Opinion | Coming-of-age comedy ‘Son of a Critch’ is a sweet, but not saccharine, portrait of the enduring bonds of families and friends

What TV shows are dominating the conversation, capturing the zeitgeist, have something interesting to say, or are hidden gems waiting to be uncovered or rediscovered? We take a look ahead of your weekend watch. And, be warned, there are spoilers ahead.

You don’t have to have grown up in the 1980s — or in Newfoundland — to appreciate the gentle humour of CBC’s “Son of a Critch.”

If you went to school, had friends, crushes, enemies and a family, you’ll find points of commonality with 12-year-old Mark Critch (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), the hero of this series based on the memoir of Canadian comedian Mark Critch.

Personally, I went to junior high (and high school) in the 1970s in Toronto, but I could relate to plot lines like the mortification of not having the right pair of jeans to wear on days when school uniforms could be ditched, or the terror of having a bully threaten to beat you up after school.

Since the series debuted in January 2022, other critics have compared it to the original “Wonder Years,” which I didn’t watch. To me, it has echoes of the Northern Ireland-set “Derry Girls,” given the time period and the Catholic school milieu, and the fact the households in both shows are ruled by no-nonsense mothers named Mary.

But Mark lives in St. John’s, N.L., with his father, mother, older brother and grandfather, next to the radio station where his dad, Mike, works. He attends junior high with his Filipino best friend Ritchie (Mark Ezekiel Rivera), the only non-white kid in the class, and bully-turned-friend Fox (Sophia Powers).

What makes “Son of a Critch” so watchable is a sweetness that doesn’t tip over into the saccharine.

This is a family that loves each other but is rarely demonstrative about it. Mary (Claire Rankin) is as likely to call her family members “shaggers” or threaten to shove something up their arses as to say she loves them. Mike (Mark Critch playing his father) calls his Pop (Malcolm McDowell) a “deaf old coot” during a father-son fishing trip and Pop calls Mike “a bloody jinker.” (Yes, the insults are often unique to Newfoundland.)

Yet the episode in which that exchange takes place — which features the off-screen death of a relative and the revelation that Mark has a grandmother who doesn’t want to know him — provides a heartwarming illustration of the enduring but imperfect bonds between families (and friends) and is one of the best of the second season.

Speaking of friends, it’s lovely to watch Mark, Fox and Ritchie — despite the differences in their economic and cultural backgrounds — navigate developments that threaten to pull them apart but then find their way back to each other.

A word must be said about the casting. Ainsworth, a 14-year-old British actor, is charming as the old-beyond-his-years Mark while Vancouver actor Powers brings emotional depth as a young girl struggling to rise above her disadvantaged home life.

And McDowell — yes, the “A Clockwork Orange” Malcolm McDowell — is a delight as Patrick “Pop” Critch, who never met a money-making deal or a funeral home sandwich he didn’t like. He has wonderful chemistry with Ainsworth’s Mark, with whom his character shares a room (and an occasional moon).

Part of the fun, as with any show set in a past that’s still within living memory, are the nostalgic references: Bob Geldof and Live Aid, Avon ladies, the movie “Porky’s,” a.k.a. “the ‘Citizen Kane’ of teen sex.”

But the core appeal of “Son of a Critch” is the universality of its specificity and the amiable way it puts memories of being a kid within reach.

Red Oaks is more than meets the eye

As a TV critic, I’m expected to stay on top of what’s out there but, as I’ve written before, it’s impossible to keep up with everything in our beyond peak TV universe. So “Red Oaks,” a series about which I knew nothing until a couple of weeks ago, came as a pleasant surprise.

For my story about TV shows that evoke summer, I focused on its first season and its 1980s teen movie vibe, but you should watch all three seasons, which go beyond raucous parties, ordinary guy-worldly girl and nerd-hot girl hookups.

We follow David Meyers (Welsh actor Craig Roberts), who’s part of a middle-class Jewish family in New Jersey, working as an assistant tennis pro at the Red Oaks country club as he prepares to follow his father into an accounting career and presumably marry his sweet but vanilla long-time girlfriend.

Of course, David wants more — would there be a show if he didn’t? — with ambitions to be a filmmaker and a new romance with Skye (Alexandra Socha), the daughter of rich club president Doug Getty (Paul Reiser).

The series provides a nuanced look at David’s struggle to find himself and his place in the world, as well as that of his friend Wheeler (Oliver Cooper), who’s more than just the weed-dealing stoner valet we initially meet.

And it’s not just the young folks who have to find their footing. David’s parents, Sam (Richard Kind) and Judy (Jennifer Grey), have to recalibrate their sense of themselves after they divorce. Doug and wife Fay (Gina Gershon) also have adjustments to make after Doug is charged with insider trading, as does Nash (Canadian actor Ennis Esmer), the club’s tennis pro, who finds partying and womanizing losing their allure as he approaches 40.

“Red Oaks” has some of the carefree vibe you would expect from a show set in a rich people’s playground, but there’s enough going on with the characters to make it an involving as well as a fun watch.

Debra Yeo is an editor and a writer for the Star’s Culture section. She is based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @realityeo

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