TV, eh?

Canadian shows currently on iTunes:

6TEEN

Air Farce

Being Erica

The Border

Chilly Beach

Corner Gas

Degrassi: TNG

Dragons’ Den

Flashpoint

Heartland

Instant Star

jPod

The Jon Dore Television Show

Life’s a Zoo

Little Mosque on the Prairie

The Listener

No Opportunity Wasted

Odd Job Jack

Rick Mercer

Robson Arms

Sophie

Stargate Atlantis

Stargate SG-1

Stargate Universe

Stratusphere

This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Total Drama Action

Total Drama Island

The Tudors

The Week The Women Went

Wild Roses

This is not likely an exhaustive list so let me know if I’m missing any Canadian shows that are currently on iTunes:

6TEEN

Air Farce

Being Erica

The Border

Chilly Beach

Corner Gas

Degrassi: TNG

Dragon’s Den

Flashpoint

Heartland

Instant Star

jPod

The Jon Dore Television Show

Life’s a Zoo

Little Mosque on the Prairie

The Listener

No Opportunity Wasted

Odd Job Jack

Rick Mercer

Robson Arms

Sophie

Stargate Atlantis

Stargate SG-1

Stargate Universe

Stratusphere

This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Total Drama Action

Total Drama Island

The Tudors

The Week The Women Went

Wild Roses

Brian May of the Toronto Sun profiles a participant on No Opportunity Wasted who gets to see her daughter’s dying wish, to raise money for a school and well in Africa, come true:

• A dream comes true for Maddie
  “And in August, a crew from the television show No Opportunity Wasted showed up at her front door and said she had 10 minutes to pack a bag. She was going to Kenya.” Read more.

Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter:

• CBC plagued by sluggish ratings
  “Sluggish ratings continue to dog Canada’s public broadcaster as it walks a fine line between popularizing its program lineup without abandoning its mandate as a pubcaster.” Read more.

Mark Dillon of Playback looks at the performance of CBC’s fall season:

• The Establishing Shot: Ceeb finds right balance with fall launch
  “CBC has had its fall-launch liftoff, offering up a balanced mix of shows of generally strong quality. That much is not surprising. What is especially heartening to Ceeb folks is that a number of these shows are drawing solid ratings, with a couple of excellent tallies.” Read more.

From Bruce Kirkby, host of No Opportunity Wasted, in the National Post:

• Extreme hiding
  “Started the day struggling to hide behind a skinny tree outside a Winnipeg church, along with a television production crew, all strangers to me! We were on high alert; lying in wait for our first ambush– and the kick-off to production of No Opportunity Wasted.” Read more.

Photo courtesy CBC: Bruce Kirkby, Canadian guide of No Opportunity Wasted.

From the St. John’s Telegram:

• CBC’s wasted opportunity
  “No Opportunity Wasted. … It’s also a fitting description of the creative bankruptcy at CBC Television, where no opportunity is wasted when it comes to broadcasting the banal, the derivative, the already-been-done.” Read more.

John Doyle of the Globe and Mail reports on CBC’s big night, with Little Mosque on the Prairie and No Opportunity Wasted premiering Wednesday:

• Little Mosque is back and it’s a lot funnier
  “The series certainly needed an injection of whimsy and it got it. Little Mosque returns with much less fanfare than when it launched, but it’s a lot funnier now.” Read more.

Sitara Hewitt is Rayyan, Yasir and Sarah’s daughter. Photo credit: Sophie Giraud.

Vinay Menon of the Toronto Star was not inspired by No Opportunity Wasted:

• What a wasted opportunity
  “After watching a new show about conquering fear, I was reminded of an old fear: boring television.” Read more.

Photo courtesy CBC: Show creator Phil Keoghan (left), Canadian guide of the NOW series Bruce Kirkby.

Ann Marie McQueen of the London Free Press previews No Opportunity Wasted:

• Facing Fears: New reality show has people experiencing life
  “Dr. Guy Grenier, a clinical psychologist and University of Western Ontario professor, says NOW’s 72 hour-hour window is indicative of society’s impractical ‘I want it and I want it now’ ethos.” Read more.

Photo courtesy CBC: Based on the personal life philosophy and best-selling book by The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan, NO OPPORTUNITY WASTED (NOW) is a Canadian-produced 10-episode, half-hour series that gives challengers 72-hours to step outside their comfort zone, face their fears and swerve off the road they have been on for years. Now debuts Wednesday, October 3 at 8:30 p.m.

Here’s part two of the Canadian TV fall preview podcast, featuring a writer on writer interview with Intelligence and Da Vinci’s Inquest creator Chris Haddock, plus lively discussion on some new and returning fall shows. The podcast is about 20 minutes long; segment start times are approximate:

1. TV fan and industry insider Caroline from A Place Called Say It, Say It, Say It, writer John Callaghan of Creatively Progressing and I talk about some of the new fall shows – Heartland, Da Kink in My Hair, and The Tudors.

