TV, eh?

From a media release:

The search to find Canada’s Maria von Trapp starts January 25, 2008 with a seven-city cross-country audition tour that will culminate in the eight-week CBC Television series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? produced by Temple Street Productions in association with CBC Television. On this television show the Canadian public will choose who will play the most famous role in musical theatre in a brand new production of the beloved musical THE SOUND OF MUSIC (produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian and David Mirvish) that will open in October 2008 at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre.

Open casting calls will be held in the cities listed below on the following days:
Toronto, ON January 25
Montreal, QC January 28
Vancouver, BC February 1
Calgary, AB February 3
Winnipeg, MB February 4
Halifax, NS February 8
St. John’s, NL February 9

Location and times will be announced at a later date.

(more…)

From Bruce DeMara of the Toronto Star:

• On location with ‘The Border’
  “It is one of life’s sweet ironies that the filming of the new CBC series The Border is actually taking place at a border point.” Read more.

From Alyssa Luckhurst of andPOP:

• ‘Instant Star’ Wrapping Up At End Of Season
  “Instant Star will take its final curtain call at the end of Season 4. Stephen Stohn, one of the show’s executive producers, made the announcement on the CTV.ca message boards, saying that it was the best move for the show.” Read more.

Rob Salem of the Toronto Star has an item about Canadian shows coming soon:

• Hot Box: TV to talk about
  “Global debuts Limelighters Jan. 3, True Pulp Murder Jan. 3 and The Guard Jan. 22. CBC has The Border Jan. 7, jPod and Parking Wars Jan. 8, Sophie Jan. 9 and MVP Jan. 11. CTV’s homegrown movie slate includes Mayerthorpe, Elijah, She Drives Me Crazy, Sticks and Stones, The Terrorist Next Door, Who Named the Knife and the two-part, four-hour Would Be Kings. Citytv has the series debut of The Murdoch Mysteries Jan. 22.” Read more.

Photo: JPod

Michael D. Reid of the Victoria Times Colonist interviews Alan DiFiore, writer for DaVinci’s Inquest, among others:

• Writer looks into heart of story
  “Although there were dry spells, he started writing episodes of TV shows like Neon Rider and Mom P.I. He immediately hit it off with [Chris] Haddock, Mom P.I.’s producer, and accepted an invitation to work on his new project. It would become DaVinci’s Inquest, one of the most successful shows in Canadian television. DiFiore, its head writer, co-wrote dozens of the 91 intricately crafted episodes for the CBC series starring Nicholas Campbell as the rumpled, unorthodox coroner who solves crimes on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.” Read more.

Lindsay Ward of Sun Media reports on the finale:

• Project Runway Canada’ winner revealed
  “Evan Biddell is in. The potty-mouthed, Saskatoon-raised fashion designer proved he ‘measures up’ and became the first winner of Project Runway Canada.” Read more.

The Canadian Press uses the same “measured up” line:

• Saskatoon’s Evan Biddell wins inaugural ‘Project Runway Canada’
  “Self-taught Saskatoon designer Evan Biddell’s raw talent ‘measured up’ Monday night as he won the inaugural season of Project Runway Canada.” Read more.

Brianna Goldberg of The National Post visited the show:

• Behind the Seams
  “During an exclusive visit to the taping of Project Runway Canada’s final four episode, Brianna Goldberg learned that fashion television production isn’t always pretty. To prime you for tonight’s finale, we bring you an inside peek of what host Iman and the finalists, judges and crew went through last week in anticipation for this last show.” Read more.

Lee-Ann Goodman of the Canadian Press talks to Canadian observers on the US writers strike, and lists her top 10 shows of 2007, including Intelligence, Kenny vs. Spenny, and The Tudors:

• Will the Internet lure viewers from TV permanently amid writers strike?
  “Television is being eroded very quickly, and the strike is simply highlighting that,” says Gavin McGarry, a Toronto-based digital media consultant. “Content is always going to be king – people will always go where there’s great content. The distribution platform is irrelevant.” Read more.

The Border:

MVP:

From Ann Marie McQueen of Sun Media:

• On screen, the ‘A’ word means controversy
  “In 27 years of overseeing Degrassi productions, Epitome Pictures CEO and show creator Linda Schuyler has seen teen pregnancies portrayed with a number of outcomes. She has dealt with abortion on the show three times, each proving controversial not in Canada but the U.S.” Read more.

Terry Poulton of Media in Canada :

• ReGenesis breaking the fourth wall big time
  “The idea for the public forums sprang from a brainstorming session the series’ science consultant – renowned structural biologist Dr. Aled Edwards – had with a colleague. ‘They got talking about the commonality of creativity between science and the arts, and how both areas need to be well supported to foster innovation in Canada.’” Read more.

Shinan Govani of the National Post talks to Sofia Milos of the upcoming CBC show The Border:

• Mayor meets his match
  “”A great collaboration of discovery and entertainment” is the way Sofia describes the show that’s she’s been filming. And, naturally, she can’t say enough about the opportunity to play the part of a tightly wound Homeland Security agent who has issues –as well as issues.” Read more.

