, which was in mid-January and not because of a NHL lockout. Spoiler alert: the reason was due to COVID-19.

I haven't had a Harvey's burger in decades, not on accident or purpose. I do love the consistent message of the ways to top the burgers. Canadian fast food burgers tend to be dry since the law requires them to be overcooked. Toppings can't save a burger but they do help. Their ads are also funny and that doesn't hurt. Will think toppings next time I'm there.

I live near a 7-11. The 7-11 near me does not make food that looks this good. Especially during a pandemic, food that looks halfway decent and doesn't cost too much is more attractive than ever. This sandwich looks good enough to eat.

Growing up on a dairy farm in Canada has to be tough. This is a dairy ad but feels like more of an ad to encourage more people to be dairy farmers. That is a noble enough cause for an ad. The fact that the intended point of an ad — dairy — is interesting to watch.

Roll Up and Win is a very Tim Horton's and Canadian thing. The idea of doing so virtually isn't as much fun but is more practical. The idea of winning a car would help you get over the difference.

Canadian government promos in the COVID-19 era

Cheap pizza is now a thing in Canada

Most fast food lettuce is an afterthought. The lettuce goes into a salad or onto a sandwich. Wendy's Canada is excited because the lettuce is Canadian, grown in greenhouses with very little water and no pesticides. The lettuce being Canadian is significant due to the food safety recalls of lettuce grown in certain areas of the United States. Being grown in greenhouses will lead away from the issues affecting that U.S.-based lettuce, like not being grown near factory farm runoff.

This might seem a bit cheesy to promote national lettuce, but I would feel better about this lettuce. Safer lettuce also helps keep the product going during food recalls.

The bagels are baked fresh daily. The freshly cracked eggs are a different story. Tim Horton's changed the recipe for its plain and everything bagels to be more flavourful. Sounds good but why were they that bad before now.

Given that the donuts reportedly are not baked fresh daily, maybe we should skip the donuts and go straight to the bagel sandwiches with the freshly cracked eggs.

We love Tim's but making a fast food breakfast sandwich sounds like a foodie's dream is comical. Make fresh donuts and we can talk.

Canadian ads from winter 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

CanadianCrossing.com advertising coverage

This isn't the first time we have noted the campaign for eggs for dinner not being weird. We aren't wild about using such words as "weird." Eggs for dinner can be relatively normal. The idea of getting people to think out the breakfast box expands the use of eggs, a reason why advertising exists.

For those who might be fearful of going out and eating inside for dinner, this ad strikes a balance in doing so safely and still having fun. This might feel like fantasy for some.

video and photo credits: individual companies

Cheap pizza is now a thing in Canada

Pizza is considered a cheap food … in the United States. Pizza in Canada may be relatively cheap but expensive compared to the United States.

Over the many years we have tracked Canadian ads through MLB Extra Innings or NHL Center Ice, we have noticed the shockingly high prices of pizza in Canada. The pizzas in the ads didn't look that great and the prices were through the roof.

You would see side deals involving soft drink bottles and movie tickets to make the pizza seem not as expensive.

The usual explanation for why pizza in Canada is more expensive is the cost of high-quality Canadian cheese. This explains stories every few years about pizza cheese shenanigans in Canada.

There are conditions to get a pizza in Canada for $7.99 or a similar low price. You have to buy multiple pizzas or provide a code or know the sale is for a very limited time.

Little Caesar's is offering a classic with Crazy Bread for $7.99. Pizza Hut is offering a buy one, get one free pizza. Domino's is offering unlimited, 2-topping pizzas for $7.99. Greco is offering the $7.99 12" mediums when you buy 2 or more pizzas with regular toppings.

Farmers benefit more than consumers with Canada supply management

CUSMA | USMCA aka NAFTA 2.0 allowed cheaper, lesser quality American-based cheese to come into Canada. We don't know for certain, but that is the most logical reasoning behind the sudden arrival of cheaper pizza in Canada.

Domino's mentions Canadian cheese. Are the pizza companies using a mix of Canadian and American-based cheese? Are they using Canadian cheese only but desperate to lure customers over to pizza?

There is (sadly) the possibility that some Canadians don't care that their pizza cheese is American. They may think a cheaper price on a pizza in Canada is worth eating inferior cheese. They may like Canadian cheese but not at the prices they were paying.

Normally, your humble narrator would weigh in on the experience of eating pizza in Canada and compare this to the American standards. Unfortunately, due to an intolerance to mozzarella cheese, I am sadly not the expert. I can vouch for the Crazy Bread since there is no mozzarella.

Pandemic pizza is not a thing but can imagine that pizzas are more popular in a pandemic since you don't have to cook and pizzas come pretty quickly to your home. Having cheaper pizza is an advantage if you lost your job and/or CERB (and similar programs) not stretching far enough.