2. (Start time: 4:45) Writer Denis McGrath from Dead Things on Sticks interviews Intelligence and Da Vinci’s Inquest creator Chris Haddock – spoilerphobes beware, as he lets us in on what to expect from season two, starting Monday, Oct. 1 at 9 p.m. on CBC. (See a partial transcript of this interview here.)

3. (Start time: 15:04) Caroline, John, and I are back with not-so-positive thoughts on Whistler and more positive ones on The Best Years and Blood Ties.

Check premiere dates and times on the schedule page. The theme music is from “Quarter to Eight,” a podcast safe track by Sweet Japonic.

Subscribe via the iTunes store or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed, or listen below.

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Tim Arsenault of the Halifax Chronicle Herald lists the shows on this week, including the premieres of Dragon’s Den, Intelligence, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Tudors, Little Mosque on the Prairie, and No Opportunity Wasted:

• This Hour has 15 years
  “Halifax-produced satirical show celebrates its 15th season beginning Tuesday.” Read more.

John Doyle of the Globe and Mail looks at Canadian series coming this fall:

• Kings, kinks, Coupland and Celine
  “From The Tudors to The Border, there is a lot of worthwhile viewing to be done in the coming months.” Read more.

Photo courtesy CBC: Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII and Jeremy Northam as Sir Thomas More (The Tudors – episode 1)

Jim Bawden of the Toronto Star makes the case for more Canadian drama series:

• Proudly Canadian. More, please!
  “What Canadian TV doesn’t have, and never did have, is a plethora of smartly scripted hour-long dramas.” Read more.

Rob Salem of the Toronto Star gives the lineup of new and returning shows this fall, with blurbs from Jim Bawden about Canadian content relegated to its own little listing ghetto within:

• Fall TV preview: Day-by-day
  “Rob Salem takes a day-by-day look at the U.S. television season.” Read more.

Sean Minogue of the Georgia Straight details the Canadian television fare waiting for us this fall, including Corner Gas, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Intelligence, Whistler, Heartland, Robson Arms, and No Opportunity Wasted:

• The hockey, the heart, the hits of our fall TV
  “Toss the sunscreen aside and pick up the remote. It’s time to say goodbye to another balmy Vancouver summer. But don’t worry your fading farmer’s tan won’t be the only red-and-white thing this fall. Homegrown Canadian productions will keep you in your seat till Christmas with must-see documentaries, miniseries, and dramas.” Read more.

Amber Marshall as Amy Fleming in Heartland. Photo courtesy CBC.

From a media release:

What would you do if you had 72 hours to change your life? Canadians seize the moment in Phil Keoghan’s NO OPPORTUNITY WASTED premiering Oct. 3 at 8:30 p.m. on CBC-TV

A Winnipeg housewife and a veteran firefighter confront their terror of heights by repelling down the world’s second largest granite rock face. After surviving a vicious shark attack that made international headlines, a Vancouver man faces his worst fears by diving into shark-infested water. A mother travels to Africa to fulfil her daughter’s dying wish. These challengers from across Canada share a common goal: to think big, get past procrastination, ditch the excuses and live life NOW. Hand-picked from more than 7,000 applicants, their dramatic and emotional transformations unfold on NO OPPORTUNITY WASTED (NOW), premiering Wednesday, October 3 at 8:30 p.m. on CBC Television.

(more…)

Media in Canada reports on the CBC’s fall campaign for four of its female-skewing shows:

• CBC bundles four shows in fall campaign
  “The broadcaster’s ad campaign for Heartland, The Tudors, No Opportunity Wasted and the second season of Little Mosque on the Prairie will include magazines, community newspapers, creative subway and streetcar domination.” Read more.

From BuddyTV:

• The Amazing Race’ Host Brings His Reality Show to Canada
  Canada’s national public radio and television broadcaster, CBC, will be launching the latest version of the reality series, No Opportunity Wasted (NOW), in October. The show is created and executive-produced by Phil Keoghan, better known as the host of CBS’ The Amazing Race.

From AHN:

• Phil Keoghan and Bruce Kirkby Seize The Moment With New Adventure Show
  Phil Keoghan, host of the hit CBS series “The Amazing Race,” is creator and executive producer of the latest version of the Canadian reality series “No Opportunity Wasted” (NOW) ready for launch on CBC in October.

Patricia Bailey of Playback interviews producer Morgan Elliott:

• NOW time like the present
  “Whenever I walk down the street with Phil Keoghan, he gets mobbed. People love him. People are hungry for this kind of reality show.”