TV, eh?

From Denis McGrath at Dead Things on Sticks:

• Why Durham County rocks
  “Durham County serves us up a hero, and then muddies the waters right away. As those waters grow murkier, the choices you’re forced to make as an audience, the value judgements you’re forced to generate — are never pre-digested and easy. This is a show that keeps you involved by continually forcing you to evaluate how you feel about what you’re seeing.”

From the Canadian Press, with episode descriptions of Degrassi and Durham County for Monday:

• TV tips for the week of May 7
  • “The first of a two-part conclusion of “Degrassi: The Next Generation” airs this evening. Alex encounters money woes and Emma learns that Sean’s plans for next year don’t include her. (CTV)”
  • “Hugh Dillon, onetime frontman of Toronto punk band the Headstones, is great in “Durham County” as Mike Sweeney, a quietly tormented homicide detective who moves his family to the suburbs in search for a more peaceful life after the murder of his partner. No such luck. Sweeney is soon tracking down a serial killer in this compelling six-part crime drama. (The Movie Network/Movie Central)”

From the Georgia Straight:

• Rick Mercer: minister of humour
  “I get to cover what I love, which is Canadian politics. I get to travel the country, hang out with polar bears, or go to Nunavut, or do whatever I want. That offer obviously never came along from the States because that job’s only available here and I have it.”

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail – see second-last item:

• Downward dog, upward profit
  “This six-part Canadian crime drama, about an emotionally damaged homicide detective (Hugh Dillon) hunting a serial killer, and possibly a copycat killer, is as moody as all get-out. In style and tone, it is clearly influenced by such HBO dramas as Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. Perhaps too much so. Visually sumptuous and adult, it is decidedly grim and seethes with male rage. The opening episode is rich, compelling and deeply disquieting drama.”

From Lee-Anne Goodman of the Canadian Press:

• Rock star-turned-serious actor Hugh Dillon shines in gritty drama ‘Durham County’
  “Durham County” is the brainchild of a group of women – producers Adrienne Mitchell and Janis Lundman, writer Laurie Finstad Knizhnik and director Holly Dale. Shot in a Montreal suburb, it’s a dark, taut thriller that wouldn’t look out of place on an American cable channel alongside shows like “Dexter” and “The Wire.” That’s something Dillon, a native of Kingston, Ont., now based in Los Angeles, is particularly proud of.”

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:

• When Canadians watch TV, they want drama
  “When most Canadians watch TV, drama is what they want to watch, and the majority of the most-watched programs in Canada each week are dramas. But we’re not making any.”

And a reaction from Denis McGrath of Dead Things on Sticks, with a list of Canadian dramas currently in development:

• Canadians Want Drama
  “So is the CRTC going to extract from CTV the first plank in a new drama committment? That’s what Doyle seems to be calling for. That would be great.”

From the Financial Post:

• Artistic community backs CTV’s CHUM takeover
  The artistic community tried to rally Tuesday behind the CTV Inc. takeover of CHUM Ltd., telling CRTC officials that CTV is the only player committed to fostering and nurturing Canadian talent. Nevertheless, the chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Konrad von Finckenstein, appeared unmoved.

But, from Bloomberg later:

• Canadian Regulator to Reject Calls to Block Chum Deal
  Canada’s broadcasting regulator will reject calls to bar CTVglobemedia Inc. from taking over rival Chum Ltd. because the agency will ensure the company produces enough Canadian shows to meet standards.

From CTV:

• Rosie O’Donnell jumps on the Degrassi bandwagon as host of New York City event yesterday

Yesterday in New York, the headline-grabbing Rosie O’Donnell hosted an unprecedented town hall discussion with cast from Canada’s own Degrassi: The Next Generation and the hit Broadway musical Spring Awakening. Both casts candidly discussed the numerous issues, both good and bad, that teens deal with on a daily basis. Reaching out to viewers directly and touching on subjects that affect them is not a stretch for Degrassi, as the series continues to do so in its provocative Season 6 finale. Premiering Monday, May 7 and Monday, May 14 at 9:30 p.m. ET (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times), the two-part finale focuses on a Degrassi character who takes a job as a stripper in order to help her family make ends meet.

