Apparently I was living under a rock in late January when Shomi Canada announced it’s partnership with [easyazon_link asin=”B00N28818A” locale=”US” new_window=”default” nofollow=”default” tag=”geewitsty07-20″] Amazon Prime[/easyazon_link] to showcase a number of AP’s original content to Canadians. This is huge news, as the much coveted TV/Movie portion of Amazon Prime ($99/year subscription service) is not available to the Canadian market. Like Netflix, Amazon has gone the route of original programming, and its entirely working for them. It’s working so well, that Amazon is now considering full-length feature movies, and if their TV shows are anything to go by, their casting will truly back up this play.
Photo courtesy of IMDB, Still of Malcolm McDowell, Bernadette Peters and Gael García Bernal in Mozart in the Jungle (2014)
Just this past month, Transparent, one of Amazon’s original series, won two Golden Globes. And this show is now available on Shomi so that we Canadians can witness what our friends of the south call must-see TV.
Another show, that has launched on Shomi today, is Mozart in the Jungle. Thanks to a sneak peek a few days ago, I can tell you right away that this show should go directly into your queue. At under 30 minutes apiece, you can easily binge watch the first season, and then join the rest of us, as we practice the true art of patience while waiting for the second season to film. Based on oboist Blair Tindall‘s 2005 memoir of her professional career in New York, we closely follow two incredible artists in the music industry, a young oboist, Hailey, who yearns to join the New York Philharmonic, and the brilliantly-eccentric NYP conductor Rodrigo (fictionalized character based on Gustavo Dudamel) both finding themselves living the “sex, drugs and classical music” lifestyle. Fellow Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fans will also enjoy watching Saffron Burrows as Cynthia (otherwise known as the kick-ass and sorely missed Agent Victoria Hand,) as she leads Hailey into the limelight. And ironically (or coincedentally? Your choice…) Burrows plays a cellist! (Obscure inside joke for Avengers/AoS fans, heh.)
So if you’ve got a 30 minute break, now would be a great time to go watch the first episode of Mozart in the Jungle on Shomi. As someone who thoroughly astounds those around her with how little her knowledge of anything music-related is, this show has happily yanked me in. And what will be much to Jay’s delight, has even sparked a curiosity for the local Toronto Symphony scene.
After shows like Transparent and Mozart in the Jungle finally becoming available to the Canadian market, I’m eager to find out what other shows Shomi will be able to pick up from Amazon in the near future!
Are there any shows you’re hoping Shomi will soon have in their library? Recently, I’ve been jonesing to watch The Unusuals again and would love for a streaming service like Shomi to add it to their library, not that anyone but me and three others remember that show. Like Firefly, it died before it could really take off, and left me with so many questions. Ugh.
