Chris Haddock went to Hollywood to make "The Handler" and got screwed. The creator of "DaVinci's Inquest" went to LA to give them a similar series about an FBI undercover agent mentor and handler, starring Joey Pants (Joe Pantoliano) and then the network just screwed it around. Cancelled last month, "The Handler's" last set of episodes have been good, but not very good. Unlike "DaVinci's Inquest", the series has been standard US cop show fare, and the undercurrent of subtle storyline in the first couple of episodes was quickly abandoned.
However Haddock is not discouraged, he is returning to Canada to make quality teevee.
Canadians who know Haddock's work from Da Vinci's Inquest know that action and melodrama aren't his true style. Da Vinci's Inquest manages to cast a spell by draining out the melodrama and telling its stories with a quietly natural, hypnotizing rhythm. It's socially aware and intelligent TV storytelling.
"God bless the CBC," Haddock says now. "They're good people. On Da Vinci, we do it and deliver it. There are no notes from the network, no interference. There's trust."
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