bookchick-35922

Excellent mystery! I wasn't sure at first but was hooked by the end of the first episode.

Carl and the Dept. Q crew are all damaged in their own ways - physically, emotionally - but as they work through the case they slowly move towards healing, separately and together.

But not in a shmaltzy way - there is a lot of smartassery and snark. The characters' interactions are very often quite funny and the entire show has a rich vein of dark humour.

It is refreshing to see so many fully realized female characters who are neither stereotypically entirely nasty nor doormats.

I'm very interested in discovering more about Akram and what he really did in Syria.

I have never seen or read any of the source material so don't know how it compares but it is a great show with a twisty mystery and characters who develop and grow. A little human mess is interesting but full time 24/7 disaster in every episode gets boring after a couple of episodes, a pitfall this show avoids.

It's been a while since I've watched a laugh out loud tv show but every episode of this show made me really laugh. The kind of laugh that makes you feel better afterward and leaves you smiling.

In fact this is a 100% Mike Myers production, and I love it!

Is the plot ridiculous?

Are there quality guest stars plentiful?

Does Mike Myers play 90'% of the characters and still manages to totally nail it every time?

Can the humour be a bit juvenile?

Is there pockets if ridiculously over the top swearing?

Is it super Canadian?

Yes to all of the above.

What it's not is mean or personal. The funny doesn't come at another's expense or from being cruel.

Ken Scarborough is a sweet, kind character based on long time man-about-town reporter Glenn Cochrane. The opening scene of Ken reporting from an outdoorsman's show was a nearly verbatim recreation of one of Glenn Cochrane's reports for CFTO Toronto, as anyone who lived Southern Ontario or upstate New York in the 70's & 80's can attest.

It's just really good fun. Make some popcorn, relax and enjoy it, bud.

A Christmas Story Christmas is absolutely wonderful and with the first watching instantly became the latest addition to the my must-see-every-year Christmas lexicon.

Ralphie is all grown up, married with kids of his own, and giving his all in a solid attempt at becoming a published author. Really, it is a love letter to the to his now absent dad (played by the late, great Darren McGavin) and has all the charm, fun, and most of the cast of the original.

Hilarious, heartwarming, but without any shmaltz, it's destined to be a classic, no matter where you live.

One assumes the Scrooge-like reviewers all work at the Hallmark channel and are bitter because after years of trying, are still unable make a single watchable Christmas movie.