CBC Original Comedy Son of a Critch created by Mark Critch (This Hour has 22 Minutes) and Tim McAuliffe (writer/producer of NBC’s The Office, FOX’s Last Man on Earth and NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), returns to CBC and CBC Gem on Tuesday, January 9, 2024 at 8:30pm (9pm NT). The popular series stars Critch, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Disney’s Pinocchio) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange). The series is also available in the US on The CW.
(Photo/video credit: CBC)
Son of a Critch, a CBC Original Comedy, created by Mark Critch (This Hour has 22 Minutes) and Tim McAuliffe (writer/producer of NBC’s The Office, FOX’s Last Man on Earth and NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), is coming back for Season 3 on CBC and CBC Gem. The popular series stars Critch, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Disney’s Pinocchio) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange). It will premiere on Tuesday, January 9th at 8:30pm (9pm NT) on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service. The series is also available in the US on The CW.
Based on the award-winning, best-selling memoir from Mark Critch, this is the hilarious and very real story of 14 year-old Mark coming-of-age in St. John’s, Newfoundland. It’s a heartfelt window into the life of a child who uses comedy and self-deprecation to win friends and find his place in the world.
Canadian Screen Week 2023 has concluded with celebrations taking place over four days at Toronto’s Meridian Hall, honouring the achievements of Canadian talent in film, television, and digital media.
History was made this year in the Film and Television categories with records being set. CBC’s The Porter went on to win a record 12 Canadian Screen Awards, leading television honours overall. Wins include: Best Drama Series; Best Direction, Drama Series, presented by Playback; Best Writing, Drama Series; and Best Guest Performance, Drama Series for Alfre Woodward. The award for Best Lead Performer, Drama Series went to Hamza Haq for CTV’s Transplant, making this his third consecutive win as a lead in the series.
In Comedy, the sophomore season of CBC’s Sort Of took home an inpressive seven Canadian Screen Awards. Among those wins was Best Comedy Series; Best Lead Performer, Comedy, presented by the Canada Media Fund, for Bilal Baig; Best Guest Performance, Comedy for Amanda Brugel; and Best Writing, Comedy, for Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo, marking back-to-back wins for the pair in this category.
Film honours were led by Clement Virgo’s Brother, which like The Porter, received a record 12 Canadian Screen Awards at The Cinematic Arts Awards, presented by Telefilm Canada and supported by Cineplex, on Thursday, April 13, including: Best Motion Picture; Achievement in Direction, and Adapted Screenplay for Clement Virgo; Performance in a Leading Role, presented by Telefilm Canada, for Lamar Johnson; and Performance in a Supporting Role for Aaron Pierre.
Special Awards were also handed-out through the week, culminating a star-studded conclusion to the week with the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Catherine O’Hara in-attendance. Honourees this year include:
–Ryan Reynolds, recipient of the Humanitarian Award, presented by Paramount+, was presented his award in a touching moment (see Reel below) by Everett Ho, SickKids patient ambassador, and Lisa Charendoff, Associate Director, Community Stakeholder Relations at SickKids Foundation. Winner Amanda Brugel also wanted Reynolds in on her victory photo!
–Catherine O’Hara, recipient of the Academy Icon Award, presented by CBC, received her award from Karen Robinson, her former Schitt’s Creek co-star.
–Simu Liu, recipient of the Radius Award presented by MADE | NOUS, recognizing a Canadian whose work is making waves globally
–Lisa LaFlamme, recipient of the Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism, recognizing a Canadian broadcast journalist for their exceptional body of work in broadcast journalism
–Pierre Bruneau, the recipeint of the Lifetime Achievement Award for exceptional work with an impact at home or abroad
–Peter MacNeill, recipient of the Earle Grey Award, presented by eOne for their exceptional body of acting work in Canadian television and film
–Tracy Moore, recipient of the Changemaker Award, which recognises and honours those in the media community in Canada who are using their voice or platform to call out systemic racism and discrimination, supporting and amplifying the voices of those who are actively engaged in anti-racist work, and seeking structural transformations in media, film, and television in Canada that promote values of equity and inclusion
–Paul Pope (post-humous), the recipient of the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute
–Jennifer Podemski, recipient of the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute, honouring a Canadian individual for their extraordinary impact on the growth of the Canadian media industry
A Reel of Highlights from tonight’s Red Carpet:
The Canadian Screen Awards with Samantha Bee on Sunday, April 16, 2023 on CBC and CBC Gem at 8 PM (9 AT, 9:30 NT). The winner of the Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award will be unveiled on the broadcast. Special guests also include Amy Poehler, Mae Martin, Adam DiMarco and Lamar Johnson.
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)
CBC presented what is an exciting 2023 programming line-up at their LIVE AT MASSEY HALL unveiling today. On-hand were some of their biggest stars and personalities from their diverse and inclusive upcoming slate. It was such a pleasure getting to chat with the stars of their hits series RUN THIS TOWN, SON OF A CRITCH and upcoming Docu-Series STAY TOONED. Additional announcements made today here.
Based on the Memoir of the same name but multi-Canadian Screen Award winner Mark Critch, the Series in its second season once again takes us back on a comedic and heartfelt journey to the ’80s in Newfoundland. We witness young Mark (played by Disney’s PINOCCHIO star Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) go through some firsts like his first heartbreak, while his father Mike (Critch) fights to get a raise at work, and mother Mary (Claire Rankin) tries to keep the men of the house in order.
