Month: September 2021

SHOW OF THE WEEK: Born Bad (Sept. 25, 8 p.m., CBC and CBC Gem)

There’s been a lot of attention paid recently to the abuses perpetrated on Indigenous children in Canada’s residential schools, and rightfully so. This doc shines light on another group of children victimized by the state: the thousands who were sent to Ontario training schools as far back as the 1930s but mainly from 1953 to 1984.

The “schools” were meant for so-called “delinquent” kids who couldn’t be managed by their parents or other institutions. But the doc by Marc de Guerre (“Who’s Sorry Now?” “Why Men Cheat”) makes clear these were essentially jails for children as young as 8 and, in many cases, no crime had been committed. Children could be incarcerated for things like skipping school or, according to a former psychologist who tried to help kids at a training school in Bowmanville, something as trivial as chewing gum in church.

“The purpose of a training school shall be to provide the boys or girls therein with a mental, moral, physical and vocational education, training and employment,” says a line from the Ontario Training Schools Act of 1950.

In fact, what they got was brutality and intimidation from so-called teachers who weren’t properly trained or supervised, as well as from other inmates.

Wendy Herrell, a survivor of the Kawartha Lakes Training School in Lindsay, Ont., calls it “a beautiful hunting ground . . . What better place to work when you’re a pedophile?”

Another survivor, Rick Brown, who attended the Brookside Training School in Cobourg when he was 10, recounts how a teacher hit him so hard his eardrums burst.

Thomas Lavoie, who was also at Brookside from the ages of 11 to 15, was raped by another boy whom the guards had groomed to keep the other kids in line.

“Back then, adults could do anything they wanted to kids,” says Wendy. There was no one to tell about the violence and even if there was, “You think they’re gonna believe a bad kid?” says Shelly Richardson, another Brookside survivor.

Three of the four survivors interviewed came from grossly troubled homes where they endured physical, psychological or sexual abuse, and/or alcoholic parents. That they ended up stealing, skipping school and otherwise acting out is no surprise. But that they ended up in places where, in the words of psychologist Don Weitz, “the government of Ontario was assaulting children and calling it training” was a hideous abuse of power.

There is a class action lawsuit against the government seeking $600 million to be divided among up to 20,000 survivors. The case is expected to go to trial in 2023.

Obviously money can’t take away the pain of the abuse — we get a taste of it from the survivors interviewed in the doc and those are the ones who are traumatized but coping — but I hope they get every penny they’re asking for.

The Big Leap (Sept. 21, 10 p.m., CTV)

This Fox series had me at “reality dance show.”

I have long been a devotee of “So You Think You Can Dance” so was intrigued by the fact “The Big Leap’s” comedy drama plays out against a TV dance competition.

That’s where the similarities end, though. The dance show in “Leap” is far more cutthroat and manipulative than anything I ever witnessed on a “SYTYCD” set. Also, not all of the fictional competitors are, strictly speaking, dancers.

The objective is to whip the chosen ones into shape for a gender-blind performance of “Swan Lake,” but also to exploit whatever crises and insecurities they’re experiencing for audience entertainment.

Scott Foley (“Scandal,” “Felicity”) plays Nick, the Machiavellian producer in charge of that task. Kevin Daniels (“Modern Family”) plays a sympathetic judge and Mallory Jansen (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) is the scary, mean one.

The main contestants Nick’s looking to exploit include Gabby (Simone Recasner), who left her dance ambitions behind when she got pregnant in high school and is battling body image issues; Julia (Teri Polo, “The Fosters”), a former ballet dancer whose marriage is falling apart and who’s freaked out about aging; and Mike (Jon Rudnitsky, “Saturday Night Live”), a non-dancer who lost his factory job and his wife, and is hoping to win the latter back through the show.

This isn’t high concept television. It’s pretty easy to guess, for instance, that Gabby — who’s in a triangle involving disgraced former football player Reggie (Ser’Darius Blain) and nasty, skinny ballroom dancer Brittney (Anna Grace Barlow) — will at some point get a chance to eclipse Brittney onstage. Or that Mike will eventually get romantic with executive Paula (Piper Perabo) despite his laser focus on his ex-wife. Or that Nick will probably turn out to be not as much of a jerk as he seems. And I’m spitballing here because I’ve only seen two episodes.

Still, you want to root for the show’s lovable losers to redeem themselves, especially Gabby, who shows an admirable determination not to let anyone else define her. And you do get to see some actual dancing, especially with ringers like Ray Cham Jr. in the cast.

The Wonder Years (Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m., CTV)

This remake of the 1988 sitcom about a middle class family in the late ’60s and early ’70s has the task of presenting a feel-good slice of nostalgia while not shying away from the racial reality of a Black family in 1960s America.

Based on the episode I saw, the only one available for review, “The Wonder Years” manages to walk that line.

When it begins in 1968 Montgomery, Alabama, the now adult narrator (voiced by Don Cheadle) says that his parents taught him “how to handle yourself around cops” and notes that the country is facing a presidential election that creates a racial divide, but Dean (Elisha Williams) has more universal concerns the year he turns 12: how to get the girl he likes to like him, how to avoid the school bully, how to look cool despite his glasses.

