Anthony and I mock Global’s upcoming show Canada Sings, the producers of The Bridge for thinking CBS is still on board, Degrassi ratings information, and each other. I praise The Movie Network/Movie Central/HBO Canada and Call Me Fitz but we mock their “terrible branding problem” and the vagueness of The Yard‘s premise.

We don’t mock Flashpoint but discuss the season three premiere, and I talk to Enrico Colantoni about his role as Greg Parker and how Flashpoint is a great example of Canadian storytelling. As we say during the podcast, the interview doesn’t have great sound quality and strict spoilerphobes should beware.

Your links

• Canada Sings – I am excited at how much Anthony is going to hate this Glee-like reality show, even if I’m not excited about the show itself
• The Bridge is cancelled on CBS, despite what the producers want to believe
• Flashpoint season 3 premieres August 6
• Degrassi is doing well. I think. If I’m parsing the media release correctly.
• Haven and The Pillars of The Earth are in our rotation
• The Movie Network/Movie Central/HBO Canada schedule
• Enrico Colantoni is a very cool dude
• 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.

ENTERTAINMENT ONE AND SPE NETWORKS LATIN AMERICA SIGN PROGRAMMING DEAL

Leading independent studio, Entertainment One is proud to announce it has concluded a slate of deals this summer in Latin America for the television series starring Jason Priestley, Call Me Fitz.

Most recently announced, Priestley was awarded with the Best Actor of a Television Series Award for his role as “Fitz” at the fourth edition of the prestigious international Television Festival, RomaFictionFest.

Call Me Fitz is a production of Entertainment One, Amaze Film + Television, Big Motion Pictures and Creator /Executive Producer Sheri Elwood (Defying Gravity). Call Me Fitz is a no-holds-barred, half-hour comedy starring Jason Priestley (The Day of the Triffids, Beverly Hills 90210) as Richard “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, a morally degenerate used car salesman who is forced to go into business with his ‘conscience.’ The handsome, charismatic and slightly crazy used car dealer pushes the boundaries of acceptable behavior. A near death experience for Fitz coincides with the arrival of Larry, a do-gooder with a heart of gold bent on helping Fitz change his ways. The dark comedy is slated to premiere in September 2010 on The Movie Network in Eastern Canada and Movie Central in Western Canada. The second season begins production in fall 2010.

Also sold for Latin America is the reality comedy series that pits childhood friends against each other in outrageous competitions, Kenny vs. Spenny for SPE Networks and the revealing documentary series that takes a look at the emotional and costly journey of the increasing number of men and women who feel driven to redesign their bodies, Skin Deep for Discovery.

• N.S. a charming Haven, but with strange townfolk
  “Speaking by phone from Winnipeg where he’s developing a TV version of the popular 2002 movie Men With Brooms that starred Paul Gross, Barna says he’s keen on Nova Scotia because ‘first and foremost, Nova Scotia producers and crews are outstanding.’” Read more.

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.

THE MOVIE NETWORK AND MOVIE CENTRAL ANNOUNCE UPCOMING PRODUCTION SLATE

Astral’s The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central (Western Canada) today announced that eight Canadian original projects have been greenlit for production. Showcasing some of this country’s best talent both in front of and behind the camera, titles include: new seasons of the comedy series Call Me Fitz, Less Than Kind and Living In Your Car; the six-part stand-up comedy series Just For Laughs: Funny As Hell (working title); Skins, a new Canadian content series based on the popular UK version; the mockumentary series The Yard; and original films Sleepyhead and Scaredycat.

From E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film + Television, Big Motion Pictures and Creator /Executive Producer Sheri Elwood, Call Me Fitz is a no-holds-barred half-hour comedy starring Jason Priestley as Richard “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, a morally degenerate used car salesman who is forced to go into business with his ‘conscience.’ Season 1 is scheduled to premiere in September 2010 on The Movie Network and Movie Central, with Season 2 set to go into production this fall.

