TV, eh?

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:

• The award for ineptitude goes to … the Geminis
  “We produce some excellent television in Canada. But there is one reason to despise the Canadian TV racket as 10th-rate, unsophisticated and utterly mediocre, and that reason is the Gemini Awards.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• CBC picks up eleventy billion Gemini noms
  “The Gemini Award nominations were announced Tuesday in Toronto. Once again, every fucking thing ever made in Canada over the last 12 months was nominated. There are 107 bloody categories. Find the complete list here. Sorry, here. CBC alone drew 151 nominations, or one for every ten viewers of The Hour. Are there too many nominations when Kenny and Spenny are included in the best ensemble performance category? That would be yes.” Read more.

Episode 9: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed

Callum Keith Rennie joins me, Diane Wild, for an interview about Shattered, where he plays a cop with multiple personalities.

But first, I try to convince Anthony Marco that the Emmys are worth watching. I did not succeed. I’m not sure I convinced myself. We mention the Gemini Award nominations which will have been announced by the time you listen to this.

Is 18 to Life returning to The CW? Maaayyyybeeee.

Anthony and I could not be less excited about Canada Sings. But if you disagree, casting is now open.

Then I discuss creative control in the Canadian television industry, from the consistent vision brought to Call Me Fitz to the multiple showrunners and lack of a cohesive vision on Shattered and The Listener. I mention my interview with Peter Keleghan, too, where he brings up some of the same issues. And Anthony laments that Shattered lost a golden opportunity to claim that their multiple showrunners were reflective of the multiple personality of the main character.

We finish up with how PVRs are affecting television viewing – for Anthony, it’s being even more annoyed by commercials, while Diane now gets weepy over iPhone 4 commercials.

Your hosts

• Anthony Marco can be found at Dyscultured and lovehatethings, and on Twitter here and here.
• Diane Wild can be found here at TV, eh? and here, and on Twitter here and here.

From a media release:

JASON PRIESTLEY WINS BEST ACTOR AWARD

E1 Entertainment is proud to announce that Jason Priestley was named Best Actor in a Television Series at the Roma Fiction Festival. Priestley was honored for his role as “Richard Fitzpatrick” in the dark comedy Call Me Fitz and was in Rome to accept the award on July 10th.

The Roma Fiction Festival is a prestigious international Television Festival dedicated entirely to the vast world of TV fiction. The awards jury panel is comprised of five members from the international media industry, and is presided over by CSI: NY’s A.J. Buckley.

“Jason created a character that you loved to hate, but through humor you fell in love with him,” stated Buckley. “Everyone was blown away by his vulnerable yet brave performance. His character as Fitz is a departure from anything you’ve ever seen of him. An absolute fearless performance.”

Call Me Fitz is a no-holds-barred comedy about a morally bankrupt used car salesman who will do anything and anyone to sell his used cars. Fitz is forced to go into business with his conscience when a near death experience coincides with the arrival of Larry, a do-gooder with a heart of gold bent on helping Fitz change his ways.

From a media release:

SHAFTESBURY & FAMILY CHANNEL STRIKE GOLD AT THE 2010 PromaxBDA AWARDS WITH INTERACTIVE AWARD WIN FOR OVERRULED!: YOU RULE

Shaftesbury, Canada’s leading creator and producer of original content for television and multiple platforms, today announced that the original interactive kids’ video activity Overruled!: You Rule, available through Family.ca, took home a Gold Award for Best Interactive: DVD, Interactive TV, Mobile, Emerging Platforms at the 2010 PromaxBDA Promotion & Marketing North America awards in Los Angeles last week. The unique activity was conceptualized and produced by Shaftesbury’s digital media division, Smokebomb Entertainment and Family Channel’s interactive team.

