"Sure is crazy weather we've been having up here in Cal-Gary."

Zak Galfa-however you spell his name, was on the Jimmy Fallon show the other night and Calgary made a wonderful, and hilarious, cameo in the form of his character, Calgary Slim, the hustler.

So Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett says that he funds a lot of “shit.” Naturally, he’s been getting a lot of flack for expressing that view — there are many hard-working people in the Alberta film and television industry who don’t like having their work written off by the guy who’s supposed to be promoting and supporting them. The Alberta Liberals (and specifically Laurie Blakeman, the Liberal Critic for Culture and Community Spirit) think Blackett should step down for his comments, laying the blame for any “shit” output on his neglect of his portfolio over the last two years.

There’s probably some truth in that. Still, should a politician really be forced to resign over making an honest statement? “Why do I fund … Read More

Oh, Internet, what treasures you hold. Wandering into my office this morning, my brain caught in a desperate struggle between sleep-deprivation and caffeine, I wondered if there was anything that could raise my spirits. Of course there was. Oh, Internet, why do I ever doubt you?

This super cool Breaking Bad promo material basically combines my three favourite things: Comics, videogames and, well, Breaking Bad (which is, in fairness, basically just a comic book on TV). "Interrogation," as it's called, is equal parts motion comic and Mass Effect conversation tree. In it, you play as DEA Agent Hank Schrader, a supporting character on the show, as he interrogates an actuary about a possible arson. The visuals are all snappy motion comic flare … Read More

It's been a year and a half since Fast Forward ran a cover story on the death of community television. That article mostly focussed on the local side of things, but since then, the situation has only gotten more extreme.

Now, for the first time in eight years, the CRTC is doing a review of its public television policy, and they're taking input from the public at large. The forum has been open since last October, and they'll be accepting opinions until Feb 1 — that's six more days. The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) has more information on its website, as well as a sample letter that you can send in.

I know public television conjurs images of low-budget sets and awkward hosts that lend themselves to … Read More

That got your attention, didn't it?

You nerd.

While there's been absolutely no indication that Michael Chiklis (the actor famous for playing such grumpy balls of muscle as The Shield's Vick Mackey and the film version of the Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm) will have anything at all to do with the television adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis' beloved comic book series Powers, those of us who are fans of both Mackey and Bendis know that the combination would be a totally fucking awesome one. Do you hear that, FX? This needs to happen.

Anyway, this post comes to you now because Premium Hollywood has posted an interview with FX president John Landgraf which confirms Powers' development as a television series is still going forward and is -- no … Read More

I suppose I should have mentioned this during the week, but I'm going to be live-blogging from the Geminis this evening. Right now, I'm sequestered in the press room (they never let press onto the main floor for this sort of thing), but I do have a man on the inside who will hopefully be sending me updates of anything particularly interesting, and us media folk do get to watch a live feed of the broadcast.

Although, during the Junos two years ago, that live feed went down and we ended up watching the televised broadcast instead. Glamorous.

Keep refreshing this post for all the excitement of the Canadian television industry!

5:48 pm: Soundchecking has begun. More importantly: Red wine has been acquired. Repeating that process may be the key … Read More

Well, fuck. I think this photo of a horrid doll I found using Magic Google aptly illustrates my feelings. Or, at the very least, it illustrates the feelings of my inner fourteen year old goth girl.

It is so very early for thoughts.

As Peter pointed out in the comment thread of that other Dollhouse post, Joss Whedon's latest television project has met with its untimely--if inevitable--demise. Fortunately, it looks as though Whedon will be able to see the second season to completion, which is at least better than what Firefly got. Maybe next time, Joss. We've all got our fingers crossed.

Of course, Firefly set a precedent when the truncated story was eventually concluded with Serenity, so maybe it isn't too much to hope that Dollhouse … Read More

Though I’m not sure  I’m drunk enough to be writing something about the nature of arts criticism, this has been rattling around my cavernous noggin since yesterday, and I’m having trouble thinking about much else. I promise this will not become a manifesto.

Over the weekend, Whedonesque, Joss Whedon’s fan community/personal blog site-thingie linked to my Dollhouse post, causing a veritable torrent of hits (thanks Whedonesque!). As is the wont of dedicated fans, a few of Whedonesque’s posters were unhappy with the fact that Dollhouse—or, indeed, any of Whedon’s shows—didn’t appear on my meaningfully capitalized list of Great Shows. Now, while I appreciate any discussion that I’m able to provoke, this isn’t a response to those commenters … Read More

If you’re the sort of person who cares about things like then, then you probably don’t need me to tell you that Dollhouse has been knocked off of Fox’s November sweeps lineup. If you aren’t the sort of person who cares about things like this, then you’re probably wondering what a dollhouse has to do with a fox while you subconsciously evaluate any of my previous blog entries to determine whether they give off an “anthropomorphic animal fetishist/pedophile vibe.”

If, by some miracle, you a) know that Dollhouse is the newest sci fi/action/drama by Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Dr. Horrible), b) haven’t heard of Dollhouse, but are always open for a good show to watch and/or c) aren’t now frantically searching the Internet for a photo of me to put up on … Read More