I had coffee this week with an emissary from Toronto, someone considering a move to the Island now that COVID times have rendered the big city lifeless and crowded, with none of the old upsides.

She brought word of a new CBC show, Sort Of, a show well-summarized by John Doyle in The Globe and Mail (paywall):

So far, while the series has been on CBC Gem, there’s been glowing attention to the fact that CBC has a series with a queer, brown, gender-fluid star at its core. But that’s not the sum and total of it. What makes it truly special is the energy, vitality and the fact that the tone is beautifully judged. The series is a very urban contemporary comedy, a wry portrait of the power plays in romantic relationships – of all types – and amounts to a humane, messy tale of sexual and artistic self-discovery.

You’ll come for the gender-fluidity, but you’ll stay for the performances, the writing, and the Toronto energy that, lifeless and crowded or no, remains alluring to those of us on the fragile edge.

The show is streaming on CBC Gem in Canada, and has been picked internationally. I encourage you to seek it out.