Republic of Doyle

I came to this show late, after friends praised it to me.

I'm so sorry I didn't start watching it from the beginning.

The thing with me was that it was a CBC television production. Although I love CBC radio, the majority of CBC TV shows have been ... well ... weak. There have been a few exceptions, of course, but that hasn't been the way to bet.

This show is one of those exceptions. It's light, humorous, well written, and most of all, entertaining. It's just flat out entertaining. The plots are fun and interesting and there are just enough twists to keep us guessing, and to offer a surprise every once in a while.

The actors do a great job and are all very likable. I think that may be one of the main reasons that the show does well. I heard that they scored 1.2 million viewers on the last episode. That's an impressive number.

I'm not a Newfoundler so I don't think I'm biased, although I am from Nova Scotia so I know buckets full of people from The Rock. From my outsider experience, the dialogue and the attitudes they show towards each other are very accurate.

I honestly believe Newfoundlanders are the friendliest people on earth, and you get a taste of that from this series.

Bravo to CBC for putting this on and bravo to the writers and cast for a good, enjoyable, TV show.

Canadian actor, Allan Hawco, is a likable PI in this series that ran for six years and can now be seen on Netflix. In partnership with his father, Jake (Hawco) and Malachy Doyle (Sean McGinley) investigate murder, robbery, and other crimes in picturesque St. Johns, Newfoundland. The hour-long show has plenty of action, and lots of humor, a la The Rockford Files with Hawco a younger and studlier version of James Garner. This guy is catnip to women, and skirts the edge of the law to beat the bad guys at their own game. Lots of action, involving the Doyle clan, who are the ultimate crime-solving family. One character, however, consistently strikes a false note and that is Des, a kid who has become part of the family. He's a consistent idiot as a character, highly unfunny simply in the way. Otherwise, this show makes for wonderful binge watching.

As a native Newfoundlander, my opinions on this show have to be coloured by that rather important fact, but I have tried to divorce my feelings for my home from my review of the program.

As is plainly written on the Republic of Doyle web site, this show is cut from the same mould as The Rockford Files and Magnum PI. It's mostly a comedy with just enough mystery plot to hold the whole thing together. If you are expecting CSI on the East Coast, you will be disappointed. However, if you are looking for interesting characters that are true Newfoundlanders, with all the irreverence, dry wit and lust for life that the term implies, then this show will definitely entertain you.

Shot in and around St. John's, Nfld, on admittedly the largest number of nice weather days I've seen in a row, Republic takes full advantage of the visual variety of both the city and the surroundings. Dramatic shots of steep hills and brightly coloured houses backdropped by the harbour make even unlikely car chases appear really dramatic. I've driven those streets. Car chases on those hilly, narrow and winding streets is a fast way to a trip to the hospital. Still, they look like a lot of fun, and that's the point of it all, so it works a treat.

The strength of the series, though, is the characters and their interactions. For a brand new series, the recurring characters have a sense of solidity and reality that usually takes several seasons to achieve. The humour is appropriate to the place and people. As a Newfoundlander, I "get" the humour; I can only hope that others find it just as amusing. The other thing that reads very true is the dialogue. Having listened to a great many people butcher both the accent and the common terms of speech, it is refreshing to find dialogue that really could be heard on the streets of the city on any given day.

All-in-all, this is an hour of your life that you will be glad you spent in Newfoundland. If you can't get "Republic of Doyle" where you live, check out the CBC web site where you can watch the episodes online.

At first I was a little skeptical about this series, and certainly the concept is a pretty well-worn one. It has improved with time though as the characters established their roles and the balance between the comic and the serious has settled into something a bit less predictable than it was at the start. Some nice guest roles have helped out as well (Gordon Pinsent, Russell Crowe). If nothing else the series is a wonderful advertisement for the fantastic world of Newfoundland: the houses, the vistas, and most definitely the crazy half-Irish/half-Canadian accents add to the appeal. All in all worth watching, though some might find it a slow burn at first.

Just stumbled upon this gem while scrolling through Netflix. Looking for something kinda like Psych...though this is not nearly as good as Psych, it has its own charm and appeal. The women in the show are adorable too, which never hurts. I'm on season 2 and the acting and stories are getting better. I say, give it a few episodes, get to know the characters, and you'll grow to really enjoy it! Peace, Dwayne