From Bill Brioux of TV Feeds My Family:
Inside Season Two of Package Deal
“Both Spun Out and Package Deal have seasoned veterans in charge who can call audibles and make adjustments. Orenstein told me big changed were made this season in the approach to his show, which is produced by Thunderbird Films. Season One was shot without a pilot and that doesn’t always help when a comedy is trying to find its feet.” Continue reading.
Greg, Anthony and Diane talk and talk and laugh and talk about the CRTC public hearings, the premieres of Package Deal, Saving Hope, The Bachelor Canada, and the Netflixization of The Trailer Park Boys, plus the battle of the Canadian streaming services.
Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.
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From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:
The curse of the straight man: New York-trained thespian and Calgary native Randal Edwards finds his comedic groove on Season 2 of Package Deal
Calgary native Randal Edwards has a simple, and rather self-deprecating, theory about why he landed the lead role in Package Deal. It seems he is an expert at keeping a straight face. It has come in handy throughout the production of the Canuck sitcom, which heads into Season 2 on Sept. 12. Continue reading.
From Sabrina Furminger of WE Vancouver:
Behind the scenes ‘Package Deal’
I step onto the set of Package Deal a couple of hours after binge-watching the entire first season. I’ve been on soundstages before, so the realities of set life no longer take me by surprise, but today there’s something disorienting about knocking down the fourth wall so soon after getting to know all of the characters in the comfort of my own home.” Continue reading.
The days are getting short, the leaves have started to change, the kids are back in school (except here in BC). Calendar be damned, it’s fall, and with it comes the new television season.
For Canadian TV, this is also the damned if you do, damned if you don’t season.
Do you put your original programming into the mix with the American shows and their massive marketing machine, or do you test  just how little scripted content is required by the CRTC anyway?
Do you even have a spot left in your schedule after buying from all the US networks and trying to maximize your purchases by airing shows on your channel at the same time as the US channel, therefore allowing you to put your own ads into the US feed as well?
If you’re Global this fall, you don’t. Â They have no original scripted series in primetime this season. That seems an extreme reaction to the problem to me. Boo, Global.
CTV has a prime spot left for their million-plus-viewers-club medical drama Saving Hope, premiering September 22 before settling into its regular Thursday timeslot at 9 pm — for the first five weeks, nestled after aging but compatible Grey’s Anatomy.
City brings back Package Deal on Friday nights starting September 12. Not exactly a plum timeslot but it does get it away from stiff American competition and gives City something other than The Bachelor Canada (premiering September 18) and a little series called Hockey Night in Canada to promote.
CBC, of course, is where the CanCon action is this fall. Unless you’re looking for hockey (though they get to air some games despite not earning revenue from them. Sweet deal, huh?).
Due to shorter seasons for many series and a lot of scheduling real estate to fill given budget cuts and hockey losses, their fall season mostly starts in October, and reruns and the odd non-Canadian show as usual supplement the originals.
Returning shows include Heartland and Canada’s Smartest Person on September 28, Murdoch Mysteries on October 6, Rick Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes on October 7, and Dragons’ Den and Republic of Doyle on October 15.
The new shows are where it gets interesting. CBC is taking some risks with the dark serialized drama Strange Empire by the writer of the very dark Durham County and premiering October 6. What sounds like a cross between Heartland and The Week The Men Went very much isn’t — in an 1869 frontier town, women struggle to survive after most of the men are gone.Â
Sci-fi drama Ascension is another outlier, both in content and in its later premiere date of November 25. The six-episode series likely won’t be able to rely on a compatible lead-in but hopefully the sci-fi crowd finds it on this unexpected channel.
In scripted series beyond the major broadcast networks, Teletoon is airing new series Clarence and Total Drama: Pahkitew Island starting September 4, Haven returns to Showcase with a two-hour premiere on September 18,  Transporter: The Series returns to The Movie Network/Movie Central on October 5, and APTN has Blackstone returning on November 11 and Mohawk Girls debuting on November 25.
An upside to Canadian TV is that none of these series will be cancelled before the end of their current seasons, even if some of them on the private broadcast networks might get shuffled around to make way for changing US network schedules. So go on, get hooked on Saving Hope or Strange Empire: they’re here for the season.
