Everything about Orphan Black, eh?

Link: ‘Orphan Black’ showrunner on final season: ‘It’s better to cancel yourself’

From Daniel Holloway of Variety:

Link: ‘Orphan Black’ showrunner on final season: ‘It’s better to cancel yourself’
“We sort of had five seasons in mind, and the thing that we just didn’t want to do is get kind of soft around the middle,” said executive producer and co-creator Graeme Manson. “We think that it’s better to cancel yourself than to get canceled, than to peter out.” Continue reading.

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Space announces fifth and final season of original thriller Orphan Black

From a media release:

– Space confirms 10 additional one-hour episodes of ORPHAN BLACK Season 5 to premiere in 2017 –
– Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Media, produces ORPHAN BLACK in partnership with Space and BBC America –
– Season 4 finale airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET on Space, followed by an all-new episode of AFTER THE BLACK –

Space announced today the renewal of the fifth and final season of critically-acclaimed original series, ORPHAN BLACK. The clone conspiracy thriller sees the return of the award-winning Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany in her multiple versatile roles as the clone sisters. An additional 10, one-hour episodes are set to air in 2017 on Space. The Season 4 finale of the Peabody-winning series airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET on Space, followed by the finale of fan-favourite insider series, AFTER THE BLACK. The first three seasons of ORPHAN BLACK are streaming now on CraveTVTM.

In the Season 4 finale of ORPHAN BLACK “From Dancing Mice to Psychopaths” (June 16 at 10 p.m. ET), when communication with Cosima is cut off and Neolution appears to be within striking distance, Sarah’s alliance with Rachel goes out the window. Sarah lures a high-level Neolutionist into a trap, and sets out to bring down Neolution once and for all. For new episode images, click here.

After a hair-raising season of emotional flashbacks (Beth’s back-story), shocking reveals (Delphine is alive) and of course, new, game-changing clones, (M.K., Ira), Space’s original insider series AFTER THE BLACKprovides closure for Season 4 of ORPHAN BLACK tonight, Thursday, June 16 at 11 p.m. ET, following the season finale of ORPHAN BLACK. In this star-studded episode, hosts Ajay Fry and Morgan Hoffman sit with the inimitable Tatiana Maslany, Kevin Hanchard, and Kristian Bruun, for their take on the season’s shocking reveals, memorable moments, and behind-the-scenes secrets.

ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios, in association with Space and BBC America. Executive producers are Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier and Kerry Appleyard of Temple Street, Graeme Manson and John Fawcett. “Orphan Black” is distributed by BBC Worldwide.

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Link: Orphan Black gears up for an explosive finale

From Hermione Wilson of the TV Junkies:

Orphan Black gears up for an explosive finale
Thursday’s penultimate episode of Orphan Black was…meh? Don’t get me wrong, Orphan Black’s “meh” is still really amazing. There was a lot I enjoyed about “The Mitigation of Competition,” but it felt like the calm before the storm, especially after the previous few episodes. I thought the takedown of Evie Cho was a little anticlimactic, and the fact that we didn’t see Felix and Sarah mend fences on screen seemed like a decision made because of limited time. Fortunately though, this was balanced out by the tension of keeping the two Bright Born escapees alive and running from Evie’s nefarious paramedic duo. Continue reading.

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Comments and queries for the week of May 13

Canada AM‘s Jeff Hutcheson announces retirement

Jeff, the very best to you in the next transition in your life. I retired two years ago, but before that, I woke up to the AM gang. Loved it, the laughs, the classy ways of all of you. Bev and Marci must feel like their brother is leaving. I’m trusting you that you aren’t hiking off to live with Kelly Ripa to replace Michael! KIDDING. Enjoy. —Beverley

One of the reasons I watch Canada AM is because of Jeff’s genuine character, sense of humour and all around likability. He gets my day off to a happy start. I am happiest when he, Bev and Marci are all there together—you can tell they have a wonderful relationship. He will definitely be missed, but who could deny him a well-deserved retirement? I wish him all the best and hope he’ll drop by Canada AM on Skype or in person, now and again. Happy everything, Jeff! Enjoy every minute in good health. —Sharon


Donnie steals the spotlight in Orphan Black

I think Kristian Bruun is spectacularly talented, just like Maslany, and is getting a chance to showcase it on this show. It’s so fun to watch more and more of this couple because they are such a spectacularly dysfunctional, want-to-look-perfect suburban couple. When I first saw the fertility clinic scene, I knew he was going to call her and they would do some role play over the phone. They are so into each other in these weird ways, she really gets off on his neediness … did you catch the admiring glance they threw each other when he said, “Clear, concise, and colour coded, well done.” I thought that was a kind of foreplay for them! Then when he said Air Italia, I thought, ‘Oh, they’re into accents?!!!!’ ROFLMAO. More serious aspects of show aside, this was just wonderful, as good or better than the money-in-the-bedroom scene. The two lead actors are probably letting improv dictate this chemistry, and the results are fantastic. You get plenty of literary references, both are college educated, they have adopted children of colour specifically. So now we can predict that with Donnie asking Helena to be understanding of his wife’s envy, that Helena will go out of her way to make Alison feel very included in her pregnancy. Hand on belly and everything. They better do this. It’s what you do for a sestra, innit?

I LOVE this show and the actors they’ve assembled are amazing (Jordan, too). I’m seriously thinking of writing my own weekly blog on this show and a few other semi-sci-fi (highly speculative fiction!) shows I love. I think we will get to see Donnie and Alison get to experience pregnancy through Helena—we saw an inkling of this when Donnie and Helena went to the ultrasound together—they both are giving each other something the other never had: families, and babies. How beautiful is this show on some cosmic level? Amidst all this ugly manipulation, for-profit-minded genetic tampering, and weird subcultures (bifurcated dicks and sister-kissing, no less), there is this amazing undercurrent of love, and of challenging of notions about what constitutes “kin.” This is what I believe this show is all about on an emotional level. And the biotech angle is just whipped cream on the cake … hey there is an idea for Donnie and Alison to explore! —Heather


Jennifer Valentyne exits Breakfast Television Toronto

I have no idea how some of you could talk about Jen’s Live Eye segments as if they were a waste of time. They made the show worth watching. She will be missed greatly by so many of us long time BT viewers for a reason: she was simply fantastic! Charming, funny, enthusiastic, full of energy, personable, beautiful and so on. Good luck Jennifer V. No, I will not be watching BT very much at all anymore. Idiotic decision by The Rogers Corp. to let her go. —Todd

I am so sad to hear that BT let Jen go. Well, no more BT and CityLine. Back to Canada AM. —Mary

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

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