This Movie Sucks!
This Movie Sucks! (sometimes abbreviated as "TMS!") is a Canadian comedy television series hosted by Ed the Sock, premiering on May 28, 2010, two years after "Ed's Night Party" went off the air. The show is similar to another former Ed the Sock series, "Ed's Nite In". "This Movie Sucks!" features his wife and "Night Party" co-host Liana Kerzner, and comedian Ron Sparks, another MuchMusic personality. The series was produced and broadcast by CHCH-TV Hamilton, and also broadcast regionally on CJNT-TV Montreal and CHEK-TV Victoria, as well as on cable stations  Movieola and Silver Screen Classics. A third season of "This Movie Sucks!" was reported as being under development. It was to feature six new one-hour episodes, as the cast stated that the original two-hour format was "killing" them. Reruns ceased on CHCH-TV until that time, although they still played on other channels. New films to be featured in season three would have included "Raiders of Lost Atlantis" and "The Wild Weng", a film that like the previously featured "The Impossible Kid" starred Filipino little person actor "Weng Weng". The third season either never went into production or  simply never aired and CHCH has since removed the show from its listings. Premise. In each two-hour episode Ed, Liana, Ron and sometimes other guests would watch (and make fun of) a bad movie in Ed's apartment. The movies are often edited for time and also to include humorous sound or film effects or to point out significant details. Examples of this include an often used joke of speeding up certain boring sections of a film and playing them with the addition of a music track. Sometimes things other than the main movie are also featured, such as  an episode of "DoDo, The Kid from Outer Space" which broke up the screening of "The Manster". When not making fun of the movie, the cast also engage in humorous interludes, including such notables as Ron's telling of the stories of "Roninja" and "Lake Erie Pete" and Liana's building of her own island hut. One episode even revolved around Ed hosting a fake telethon to help alleviate the network's "Cheap Bastard Disorder". Occasionally the cast also wander away from their studio to attend events such as Anime North or a different studio where Liana gets filmed in  a giantess video. The show is filmed in a deliberately low-budget manner, and much of the work behind the scenes is even done by student volunteers, some of whom are shown on camera. Similarities have been noted between the series and "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and also "The All-Night Show". Reception. "This Movie Sucks!" initially garnered a lukewarm reception, with many criticizing Ed's "bad movie" selection and the production values, which were weaker than in previous Ed the Sock efforts. Technical issues with both video and audio were a regular occurrence in the first few episodes, owing  largely to Ed's heavy reliance on student interns for crew. It has also been consistently criticized for somewhat disorganized scheduling though it is unknown if that is more the show's fault or the network's. As time went on the show improved however, and reviews and audience feedback were mostly positive, with the show going on hiatus from July 31 to September 25 in part to iron out these issues. In this time only one new show was broadcast which was a mishmash of old and new footage quite different from the rest of the series. After eliminating  the technical issues and committing to a regular weekly schedule, the series had been "pretty much been bashed into shape" with much credit being given to Ed's improved movie selection (including "Manos" "by fan request") and to the cast finding "their stride" with their jabs during the movie, with Sparks' comedy getting particular praise. A "SquidWho" poll found that 32% watched for Sparks, 29% for Ed the Sock and the rest watched for Liana or "other" reasons, with 15% of replies saying they do not watch the show. The page also featured a manipulated picture of Ed the Sock  smoking his trademark cigar while a film reel unspooled around him with 70% of voters replying "yes" to the question "should this be This Movie Sucks new logo?" A number of replies to the poll seemed to indicate that many of those voting "other" watched the show for the bad movies themselves. It was also named one of the five best TV shows of 2010 by Toronto Entertainment and one of the three best new shows of 2010 by Excalibur Magazine. Awards. The series won the 2011 Canadian Comedy Award for Best TV Show.