TV: ‘Austen Forever’
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any TV viewer who loves Jane Austen must be in want of programming. Thus BritBox has launched its “Austen Forever” slate, six months of shows and movies honouring the beloved novelist on the occasion of her 250th birthday. The author of “Pride and Prejudice,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Emma” and three other completed books was born on Dec. 16, 1775. BritBox began its programming last week with the 1996 movie “Emma,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow; 1995’s “Clueless,” starring Alicia Silverstone and inspired by “Emma”; and the new docudrama “Jane Austen: The Rise of a Genius,” which explains how a young, largely self-taught Georgian woman became the bitingly witty and insightful author we love today. — Debra Yeo
Theatre: ‘Bug’
In Tracy Letts’s “Bug,” a man and a woman spiral down a dark, endless vortex of conspiracy theories that consumes them with an all-encompassing paranoia. Watching King Black Box Theatre’s new revival of this play, starring the exceptional L.A. Sweeney and Nicholas Eddie as the couple, clutching onto each other so tightly as they descend into this inescapable abyss, is riveting and frightening. Director Andrew Cameron’s intimate production places audiences right in the middle of the action. As you watch the characters slip further and further away from reality, it’s impossible not to draw parallels to today’s conspiracy-ridden society. — Joshua Chong
TV: ‘Shark Tank’ holiday episode
Every Christmas, I go down to Seattle to hang out with old friends, where we indulge in one of my favourite holiday traditions: watching hour after hour after hour of new “Shark Tank” episodes. Why don’t I just enjoy them throughout the year, you ask? Well, there’s great comfort in knowing we have a huge pile of goodies awaiting us at year’s end and I can spend my precious veg-out time in the sweet embrace of inspiring entrepreneurship. This special episode, featuring holiday-themed products (now streaming on Crave), is always a major highlight. We can look forward to everything from gingerbread houses for grown-ups to on-demand Christmas carolers. — Briony Smith
Movie: ‘Tinsel Town’
Did you know that Kiefer Sutherland has never starred in a comedy? That changes this festive season with the arrival of “Tinsel Town” (Prime), an utterly charming little holiday trifle about the power of … panto? That’s right: Sutherland plays an arrogant, washed-up action star who gets hornswoggled into flying to England and appearing in a small-town Christmas production of “Cinderella” as the hapless Buttons. At first aghast at the prospect, he, of course, starts to come around to the joys of panto, and spending time with the dance master (Rebel Wilson), his estranged daughter and the lovely denizens of the troupe and hamlet. There’s singing, dancing, a quaint Yorkshire setting, and Kiefer is, it turns out, hilarious. What an unexpected gift. — Briony Smith