Canada milk producers threatened with invasion of cheaper American milk

BalanceofFood.com Canada coverage

As our sibling blog — BalanceofFood.com — would note, quality food does cost more. The question for Canadian dairy is whether the quality is worth the higher prices.

If our American readers crossed over to Canada to eat better quality cheese on Canadian pizzas, we wish you much luck in finding that once the border has reopened. Perhaps a local pizza chain might do better than a national chain.

CanadianCrossing.com trade coverage

The quality of food in North America is not as easy to find as opposed to Europe. You search more and you definitely pay more. Wages haven't kept up in North America so the pressure of cheap food is a reality for most people on the continent. Would be a shame to lose something that is of quality and distinctly Canadian thanks to a lame trade deal that dumped cheap cheese in Canada.

photo credit: Greco pizza
video credits: individual pizza companies

Canadian ads from winter 2021 NHL Center Ice free preview

This look at the Canadian ads in the slightly smaller window of the NHL Center Ice free preview in early 2021 is a snapshot of a snapshot.

Coffee was a dominant force. We got a return visit from Jon Hamm and Skip the Dishes. COVID-19 is a force in the ads, thanks to the government of Canada.

As an expert on advertising, never a big fan of telling your customers that you screwed up. Domino's pizza had to do that because its product was so terrible. Customers may say ads are fake because they make a product to be better than it is but the truth sets no one free.

Tim Hortons tell us that the dark roast coffee is now good because for so long, the dark roast coffee was terrible. While I am an expert on advertising, the same can't be said for coffee. So maybe Tim Hortons is finally right. Or not.

A&W is so proud of its coffee that the restaurant chain was offering the coffee for free. The coffee could be a factor since people are still going to these places to get a quick coffee safely from the drive-thru window. A good time to promote the coffee as opposed to burgers and fries.

Calling things "fake" while may be true is a bit overdone. Then again, using the "fake" element to show how real your product is, well, that can work. Haven't had Pinty's bacon but the product looks a lot better than bacon that is technically real bacon. If nothing else, Pinty's would get a second glance in the bacon section.

We have loved the Jon Hamm Skip the Dishes ads. Silly with moments of clever. Then the newest ads came out. Sounds like someone said, "Keep the actors but make the spots not clever."

This newest ad shows Hamm getting a cake burger. Hamm and his assistant go through a philosophical extension on whether the cake is made of burgers or cake to look like a burger. You could argue "too clever" or "too boring." Bring back the old team.

Didn't want to put in a Zoom ad or bring back the annoying white guy who says a Big Mac with bacon isn't a Big Mac. Changed my mind because these guys work well with Zoom and a reminder that the United States claims to love its bacon but doesn't have a Big Mac with bacon. McDonald's Canada is more creative than the U.S. version.

Canadian ads from fall 2019 NHL Center Ice free preview

Canadian political ads from fall 2019 NHL Center Ice free preview

CanadianCrossing.com advertising coverage

The final ads come from the government of Canada. The first is about the COVID-19 alert app. The app helps inform people who might be at risk, a concept the United States is woefully behind on having. The second ad is a nice visual that if we are patient and follow the guidelines, we can return to a relatively normal world.

video credits: the advertisers themselves

Shining a light on our Indigenous coverage

We want to do a better job of covering the Indigenous world within Canada for CanadianCrossing.com. We start out with a couple of stories that slipped through the cracks from earlier this year. Then we have a big announcement at the end.

Come learn with me? I’ve signed up for a (free) course through the University of Alberta called Indigenous Canada. 12 lessons that explore Indigenous histories and contemporary issues from an Indigenous perspective.

This little video explains it all. Sign up via link in my bio! pic.twitter.com/LccboMO8X2

— dan levy (@danjlevy) August 18, 2020

We have been intrigued as to how much Indigenous issues come out in Canada (unlike the United States where the Indigenous population is truly invisible) yet most Canadians don't seem as interested in learning more about their Indigenous neighbours.

Dan Levy, who is a rather famous Canadian these days, spent part of his COVID-19 pandemic isolation time to take a free 13-week online course on Indigenous history and issues at the University of Alberta. Levy's fame likely drew people into taking the course with him, though they were likely curious on their own.

Levy encouraged people to come along for the ride. He wanted them to make donations to the program, offering to match all donations up to $25,000. Levy did donate to the program since the fundraising goal was reached.

Searching for a good lobster roll in Nova Scotia

Celebrating advantages of the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market

CanadianCrossing.com Nova Scotia coverage

The R v Marshall 1999 Supreme Court of Canada ruling upheld the Halifax Treaties. The Mi'kmaq were allowed to make a "moderate livelihood" in lobster fishing. Despite the court's ruling, no one established what exactly that meant.

