Crawford

If you suffer from migraine, epilepsy, Do not watch this show, there should be health warnings at the start of this programme about flashing images, the credits at the end are very likely to trigger an attack in any person with any of the above illnesses, possibly give others a painful headache. The show is pleasant enough, spoiled by some fool putting on credits that are a health hazard, my wife and I had to close our eyes and turn our heads away when the credits suddenly came on. How this video was allowed to pass into general viewing without some concern given to the effect the credits may have on susceptible viewers is beyond me.

Wow a Canadian show where you can appreciate the humour straight off with Great Acting. It is funny and presents an open mind to how families can work great together by functioning in different ways. (The description as on IMDb as a dysfunctional family is over used - when a family loves and relates to each other - how can it be dysfunctional.)

Speaking as an ordinary objective viewer (not employed or influenced by the CBC) take my word for it, save your time and do not watch this. It is really bad. I actually watched the 2nd episode in the hope that it could only get better. Wrong. It is particularly embarrassing as a Canadian to acknowledge that our tax dollars have gone to the CBC to support crap like this. Seems like they tried to rip off Schitts Creek (Great) but have failed miserably.

Crawford tells the story of a very quirky family. The father is ex-police and suffered a brain injury so now he can not talk and his brain misfires sometimes. The mother designs breakfast cereal. The kids are made up of a daughter a bit lost, one son who is balding at a young age and another who has been kicked out of his band and found he has a skill with Raccoon whispering. Mostly it seems to be about Don (the son who has been kicked out the band). He sets himself up as a humane raccoon catcher and moves in with a vet student who lives in the storeroom of a shop. This is very quirky but very funny. Its hard not to love all the characters. Its very gentle too. There is no real examinations of big issues, politics or token characters that tick boxes for TV stations. It really is just a nice program to watch. The first two episodes I found not so good but maybe you need to get to know the characters to really enjoy the show. The show is more amusing that big laugh out loud moments. Its very well acted and written.

Really though, if you want to just be entertained without having a message forced down your throat then watch this. The family don't try and get one over on each other. They don't always get on or be the best people they love each other the way families do. I really hope this makes it to a second season but its probably be unlikely. If it does then hopefully people will take notice and give it the attention it deserves.

The CBC seems to be hooked on the "quirky and weird family" comedy genre. Schitts Creek and Crawford ate probably the best examples of this fixation.

The show is amusing enough, supported primarily by two experienced performers, Jill Hennessy and John Carroll Lynch. But search the credits for Jim Lovisek, the animal wrangler who achieves some amazingly effective work with what would normally be called "wildlife". The raccoons are almost as much a part of the cast as the actors, although I doubt that they have ACTRA memberships.

It's no "Citizen Kane", but I've certainly seen worse.