Yesterday, select Degrassi cast members joined performers from the hit Broadway show Spring Awakening in what was billed as a “Live Verbal Mash Up” hosted by Rosie O’Donnell. Taking place at New York’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre, the one-hour town hall event welcomed 500 teens from the New York City area to discuss peer pressure, identity issues and how teens are dealing with young adulthood.

With yesterday’s event hosted by Rosie O’Donnell, a recent tribute at the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival and two more volumes of the graphic novels “Degrassi: Extra Credit” hitting bookstores this week, the Number 1 Canadian drama series Degrassi is riding a wave that shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. In the U.S., Degrassi is the flagship series on the digital cable channel The N, where it ranks as the network’s Number 1 program.

In Degrassi’s two-part, Season 6 finale:

“Don’t You Want Me – Part One” (Monday, May 7 at 9:30 p.m. ET on CTV): Alex and her mother Emily are in deep money trouble and can’t pay the rent. The situation is dire and when a job as a waitress at a ‘gentleman’s club’ comes up, Alex takes it – but learns there’s bigger money onstage. Alex has to decide what to do – and how her maybe-more-than-a-friend Paige will deal with the situation.

“Don’t You Want Me – Part Two” (Monday, May 14 at 9:30 p.m. ET on CTV): Alex’s double life is finally bringing in the cash she wants but hiding everything from everyone is taking a toll on her schoolwork and her connection with Paige. Making money is the only way Alex and her mother won’t get evicted, so she tries to convince herself that she is making the right decision.

The Degrassi two-part finale will be available on demand on The CTV Broadband Network at CTV.ca Tuesdays at 9 a.m. ET (May 8 and 15) following their television broadcast on CTV.

Viewers can catch up on all 17 of this season’s previously aired episodes, along with corresponding exclusive online content, all on demand on The CTV Broadband Network at CTV.ca. Following the television broadcast of each new episode, the episode itself as well as a scripted webisode (a.k.a. “Degrassi Mini”) and a behind-the-scenes documentary (a.k.a. “Degrassi: On the Set”) for the episode will be available on demand beginning Tuesdays at 9 a.m. ET on The CTV Broadband Network at CTV.ca.

From Global:

THE JANE SHOW  – Season Finale
Wednesday, May 2 – 10pm ET/PT
“Who’s Got Spirit?” – Love is in the air when Jane and her Spirits co-workers attend a conference in Hamilton.

From Citytv:

Citytv Reveals The 10 Finalists In the Running to Become “Canada’s Next Top Model” with Host Jay Manuel Premiering Wednesday, May 30th on Citytv

The battle for the title of “Canada’s Next Top Model” begins today as Citytv reveals the 10 finalists who will compete to turn their modelling dreams into reality. In this exciting, new season, the finalists will face tougher challenges on the runway and in front of the camera while living under one luxurious roof. Watch the drama start to unfold when “Canada’s Next Top Model”, Cycle 2 premieres Wednesday, May 30th at 8:00pm on Citytv.

“Canada’s Next Top Model” Participants are:

Name: Cori
Occupation: Student
Age: 18
Hometown: Val Caron, Ontario

Name: Gina
Occupation: Buyer, Engineering Firm
Age: 23
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Name: Jacqueline
Occupation: Student
Age: 20
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia

Name: Mika
Occupation: Job Hunting Now!
Age: 25
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Name: Mo
Occupation: Student
Age: 20
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Name: Rebecca
Occupation: Factory Worker
Age: 22
Hometown: Mannheim, Ontario

Name: Sinead
Occupation: Job Hunting Now!
Age: 18
Hometown: Chatham, Ontario

Name: Steff
Occupation: Student
Age: 19
Hometown: Cornwall, Ontario

Name: Tara
Occupation: Server
Age: 20
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta

Name: Tia
Occupation: Student
Age: 19
Hometown: Montreal, Quebec

The 10 finalists will have eight weeks to prove they have what it takes to make it in the highly competitive world of modelling. Each week, the participants will be tested as they strive to master runway challenges, photo shoots, publicity skills and successfully learn the business of becoming a Supermodel, all under the surveillance of the “Canada’s Next Top Model” cameras.

