Streaming Favorite: Private Eyes
© Global TV
Hi, it’s me, Nutmeg. Again. I’ve been watching one of my other all-time favorite television shows, Private Eyes, starring Jason Priestly and Cindy Sampson. Sadly, Global TV decided to cancel the series, which I would just like to say, was a short-sighted, ridiculous decision on their part. I mean, what were they thinking??? When my mom told me the news, I refused to eat one of my cans of Fancy Feast Salmon Pate for two entire hours. She thought she was going to have to take me to the vet, so I relented and ate, but Global TV: I hold a grudge. In fact, I would like to implore all cats, and even dogs, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats, raccoons, squirrels, and any other house pets to start a writing campaign to Global TV insisting that they bring the show back for all of our viewing pleasure.
I just realized I haven’t even talked about the show. It features a female private investigator, Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson), who, in the pilot episode is hired by Matt Shade’s (Jason Priestly) father to investigate the sabotage and attempted murder of one of Matt Shade’s protegees. My mother told me I talked way too much about Alan Davies up front in my last post so I am trying to hold back on Jason right now.
In terms of girl power, I would argue that Angie Everett is a fantastic female detective. She is smart and attractive, which she never hesitates to use to her advantage during her investigations. She didn’t just decide to become a PI, her dad was a retired police detective who started the business so she inherited it from him. It is Matt Shade who goes from retired hockey star/National Canadian Treasure/washed-up talent scout to aspiring and then official Private Investigator. I don’t hold it against you Matt, my mom says life gets harder after 40.
I begged my mom to take me to Toronto so we could go hire Matt and Angie so I could meet him and spend some time with him. She reminded me that Matt is only the character that Jason Priestly plays and that he doesn’t live in Toronto, but on Vancouver Island. So I told her I would like to have a holiday on Vancouver Island and she told me I could not just show up at his house. He has a wife and family. I’m very upset. No offense to his wife and family who I am sure are wonderful people, but I had planned on him being my second husband who could hang out and play with Alan Davies while I was busy procuring more husbands. My mother told me that it doesn’t work that way but I reminded her I was a cat and we could have anything we wanted if we glared long enough.
I’ve been hitting the nip pretty hard, trying to deal with my loss of Jason in my harem. Obviously, I have a thing for investigators. My mom suggested going and adopting a boy cat from the shelter but she just doesn’t understand about true love. She then tried playing me the Stephen Stills 1970s classic, Love the One You’re With since I like many genres of music. While I secretly loved the song, I stomped out of the room and hid under the couch for three hours just to show her it isn’t that easy to replace potential husbands in harems.
I was forced to rewatch many episodes of the show so I could spend some time with Jason/Matt and it did make me realize how well the narrative flows through the subtle flirtatious interchange between Angie and Matt. This manages to prolong their inevitable coupling while still keeping their attraction alive since both have relationships with other people throughout the series. Of course, if I had come on as a guest star, he would have fallen madly in love with me and Angie might have had to start another detective agency and they would have had to create a spinoff show of her own.
One of my favorite things about the show is that it constantly reminds the viewer about how stardom is fleeting and while Matt Shade still has currency from his celebrity status, he has to move on and become successful in another field, which is definitely true of pro-athletes. That must be hard. I mean, as a cat, you are always successful at being a cat, you don’t have to deal with losing jobs, getting too old to play sports, or losing your looks. You are a cat. That is enough.
Finally, it is the partnership and friendship between Angie and Matt that makes this show work on all levels and makes them successful private eyes. No matter what the case, or their personal circumstances, they have each other’s backs. It is a good lesson for cats and cat owners alike.
If you want to watch Private Eyes in the US, you can buy the episodes on Amazon Prime or stream on IonPlus.