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From the DGC website – nominations include Being Erica, Flashpoint, Sanctuary, The Bridge, Death Comes to Town, G-Spot, Less Than Kind, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Degrassi, Heartland, How to be Indie, Overruled:

• The Directors Guild of Canada Announces the 2010 DGC Awards Nominees “The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) announces the 2010 DGC Awards nominations. Comedian Dave Foley will host the annual gala on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto. The Guild will celebrate the career of acclaimed director Sidney Furie (The Ipcress File, Lady Sings the Blues) and the extraordinary contributions of Don McCutcheon and Paul Bronfman to the DGC and the Canadian film and television industry.” Read more.

From a media release:

2010 CANADIAN COMEDY AWARD NOMINEES ARE ANNOUNCED!

The race for the 2010 Canadian Comedy Awards is on! Canada’s finest comedians will go head to head for the coveted BEAVER statuette this October in Toronto, as The Canadian Comedy Awards Foundation in association with The Comedy Network today announced the nominees for the 2010 Canadian Comedy Awards. At a media conference held at Yuk Yuk’s in Toronto, emcees Deb McGrath and Colin Mochrie highlighted the nominees in all 21 categories.

Winners will be declared at The Comedy Network Presents the Canadian Comedy Awards & Festival Awards Show on Monday, October 18 to be held at the Isabel Bader Theatre.

To view a complete list of the 2010 Canadian Comedy Awards nominees and to access nominee bios, please go to www.canadiancomedy.ca.

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From a media release:

The 31st Banff World Television Festival (BANFF) and nextMEDIA announced the winners of the 2010 “”Rockie” Awards. Among the winners were the following Canadian shows:

FICTION

• Animation: Le Printemps de Melie/ Molly in Springtime, National Film Board of Canada in association with Folimage, PIWI, Divertissement Subsequence Inc – Canada

NON-FICTION

• Lifestyle & Information Programs: Pitchin’ In: Shrimp, Frantic Films, Food Network – Canada

Chosen from 900 entries from more than 43 countries, the Banff World Television Awards, also known as the “Rockies”, is one of the world’s most prestigious events celebrating outstanding work by international TV creators responsible for the continuing evolution and originality in the industry. All the nominees were announced earlier this year at the MIPTV broadcast and digital media conference in Cannes, France.

Equally exciting, BANFF has seen a 13% increase in submissions this year, attesting to the continued popularity and importance of the awards.

The BANFF organizers designated 68 jury panels from over 30 countries around the world to select Rockie Award nominees in each of the 34 categories. There will be 5 separate award ceremonies for winners from each of these 34 categories, culminating in the Banff World Television Awards on June 15, 2010.

For full list of category descriptions,: http://www.banff2010.com/2010.program.categories.php.

From CBC:

• Battle of the Blades earns Rose D’Or nomination
  “Seven Canadian television programs have earned nominations for Rose D’Or Awards, including CBC live event shows Battle of the Blades and Canada for Haiti.” Read more.

From Kristin Brzoznowski of WorldScreen.com:

• Golden Nymph Awards Presented at Monte-Carlo TV Fest
  “The drama performance wins went to Michelle Forbes for season two of Canada’s Durham County.” Read more.

From Craig Takeuchi of the Georgia Straight:

• Sanctuary: Season Two 2 DVD release coincides with multiple wins at Leo Awards
  “The DVD/Blu-ray release of Sanctuary: Season Two on Tuesday (June 15) arrives hot on the heels of the show scooping up seven Leo Awards at the Westin Bayshore on June 4 and 5.” Read more.

From Craig Takeuchi of the Georgia Straight:

• Leo Awards 2010 final winners: Alice, Sanctuary, Excited on top
  “As the second evening of Leo Awards concluded tonight at the Westin Bayshore, the TV miniseries Alice , a new take on the Alice in Wonderland story, led the winners of the Leo Awards, picking up a total of eight awards in a range of technical categories.” Read more.

From Craig Takeuchi of the Georgia Straight:

• Leo Awards 2010: Alice, Sanctuary, The Gray Matter lead technical winners
  “Who won the most awards at the Leo Celebration Awards at the Westin Bayshore tonight? Go ask Alice. The TV mini-series, which ran in the feature-length drama category, won five awards this evening. (Tonight’s gala consisted of technical categories in the first of two nights of Leo Award ceremonies.)” Read more.

