Ah, Spring. Sunshine and budding flowers. A crocus blooming beside a fading patch of dead-end snow. Moms and daughter shopping for the prom dress, and tears in the store aisles. Pinkos out riding their bikes again. The Stanley Cup playoffs and Don Cherry going, "I'm tellin ya, I'm tellin' ya" until you start writing that long-delayed letter to CBC about making it stop. Over on the specialty TV channels, some hearty, hectoring, outdoorsy type telling you how to put plants in the ground, build a deck or gut your home to remodel it and make it look like the lobby of a motel with pretensions.
It's a tad harder to enjoy spring fever this year. What with the all the troubles in the world and politicians traipsing around the country telling lies. And yet, as it happens, April is an ace month for television. A long list of big-ticket shows arrives. Take notes. Here's the list.
The Borgias (starts this Sunday, Bravo!, 9 p.m.) is excellent. A miniseries set in 15th-century Italy, it's about the ruthless rise to power of Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI. And his family - all the kids, mistresses and assorted brats. Jeremy Irons stars as Rodrigo, and Colm Feore is great as his nemesis Cardinal Della Rovere. The stand-out young actor is Montreal's François Arnaud as Rodrigo's hard-man son Cesare.
Absolutely captivating drama. This Sunday's two-hour start is the uncut version (simulcast with Showtime) and the series will start, trimmed slightly for issues of sex and violence, on CTV later this spring.
The Killing (starts this Sunday, AMC, 9 p.m.) might be the year's best series. Certainly in the crime genre. Based on a hit Danish drama - much copies internationally - it takes a painstakingly slow, grave but riveting approach to the investigation of one murder. Set in Seattle, the story weaves in and out of local politics but it's a young girl's murder that matters and Mireille Enos, as Sarah Linden, the lead detective, is magnificent. Not to be missed.
Breaking In (starts April 6, Fox) is a goofy, high-as-a-kite caper show. Fox has high hopes, airing it after American Idol. Christian Slater plays Oz, a guy who owns Contra Security, a company that tests security systems. When you need to know if your security is compromised, you call him in. Laughter ensues.
Happy Endings (starts April 14, ABC, CITY-TV) is, allegedly, an up-market romantic comedy. We meet a group of friends connected by the fact that a couple, Alex and Dave, brought them all together. Then Alex and Dave (Zachary Knighton as Dave, Canadian Elisha Cuthbert as Alex) break up. A game of romantic musical chairs ensues. Its appeal depends on your attraction to the cute cast.
Game of Thrones (starts April 17, HBO Canada) is a huge deal for fans of smart fantasy tales. Based on author George R. R. Martin's best-selling A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels, it's all medieval and mad, following the cataclysmic dynastic struggles among royal families for "control of the Iron Throne of Westeros." (Not to be confused with lovely Wester Ross in Scotland.) Stars Mark Addy, Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke and Aidan Gillen. Swords, babes and sorcerers.
Cinema Verite (airs April 23, HBO Canada) is no fantasy. A gripping, sharp look at television itself, it's about the making of the groundbreaking PBS series An American Family by filmmaker Craig Gilbert (portrayed here by former Soprano James Gandolfini), and the impact of the fly-on-wall documentary series on the Land family. Diane Lane and Tim Robbins play the Land parents. Layered and tough-minded TV.
Treme (starts April 24, HBO Canada) is season two of David Simon's extraordinary, close-to-the-truth series about post-Katrina New Orleans. This year, it seems a key character is a venture capitalist (Jon Seda) who comes to New Orleans to invest in the city and profit from it, of course. The return of crime, money and profiteering to New Orleans are the big themes.
Lip Service (starts April 26, SuperChannel) is a BBC drama about a group of lesbian women in a Scottish city. How controversial is it? The Brit tabloid The Sun carried this the day after it first aired: "Telly fans kicked up a stink last night after the BBC's new lesbian drama showed a sex scene in a funeral parlour. One furious viewer dismissed it as "glamorized soft porn" while another wrote: "It made me gag." Canadians couldn't react that way, could they?
And that's not all - Nurse Jackie (now running, Mondays, TMN/Movie Central, 9:30 p.m.) is also back. Jackie (Edie Falco) remains in a limbo of outed-addict and secret drug user even as she's an angel to patients at work. And Tara on United States of Tara (also Mondays, TMN/Movie Central, 10:30 p.m.) is also back, going to college and confusing a professor, played by Eddie Izzard.
AIRING TONIGHT
Marketing the Monarchy (8 p.m. on CBC) is one of two consecutive docs on the Royal Family on CBC tonight. This one looks, in an amused rather than shocked manner, at the "worldwide marketing frenzy" which will accompany the upcoming royal wedding. From cheesy dollar-store knick-knacks to $5,000 paperweights, no item is too obscure to be royal-related. Souvenir shops like it all. Then Chasing the Royals (9 p.m. on CBC) is Montreal filmmaker John Curtin's look at the intense love-hate relationship between the royals and the press. It questions the right to privacy and the paparazzi's right to pursue royal personal exploits. It asks, "What will the future hold for the next generation of royals as they attempt to maintain 'normalcy' while living in the public eye?"
Check local listings.