Steven Sabados is back and in good company
The Goods should please Steven and Chris fans with an easy chemistry between Sabados and his co-hosts
“It’s been very emotional . . . doing this again. But it’s been nice to see friendly faces.” STEVEN SABADOS ON HIS RETURN TO TV AFTER PARTNER CHRIS HYNDMAN’S DEATH
You can sense the love for Steven Sabados as he walks into the CBC studio set in downtown Toronto.
Audience members shout “Welcome back!” and “We miss you!” He mouths a series of thank yous before the cameras start rolling on his new CBC show The Goods, which premieres Monday.
It has been a tumultuous year for Sabados since the death of his onscreen and off-screen partner, Chris Hyndman.
Hyndman was found last August dead near the couple’s east-end condo.
No foul play was suspected and Hyndman’s mother believes he may have fallen off his balcony while sleepwalking.
The death rocked the CBC family as well as a loyal following of fans.
“It’s been very emotional at the beginning doing this again, but it’s been nice to see friendly faces and people I’ve known, and it’s been really great being back,” says Sabados in an interview after the taping.
“It’s really awesome to come together with my new family.”
The new format doesn’t stray that far from the original daytime format of Ste
ven and Chris, which aired from 2008 to 2015 and was cancelled after Hyndman’s death. That show was groundbreaking as thefirst on TV to showcase a same-sex married couple hosting a talk show.
This time, it takes three people to replace the famously exuberant Hyndman, whose energy always played well off Sabados’s sense of restraint. Joining Sabados is comic and fashion expert Jessi Cruickshank, lifestyle expert Andrea Bain and chef Shahir Massoud.
The show seems less designer-centric (Hyndman and Sabados’s earlier Designer Guys helped give birth to their furniture design company) and plays to the strengths of the new hosts. Design still plays a major role inthe show and, on this day, Sabados is giving furniture design tips, a segment that wouldn’t have been out of place on the old show.
“I’m just basically the old guy here,” he says. “Home decor and what not, that’s sort of my pillar.”
After just a year, Sabados is clearly not comfortable discussing life after Hyndman. Although given that he is starting a new TV show, that’s what people want to know.
“I think that is always a really big question; people always ask how is Steven doing,” says co-host Bain. “But when you see him you know he’s great, he’s here and he’s gorgeous.”
While Sabados has discussed his relationship with Hyndman with media before, CBC publicists wanted-- the focus to be on the new show and not the past, imploring journalists not to talk about the deceased star, saying, “Steven feels the story has been told.”
When asked if the new show might have a moment honouring Chris’s memory for the sake of fans, Sabados says: “They can do that on their personal time. But this is about moving forward and being with the new family.” What’s evident is that despite the-fact they have only been taping for a week, the chemistry between the new hosts is palpable.
The standout so far is Cruickshank, with her on-point delivery and timing. The comic honed her skills at MTV and her energy, like Hyndman’s, plays well against Sabados’s more buttoned-down demeanour.
“The first time we sat down we instantly clicked,” says Cruickshank. “We could not be more different, but we share a similar sensibility and humour, so it works.
“Part of the joy is that we all have our own superpower, but no one else has that power. I don’t know how to cook, I need relationship advice and I don’t know how to decorate my home, so it all works because they complete me.”
Each team member brings something to the table. And there seems to be much more playful interaction with the audience than on your typical talk show.
“I talk about everything that has to do with relationships, with your friends and co-workers,” says Bain. “You know that magazine you have in your office that is a quiz about your life? I’m that quiz. Also, I do a lot of wellness because we’re all just trying to stay alive.
Celebrity chef Massoud, meanwhile, says he’s trying to showcase recipes that people can actually make.
“We do recipes geared to stuff you would do at home, stuff you would actually eat,” he says. In an earlier show, Massoud had Bain making mayonnaise.
Off camera, the best show not on television is run by the audience relations manager named Michael who, between games of musical chairs, balloon toss, Hula Hoop and Who Am I, makes you feel you’ve been trapped in Chuck E. Cheese for three hours. But not necessarily in a bad way.
As for the set, the most obvious visual difference is that the distinctively masculine Chanel Pour Monsieur grey of Steven and Chris has been replaced by a more vibrant orange and gold that is attractive, but maybe not quite as elegant.
Still, Steven and Chris fans likely won’t be disappointed with the new entry.
Daytime TV is a curious battleground. In Canada, you have everything from Cityline and The Marilyn Denis Show to The Social battling for supremacy with battalions of experts who, in four-minute segments, will tell you how to make your life that much better. The Goods attempts to improve on-that with a diverse group of hosts that will tell you if you should really be wearing socks with those sandals. Cruickshank says yes. Bain says absolutely not. You’ll have to decide for yourself when the show airs.