If we look at the polls for the most watched programs in Canada, productions from Quebec and the US share the top spots. However, there is good TV with our English-Canadian friends. All too often we discover these series when they end up on an international platform, as was the case with Schitt’s Creek, and we do not know their origin. Let’s take a look at current Canadian series that take us across the country and deserve our attention.
son of a Critch
son. Photo provided by CBC
We’re in St. John’s, Newfoundland in the mid 80’s where comedian and comedian Mark Critch (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) grew up. A mature boy for his age who grew up in an adult world, little Mark goes to secondary school. Her father is a radio host and her grandfather is her roommate.
Through intimidation, he develops his sense of quick-wittedness. His sense of humor becomes his way of making friends. The tone and universe are reminiscent of the Wonder Years series or, more recently, Young Sheldon. Critch, the real one, embodies the father, Malcolm McDowell, the grandfather. This comedy is the adaptation of the actor’s memoirs. Two seasons are available, a third is in preparation.
► Available on GEM
On the shelf
Photo on shelf courtesy of Counterfeit Pictures
If you like mockumentary workplace comedies a la Parks and Recreation, Superstore, or Abbott Elementary, this series is for you. The action takes place at a public library on the outskirts of Toronto, where staff and bosses fight. It aired on CTV in March. There are the same archetypes as comedies of the genre: an underfunded branch, an over-motivated director, the junior, the veteran, and an assistant who doesn’t share the same enthusiasm. Anthony Q. Farrell, author of The Office and producer of Little Mosque on the Prairie, is the creator.
► Available from Crave
Essex County
Essex County photo provided by CBC
It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth). Essex County is a small town in rural Ontario near Windsor. The series came out earlier this year. We meet Lester, a young man whose mother died who draws and invents superhero stories to escape from the bullying he is subjected to and to get bored. He lives with his uncle Ken, a farmer who never wanted children. Anne is a house nurse. She flirts with a melancholy since her daughter went far away from the city to study. She takes care of an old uncle, Lou, who is lost in his past and seems increasingly disconnected from reality. A relationship is slowly built between the characters, whose connections we discover.
► Available on GEM
Perform the Burbs
Run Burbs photo courtesy of CBC
Andrew Phung (Kim’s Convenience) offers a comedy about a Canadian family of South Asian descent who live their everyday life in the suburbs with good humor and nonconformity. Dad is at home, mom is a self-confident entrepreneur. All have a lot of character. They live in a cul-de-sac where the neighborhood talks a lot. They like to organize parties and all kinds of activities. Nothing is ordinary with the Phams. Two seasons are currently available.
► Available on GEM
The Spencer Sisters
The Spencer Sisters Photo courtesy of Bell Media
We often mistake Victoria and Darby for sisters. The first is an author of world-renowned best-selling crime novels. The second is a former police officer who was unlucky. They are mother and daughter and decide to start a private detective agency. They must join forces, although both pursue very different methods of investigation. Each episode creates a new case. If the series is set in a fictional Ontario town, it was filmed in Winnipeg.
► Available from Crave
Plan B
Plan B Photo courtesy of CBC
The series by Jean-François Asselin and Jacques Drolet has a Canadian adaptation. The first season (initially starring Louis Morissette and Magalie Lépine-Blondeau) was shot in English in Montreal and aired this winter. Patrick J. Adams (Suits) plays a jealous lawyer who tries to mend his relationship with his wife (Karine Vanasse) by asking the Plan B agency to go back in time.
► Available as VOD
Somehow
Kind of photo provided by CBC
This dramatic comedy was avant-garde at the time it was made. She is from her time. We follow Sabi Mehboob, Millennial and non-binary, from a traditional Pakistani family. During the day they are nannies in a family in crisis, at night they work in a bar. Their lover is unfaithful. Her sister and her best friend share their everyday life with all their exuberance. They are looking for their place in life and what they want to achieve. This search for meaning in early adulthood, coupled with questions of identity, is presented very nicely. His interpreter is Bilal Baig, the first person of South Asian queer and Muslim descent to get a lead role in a Canadian series. The series, whose third season arrives this fall, has received multiple awards on Canadian screens.
► Available on GEM
red ketchup
Red Ketchup Photo courtesy of Teletoon
This animated series, directed by Martin Villeneuve, aired in the rest of Canada on Adult Swim and received Canadian funding to see the light of day. Dubbing is first in English, then in French. Red Ketchup is a mythical comic book character created by Pierre Fournier and Réal Godbout. He is an often coked FBI agent, but still invincible. He has no feelings and is rather radical in his interventions. He has become a real threat to society and even his bosses cannot defeat him. We accompany him in investigations in which he imposes himself and in his difficult relationship with his sister, who documents his actions.
► Available as VOD with Télétoon subscription
Sullivan’s Crossing
Sullivan’s Crossing Photo courtesy of Bell Media
Inspired by a novel by Robyn Carr, this drama series immerses us in the daily life of a small rural town near Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Maggie Sullivan, a neurosurgeon, finds himself in trouble with the law after a scandal. There she is forced to reconnect with her father and also encounters a newcomer who catches her eye. As she tries to get her life back on track, her painful past resurfaces.
► Available from Crave
Wong & Winchester
Wong & Winchester Photo courtesy of City TV
In the comic realm, this Montreal-shot series follows an unlikely duo who are forced to team up to solve crimes. Marissa Wong is a former police officer with an awkward temper. Sarah Winchester is a somewhat naïve newcomer. Both conduct their investigations in different ways.
► Available as VOD with subscription to City TV