''Sensitive Skin'' is a Canadian

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

television series, adapted from the British series of the same name created by Hugo Blick. 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 on July 20, 2014. A six-episode second season, with production resuming in spring 2015 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, premiered on May 15, 2016. On May 7, 2017, the show's official

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

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

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 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. *

as Al Jackson, Davina's husband: a neurotic pop-culture columnist who is also somewhat socially awkward. * Nicolas Wright 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 ...

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 as Veronica: Davina's conservative older sister who resents her for always getting what she wants. * Clé Bennett 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 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 The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (Canadian French, French: ''Assurance-Santé de l'Ontario''), commonly known by the acronym OHIP (pronounced ), is the Government of Ontario, government-Government-owned corporation, run health insurance, health ...

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2014)

Season 2 (2016)

Awards

The first season of ''Sensitive Skin'' was nominated for 6 Canadian Screen Awards, and won four: * Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role (Don McKellar) * Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series (Don McKellar) * Best Photography ( Douglas Koch, "The Three Sisters") * Best Picture Editing in a Comedy Series ( Matthew Hannam).

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 Canadian English-language television shows Television series by Bell Media Television series by Corus Entertainment HBO (Canadian TV channel) original programming Television shows filmed in Toronto