Andrew Phung's favourite things to watch on CBC Gem

Whether it's improv comedy or sneakers (he has 500+ pairs), when Andrew Phung (Kim's Convenience, Run the Burbs) gets talking about any of his great loves, his exuberance is contagious. 

So we asked him which shows he's most excited about on CBC Gem. From the series he co-views with his kids, to a few hidden gems you might not have heard of but are a must-watch, scroll down for Andrew's list of Gem Selects (and a bonus pic of him with his first pair of Steve Nash Air Max 90 sneakers).

Stream with kids

Big Block Singsong 

Big Block Singsong is something I really enjoy with my younger son, just because he really enjoys short, catchy songs that are silly. I was looking for something that was short form, song style. 

Ollie! The Boy Who Became What He Ate

Ollie! The Boy Who Became What He Ate is such a fave. I'm big on imagination when I play with my kids, and this show is really silly, imaginative fun. 

Stay Tooned

I'm watching Stay Tooned with my older son. Mainly because we got really into Space Jam during COVID (I've been trying to show him movies from my childhood).

We got invited to an event with Eric Bauza who sat down with my kids and drew each a Bugs Bunny sketch, and now each of them has a Bugs Bunny sketch in their rooms, signed and drawn by Eric. So when Eric is in the news or doing something, which he has been a lot, they're really into it.

Learn something new

Uytae Lee's Stories About Here

Uytae Lee's Stories About Here is so interesting. I just love Uytae's videos about Vancouver, about transit stops, about how things are built, and why. And every morning when I get ready on set, I put on one of his videos that's, like, about the economy, or companies — it's usually something I wouldn't otherwise go and learn about. He has a great pace.

Frick, I Love Nature

A series you'll also learn a lot from, but with a totally different style, is Frick, I Love Nature by Gordie Lucius. Gordie joined the writers' room of Run The Burbs in Season 1 as a practicum, and we've also improvised, and he's such an amazing performer. This show is talking to the kid in all of us who's excited to learn weird facts about nature. It's also something I'd watch with my kids.

Something scary

Something Undone

I will talk about Something Undone to the ends of the earth. It was done by my co-star in Kim's Convenience, my good friend Michael Musi and his best friend Madison Walsh, and I was blown away. It's about a foley artist and a podcaster and a creepy family secret. And I love it because it's scary— I'm not a horror fan, there are no jump scares — but it's still very creepy. It also has Nicole Power and Sean Doyle and Shaun Majumder, so you'll see some familiar faces.

Something different

Lido TV

I love Lido TV, starring Lido Pimienta, which is so weird and funny and on the mark. And I think at times a bit uncomfortable in how honest it is.

The Slowest Show 

I've got to shout out my show. It's a weird show. The Slowest Show was what I directed and I love it because I put it on when I write. And sometimes I just like having the white noise. The Slowest Show is really nice because if I really want something that I don't have to focus on, I kind of just like having the noise of a wave pool there to fill it. Sometimes I know it's weird to say, but sometimes I'm like, Hey, I'm not ready for music — I can't.

Lives lived

Rumble: Indians Who Rock the World

Rumble: Indians Who Rock the World is about the missing story of the influence Indigenous musicians had on today's music. I remember seeing the trailer for it and being like, 'Whoa, this is so cool.'  The story parallels the experience of a lot of BIPOC communities that have had their history and the meanings of their music erased. In the doc, there was an interview with Dave Grohl where he was being interviewed by Pharrell Williams, and talking about writing Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and he said, ' I literally just was copying all these jazz, funk bands with that beginning drum riff.

With our discussions around race right now, this is a nice swerve that lets you see something in a different light. I really enjoyed this doc.

La Bolduc 

I was on a flight and I started watching Canadian Heritage Minutes and I started crying and I got to the one about La Bolduc and I was like, 'Oh, that's a really nice story. She came with her daughter and she had like $6 shoes and she was really poor, and she played out the window…'  Her life was not like that! Her life was really sad. When you watch this movie, you realize she wasn't an overnight success, oh no, she has this history.

