Son of a Critch

SON OF A CRITCH seems to be a very promising new sitcom for CBC. The plot follows along the lines of YOUNG SHELDON and the new WONDER YEARS except it's a Canuck childhood recollection. Hopefully, they treat it with respect and keep it on the air, at least until the young actor playing Mark graduates. I could easily relate to the setting, having grown up and gone to school in Canada (albeit Saskatchewan, not Newfoundland), and a decade earlier. The show is full of quirky Canadiana: the Wayne and Shuster lunch pail, the Rich Little poster, the moose headline. The creator of the show, Mark Critch, plays his father on the series. A nice surprise for me was Malcolm McDowell playing Mark's 80 year old grandfather with whom he shares a bedroom. I am looking forward to enjoying many years of this show, tickling my funny bone and reliving memories of being a nerdy kid in Canada.

I was already a high schooler but kudos to the set dressers because the sight of a push button cable box on a tube TV with an Atari connected to it took me back. The characters are so real and played to perfection by the actors it pulls you into their world seemlessly. I'm team Fox already because she's portrayed as such a vulnerable "bully" and I find myself hoping her character develops throughout the series. Having survived 12 years of Catholic School this show is like looking at a documentary of my childhood.... I was in elementary school in the 70's and high school in the early 80's so that time frame remains something special...

I actually like the show. Strong cast, funny enough. I was surprised to see Malcolm McDowell, but I guess they wanted to add some credibility to the cast.

What's clear is that they have not only a few similarities to Young Sheldon. I mean, the mother and the brother even look similar to the mother and brother on Young Sheldon. It's almost like they want to be confused with that show.

I'm only 2 episodes in but as someone who relates to this pre-internet era and has spent a great deal of time in rural NFLD, I love it so far. I'm looking forward to the next episode each week. The set designers have really nailed this, and the cast is superb (Sophia Powers as Fox especially!)

Upon watching, you are inevitably drawn to make comparison with The Wonder Years (original) but also notice the differences that makes this stand out on it's own.

It has all of the comical absurdity that revolves around a typical family type that most will recognise.

Great performances all round, with particular note for Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Malcolm McDowell (in his best role for years).

It is silly and of course absurd but oh so delightfully so, partly because of the Canadian elements attached.