From Alyssa Noel of the Edmonton Sun:

• ‘Blackstone’ tops Rosie awards
  “Corrupt First Nations leaders, a suspicious fatal fire and a young girl’s gas-huffing addiction make up the heavy plot of this year’s big Edmonton-based Rosie Award winner.” Read more.

From Craig Takeuchi of the Georgia Straight:

• Stargate, Sanctuary lead 2010 Leo Awards nominees
  “Sci-fi series Sanctuary and Stargate Universe dominated the dramatic series categories with an amazing 17 nominations each and outpaced their contenders. Smallville followed with six, and Heartland and V each received two.” Read more.

From a media release:

The Comedy Network Celebrates a Decade of Beavers with the Canadian Comedy Awards 10th Anniversary Special Premiering May 15

• Jason Jones and Samantha Bee of THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART host
• Special features stand-up performances and revisits memorable Beaver Award moments from the Canadian Comedy Awards & Festival

The Comedy Network celebrates 10 years of the Beaver Award with the CANADIAN COMEDY AWARDS 10th Anniversary SPECIAl. Premiering Saturday, May 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT exclusively on The Comedy Network, ex-pats Jason Jones and Samantha Bee (pictured) host a one-hour special featuring performances from Beaver-worthy comedians and highlights of Canadian Comedy Awards & Festival past and present. To dive deeper into the Beavers, viewers can re-visit the special on demand at thecomedynetwork.ca.

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From a media release:

Canadian show shares the spotlight with John & Kate plus 8

• Family Restaurant: The Quons nominated for award

Anaïd Productions is honoured to announce that Family Restaurant: The Quons is nominated in the Reality / Docusoap category for a Realscreen Factual Entertainment Award.

The Canadian-produced series shares its nomination with two high-profile US shows: John & Kate plus 8 and Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels. Family Restaurant: The Quons was selected from hundreds of entries from around the world for this honour. The winners will be announced in California on June 3rd at an event designed to be the industry’s first truly global celebration of factual entertainment excellence.

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From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:

• Rosie nominations bloom
  “Olympic athletes, a horse-whispering teen and cowboy zombies were among the eclectic crew Rosie smiled on Wednesday morning as finalists for the Alberta Film & Television Awards were announced in Calgary and Edmonton.” Read more.

From Elizabeth Withey of the Edmonton Journal:

• Edmonton scores big with Rosie nominations
  “Prairie Dog Film & Television’s Blackstone earned nine nominations, including best production reflecting cultural diversity, best director, best screenwriter and editor in a drama over 30 minutes and best dramatic production under 60 minutes. The one-hour series pilot, set on a fictional reserve and directed by Ron E. Scott, also earned best-actress nods for Calgary’s Michelle Thrush and Edmonton artist Roseanne Supernault, a graduate of Victoria School of the Performing Arts.” Read more.

From a media release:

DURHAM COUNTY – Season Two Nominated for three Monte Carlo Television Awards

The second season of the award-winning Canadian drama series, Durham County, has been nominated for three Monte Carlo Television Awards. Winners will be announced June 10th, 2010 in Monaco at the Festival’s prestigious Golden Nymph Award ceremony.

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From a media release:

Canada’s top screenwriters honoured at the 2010 WGC Screenwriting Awards

The Writers Guild of Canada celebrated the winning words of Canadian screenwriters tonight at the 14th annual WGC Screenwriting Awards. 148 scripts were nominated in the Awards’ 11 categories, and 43 finalist scripts vied for the winners’ circle.

Screenwriters Robert C. Cooper (Stargate Universe), Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky), Garry Campbell (Less Than Kind) and Kate Barris (Max and Ruby) were just of few of those recognized for outstanding scripts. A complete list of winners follows.

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