Less Than Kind, the half-hour, award-winning comedy from Breakthrough Film & Television and Buffalo Gal Pictures, will go into production on a third season in September 2010 in Winnipeg. Helmed by executive producer, writer and showrunner Mark McKinney, and starring Maury Chaykin and Jesse Camacho, the series follows the darkly comedic growing pains of Winnipeg teenager Sheldon Blecher and his dysfunctional family. Season 3 will premiere on HBO Canada in early 2011.

A second season of Living In Your Car, the critically acclaimed series from The Nightingale Company and Walker/Romain Productions will go into production this summer and will premiere in 2011. This karmic comedy tells the unpredictable story of a business mogul’s fall from grace and his wild attempts to regain the life he lost.

Scheduled to be shot in front of a live studio audience in July as part of the 28th edition of the Just For Laughs Festival, Just For Laughs: Funny As Hell (working title) is a six-part, half-hour comedy series mixing daring stand-up with musical comedy and digital shorts, hosted by one of Canada’s edgiest comics, Jon Dore. Produced by Just For Laughs Television, the series will premiere on The Movie Network and Movie Central in 2011.

Produced in association with MTV U.S., Skins is a one-hour series produced as a Canada/UK co-venture from E1 Entertainment and Company Pictures. Based on the award-winning and edgy UK hit series, this teen drama follows the lives of a group of charismatic, but troubled youth as they lurch towards adulthood. Skins is scheduled to go into production in Toronto this summer, and will premiere on The Movie Network and Movie Central in 2011.

The Yard, a six-part, half-hour mockumentary series in association with Whizbang Films Inc., is set in an urban elementary school, and follows the story of two rival gangs fighting for schoolyard supremacy. The comedic series, helmed by award-winning director Michael Mabbott, will go into production in July 2010, and will premiere in 2011.

SYNOPSES

CALL ME FITZ (SEASON 2)

From E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film + Television and Big Motion Pictures, Call Me Fitz is a no-holds-barred half-hour comedy starring Jason Priestley as used car salesman Richard “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, who torments his naïve co-workers, sleeps with any woman who has a pulse, and thinks his life is perfect. Season 1 is scheduled to premiere in September 2010 on The Movie Network and Movie Central, with Season 2 set to go into production this fall.

LESS THAN KIND (SEASON 3)

Less Than Kind follows Sheldon Blecher, a wise, overweight teenager growing up in Winnipeg’s North End, and his relationships inside a desperately dysfunctional family. Season 3 picks up on the very last day of summer and finds the Blecher family temporarily exiled from their stinking, flooded house in Aunt Clara’s tiny summer cottage. As the volatile Blecher family struggles to stay together and resurrect the failing family business, Blecher’s Driving School, Sheldon must keep his precocious composure through a season of romantic frustration and near familial collapse if he is to become his own man. Starring Maury Chaykin, Jesse Camacho, Wendel Meldrum, Benjamin Arthur and Nancy Sorel.

LIVING IN YOUR CAR (SEASON 2)

Created and written by George F. Walker, Dani Romain, and Joseph Kay, and directed and executive produced by legendary Canadian comedic talent David Steinberg, Living In Your Car tells the unpredictable riches to rags story of Steve Unger, the fallen corporate exec who was once viewed as the embodiment of success and who is now widely looked upon with contempt and pity. Having exchanged his luxury sedan for a converted van, the second season of this critically lauded series finds Steve settling deeper into the life of a car dweller, and attempting to reconcile his growing empathy for the have-nots with his still vibrant need for riches and power. Starring John Ralston, Ingrid Kavelaars, Mariah Horner, Colin Cunningham, Joe Cobden and Lucia Moniz.

JUST FOR LAUGHS: FUNNY AS HELL (WORKING TITLE)

This six-part stand-up comedy series will be shot in front of a live studio audience in July as part of the 28th edition of the Just For Laughs Festival. Hosted by comedian Jon Dore, the series will feature performances – both stand-up and musical – by JB Smoove, Donald Glover, Tim Minchin, Bo Burnham, Patrice Oneal, The Doo Wops, Jim Jeffries and more, alongside hilarious original digital shorts.

