• ‘Being Erica’ TV character transfixes Toronto Jews
  “With much of the character derived from the life experience of the show’s creator and executive producer, Jana Sinyor, this fictional 30-something Toronto Jew is resonating with many young Canadian Jews who see in her something of themselves.” Read more.

• Fall TV getting weird
  “Our official fall TV preview section will appear in a few weeks, as the majority of shows are set to debut or return toward the end of September. But a significant number of programs will burst out of the gate before that, some even before Labour Day.” Read more.

Co-hosts Anthony Marco and Diane Wild discuss the CBC fall schedule, including arguing about the merits of Battle of the Blades, deciding Rick Mercer and the gang at 22 Minutes should never have holidays so we can have a Daily Show/Colbert type show in Canada,cheering Being Erica‘s renewal, and cynically deciding CBC had nothing better in development. In other news, 18 to Life was picked up by The CW, Haven got decent ratings, Degrassi introduced a transgendered character, and The Pillars of the Earth premieres Friday on The Movie Network/Movie Central.

Plus, a 20-minute interview with Gordon Pinsent about his role in The Pillars of the Earth, his 80th birthday celebration at the opening of his new play, Due South, the new series he has in development with son-in-law Peter Keleghan, what progress he’s seen in the Canadian TV industry over the years, his relationship with Sarah Polley, and how he’s been in every Canadian TV show and movie ever made.

Your links

• The CW picks up CBC’s 18 to Life
• Haven hits 300,000 viewers
• Degrassi introduces a transgendered character – controversial or same old, same old?
• The Pillars of the Earth premieres Friday, July 23
• The incredible career of Gordon Pinsent
• The CBC fall schedule
• Is Battle of the Blades a case of Schadenfreude or cheesy fun? You decide. (But it’s totally cheesy fun.)
• The Christina Cox vampire show whose title I couldn’t remember is Blood Ties. Last week, I couldn’t remember the Chris Leavins movie The Hanging Garden. Next week, maybe I’ll forget the name of this podcast!
• For information on specific shows, check out the sidebar of TV, eh? under Categories, or search for the show title in that little search box

Your hosts

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



Article first published as A Chat With Paula Brancati of Degrassi and Being Erica on Blogcritics

Paula Brancati is taking on New York Friday, when her character Jane Vaughn plays a major role in the two-hour television movie Degrassi Takes on Manhattan. And she’s taking on Canadian television in two high-profile series. Combined with her role as troublemaking friend Jenny in Being Erica, Brancati gets to do “a lot of stuff onscreen that I wouldn’t do offscreen,” as she said in a recent interview.

In Degrassi Takes Manhattan (known as Degrassi: The Heat Is On in the US), Jane tags along with her friends Holly and Declan “because her lies and cheating on Spinner are revealed, so she goes along as an escape.”

Naturally, “lots of debauchery ensues.”

For Brancati, however, the highlight was recording three songs for the soundtrack when Jane joins an indie rock band. Though she started acting in musical theatre as a child and has performed live, this was her first professional recording.

She’ll miss the movie’s premiere on Friday at the MuchMusic headquarters for a great reason, however: her play Love, Loss, and What I Wore premieres that night at Toronto’s Panasonic Theatre. Written by Nora and Delia Ephron and starring Andrea Martin, Louise Pitre and Mary Walsh, the play is a big part of Brancati’s big night.

The 10th season of Degrassi premieres on Monday, but as for Brancati’s involvement? “You know, you’ll have to wait and see the movie” she said. “The movie is really tumultuous. She experiences heartbreak and you don’t know what’s going to happen next with her. She has so many opportunities and places to go, so who knows if Degrassi or Toronto will be one of the options for her.”

Fans will definitely see more of Brancati when the third season of Being Erica airs, though. At 21, the actress gets to play Jenny as a 15-year-old in flashbacks and as a 30-year-old in present-day.

She’s already shot one episode where “there may have been some pole dancing involved. That doesn’t seem to be such a stretch for Jenny but for me it was a little daunting.”

And there’s more to come. She’s shooting another episode in a couple of weeks with the tentative title “Jenny on the Block.”

The show, of course, remains centred around Erin Karpluk’s Erica, but Brancati thinks the upcoming season will shake things up a little. “This season is very dark for Erica. It’s not just a formulaic episodic show. It goes in a whole other direction and there’s new characters .It’s not just a therapy session with Erica and Dr. Tom. I think fans will really enjoy it.”

As for the Degrassi movie, Brancati is curious about the audience reaction. “I want to hear how fans respond to the craziness that’s going to go down. And I want people to empathize with Jane. I really hope they do. She’s made some mistakes but I support the fact that she’s a good girl. Please feel for her!”

Degrassi airs on MuchMusic in Canada and Teen Nick in the US. Being Erica airs on CBC in Canada and SoapNet in the US.

Co-hosts Anthony Marco and Diane Wild talk about the renewal of Rookie Blue, a new Flashpoint coming up, The Bridge tanking in the US, and the CTV lineup.

Plus, an interview with Paula Brancati, who plays Jane Vaughn on Degrassi: The Next Generation and Jenny on Being Erica. She’s featured in Friday’s Degrassi Takes Manhattan movie. The 10th season starts Monday – will she be back?

Your links

• Rookie Blue renewed
• New Flashpoint episode airs July 16
• The Bridge averages 3.2 million in US
• Diane will be a guest judge for the Vancouver audition callbacks for Wipeout Canada. Will she be a Paula Abdul or a Simon Cowell?
• The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
• Paula Brancati of Degrassi and Being Erica
• CTV’s fall season
• The Emmy nominations – everyone and Canadians
• For information on specific shows, check out the sidebar of TV, eh? under Categories, or search for the show title in that little search box

Your hosts

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

• 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 St. Urbain’s Horseman to Being Erica, Michael Riley loves creating characters
  “Every time Canadian actor Michael Riley takes on a new role, he embarks on a new journey. Whether he’s portraying the level-headed psychiatrist Dr. Tom on CBC’s hit series Being Erica , or the Cockney petty criminal Harry Stein from St. Urbain’s Horseman (which is now out on DVD), Riley loves nothing more than developing his characters from scratch.” Read more.

• Being Erica actor delights in being back home
  “Currently cresting on a wave of mass appeal in the wake of Being Erica, the successful CBC series in which he plays Dr. Tom, a psychiatrist with mysterious time-shifting talents, Riley is emotionally magnanimous and practically realistic about the roller-coaster life of a working actor.” Read more.

• Being Erica Moves To Britain
  “Talk Back Productions confirmed that a UK version of Being Erica is in the “very early stages of development”. Like the original, the British remake (tentatively titled You Again) will centre on the life of a 30-something woman who travels back through time to fix her past mistakes, but that’s where the similarities end. The six-part series will be relocated from Toronto to Glasgow and see the leading lady as an NHS worker in the place of a private therapist.” Read more.

• 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.