Dean and his best friend Cory (Amari O’Neil) don’t even notice when a couple of white kids at their recently desegregated school back away from the water fountain after Cory takes a drink.

Dean’s family — musician and music professor dad Bill (Dule Hill), accountant mom Lillian (Saycon Sengbloh) and university-bound sister Kim (Laura Kariuki) —lives in a comfortable Black neighbourhood. Bill doesn’t see a reason to mix with white folks so is reluctant to grant Dean’s request to play baseball against a white team that includes his Jewish friend Brad (Julian Lerner).

The game seems like a prime scenario for small-scale racial conflict, but it’s not the white kids who impede Dean’s playing but the rivalry between his dad and the Black coach (Allen Maldonado). And then a real-life tragedy interrupts the game and unites the Black participants in grief.

“It felt like the world around us had changed forever,” says Dean, but “the world on the inside hadn’t.”

It remains to be seen if “The Wonder Years” can maintain that balance between its outside and inside worlds, but the cast certainly seems up to it.

CTV also has “Our Kind of People” debuting Sept. 21 at 9 p.m., a dramedy about a single mom (Yaya DaCosta) trying to break into a wealthy Black enclave in Martha’s Vineyard, as well as singing competition “Alter Ego” (Sept. 22, 10 p.m.) and “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” (Sept. 26, 8 p.m.). Crave has Season 2 of “The L Word: Generation Q” (Sept. 20, 9 p.m.), Season 3 of “Doom Patrol” (Sept. 23, 9:30 p.m.) and the Starz crime drama “BMF” (Sept. 26).

Midnight Mass (Sept. 24, Netflix)

What is it that makes islands the perfect setting for horror TV and movies? Probably the sense of not being able to easily escape, which was certainly the case in HBO’s creepy “The Third Day.”

In this series from Mike Flanagan, the creator of Netflix horror hits “The Haunting of Hill House” and “The Haunting of Bly Manor,” tiny Crockett Island is the scene of the supernatural goings-on.

The locals don’t seem as threatening as the ones in “The Third Day,” but there’s still an undercurrent of unease as native son Riley (Zach Gilford, “Friday Night Lights”) returns home after spending four years in jail for driving drunk and killing someone.

But Riley’s discomfort at being back in this insular place and his regrets over what he’s done are the least of his worries. The real trouble starts when aged parish priest Monsignor Pruitt fails to return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and, in his place, appears Father Paul (Hamish Linklater, “Legion”).

You don’t need to be an expert in the genre to know there’s something off about the new priest. Riley, town doctor Sarah (Annabeth Gish, “The Haunting of Hill House”) and Muslim sheriff Hassan (Rahul Kohli, “The Haunting of Bly Manor”) seem like the only people who are skeptical after Father Paul performs an apparent miracle during Sunday mass. The church is suddenly packed with acolytes and others start noticing physical changes in themselves — although one of those changes is devastating for Riley’s love interest, expectant mom Erin (Kate Siegel).

Town meanie and devout Catholic Bev Keane (Samantha Sloyan, “Grey’s Anatomy”) is fully on board, even after she discovers the secret behind the miracle.

In this case, the angel as well as the devil is in the details. I don’t want to spoil the reveal of the creature that’s hiding in the shadows of Crockett Island, but it puts a different spin on the idea of divine intervention as well as the extremes of faith.

The series is steeped in the rituals of the Catholic Church, with plenty of scenes that take place during mass and episodes named after books of the Bible. It’s hard to tell if Catholic-raised Flanagan is demonstrating reverence for the religion or the opposite, considering that the higher power to which Father Paul appeals seems more evil than benevolent.

“Midnight Mass” gets off to a slow start — it isn’t until episode 4 that the horror really ramps up — but it draws you in nonetheless.

Netflix also has Season 2 of “Love on the Spectrum” (Sept. 20); “Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan” (Sept. 22), about a serial rapist diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder; and Season 4 of “Dear White People” (Sept. 22).

Odds and Ends

If you’re looking for something fun to watch that’s not overly demanding of either time or brain cells, I recommend “Ghosts.” CBC Gem has Season 2 debuting Sept. 24 (with episodes running about a half-hour you can easily catch up on Season 1 there if you haven’t already). Alison and Mike (Charlotte Ritchie and Keill Smith-Bynoe) are still stuck in their haunted money pit of an inherited mansion. The normal and paranormal roomies have learned to co-exist, but the ghosts aren’t much help as Mike and Alison struggle to make enough money to maintain the house.

CBC Gem also has Season 2 of homemade web series “The Next Stop” on Sept. 24.

Hollywood Suite has “Relentless: The Kevin Porter Story” (Sept. 21) about the Ontario firefighter and paramedic who pursued a professional hockey career in his 40s.

Global TV has Season 41 — yes, 41! — of reality TV granddaddy “Survivor” (Sept. 22, 8 p.m.) and, if you think about it, the show is really the ultimate survivor. It also has the new spinoff “NCIS: Hawai’i” (Sept. 26, 9 p.m.), featuring the franchise’s first female special agent in charge (Vanessa Lachey).

You can also catch “Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3” Sept 24 on Amazon Prime Video, featuring the latest fashion collection from superstar Rihanna.