Tokyo Idols  

Tokyo Idols was really sad and I enjoyed it because I like anything that deals with Tokyo. I remember backpacking around the world when I was 21, and I really enjoyed my time in Japan. I went into this one thinking, 'Oh, this one's going to be fun.' But it's a bit sad. It was a bit eye-opening. This culture of, like, adult men idolizing these young women. 

Now, with that said, I don't want this to sound like my only understanding of Japanese culture, which is so much more, but I really did enjoy this story in a sad, gut-wrenching way. 

Sports Docs

NASH 

NASH is something I never thought would be on CBC Gem. I love Steve Nash — Steve Nash Air Max 90 was the first shoe that got me into collecting sneakers.

Whenever I see a pair on the secondary market, I'll buy the Steve Nash Air Max 90s. 

I had already read three books about him growing up, but in NASH, they get into the story from when he left the Phoenix Suns and it really is like a full arc of his life and clips into his love of soccer, and where he is now. 

Warrior Spirit

First of all, MMA is a lot harder than you'd think. I am not a big MMA fan, but I enjoy the documentary side because it's helped me learn a lot about the sport.

In Warrior Spirit, the story is really interesting. It's the story Indigenous UFC flyweight champion Nicco Montaño — and her story is still being written, because she is still in her prime. It also highlighted the terribleness of cutting weight, which was pretty eye- opening because we think they just show up and fight. But in reality, and it's mentioned in the documentary, cutting weight is harder than fighting. I think these fighters would just fight every day, but it's just the cutting weight they never want to do. 

Ground-breaking series

Da Kink in my Hair

I'm also blown away that all the seasons of Da Kink in my Hair are on CBC Gem because that show came out when I was much younger, so I could only catch it when it was on TV.  

There wouldn't be a Kim's Convenience without Da Kink in My Hair. Literally, because Da Kink in my Hair paved the way for Kim's Convenience. They both started as plays and so they had parallel paths. So that's one that I'm really excited to get back into when I start writing again.

If you could only show us one episode of Run The Burbs, which one would it be?

Phamily Ties, episode 202, the Raksha Bandan episode, is really in the pocket of what Run the Burbs wants to do as a show, in the sense that we want to tie in cultural traditions to Canadian points of view. And that's a question I often have. "How do we do this? How do we maintain these traditions and cultures as second generation Canadians?"

Runners-up:

109, the Lunar New Year Episode and Episode 204 because it's the ridiculousness of the suburbs that I love. We literally watched a video clip on YouTube with someone in the suburbs who had built a speed bump, and that was the inspiration behind Andrew Pham doing the same thing — it just felt like the most suburb thing to do.

A treasure trove of Canadian films

Room For Rent 

I always tell people that CBC Gem is a treasure trove of Canadian films that you kind of see on the radar for like a second and then you don't know how to get it later.

One that surprised me stars Mark Little — one of this country's best performers — stars in this weird film, Room For Rent, that totally fits my style about a broke guy who has to deal with his parents' super-creepy tenant. 

One Week

I love One Week and it truly showcases the beauty of this country. I watched this on a plane during the making of Kim's Convenience. And I was crying on the plane because I think sometimes, for me, while making that first season, I didn't know what I was doing and I was like so unsure of myself and just watching this, and obviously, he was dealing with cancer, so I'm not dealing with the gravity of that news, but I think it's just like a reminder that no one really knows what they're doing. This character got on a motorbike and just rode across the country— something I think we all just want to do once in a while; we just want to leave the world and just do our own thing.

Andrew Phung is an award-winning actor, improv comedian, emcee, and writer. His infectious and relatable personality has made him one of Canada's top comedic performers. He is the Executive Producer, Co-Creator, and Writer of the CBC original comedy series RUN THE BURBS and his work on KIM'S CONVENIENCE has earned him four Canadian Screen Awards (2017, 2018, 2020, and 2021) in the category of Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Andrew's recent television and film credits include THE BEAVERTON, EVENTS TRANSPIRING, WYNONNA EARP, and factual series THE CANADIAN IMPROV GAMES, where he served as the host, and won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Host - Digital Series. He can also be heard on CBC Radio as a regular contributor to Now or Never, The Debaters, and Because News.  He is a father it to wonderful boys, husband to the amazing Tamara, and proud owner of over 500 sneakers...seriously.