Canada’s Got Talent, Citytv – Season Finale
After 11 weeks of performances, sweat and tears – who will be named the most talented act in the country? Down from 39 acts in the semifinals, the Top 12 finalists put their dreams on the line in hopes of earning the most votes from viewers and becoming Canada’s Most Talented Act. The live finals results show features performances by Canadian chart-toppers Hedley, 12-year-old classical soprano prodigy and America’s Got Talent finalist, Jackie Evancho, and special guest appearance by famed celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick (Martin Short).
Good God, The Movie Network/Movie Central – “The Naked Truth”
Overwhelmed by stress, George takes Virginia’s anti-anxiety meds, which push him over the edge.
It’s upfront season now, both in the United States and Canada. Attention turns to which Canadian dramas and comedies survive into 2012-13. There are already surprising cancellations, such as SPACE dropping Todd and the Book of Pure Evil after its second season, though TBPE‘s producers wish to keep the show alive. The Comedy Network’s Picnicface is also among the cancelled, and Picnicface troupe members won’t take this cancellation lying down.
Todd and the Book of Pure Evil creator/showrunner Craig David Wallace recently admitted that the show’s SPACE ratings weren’t high enough for the channel to approve a third season. Its runs on MuchMusic and The Comedy Network, a run on American horror cable channel FEARnet, plus its DVD releases on both sides of the border, suggest that it still has a healthy audience. When Todd and the Book of Pure Evil‘s first season was rerun on The Comedy Network last summer, TBPE was that network’s top Canadian show.
Picnicface, another Bell Media cull, earned soft ratings in first run…but that might be due to The Comedy Network’s practice of reairing the same episode multiple times a week, as CanCon filler. On YouTube, videos from Picnicface‘s first season regularly earn 20,000 or more views. A couple have more than 100,000 views. Stupidly, those videos are geoblocked for non-Canadians.
The Canada Media Fund alloted Picnic Pictures Inc. $624,000 for Picnicface‘s thirteen-episode first season. (PDF) Even if the CMF money is a fraction of Picnicface‘s budget, it’s still a low-budget show. By comparison, the Canada Media Fund alloted $5,415,000 to Todd and the Book of Pure Evil‘s second season. (PDF) TBPE is the bigger risk, and is harder to defend on a purely financial level.
On the flip side, I can’t think of any current shows in TBPE‘s genre, adult-oriented horror-comedy set in a high school. TBPE arguably takes Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s lead, yet TBPE is more rooted in horror conventions, metal, and being the anti-Degrassi. There’s almost nothing else like it in Canada. Bite’s The Cutting Room is a horror-comedy series, but comparing it to TBPE is like comparing apples and a lawnmower.
I think Bell Media underestimates the interest in Picnicface and Todd and the Book of Pure Evil. Canadian shows do fall through the cracks sometimes. One only needs to look at Combat Hospital‘s cancellation to figure that out – 1.5 million viewers in Canada, yet the show was done in by high costs, and a weak American showing on ABC. Luckily, some Canadian shows find life after death – Shaw Media/Showcase’s Endgame underperformed on that channel last year, and has since found a more receptive home on Hulu – enough that Hulu might commission its second season.
A sub-billion-dollar PBIT, on $3.7 billion in 2011 revenues, suggests that Canadian broadcasters are in decent shape. At the same time, killing shows like Todd and the Book of Pure Evil and Picnicface after one or two seasons does nothing for the Canadian television industry. It might not be obvious now, but these shows could be to the 2010s what Trailer Park Boys and Corner Gas are to the 2000s.
The Firm, Global – “Chapter 16″
Mitch and Ray make dangerous decisions in an effort to expose Kevin Stack and Noble Insurance. With Stack and Alex Clark working hard to evade justice, Abby finds herself at the center of the case.
From a media release:
SAVING HOPE – Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning June 7
SAVING HOPE is CTV’s new original medical drama, which debuts in simulcast this summer with NBC. Starring Erica Durance (SMALLVILLE), Michael Shanks (STARGATE ATLANTIS), Daniel Gillies, (THE VAMPIRE DIARIES), Wendy Crewson (Away From Her), Huse Madhavji (COMBAT HOSPITAL), Julia Taylor Ross (ROOKIE BLUE), and Kristopher Turner (THE LISTENER), the one-hour drama is from acclaimed Gemini award-winning producers Ilana Frank and David Wellington (THE ELEVENTH HOUR, WOULD BE KINGS). When charismatic Chief of Surgery Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks) at Toronto’s Hope-Zion Hospital ends up in a coma, he leaves the hospital in chaos – and his fiancée and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid (Erica Durance), in a state of shock. Along with newly-arrived star surgeon, Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies), Alex races to save Harris’ life. As the action unfolds, comatose Dr. Harris explores the hospital halls in “spirit” form, not sure if he’s a ghost or a figment of his own imagination. Reid, along with her fellow doctors, press on to save his life and those of their other patients, as they deal with the complicated and courageous decisions that are made in their daily struggle to keep hope alive.
THE LISTENER – Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning May 30
In the highly-anticipated third season of CTV’s hit Original Series THE LISTENER, Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik, The Timekeeper) decides to ignore his telepathic abilities and live a normal life. Choosing to step away from his role as a paramedic to work more closely with the Integrated Investigative Bureau (IIB) and Sgt. Michelle McCluskey (Gemini Award-nominee Lauren Lee Smith, CSI), he puts undue pressure on himself to prove to his peers that he belongs. While his new consultant role means curtailing some of his EMS duties, the critical care team remains the emotional heart of his complicated life. This is especially true when Toby’s best friend and paramedic partner, Oz (Ennis Esmer, THE L.A. COMPLEX), moves into the apartment next door and tries to work up the courage to make a commitment to St. Luke Hospital triage nurse Sandy (Tara Spencer-Nairn, CORNER GAS).
COMEDY NOW! – Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning June 2
Entering its 14th season, this hilarious, all-Canadian, star-making stand-up series has won awards all over North America. A TV calling card for comedic success, COMEDY NOW! has featured some of Canada’s most successful comedians, including Brent Butt, Jeremy Hotz, Shaun Majumder, Gavin Crawford and Russell Peters. Starring in the all-new season are Jeff McEnery, Roman Danylo, Nathan Macintosh, Darrin Rose, Christina Walkinshaw, Eddie Della Siepe, Graham Chittenden, Perry Perlmutar, Nile Séguin, and Lars Callieou.
From Jonathan Bernstein of The Guardian:
- The Canadians are coming to US TV – but don’t let that put you off
The LA Complex and Todd and the Book of Pure Evil are two of the best shows to come out of Canada in recent years. Read more.
