I first saw @KimsConvenience on stage at Edmonton's @citadeltheatre. It was a sweet little show, but I didn't fall head over heels. I remember saying to my husband as we left, "You know, that could be the basis of a pretty good sitcom."
Thank goodness smarter people that me thought so too - and turned a stage play into some of the greatest Canadian television. Don't get me wrong. I love @SchittsCreek too. But I loved the way Kim's Convenience was grounded in the Toronto that I knew.
Maybe it idealized Canadian multiculturalism. But I was OK with that. I loved its full-throated celebration of multiculturalism. I only lived into Toronto for a couple of years, in the mid 90s. But the show made me nostalgic for the polyglot energy of the city.
Over the course of season after season, the show dug deep into the characters who had seemed a little bit one-dimensional onstage. Over the years, we got to know them, to understand them. We didn't just laugh at Calgary's @andrewphung as Kimchee. We watched his character grow.
I know no TV show, no matter how beloved, can go on forever. I confess, I'd been waiting to watch this year's season until there were a bunch of episodes in the bank for me to binge. I'm sure the CBC has its reasons. But I don't feel quite ready to say goodbye.
And part of me hopes that there might be a way for another channel or streaming service to step in. But maybe I'll just have to content myself with firing up @netflix and starting all over again from the beginning. (Just as soon as I finishing rewatching David marry Patrick.)
And if you haven't visited @KimConvenience yet - well, it makes perfect pandemic viewing, a show with humour and heart, that shows us, if not the Canada that we are, then the Canada we're striving to be.
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