SKINS

After its 2007 debut in the UK, Skins became an immediate sensation with its controversial yet very real storylines. The teen drama follows the lives of a group of charismatic, but troubled, youth as they lurch towards adulthood. From E1 Entertainment and UK-based Company Pictures, Skins is executive produced by Charlie Pattinson, George Faber, John Morayniss and Laszlo Barna, with the pilot written by Bryan Elsley, a co-creator of the original UK version. Elsley also serves as showrunner.

THE YARD

The Yard, a six-part, half-hour mockumentary series in association with Whizbang Films Inc., is set in an urban elementary school, and chronicles two rival gangs vying for control of the schoolyard. In this provocatively humorous series, we follow twelve year old Nick and his crew trying to walk the razor’s edge of maintaining peace and defending their turf against the ruthless Dos Santos brothers, who will stop at nothing to regain control of the Yard. It’s a tough world out there: corruption, greed, violence, seduction and betrayal – and that’s just recess.

• ‘Trailer Park Boys,’ prepping comebacks
  “A new year, a new batch of TV shows to savour. There may be a chill in the air, but things are heating up on the tube as several new Canadian series prepare to launch in early 2010. From the long-awaited return of the Kids in The Hall to a sexy adaptation of the Giller Prize-winning book “Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures” to a potty-mouthed Jason Priestley, there are plenty of homegrown series on tap for those snowed-in nights.” Read more.

Call Me Fitz, The Movie Network and Movie Central’s Original Comedy Series Begins Production

• Jason Priestley Leads Comedic Cast Filming in Nova Scotia
• Created and Written By Defying Gravity Producer/Writer Sheri Elwood

E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film + Television and Big Motion Pictures in association with Astral Media’s The Movie Network and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central announced today that principal photography is underway on the Canadian original television series Call Me Fitz (working title). The series stars actor/director Jason Priestley (The Day of the Triffids, My Name is Earl, Beverly Hills 90210) as the charismatic used car salesman known as Fitz. Created and written by producer/writer Sheri Elwood (Defying Gravity), the 13-part, half-hour comedy series is filming an hour outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia in the Annapolis Valley region until mid-January. The series is scheduled to air on The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Movie Central (Western Canada) in 2010.

In Call Me Fitz, Jason Priestley stars as Richard “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, a balls-out, used car dealer who pushes the boundaries of acceptable behaviour just a few steps too far. After Fitz botches a test drive and puts his latest customer in a coma, he finds himself face-to-face with a new salesman on the lot: Larry, a do-gooder with a heart of gold. If Fitz is a man who lives for the moment, Larry’s his foil, ready to pick up (and re-furbish) the wreckage Fitz leaves behind. If the “Odd Couple” had substance abuse problems and sold cars, this would be that show.

Larry is played by Ernie Grunwald (King of the Hill, My Name is Earl) who becomes the moral anchor of the Fitzpatrick family. Series’ regulars include Peter MacNeill (Copper, Mayerthorpe), Tracy Dawson (The Gavin Crawford Show), Kathleen Munroe (Durham County), Donavon Stinson (Reaper), Brooke Nevin (I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer), and Gillian Ferrier (Ice Castles). Guest stars, Rachel Blanchard (Flight of the Conchords) and Joanna Cassidy (Six Feet Under) are featured in recurring roles.

Writer, Creator and Executive Producer Sheri Elwood, is joined by Executive Producers Teza Lawrence and Michael Souther, both with Amaze Film + Television (Finn on the Fly, Saint Ralph) and David MacLeod of Big Motion Pictures (October 1970, SeaWolf). Ari Posner (Mental) is Co-Executive Producer. Scott Smith (Rollercoaster, Falling Angels) and James Genn (Robson Arms), direct. Laszlo Barna is the President of E1 Television. Suzanne Berger and Tashi Bieler are the Vice Presidents of Production for E1 Entertainment. Larry Gilbert is Vice President of Current Programming for E1 Entertainment.