Played, CTV – “Poisonâ€
The C.I.U. believes a bad batch of drugs is killing young hipsters at an illegal after-hours club. Trying to ignore their attraction to each other, Khali (Agam Darshi) and Jesse (Adam Butcher) go clubbing, looking for answers. Jesse thinks he can score names from the cheeky bartender Beetle (Kacey Rohl), while Khali’s undercover skills are tested when she tries to tease information from the club owner (Sebastien Roberts). But the deaths are not overdoses, they’re murders. With the killer’s gun aimed at Jesse, Khali makes an intensely emotional appeal to save his life.
The Nature of Things, CBC – “A Dog’s Life” A Dog’s Life reveals how our best friends perceive the world – from the moment they take their first morning walk to the time they curl up at our feet to go to sleep. We accompany Daisy, a Jack Russell Terrier, through an average day and on the way discover that, while dogs are not miniature humans, they are amazingly well adapted to life with us.
Doc Zone, CBC – “The Condo Game”
Goes behind the scenes to reveal what is fueling the remarkable condo-building boom in Toronto (North America’s biggest condo market). The film also looks back at Vancouver’s ‘leaky condo’ scandal and the lessons learned from that experience – one that led to reforms and a rethink about condo development in that city.
Final Episodes of Canadian Pickers Air on HISTORY in December
All-Day Marathon Leads into Final Two Episodes on Monday, December 23
Scott Cozens and Sheldon Smithens, the Canadian Pickers, have picked their way from coast to coast, buying and selling unique pieces of Canadian history. Over the course of 52 episodes across four seasons, the Pickers have revealed diverse aspects of Canada’s fascinating past through the objects they bought and the people they met. This December, HISTORY concludes the final season of Canadian Pickers with four new episodes, and a special all-day marathon leading into the final two episodes of the series.
The distinctively Canadian series highlights the regions, people, history and traditions that make the country exceptional. Over the course of the four seasons, the Pickers have met Henri Richard, buying pieces of the tavern formerly owned by the famed Montreal Canadian hockey player; challenged each other to drink the notorious Sour Toe Cocktail at the Sourdough Saloon in Dawson City’s Downtown Hotel; and picked items for the Western-themed country home of Canadian country music star George Canyon. Each episode has told a different story about Canada, bringing to light both the iconic Canadian legends that have made history, and the little-known but equally remarkable stories of the country’s past.
The first of the final episodes air on December 2 and 16 at 8pm ET/PT, and on December 23, an all-day Canadian Pickers marathon leads into the final two episodes of the series at 8pm and 9pm ET/PT.
All four seasons of Canadian Pickers can be watched online at www.history.ca, along with interview clips and behind-the-scenes videos. Fans of the series can also visit www.canadianpickers.com to join the Pickers community and browse items up for auction.
Marketplace, CBC – “Food Secrets”
We dig deep into the grocery store shelves and put the food you eat every day to the test…and reveal 4 food secrets that just may change the way you eat for good.
The Fifth Estate, CBC – “The Sextortion of Amanda Todd”
A year after her death, most people remember Amanda Todd from her YouTube video, holding up hand-written pages describing how one mistake in front of a webcam led to her torment by bullies at school and online. But beyond that viral video, the fifth estate reveals a more complex and disturbing story about what happened to the B.C. teenager driven to suicide in October 2012 – not just bullying, but the deliberate sexual extortion of a 15-year-old girl by online predators. Host Mark Kelley goes deep into Amanda’s world, with never-before-seen videos and web chats from two personal laptops that her family shared with the fifth estate. With in-depth interviews from her mother, father and friends, Kelley reveals the untold story of The Sextortion of Amanda Todd.
Stephen Hawking’s Brave New World, Discover World – “Inspired by Nature”
Hawking and his team investigate groundbreaking innovations in science inspired by nature. Aarathi Prasad road tests two of the most advanced all-terrain robots in the world designed to go where humans and vehicles can’t; Chris Eliasmith examines an extraordinary new fabric that mimics the adhesive ability of gecko feet and bonds to any surface; Daniel Kraft visits Vancouver-based Nuytco Research where underwater subs are used to simulate zero gravity to train astronauts for deep space exploration; Jim Al-Khalili examines how re-engineering a virus can prevent pandemics; and Carin Bondar discovers how Nikola Tesla’s remarkable dream of wireless power is finally being realized.
Dr. Carin Bondar in a Faraday cage at the Boston Museum of Science
She didn’t get to meet Stephen Hawking, but in the Discovery World series Stephen Hawking’s Brave New World, Dr. Carin Bondar did get to explore how Nikola Tesla’s dream of wireless power is being realized, how biomechatronic prosthetic limbs can create enhanced human beings, was embedded with a virtual SWAT team, and drove one of the fastest accelerating electric cars.
“This was a dream job for me, probably one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever had,” she said in a recent interview.
With the second season premiere “Inspired by Nature” airing tonight in Canada, viewers can oooh and ahhh along with the team of scientists who investigate breakthroughs in science, technology, medicine, engineering and robotics, and their implications for the future.
Tonight’s segments include an adhesive modeled after gecko skin and all-terrain robots. The investigative scientists are assigned story topics based on logistics more than their particular areas of expertise, lending them the same sense of wonder as their audience in discovering these cool new technologies.
Plus, “we’re doing jobs like this because we genuinely are blown away by stuff like this, and we want to learn more about it,” said Bondar, whose wireless power segment had her driving a wireless electric BMW (“I’m glad they didn’t tell me how much it was worth of I’d have been way too nervous to drive it”) and charging a phone and various electronics without those pesky cords.
An evolutionary biologist from Chilliwack, BC, Bondar is an online and TV host for Scientific American, PBS Digital Studios and Earth Touch Productions, as well as her own independent web series and various shows.
She gravitated toward video and short-form writing as working with her greatest strengths. Since promoting scientific literacy and wonder among the public is a goal, she balances the need to be accurate and the need to be understandable.
“Shows like The Big Bang Theory have made it ok to include a lot of that geekspeak, as long as you’re clear about it and your audience understands,” she explained.
Part of her work at Scientific American includes reviewing popular media for scientific accuracy, and she pointed to Rise of the Planet of the Apes as a particularly egregious example of the opposite. Yes, she realizes much of it was meant to be ridiculous, “but even the science was ridiculous and I felt they were mocking what scientists do.”
With Stephen Hawking’s Brave New World, she’s thrilled to be part of a show that celebrates rather than fears new technology.
“I’m a mom of four who lives in Chilliwack, so for me to be involved with an international show of this calibre, I’m just so happy.”
Stephen Hawking’s Brave New World is a six-part documentary series airing Fridays on Discovery World.
Played, CTV – “Cars”
Maria (Lisa Marcos) shows nerves of steel edging her way into an auto-theft ring that specializes in brutality and luxury cars. However, she’s not nearly as brave in her private romantic life. On the play, she risks her safety and that of her colleagues by trusting one of the gang members (Jake Croker, THE KILLING) with her true identity.
The Nature of Things, CBC – “Untangling Alzheimer’s”
David Suzuki has a very personal interest in the disease of Alzheimer’s because his mother, aunt and two uncles died of it. We join David on an intimate journey as he explores the newest breakthroughs in understanding this devastating disease as well as his own chances of contracting the cruel condition.
Doc Zone, CBC – “Bite Me: The Bed Bug Invasion”
Cimex lectularius, mahogany flat, redcoat, bed bug. Call them what you like, these bloodsuckers can really get under your skin – literally!