Earlier this year, the Mi'kmaq, after 21 years of indecision, set out to lobster fishing mainly in Saulnierville and Middle West Pubnico, Nova Scotia.

The reaction from non-Indigenous fishers was swift and vicious. Traps were taken in the water. A lobster pound was burned to the ground. The RCMP officers would stand there and not respond to the destruction.

The non-Indigenous fishers argued that the Mi'kmaq fishing would lead to overfishing. That argument proved quite weak, given how few boats the Mi'kmaq had compared to the commercial fishers.

A lobster boycott developed to support the Mi'kmaq in their efforts.

The kicker to the story that you might not have seen coming is that Mi’kmaq communities the Membertou and Miawpukek First Nations bought Nova Scotia-based Clearwater Seafoods in a deal worth $1 billion Canadian.

The Mi'kmaq had these rights for generations; those rights were validated in 1999 by the Supreme Court of Canada. They finally tried to take advantage of those inherent rights and were subject to violence and racism.

We talk about buying fair trade for chocolate; there should be something along the lines of fair trade lobster as well.

Montréal chef Chuck Hughes travels north to learn more about Indigenous food traditions in Chuck and the First Peoples' Kitchen. The show premiered this fall on APTN.

Hughes is the host yet he is there to learn from the people who doing the cooking.

Hughes has experience with food television in Canada and the United States. His warm and humble nature is helpful in these parts of Canada that most Canadians know very little of first hand.

The show is available in English and French. The first season had 13 episodes. This would be a great show to have in the United States.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

The Trudeau Government has introduced Bill C-10 to amend the Broadcasting Act to require broadcasters to fund Indigenous productions and provide content in Indigenous languages. The current act mentions Indigenous programming but doesn't require them.

While we have seen a number of Indigenous films, the TV offerings have been limited to shows such as Mohawk Girls and Trickster.

Little Mosque on the Prairie showcased Muslim characters. People need to see themselves on screen in films and television.

Mohawk Girls ran on OMNI Television and APTN during its run. The CBC showed the program this past summer and is available to Canadians on CBC Gem.

Canadian Museum of Human Rights needs a CEO who really understands human rights

Canadian film review: Angry Inuk

CanadianCrossing.com Indigenous coverage

We are launching a category on the right side of the blog for our Indigenous coverage.

Years ago, the question would occasionally come up: Is Canada a racist country? Your humble narrator didn't really have a sense of that back then. The English and French. White people and Indigenous people. Those were rather obvious. My standard answer was that there was racism but more subtle than what we have seen in the United States.

Now, we know a lot more about racism in Canada than we knew back then. Most of what your humble narrator has learned about the Indigenous population has been through Canadian films as well as visiting the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. That curiosity led to podcasts on topics, including racism, police conduct, clean water, food costs and food insecurity, and missing girls and women.

We talked about promoting Indigenous travel in our Thanksgiving 2020 notebook. That is a good way to learn about their culture. Understanding and curiosity is only the beginning of a better relationship between the Indigenous population and settlers from other parts of the world within Canada.

Twitter capture: @danjlevy
photo credit: me; Chuck and the First Peoples' Kitchen/APTN

Canadian film review: Nose To Tail

If you read the late Anthony Bourdain, you would gather that the cooking areas in restaurants are toxic environments. Nose to Tail gives us that world perhaps only slightly exaggerated.

Daniel (Aaron Abrams) oozes toxic. Daniel has toxic reactions to everything and everyone. Chloe (Lara Jean Chorostecki), Daniel’s part-time girlfriend/front of the house, staggers back and forth between confronting him and holding back.

Nose to Tail takes place over about 24 hours where several elements fall into place to make Daniel as angry and toxic as he has been. He is worried about the potential investors coming by the restaurant on a day where things slowly go wrong around him. How far will Daniel go with his anger and toxicity.

Daniel is afraid of technology aka blogs as well as food trucks. He considered himself old-school but not in the ways of presenting food with his ultra-tiny portions. The restaurant is full every night yet the place is losing money. The restaurant has been around for 10 years, longer than a lot of restaurants, yet no one would put up with his crap for longer than 6 weeks.

CanadianCrossing.com film reviews

CanadianCrossing.com film coverage

Abrams does well by Daniel, giving him a tiny bit of humanity in what is otherwise a monster. The only person who Daniel is nice to is his sommelier Steven (Salvatore Antonio). Daniel treats Chloe as badly as any of his employees, which seems unlikely given they are supposedly in a relationship.

Daniel can't even hold back the anger in trying to get a high school friend (Ennis Esmer) to invest in his restaurant.

Chorostecki, whom we loved in X Company, holds her own, the diplomatic to the jackass who gives as well as she receives.

Jesse Zigelstein, as writer/director in his debut, gives us an intimate setting for the film. The film is mostly inside a restaurant, in the back of the restaurant, and then briefly onto College Street in Toronto to the food truck across the street. The film is not well-lit but in a good way. You are in tight corners with intimacy with a culinary monster, good and bad.