In this his first ever visit to Toronto, Ainsworth tells us he has plans to attend a Toronto Maple Leafs game and also got to visit Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in his brief stay here. On his character Mark‘s story arc this season, he tells us “He goes back to school, expecting it all to be great and how he left off. And he realizes quickly that it’s not. And he has to deal with that the first couple episodes. In this season, the writing’s great. Each character gets to grow their branch on the Critch Tree and expand their stories. I’m very excited for everyone to watch it.”.
Critch tells us, “Mike is the type of person who lets life happen to him. He is a stone and the world passes by him. The river of life goes around him. He’s pushed a bit when his son young Mike (Colton Gobbo) starts to work at the station, becomes a colleague and he’s got very mixed emotions about that because he really wanted him to be the first Critch to go off the university. His thing is not really seeing his own value, his own worth and taking himself for something he’s less than.”. Critch adds, “He does see his value a later in the season when he gets offered another job. That sort of thing when your child is becoming a young man and the worry of that. And he also takes Mary’s love for granted a bit and it’s good for him to realize that the fire does need to be fanned a little bit. There’s some lovely moments together this season.”.
Season 2 of Son of a Critch premieres Tuesday, January 3, 2023 at 8:30 p.m. (9 NT) on CBC TV and the free CBC Gem streaming service.
Our favourite Vietnamese-South Asian-Canadian TV family are back for a second season! RUN THE BURBS is set to take us a layer deeper in The Phams’ family dynamics as we see them deal with some very real issues ahead, but with that signature humour and lightness so many fans came to love of the first season. Stars Andrew Phung (Andrew) and Rakhee Morzaria (Camille) sat down to chat with us about what to expect this upcoming season.
Morzaria says, “There’s a lot of exploration of trying and failure, friendships and cultural identity that comes through a lot. A lot of inter-generational family dynamics and it’s really beautiful seeing Camille and her relationship to her family begin to grow with her father and some other surprises that we’ll see. But also her relationship to her entrepreneurship and how so many people during the Pandemic were doing their side-hustle job and that became their ‘job-job’. Camille is experiencing that and I think it’s really fun to play and watch, and I think a lot of people will connect with it.”.
Phung tells us, “For us, the second season was about giving every Pham member an arc of them taking on the world. So for Andrew, it was going back into the workforce and trying to get a job. Andrew was following his own passion in a space he coulnd’t get into. But no matter what, this family’s got eachother’s back and I wanted to showcase that. Life isn’t easy but for The Phams, they’ve got eachother. As long as they’ve got eachother, that’s all that matters.”.
Season 2 of Run the Burbs premieres Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 8:30 p.m. (9 NT) on CBC TV and the free CBC Gem streaming service.
Having voiced so many characters in the Looney Tunes franchise and beyond, Scarborough’s own Eric Bauza continues to make a splash on the world stage. He brings it back home in new limited Docu-Series STAY TOONED, exploring some of the most iconic Animated Series and Films they have defined a generation. But what’s unique about this Seris is that with subject matter experts and notables like Ben Schwartz, Ken Jeong, Tara Strong, Bobby Moynihan and more, he explores these classics through a fresh lens of today, looking at their cultural impact and how the narrative has changed since.
But which is his favourite of all to voice we wonder? He tells us, it’s Marvin the Martian.
Bauza explains what he hopes his viewers will take away from this Series. “We definitely had an entire list of things we could’ve talked about, but the six episodes we have are the hot ones. Let’s get them out and then we can continue and do a continuation of them. 22 mintues isn’t a long time, but it’s a great time to punch you with subject, have you think about it and move onto the next one. I really do hope it drives conversation and hope that it gives people hope when they thought maybe there was none.”.
All six episodes of Stay Tooned premiere Friday, December 2, 2022 on CBC Gem.
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)
From the Producer of Schitt’s Creek, Andrew Barnsley and Project 10 comes SON OF A CRITCH, based on the Best-Selling Memoir by Mark Critch. The Series, filming now in Newfoundland, will star Critch, Malcolm McDowell and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth!
Syopsis:
“Son of a Critch” is the hilarious and very real story of 11-year-old Mark coming of age in St. John’s, Newfoundland in the 80’s. It’s a heartfelt window into the life of a child – much older inside than his 11 years – using comedy and self-deprecation to win friends and connect with the small collection of people in his limited world. With production starting today in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the comedy stars Mark Critch as his father and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Pinocchio) as young Mark. Ainsworth can currently be seen as one of the leads in the limited series “The Haunting of Bly Manor” for director Mike Flanagan on Netflix, and stars as Pinocchio opposite Tom Hanks in Walt Disney Pictures’ upcoming live action remake of Pinocchio for director Robert Zemeckis. Additionally, Claire Rankin (Molly’s Game) has been cast as Mark’s mother, Mary, alongside newcomers Sophia Powers and Mark Rivera, who are cast as classmates of young Mark. Golden Globe nominee Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) to star as Pop.
The Series arrives in Canada on CBC January 2022. Lionsgate will handle global distribution.
(Photo/video credit: CBC)
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