Image courtesy of CBC
CBC’s latest comedy series, Son of a Critch, made its premiere yesterday, January 4th on both CBC TV and CBC Gem. It’s based on Canadian comedian, actor, and writer Mark Critch’s award-winning, best-selling memoir. Son of a Critch tells the truly hilarious and real story of 11-year-old Mark coming of age in St. John’s, Newfoundland in the 80s. Critch portrays his own father, Mike Sr., and narrates the series, while Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor and Disney’s Pinocchio) plays young Mark. Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange and HBO’s Entourage) plays his grandfather, Pop, and Claire Rankin (Sci-fi’s Stargate Atlantis) plays his mother, Mary.
Image courtesy of CBC
Popternative recently spoke with Mark Critch and showrunner/writer Tim McAuliffe (writer/producer of NBC’s The Office, FOX’s Last Man on Earth, NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes). Mark shared his excitement for the series, commenting that it’s the best thing he’s been a part of in his career. “It’s got an incredible amount of heart. It’s based on my memories, but I’ve created so many new memories, they kind of top the old memories just from doing this show,” Mark adds. Tim notes that him and Mark are great friends and that he’s heard all of his stories before, but was still riveted by the memoire. “It just felt like this was a world you wanted to live in, so specific but also at the same time, it’s universal in its appeal, […] bullying, and vulnerability […] so the world felt very similar to something I knew,” Tim says.
Image courtesy of CBC
Both Mark and Tim touch on the incredible cast, which was made possible due to the hiring of a UK casting company. “And then they said, by the way, what do you think about Malcolm McDowell for your grandfather? And we’re kind of like, well that’s great, thank you, if we could have some real options in there too […] and they’re like, no trust us […] they sent him the script, and he loved the scripts and then they said he wants a copy of your book […] But he really loved it and connected with it, he loved the scripts and he was like, look I want to do this,” Mark explains.
Watch the full interview with Mark Critch and Tim McAuliffe below.
Watch Son of a Crtich on CBC Gem: https://gem.cbc.ca/media/son-of-a-critch/s01e01
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