TV, eh?

From CBC:

• Q the Podcast 2010-08-27 Michelle Forbes (mp3)

Bill Harris of QMI Agency breaks down the fall premiere dates, including Canadian shows:

• 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.

From a media release:

Call Me Fitz

Premieres Sunday, September 19 at 8 p.m. ET/MT

Debuting with back-to-back half-hour episodes, Call Me Fitz stars Jason Priestley as Richard “Fitz” Fitzpatrick, a handsome, substance-abusing used-car salesman who torments his naïve co-workers, sleeps with any woman who has a pulse, and thinks his life is perfect. His sybaritic lifestyle undergoes a radical transformation after a disastrous test-drive puts a potential customer in a coma and unleashes Fitz’s conscience, literally, in the form of Larry, a gentle man intent on rehabilitating Fitz’s battered psyche. Also starring Ernest Grunwald, Peter MacNeill, Kathleen Munroe, Tracy Dawson, Donavon Stinson and Brooke Nevin.

Durham County (Season 3)

Premieres October 2010

Winner of five Gemini Awards, this one-hour dark drama returns for a third and final season. In the final season Detective Mike Sweeney and his new task force investigate the brutal murder of two young boys along a busy stretch of highway. As the investigation expands, one of Mike’s own officers struggles to bury a dangerous secret. Meanwhile Audrey and Sadie embark on a new chapter of their lives, while Mike must push himself beyond his limits to overcome a sudden tragedy that may tear his family apart forever. Starring Hugh Dillon, Hélène Joy, Laurence Leboeuf, Greyston Holt and new cast member Michael Nardone.

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 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 Bruce Kirkland of QMI Agency:

• Quality Canadian shows exist
  “But the constant complaining about problems with government funding, government regulations and the private sector’s penchant for buying American has had one unfortunate side effect. It makes it appear that there is nothing Canadian to celebrate. Wrong. And the new release of two box sets, Heartland: The Complete First Season and Heartland: The Complete Second Season is a poignant reminder.” Read more.

From Jason Tanamor of Zoiks Online:

• Whether it’s ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ or ‘Durham County,’ Helene Joy loves acting.” – Interview
  “Fans of Helene Joy are well aware of the two hit series she’s involved with. “Murdoch Mysteries” and “Durham County” are two of Canada’s biggest hits on television. And even though the Australian native keeps herself busy with taping, a personal life and keeping in touch with friends, Helene Joy still managed to find time to talk about her career in acting.” 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.

(more…)

From a media release:

Muse Distribution International and Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada To Distribute DVD of ‘Durham County: Season Two’

Muse Distribution International has signed Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada to distribute “Durham County: Season Two” in the Canadian home entertainment market.

(more…)

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

• The Guide Tuesday: Durham County

From Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

• TV series shows Canada in a dark, new light
  “Ah, our friends to the north. Rosy cheeks, cute toques, friendly and cooperative. Durham County, returning Sunday on the hard-to-find ION Network, will erase those stereotypes forever. It might be the grimmest thing on TV, and that includes HBO and Showtime.” Read more.

From a media release:

Principal Photography Begins on the Third Season of Durham County

Principal photography on the third season of the award-winning series Durham County has begun in Montreal. Nominated for 13 Gemini awards, winner of 5, and praised by the New York Times as “entirely addictive,” this six-part, one-hour drama series features returning stars Hugh Dillon (Flashpoint), Hélène Joy (Murdoch Mysteries), Laurence Leboeuf (Human Trafficking) and Greyston Holt (Smallville) and new cast member Michael Nardone (Rome) as Detective Ivan Sujic.

(more…)

From Thomas Francis of the New Times Broward-Palm Beach:

• Can a Serial Killer Save a West Palm-Based Television Network?
  “Durham County has a sneaky way of getting under your skin. Maybe it’s the familiar anytown where it’s set. Or the way the characters line up along a moral spectrum that gets so blurry that even the serial killer seems human. Or at least not the monster that serial killers are in other movies and TV shows.” Read more.

Why yes, I am bribing people to chat up Canadian TV right now. Join the fun and blog, email, or Twitter your thoughts for the chance to win some great prizes, courtesy The Movie Network/Movie Central/HBO Canada, CBC, and TV, eh? Click here for all the details.

