I was a fan of Royal Canadian Air Farce in the early 1990s, and attended an Air Farce taping around December 1995. Despite this, I had low hopes for Air Farce’s panel, given what I feel was a decline of the show’s quality after the late 1990s. It was a surprisingly candid and informative panel, punctuated by the idea of CBC cutting Air Farce’s already-low budget. Air Farce’s panel might have been better attended had it not occupied the 2:00 PM-3:00 PM ET timeslot.
Given how 19-2, The Amazing Race Canada and Masterchef Canada are all hits for Bell Media, and Degrassi has an agreeable home on MTV Canada, I question why the four shows were bundled into a three-hour morning format, which relatively few people attended. When I can type that about The Amazing Race Canada and Degrassi, that says something. Binge-viewing of Sherlock turned out to be the better draw.
The Sunday Murdoch Mysteries screening and panel, which I didn’t attend as I went to my sister’s twenty-fifth anniversary party, was the clear audience draw of CITF 2013. Murdoch Mysteries has a loyal fanbase.
I was unimpressed by CITF’s promotion for its first year. Although the Murdoch Mysteries and Spun Out events were well-attended, most of CITF’s events were decided in the last two weeks before the festival, resulting in relatively sparse attendance for a free festival in downtown Toronto. The events themselves ran smoothly.
While I still think CITF cuts it relatively close with its promotion, 2013 felt like it was booked on the fly, which it might have been. Corner Gas is a main attraction this year; CITF can no longer afford to be sloppy.
- Online Promotion | CBC Gem, Netflix January 2019 premieres - December 14, 2018
- Trailers | “The Macra Terror”, Doctor Who season sets - December 8, 2018
- Trailers | Letterkenny Season 6, Travelers Season 3 - December 5, 2018