Happy Friday everyone!
Welcome to Fashionably Late, our weekly feature exploring the work of Canadian performers, using the 2003-2006 series Slings and Arrows as our starting point.
This week, we’re shining a spotlight on Karen Robinson, who first caught my attention in her Season 2 two-episode appearance, playing an unnamed CRA auditor assigned to figure out some irregularities in Ellen’s taxes.
Ellen is New Burbage’s lead actress, played by Martha Burns, and in season 2, she is portraying Lady Macbeth on stage and onstage. She, like her character, is plagued by guilt and turns to an unlikely stranger to play the role of her confessor: that CRA auditor.
While Ellen flails about, the auditor (she never gets a name) sits there waiting patiently and wondering what the heck is going on. It’s scenes like this, with strong performances from featured players such as Robinson, that make Slings and Arrows such a treat to watch.
But – GAH! - it is leaving CBC Gem next week! Fortunately most of the episodes are available on YouTube, albeit in less-than-ideal formatting. I’ll hunt around to see if Slings and Arrows pops up somewhere else. In the meantime, you can also find the DVDs at your local library. Yay! Support public libraries!
Here are some other shows that feature great performances from Karen Robinson.
Schitt’s Creek – Ronnie Lee
Robinson plays a town councillor and baritone in the Jazzagals, who is initially highly suspicious of the Rose family.
She’s a class-A snark, and while she does eventually warm to the family, welcoming Moira into the Jazzagals, she isn’t as big a fan of David’s boyfriend Patrick, played by Noah Reid.
Schitt’s Creek won best comedy ensemble at the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Now streaming on CBC Gem.
Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent – Inspector Vivienne Holness
Here, Robinson plays Inspector Vivienne Holness, the head of the special investigations unit tracking down the criminals in this latest iteration of the Law & Order franchise.
Law & Order, which has been around for over 34 years, has produced six spin-offs plus the flagship show, three of which are currently on the air. There’s Law & Order (1990-2010; 2022+) Special Victims Unit (1999+), and Organized Crime (2021+). Other iterations include Trial by Jury (2005/06), Los Angeles (2010/11), True Crime (2017), and Criminal Intent (2001-2011)
The Toronto setting is part of the Criminal Intent spin-off, which interrogates the “why” and “how” behind the crime, not just the “who.” The show highlights the police point-of-view, but it also spends time with the criminals.
You can catch Robinson on Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent on Thursdays at 9 p.m. local time on CityTV, streaming on your local cable provider and on Crave.
It’s a a co-production of Canadian companies, Lark Productions and Cameron Pictures Inc., the latter co-owned by sisters Tassie and Amy Cameron.
An interesting thing to note when you start diving into the entertainment world is producers and directors often have their regulars, both in front of and behind the camera, that they bring along on their various productions.
Robinson is one of those regulars for Cameron Pictures, having first appeared in a guest role, for which she won a Canadian Screen Awards in 2019 for best guest performance in the Camerons’ Mary Kills People for Global TV.
Pretty Hard Cases – Superintendent Edwina Shanks
Another Cameron Pictures production, which ran for three seasons on CBC from 2021-2023.
Pretty Hard Cases has a lighter touch than Law & Order. It’s not quite a dramedy, but there are moments that will make you smile and chuckle thanks to the chemistry between Baroness Von Sketch alum Meredith MacNeill, who plays Detective Sam Wazowski, an imperfect perfectionist and Adrienne Moore, who you’ll recognize from Orange is the New Black, who plays Det. Kelly Duff, an officer who plays it fast and loose but has a big heart.
Robinson plays the straight woman to MacNeill and Moore, while also having a rather satisfying character arc for Superintendent Shanks.
You can also catch Robinson in recurring roles in The Line, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Hallmark Movie’s Morning Show Mysteries and The Handmaid’s Tale where she plays the nurse to Elisabeth Moss’s lead character, June.
The Handmaid’s Tale is filmed in and around Toronto and Mississauga, so you’ll see a lot of Canadian actors in it.
There you go. A two-episode arc in Slings and Arrows is all it took for Karen Robinson to make an impression on me and I’m always happy to see her.
Hope you enjoy the shows.
Share this post