Throughout the series, the participants are mentored by Host Jay Manuel and the panel of judges including “FT-FashionTelevision’s” Jeanne Beker, Supermodel Yasmin Warsame, Celebrity Photographer Paul Alexander and Creative Director NoleMarin. Each episode will also feature a special guest judge who will critique within their particular area of expertise, helping to send one model hopeful packing each week.

Canada’s Next Top Model will walk away with a $100,000 beauty contract from P&G Beauty, a modelling contract with top agency, Sutherland Models and be featured in an editorial spread in Fashion Magazine.

From the Montreal Gazette:

• Good cop, bon cast and crew: It’s set in Ontario, but Movie Network’s Durham County is a Montreal affair
  “As the title suggests, Durham County is set in the region of the same name just east of Toronto. But this dark six-part series about a troubled cop hunting a serial killer, which premieres on The Movie Network on May 7, is actually a Montreal-shot production full of local connections.”

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:

• We need more hit Canadian drama, not more E! channels
  One thing that needs to happen is this – the creation of a hit one-hour drama on CBC, CTV or Global that pulls in close to a million viewers a week. We need another Due South or Street Legal, a show that has a mass appeal and a million viewers. Without that, Canadian-made TV will always be perceived as in the weaker position, looking inept. The last thing the Canadian TV networks and the watching Canadian audience need is more air-headed coverage of American celebrities.

From Rob Salem of the Toronto Star:

• Two of a kind
  “Hugh Dillon, the musician/actor who so memorably blew movie audiences out of their seats in Bruce McDonald’s Hard Core Logo, dials it all the way down to simmer as Durham’s Mike Sweeney. He’s a hard-boiled homicide detective with issues driving him back to the old neighbourhood: a sterile suburban enclave surrounded by ominous, omnipresent electrical towers. There he re-encounters Ray Prager, his one-time best pal, as vividly and kinetically embodied by Justin Louis, the veteran Canadian character actor (Missing, Hidden Hills, Urban Angel). Prager has issues of his own, not the least of which is that he has recently become a copycat serial killer.”

From CTV:

Saturday Apr. 28 at 9:30pm ET – Season Finale – I Want to Be Your Daddy

Jeff’s wildest dreams finally come true when it’s revealed that he is the biological father of a wealthy young heiress. As he takes the reigns of a billion-dollar family corporation, gold watches, super-cars, and no-limit credit cards are just the beginning of Jeff’s fabulous new life.

The Amazing Race Host Phil Keoghan Travels to Eight Canadian Cities for the New CBC Series “No Opportunity Wasted”

• Casting now open for Canadians who want to ‘face their fears’ or ‘aim for the heart’
• Audition and meet Phil at select Chapters.Indigo bookstores across Canada or apply online at www.noopportunitywasted.ca

No more coulda, woulda, shoulda. It’s time to ditch the excuses, get past procrastination and tackle a life changing opportunity – “Think NOW!”. That is the message from Phil Keoghan – host of the Emmy award-winning “The Amazing Race”™ and creator of the critically acclaimed US and New Zealand series and best-selling book No Opportunity Wasted.This fall, “No Opportunity Wasted” comes to CBC Television as a 10 x 30’ Canadian-produced reality series that gives challengers 72-hours to step outside their comfort zone, face their fears and swerve off the road they have been on for years. From May 8-16, Phil Keoghan travels on an eight-city tour (see detailed schedule below) in search of Canadians willing to take on a N.O.W. challenge. “No Opportunity Wasted” premieres on CBC in October 2007 and is produced by NOW Canada Productions Inc., a Suddenly SeeMore Productions Company.

