Hatching, Matching, & Dispatching

At the time of Hatching's tragically short lifespan of 1 season (after the pilot, later an Xmas Special) I greatly appreciated the dark and in your face comedy and the amazingly non-formulaic format of this gem (not to be confused with CBC's tragic netviewer) of a series.

After discovering the Trailer Park Boys I was craving some of that unmistakably gritty East Coast Canadian dark-comedy and Hatching, Matching scratched the itch in a totally unique way. As a non-Newfoundlander I was greatly relieved by it's style when compared to the other Canadian (and some non-Canadian) comedies of the era and missed the Fury families antics greatly until A Christmas Fury, starring the same cast, was released a couple of years ago, which gives me hope that maybe the CBC will make a good choice and give the series the real chance it deserves.

The show also marks the beginnings of not just Newfoundland's but now some of Canada's most prominent comedians; Johnny Harris, Sue Kent, Joel Hynes, Sherry White, Adriana Maggs, Steve Cochrane and of course Shawn Majumder, not to mention Mark McKinney and Mary Walsh who appears to be somewhat of a show-runner.

Bring back Walsh and her loveable gang!

You have to appreciate the very off-kilter Newfoundland sense of humour to get this show (and if you're not used to the thick-as-molasses Newfoundland accent, turn on the captions on your TV). It helps if you're from the Rock or if you've been out there (though that's certainly not required).

Personally, I think this show is a work of genius--easily one of the best Canadian comedy creations in years. I actually have to tape it so that I can pause it every few minutes--otherwise, I miss entire sections of dialogue because I'm still laughing at something from the last scene! It's not easy to steal the show from Mary Walsh, but Susan Kent (Darlene) does it effortlessly. I personally think that Shawn Majumder (a funny, funny guy if you've ever seen him do stand-up) is underused in this show, but hey--its still early days, so who knows...

Great stuff, 'bys! More, more, more!!!

If you can find this show on YouTube or a torrent somewhere, and you're not easily offended, I guarantee you will laugh. It makes Trailer Park Boys look like Downtown Abbey. Super-vulgar, but wonderfully inflected by a non-idiot-male, unique Newfoundland sensibility. I used to watch Codco and thought it was one of the funniest shows on TV. Mary Walsh is behind this one too, and it is OVER THE TOP.

HMD is (was) one of the funniest shows I've had the pleasure of watching. Perhaps my view is a little distorted as I am from Newfoundland. Nevertheless I started watching this show with the expectation that it was going to be terrible as I generally do not enjoy the comedy of Mary Walsh. I was shocked at how outlandishly funny and refreshing the show was. It was clearly a distorted representation of what Newfoundland life is all about – and it is a monster hit in my opinion. This is hands down high tier (albeit low brow) Canadian comedy show compared to classics like Kids in the Hall and This Hour has 22 Minutes.

How can CBC cancel a show like this, but push on with the dribble such as Corner Gas?

I can't understand how undervalued this show is. It's got all sorts of elements of other popular shows (particularly HBO ones like "Six Feet Under" and "Trailer Park Boys") and is outrageously funny. Maybe it's the Newf accents, although they have been kept down to a dull roar. I did spend some educational years in Newfoundland, so perhaps this is why I think it's so brilliant, but it doesn't seem all that impenetrable to me.

Naughtiness was everywhere and it was hilarious. Cedric and the moose literally made my insides lose all air and go giddy with glee over something so disgusting being on our national broadcaster.

Except for Sean Majumder, Mary Walsh and Mark McKinney I wasn't all that familiar with any of the other actors, but they really did such a good job of portraying that dichotomy between expected reactions and actual reactions that kept me in hysterics throughout.

I've been really sorry that this show has disappeared.