Hockey Fanatics (Crave)
Mike Myers, voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs Joe Bowen, and Dave Foley in Hockey Fanatics.Crave
Super Bowl ratings dropped by 15 per cent in Canada last year – but that’s not nearly far enough, in my opinion. Even before our relationship with the U.S. broke down, I never understood why Canadians had annexed the all-American ultrapatriotic pig-out cultural tradition of Super Bowl parties, built around the final annual showdown in a sports league that has no team in our country and plays the game of football with one down too many.
If you want to throw a party this weekend, why not have folks over for brunch to catch some of the Winter Olympics live from Italy on CBC or CBC Gem – a high-stakes sporting event where we have some skin (and some skis) in the game. For more relaxed athletics-adjacent viewing any time, Crave’s new Hockey Fanatics series (available Feb. 6) is an enjoyable watch while the NHL version of our national sport is on hiatus; Kids in the Hall’s Dave Foley proves a knowledge and likeable host, meeting superfans and heading to a Leafs game with Mike Myers and a Canadiens game with Jay Baruchel.
The Muppet Show (Disney+)
The Muppet Show special is produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.Supplied
Maybe you don’t give a football about the NFL, but plan to tune into the Super Bowl for Bad Bunny’s mid-game extravaganza, viewing the Puerto Rican singer’s planned Spanish-language performance as some sort of official protest against the Donroe Doctrine and ICE? Well, as the late, great Audre Lorde put it, more or less, the master’s half-time show will never the dismantle the master’s Bowl. Sponsor Apple Music is paying for your ears and eyes to tune in – and will no doubt channel at least some of the ensuing revenue into more gold bars for Apple CEO Tim Cook to present in tribute to Donald Trump.
For uplifting musical entertainment in trying times, instead check out The Muppet Show special, now on Disney+ and produced by undercover Canadians Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. What could be finer escapism than Sabrina Carpenter duetting on Islands in the Stream with Miss Piggy? Rizzo the Rat also covers the Weeknd’s Blinding Lights in this short pilot for a reboot of the variety show; it’s a little overly reverent in its nostalgia, but has an excellent running gag involving Gonzo.
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (NFB)
The Girl Who Cried Pearls is an Oscar-nominated animated short by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski.NFB/Supplied
The most pathetic annual Super Bowl discourse in Canada every year used to be about the highest-profile ads not airing on our broadcasts of the game. “Why can’t we be sold to like the Americans?” whined folks who didn’t understand that we live in an entirely different country, a.k.a. ad market.
Now, of course, the Super Bowl ads are all uploaded to YouTube in advance, rendering that whole dispiriting debate moot. For short-form content that’s not trying to get you to buy bad beer, why not head over to the National Film Board of Canada’s website or app instead, and watch Montreal stop-motion innovators Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s gorgeous animated short The Girl Who Cried Pearls, a Colm Feore-narrated fable about the true value of objects, currently nominated for an Oscar? All of the NFB’s Oscar-nominated films – 79 as of this year – are available to stream for free, including Lavis and Szczerbowski’s break-out 2007 short, Madame Tutli-Putli.
Lakay Nou (CBC)
Frédéric Pierre as Henri Honoré and Catherine Souffront as Myrlande Prospère in Radio-Canada comedy Lakay Nou.CBC Gem/Supplied
With North of North and Son of a Critch having extra-long gaps between seasons, CBC has kept things funny this winter by adding to Gem the second and even more charming season of this Radio-Canada half-hour comedy (with English subtitles) about the Prospère and Honoré families in Montreal. As it begins, Henri Honoré (Frédéric Pierre) has launched his Haitian restaurant called Lakay Nou – “chez nous” in Creole – and immediately, and unwisely, enters it in a restaurant competition, while his wife Myrlande Prospère (Catherine Souffront) tries taking her legal career in a new direction. As always, the pair aim to bridge the gap between their immigrant parents and their Quebec-culture-immersed children, and to balance community obligations with personal goals. A soothing show to calm yourself down after getting worked up over the Super Bowl.
Queen of Chess (Netflix) and Queen of Katwe (Disney+)
Judit Polgár and Alec Baldwin play a game in Netflix's Queen Of Chess.Jesse Grant/Netflix
During the pandemic, Netflix revitalized the popularity of chess internationally, especially among women, when it released The Queen’s Gambit – a period drama about a fictional female chess prodigy. Now, the streaming service is giving another boost to the board game with this new fast-paced documentary (available Feb. 6) about Judit Polgár, the highest-ranked female player of all time. In the 1980s, Polgár overcame Communist repression in Hungary, frankly stated sexism in her field and obscene pressure from her father to become the No. 1 woman player in the world – at age 12. Then she went after her ultimate checkmate: Garry Kasparov.
If Queen of Chess leaves you seeking one more inspirational story about women in the sport, switch over to Disney+ and stream director Mira Nair’s Queen of Katwe, a sweet 2016 biographical film about Ugandan player Phiona Mutesi. There’s an extra game you can play at home while watching it: Try to spot Zohran Mamdani, Nair’s son and recently elected Mayor of New York, in a small role.