Here’s a small sample of what people are saying so far:

Alex Epstein at Complications Ensue:

• Divorced, Beheaded, Died
  “I really enjoyed the first two seasons of (The Tudors); but not on the CBC. The BBC version clocks in at about 51 minutes, the CBC version had to be edited down to 44 or so. I found the CBC version to be quite choppy, if you’ll pardon the expression, with odd priorities. So I watched Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD.” Read more.

• This is What I’m Talking About
  “Shows like DURHAM COUNTY are worth making just because they’re fun, scary, creepy detective shows; and if you like the dark, Laurie Finstad and director Adrian Mitchell ladle out darkness enough for any appetite. But, together with FLASHPOINT and CORNER GAS and the other exports, they go a little way towards giving the rest of the world a sense of who we’ve become. And that’s a value in its own right. Okay, Steven Harper?” Read more.

From Groove Kittie:

• Teeeeeeeeee Veeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, eh!
  “The Border: OH MAN! Talk about a cliffhanger! I’m a bit anxious about this one being a bit of a Gray/Layla shipper. :S On the upside, my favourite characters (Gray and Slade and Maggie) were untouched by the blast. Hey. I’m trying to keep positive here. *trembles* And just to make things a little bit worse, the premiere isn’t until October 8th. Way to drag out the suspense, CBC. *flail* Evil bastards! October 8, 2009 / CBC” Read more – she talks about Flashpoint, Murdoch Mysteries, and Sanctuary, too.

Check out #tveh on Twitter for even more Canadian TV chatter.

And enter the contest – deadline’s Monday!

From Curt Wagner of Chicago Now:

• ION brings moody, marvelous ‘Durham County’ to U.S.
  “Thank the ION network for bringing this moody Canadian drama to U.S. audiences. A winner of several awards up north, “Durham County” will have you looking under your bed before you go to bed and over your shoulder when you venture outside the next morning. It’s that unsettling.” Read more.

(more…)

From Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times:

• You Think Life Is Mild North of the Border?
  “Any lingering illusion that Canada is a milder, blander version of the United States is dispelled by “Durham County,” a Canadian-made crime series that begins on Monday on the Ion network. It takes a while to realize that this scary, well-made thriller was not made in America. Durham County has all the signposts of a Hollywood production: lush theme music and stark cinematography, a brooding homicide detective, barbaric rapes and murders, philanderers, sociopaths, yoga moms and alienated teenagers.” Read more.

From Elizabeth Jensen of the New York Times:

• Network’s New Energy Source: The Dark
  “If the series succeeds in the United States, Ion plans to take a greater creative role in Season 3, which will start shooting for Canadian television in October, said Leslie Chesloff, Ion’s executive vice president for programming.” Read more.

From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:

• Sophisticated and sinister drama was made for adults
  “It’s not easy to classify Durham County (TMN, Movie Central 9 p.m.). Much has been written about the series, and sometimes attempts to define the genre to which it belongs invoke the term ‘suburban malaise.’ That’s fine, but the series, which reaches its second-season conclusion tonight, is not really about the suburbs. If there’s any tincture of truth in that definition, then Durham County is about a suburb of the mind, and a sick mind at that. It is great, grown-up TV (it will air later on conventional TV). Let’s classify it as that. It’s disturbing and bleak, and it’s wrong to reduce it to a drama about the suburbs. It’s about angry, unhappy people who could be anywhere.” Read more.

In honour of Durham County’s season two premiere tonight, here’s a link to my November interview with the actress:

• Michelle Forbes Delves Into The Darkness Of Durham County
  Forbes found herself “riveted” by the first season of the series. “I was really seduced by the darkness of it, by the truth of it. Laurie Finstad (Knizhnik), our writer, has this extraordinary ability to hold up this frail, human dark side of ourselves and confront it. That was what was so compelling to me and made me jump at the chance to be a part of it.” Read more.

From Andrew Ryan of the Globe and Mail:

• Something wickedly good comes from these suburbs
  “The great Canadian suburb is revisited in tiny little shadows and creepy little thoughts with the return of Durham County (tonight, Movie Central at 8 p.m., and The Movie Network at 9 p.m.). Life in the big city has never looked safer.” Read more.

From Rob Salem of the Toronto Star:

• Forbes’ list is filled with variety
  “If an actor can be judged by their choice of roles – keeping in mind that choice isn’t always an option – then Michelle Forbes was bound to be a fascinating, formidable and fearless woman.” Read more.