(more…)

From Playback:

• Nominations from ACT and CNMA
  “Jane and the Dragon, Life with Derek and Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch Friends are all up for this year’s ACT awards, just three of the roughly 70 programs, interstitials and websites nominated for the honors from the Alliance for Children and Television.”

From Tamsen Tillsen of Playback:

• Let’s give CBC a break
  “Averaging audiences of one million are Little Mosque on the Prairie, The Rick Mercer Report, The Greatest Canadian Invention, Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister and Test the Nation.”

From DVD Talk:

• Robson Arms – The Complete First Season
  “One of the best “dramedies” to come along in a long time, Robson Arms is a delightful surprise, a half-hour Canadian series boasting excellent writing and fine performances by some of that country’s best and brightest talent. Very much an ensemble piece with character portraits of mostly moderately unhappy residents of a single apartment building, Robson Arms’s great strength is its basic honesty about human behavior, especially the interaction among families behind closed doors and between neighbors.”

From Global:

All-New Original Series From Acclaimed Writer/Producer, Aaron Martin

Debuts May 22 – 10PM ET/PT (60 mins.)

The choices you make now could last a lifetime…The Best Years, this season’s all-new original drama captures the highs and lows of campus life through the eyes of six college freshmen. From Global Television and Aaron Martin (writer/executive producer, Degrassi: The Next Generation), this 13-part series makes its world television debut Tuesdays at 10pm ET/PT beginning May 22nd.
“We’re thrilled to bring this smart, sexy new series to Global,” said Christine Shipton, Vice President of Original Programming for CanWest MediaWorks Inc. “The Best Years delivers top-notch writing, compelling storylines and a talented young cast – a combination we know our audiences will love.”

Audiences nationwide can live The Best Years along with central character, Samantha Best (Charity Shea, “Alpha Dog”) as she begins her freshman year at prestigious Charles University in Boston, MA. Orphaned at a young age, Samantha is leaving her foster-home past behind – full scholarship in hand – to take on the future, and the hallowed halls of the Ivy League.

Along the way she meets her new, occasionally dysfunctional surrogate family, including socialite roommate Kathryn Klarner (Jennifer Miller, “Instant Star”); fellow scholarship recipient, star basketball player and potential crush, Devon Sylver (Brandon Jay McLaren, “She’s The Man”); Dawn Vargas (Athena Karkanis, “Kevin Hill”), a former child star who trades in Hollywood for university; Trent Hamilton (Niall Matter, “Heaven Or Something Like It”), part-time student and full-time bartender; and Noah Jensen (Randal Edwards,”Smallville”), Devon’s room-mate, a business major with a future planned in Hollywood.

“As a first time television series creator, it’s an adrenaline rush seeing the show come to fruition on the small screen. I am extremely grateful to Global Television for their continued support throughout the process,” said creator and executive producer Aaron Martin.

“Global is a great supporter of Canadian talent, and in Aaron, they have a creator who has delivered in spades – this is a series that promises to be a hit at home and around the world,” said executive producer Noreen Halpern.

The Best Years is also slated to premiere this summer on The N, a programming arm of MTV Networks in the US, and is distributed internationally by FremantleMedia Enterprises, the commercial arm of FremantleMedia, one of the largest international creators and producers of program brands in the world.

From David Moses, one of the writers on Robson Arms, on his blog Don’t Feed the Writer:

• Robson Arms renewed for third season
  “For those of you who never saw it, how come? Did something put you off? Do you just not watch canadian shows on principle? Was it personal? You a hockey? Was it the time slot? Or maybe you just didn’t have room on the TIVO. I get that, my DVR space is precious too. For those of you who watched and said, “meh”, could you be a little more specific?”