From BBM Canada, Corner Gas at #8 (1.7 million), Rick Mercer Report at #19 (1.2 million):

• Top programs – Total Canada

From a CTV media release:

Hit programming from CTV and its specialty channels The Comedy Network and MTV are now available from the iTunes Store in Canada (www.itunes.ca). iTunes becomes the next digital platform for CTV’s original Canadian series, in addition to The CTV Broadband Network and Rogers’ CTV on Demand service. The iTunes deal represents for CTV yet another opportunity for viewers to catch up to episodes already broadcast on CTV.

CTV programs for purchase include Canada’s most-watched comedy series, Corner Gas, international hit Degrassi: The Next Generation, critically-acclaimed series Robson Arms and Gemini Award winner Instant Star.

“I’m very excited about Corner Gas being on iTunes,” said Brent Butt, star of Corner Gas. “Initially I was excited because I thought it meant Corner Gas was going to be turned into a musical. But it turns out I was confused. The show will be available on iTunes just the way we made it, which is also awesome.”

iTunes’ CTV content will allow viewers to catch up to previously-aired episodes and purchase just-broadcast episodes the day after their television premieres:

CTV

• Corner Gas: previously-aired episodes from Season 4 and the current Season 5 are available today. New episodes from Season 5 will be available the day following their television premiere on The Comedy Network.
• Robson Arms: the complete second season is available immediately. New episodes from Season 3 will be available the day following their television premiere on CTV.
• Degrassi: The Next Generation: the complete sixth season is available immediately. New episodes from Season 7 will be available the day following their television premiere.
• Instant Star: the complete third season is available immediately. New episodes from Season 4 will be available the day following their television premiere on CTV.

From a Global media release:

THE GUARD
ALL-NEW CANADIAN ORIGINAL SERIES PREMIERE
Tuesday, January 22 – 10pm ET/PT
The action-packed story of four imperfect and offbeat heroes of the Canadian Coast Guard’s Search and Rescue team and their daily battles both in and out of the water.

EMBRACING ‘DA KINK SPECIAL
Tuesday, January 1 – 9pm ET/PT
This one-hour documentary chronicles the development of ‘da Kink in my Hair from its successful run on-stage to the hit Canadian original series on Global, with riveting personal experiences of the show’s leading women.

‘DA KINK IN MY HAIR
Sunday, January 6 – 7:30pm ET/PT
Episode: MOTHER OF A DAY
Mrs. Campbell has come all the way from Jamaica for Novelette’s birthday, a surprise orchestrated by Joy, only she’s two days early and full of complaints. Meanwhile, Nigel and Starr are getting closer, and as a result, he breaks up with his girlfriend Nikki, but everything changes when Nikki arrives at the party with news of her pregnancy. In the mirror story, a woman gives up custody of her children when she begins to feel herself losing control.

Richard Fagon as Nigel, Ngozi Paul as Starr in Da Kink in My Hair

From Steven Davey of Now Toronto:

• PROJECT RUNWAY CANADA
  “The three finalists are a motley bunch. Toronto’s Lucian Matas is perhaps the most flamboyant, his often repetitive designs derivative of Galiano. The judges have regularly criticized him for this, so that guarantees him third place.” Read more.

From of Tandem:

• Sofia Milos: I’m Italian but few people know
  “From CSI Miami to The Border, a special agent in a new CBC series.” Read more.

From Jesse Kohl in Media in Canada:

• CBC moving into mid-season with interactive gems
  “CBC has gone live with an immersive online reality game to back the upcoming mid-season crime drama The Border, along with microsites for other upcoming premieres.” Read more.

jPod Podsters (counter clock-wise) Steph Song as Bree, David Kopp as Ethan Jarleswski, Emilie Ullerup as Kaitlin, Ben Ayres as Cowboy, Torrance Coombs as John Doe.

From Chris Clay of the Mississauga News:

• Director finds muse on the Prairie
  “‘My agent called and said, ‘Here’s the thing. If you direct this and hit a home run, you’re a hero. But, if it doesn’t turn out, you may not work for CBC for years.’ I figured I was too old to start getting chicken so I went for it.’” Read more.

From Ars Tecnica:

• TV to make its debut on iTunes Canada this week
  “Upon launch, the Canadian iTunes Store won’t carry a ton of content, but it’ll certainly get the ball rolling. Users will begin to see shows from CBC, CTV, and a handful of shows from US networks. Oh, and for you hardcore Canadians out there, we hear that you can look forward to spying some NHL games through the iTunes Store too.” Read more.

From Denis McGrath at Dead Things on Sticks:

• Checking in with the Mosque at Christmas
  “Wednesday night at 8pm on CBC, two back-to-back special episodes offer strong evidence how Mosque has found its feet this season. There’s sweet family stuff, for sure, but also some solid comedy storytelling — and a confidence of presentation that was often missing from the first season’s eps.” Read more.