The script is tight and flows like someone who has worked in restaurants. Daniel's dressing down of the servers on how to interpret the menu deserves simultaneous applause and disgust.

Zigelstein has very small parts for most in the film: exceptions are Keith (Brandon McKnight), the sous chef who smartly leaves for a much better offer, and Angela (Genevieve Kang), who Chloe insists Daniel utilise to replace Keith.

You do wonder how people stay with someone that bad for a long time. Fortunately for the audience, they only have to know Daniel for around 80 minutes.

The film is intense and intimate. If you are a highly sensitive person, you might want to skip this film. Otherwise, watch it to see someone worse than you (hopefully).

Nose to Tail is available on Crave in Canada.

video credit: YouTube/1091 Pictures
photo credit: Nose to Tail film

Transplant makes U.S. debut on NBC

Following a successful first season on @CTV, @TransplantCTV premieres Sept. 1 on NBC. Season 1 encores in simulcast Tuesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on CTV. For more information, visit @thelede_ca: https://t.co/jLoITlDaUc #Transplant pic.twitter.com/FfGSVkqDRx

— CTV Communications (@CTV_PR) August 12, 2020

We mentioned the Canadian TV shows making their debut on U.S. over-the-air television. We figured the debuts would come when the traditional fall season begins.

Coroner made its debut on August 5 on the CW. The CW also added Fridge Wars via the CBC. Now, NBC is launching the CTV show Transplant before Labour Day, airing tonight at 10 pm Eastern/Pacific.

Our initial concerns about whether all the episodes would air doesn't seem to be an issue now.

Unlike shows created to run in both countries, Coroner definitely has Canadian elements in the series. The show is made for the CW, though that isn't always a compliment. You have to suspend reality as Jenny is more crime-fighter than coroner, her "perfect" boyfriend who lives in the forest, the mystery gambling problem from her dead husband that forces them into a smaller house. The black dog part might eventually be relevant. The 3rd and 4th episodes are a 2-parter, highly rare to have so soon into a new drama.

Jenny Cooper is so illuminating that everyone and everything revolves around her. The show isn't bad just, well, made for the CW even though the agreement came recently.

Serinda Swan, who portrays Jenny Cooper, has guest starred on a couple of CW shows about a decade ago: Smallville and Supernatural.

Morwyn Brebner, who developed Coroner for television, also was a creator and producer of Rookie Blue and Saving Hope, shows that crossed over into the United States.

Fridge Wars from CBC to air on the CW

Fridge Wars has some cool elements and some very bad habits. Emma Hunter is well-suited and really seems like she is having fun (or she is a better actor than we realise). Hunter is good with the families. The chefs throw shade against each other in a fun way. The second-half challenge is gimmicky but works well most of the time.

You do lose track of what happened with the first family with the second family is on TV. The premise of using only what is in the refrigerator — the point of the show — doesn't last too long. A chef in one episode is making homemade wonton wrappers with ingredients that clearly aren't from the refrigerator. In another episode, the chefs use a specific snack food mentioned by name. Both chefs used that snack food. In the episode with the wonton wrappers, both chefs specifically mentioned a particular kitchen brand mixer.

Sneaking commercials in a show is worse than sneaking vegetables in a dish. The sneaky ads are bad enough but the fact that the show airs on a public broadcaster is worse. If the CBC went commercial free, these ads wouldn't be allowed within programming.

Canadian presence on 2020 U.S. TV upfronts

U.S. television turns to Canadian TV shows to fill gaps due to COVID-19

We have more hope for Transplant. The idea of Syrian refugees had a much different reaction in Canada than within certain pockets in the United States in real life. Some of those Americans might view Syrian refugees in a country that mostly speaks English as a fiction story rather than reflecting (a bit) about actual refugees in the country next door to them.

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

The oddity of Coroner, Transplant, and other Canadian shows making their way to the United States is that they wouldn't be picked up by a simsub by another Canadian broadcaster, such as CTV, Global, and Citytv. The Canadian rights of Coroner and Fridge Wars rest with CBC and Transplant for CTV. As was noted in the Twitter capture, CTV is going to simsub the NBC feed, even though they are reruns in Canada.

Canadians can catch up on Transplant through the CTV Web site or they can watch the CTV simsub of NBC. The CW is a bit more difficult for Canadians to pick up, depending on their cable lineup. CBC shows are available on CBC Gem.

Would love a U.S. outlet, over-the-air, cable, or streaming to pick up Season 3 of Mary Kills People and Season 3 of Private Eyes. They have been abandoned by their U.S. outlets, Lifetime and Ion Television, respectively.

Twitter capture: @CTV_PR
photo credits: CBC (x2); CTV