''Sensitive Skin'' is a Canadian
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
television series, adapted from the
British series of the same name created by
Hugo Blick
Hugo Edgar Maxwell Blick (born 7 December 1964) is a British filmmaker and actor. He has his own production company, called Eight Rooks.
Early life
Hugo Blick studied in Cardiff at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Career
He ha ...
.
Its six-episode first season, written by comedian
Bob Martin and directed by
Don McKellar
Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave.
He is known for directing and writing th ...
,
premiered on
HBO Canada
HBO (previously known as HBO Canada, and still referred to as such on social media) is a Canadian premium television network from Crave (formerly The Movie Network), which is owned by Bell Media. The channel is primarily devoted to original pro ...
on July 20, 2014. A six-episode second season, with production resuming in spring 2015 in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
, premiered on May 15, 2016. On May 7, 2017, the show's official
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account informed fans that it was not picked up for a third season.
Plot summary
Season 1
Davina, a woman in her 50s who works in a gallery, has recently moved from the suburbs into an apartment in downtown
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
with her neurotic husband Al, a pop-culture critic. She's having trouble adjusting to life as she gets older, worrying that her looks are fading and that she has accomplished nothing of substance.
Season 2
Davina tries to adjust to life as a widow but her progress is hampered by frequent hallucinations of Al. She moves into a houseboat on the
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...
and tries to forge new relationships.
Cast
*
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Awa ...
as Davina Jackson: a middle-aged woman who is having difficulty with aging having been a noted beauty in her youth. She frequently hallucinates conversations with other people in which they give her sage advice or tells her what she wants to hear. Despite caring for her husband Al, she feels as though she could have done better than marry him.
*
Don McKellar
Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave.
He is known for directing and writing th ...
as Al Jackson, Davina's husband: a neurotic pop-culture columnist who is also somewhat socially awkward.
*
as Orlando Jackson: Orlando is Davina and Al’s only son. Neurotic and depressive he often blames his parents for the way he feels. He has no sperm count and feels as though his parents resent him for being unable to give them a grandchild.
*
Bob Martin as Sam: Davina's friend and employer.
*
Colm Feore
Colm Joseph Feore (; born August 22, 1958) is a Canadian actor. A 15-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries '' Trudeau'' (2002), his portrayal of G ...
as Roger: Davina’s brother-in-law who values money above all else but is fired from his well-paying job and turns to art as a way to express himself. As an artist he develops an obsession with Davina who he makes the subject of most of his work.
*
Joanna Gleason
Joanna Gleason (née Hall; born June 2, 1950) is a Canadian actress and singer. She is a Tony Award–winning musical theatre actress and has also had a number of notable film and TV roles. She's known for originating the role of the Baker's Wife ...
as Veronica: Davina's conservative older sister who resents her for always getting what she wants.
*
Clé Bennett
Clé Bennett is a Canadian actor. He is best known for voicing DJ, Beardo, Leonard, and Chef Hatchet (Seasons 1 - 6) from ''Total Drama'', and his portrayal of Lemar Hoskins / Battlestar in the Marvel Cinematic Universe miniseries ''The Falcon an ...
as Theodore: a drug dealer who hangs outside the Jackson's apartment he is befriended by Al and later Davina. He also has his real estate license.
*
Marc-André Grondin
Marc-André Grondin (born March 11, 1984) is a Canadian actor, known for his role as Xavier Laflamme in the 2011 ice hockey film ''Goon''. He also played Zachary Beaulieu in Jean-Marc Vallée's film '' C.R.A.Z.Y.'' (2005), for which he won a Jutr ...
as Greg: a married archeologist that also teaches piano on the side and seduces his clients' wives. He initially tries to seduce Veronica, but after being fired by Roger is rehired by Davina to teach Al.
*
Elliott Gould as Dr. Cass: Al’s opportunistic physician he encourages Al to have a series of expensive medical tests not covered by
OHIP.
Episodes
Series overview
Season 1 (2014)
Season 2 (2016)
Awards
The first season of ''Sensitive Skin'' was nominated for 6
Canadian Screen Awards
The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...
, and won four:
* Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role
'' or whom?'
* Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series (Don McKellar)
* Best Photography (
Douglas Koch
Douglas Koch is a Canadian cinematographer who has won honours at the Canadian Screen Awards and Canadian Music Video Awards.
Koch is from Vancouver and studied film at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, finishing in 1983. He went on to ...
, "The Three Sisters")
* Best Picture Editing in a Comedy Series (
Matthew Hannam
Matthew Hannam (born September 8, 1981) is a Canadian film and television editor and director. He is a two-time Canadian Screen Award winner for editing, winning the award for Best Film Editing at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for his w ...
).
References
External links
*
* {{IMDb title, 2490030, Sensitive Skin
2010s Canadian comedy-drama television series
2014 Canadian television series debuts
2016 Canadian television series endings
2010s black comedy television series
English-language television shows
Television series by Bell Media
Television series by Corus Entertainment
Crave original programming
Television shows filmed in Toronto