One of the reasons I like having a blog is because I get to write about TV shows that I really love and one of those shows is CTV’s “Cardinal.”

I was hooked on this detective drama from my first peek at the first episodes in 2017 and my admiration only grew as I got to meet and talk with people involved in the show, including the amazing Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse, and director Daniel “Podz” Grou. (You can read those stories on the Toronto Star’s website. I’ll post the urls below.)

Yet all good things truly do come to an end. For “Cardinal,” that end is Monday, May 11 at 10 p.m. on CTV. But here’s something that might ease your withdrawal symptoms: CTV’s “eTalk” is airing a special, “eTalk Presents: Cardinal,” this Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m told I make a “cameo” appearance in it, since correspondent Danielle Graham did her interviews with Billy and Karine the same weekend I was on set in North Bay.

That was such a fun weekend. Myself and a handful of other media spent a Friday afternoon in April 2019 watching the shooting in the North Bay office that stood in for Algonquin Bay police headquarters, and grabbed short interviews with Billy and Karine , and producer Julia Sereny whenever we could. They were busy. It was their last day of shooting in North Bay and they were put behind schedule by an unexpected visit by Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his then finance minister, Vic Fedeli.

Here’s my admittedly very non-professional photo of Doug Ford and Vic Fedeli talking to Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse on the “Cardinal” set on April 5, 2019.

On Saturday we got to do photo shoots with Billy and Karine, and to attend the wrap party on Saturday night. That was my first ever wrap party. Who knows if I’ll ever get invited to another?

Zach Smadu, centre, who plays Detective Kular, with Kristen Thomson, who plays Dyson, and Billy Campbell. You already know who he plays, right? PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

Anyway, one thing I regret is that when I wrote my Toronto Star feature about the set visit (url below), I didn’t have room to include my interview with James Downing and Zach Smadu, who play detectives Ian McLeod and Ash Kular, respectively. They’re very witty and charming gentlemen. Here’s a little taste of our chat, which started with me joking to Zach about the fact he started out in musical theatre.

Me: What’s a guy with a musical theatre background doing in a cop show?

Zach: Dancing with glee. I mean, I started in musical theatre. You didn’t know that?

Me: It’s amazing what you can find out on an IMDb page.

James: The punishment you’re gonna take …

Zach: Jimmy brings his guitar to set every day. When we’re not working we’ll sing songs. We actually had a running joke starting in Season 2 that we wanted them to do McKul …

James: They call us McKul.

Zach: That McKul is at a karaoke bar one night and just like, it’s some weird random thing because we do that all the time.

James: The director went, uh, not so much.

Zach: It would have been a very different show … Being in the world of police drama, especially the kind of intensity of this show and bringing life and realness, especially as our leads and Jim and all the co-stars and guest stars do, it’s really still like theatre because it’s a team sport.

James: That was so sincere. He just likes carrying a gun.

Zach: Actually that was the only ask I had this season, because I have yet to pull my gun out … There’s a lot of crime in this town. Can you believe the amount of crime in this little town?

Me: Well , maybe if somebody brings the wrong type of doughnuts.

James: Ooooh.

We chatted a bit more about how James, for instance, got into acting because he had a crush on a girl in the drama society at school; how Zach wanted to be a sprinter when he was growing up; and how much they’ve both enjoyed working on “Cardinal.”

James Downing, left, who plays Detective McLeod, with Billy Campbell in Season 3 of “Cardinal.” PHOTO CREDIT: Bell Media

So here’s to you McKul and the rest of the “Cardinal” crew. Thanks for the memories.

If you want to check out the first interview I did with Billy and Karine: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2018/01/03/canadian-tv-crime-drama-cardinal-returns-to-its-elements.html

My interview with Podz: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2019/01/23/director-daniel-grou-found-dream-cast-in-cardinals-billy-campbell-and-karine-vanasse.html

The story I wrote about the final season: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/television/2020/04/05/billy-campbell-karine-vanasse-and-an-army-of-others-brought-north-bay-and-cardinal-to-the-world-the-final-season-arrives-monday.html