TV, eh?

From a media release:

TELEVISION NOMINEES

Taped Live Performance
Debra DiGiovanni – “Halifax Comedy Festival”
Laurie Elliot – “Just For Laughs Gala”
Jeremy Hotz – “Just For Laughs Gala”
Jeremy Hotz – “What a Miserable Show This Is”
Ron Sparks – “Comedy Now”

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From a media release:

Outstanding list of finalists announced for the 2009 WGC Screenwriting Awards

The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) will celebrate the winning words of 2008 on April 20 at the 13th Annual WGC Screenwriting Awards, honouring excellence in screenwriting. More than 150 scripts vied for the judges’ attentions this year. The entries have been narrowed to 37 finalist scripts across 11 categories, including screenwriting for feature film, episodic half-hours and one-hours, documentary film and more. In all, 51 screenwriters are up for awards. Several special awards, including the WGC Showrunner Award, will also be handed out at the event. Click here for a full list of nominees.

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From Joanna Lavoie of Inside Toronto:

• Louis Di Bianco plays Johnny in Rent-A-Goalie
  “Leslieville-based actor Louis Di Bianco has taken on one of his best roles yet as the venerable Johnny in the original Showcase series Rent-A-Goalie.” Read more.

He-Man

When Fran starts dating he-man adventure writer Eustace Ridgeway and the goalies fall under his masculine spell, Cake must prove his own manly mettle to regain their trust and respect.

From Rob Salem of the Toronto Star (second item):

• Why I now hate Kath & Kim
  “I also, in the same context, recommended the rock mockumentary Cock’d Guns, showcased on the very same Showcase channel. That is, until a couple of weeks ago, when it was pulled only nine episodes into its season, ironically (or not) to add a Friday-night repeat of Showcase original Testees. .” Read more.

Eva Has a Dot Dot Dot

Cake helps O’Malley and his new girlfriend Eva put on a goalie stable vs. stable charity wrestling event supporting the mystery illness TCIV.

From Indy Wrestling News:

• Traci Brooks guest stars on Showcase’s “Rent-A-Goalie”; episode airs Monday, November 10th at 9:30pm ET/PT

From the National Post:

• Diary: Christopher Bolton
  “This week’s diarist is Christopher Bolton, the creator and star of the comedy series Rent-A-Goalie. The show airs Mondays at 9:30 p. m. on Showcase. Bolton kept his diary last week.” Read more.

From Kate Taylor of the Globe and Mail:

• Why a show full of foul-mouthed rink talk works for me
  “With its laughably low production values, weirdly zany plots, aggressively Canadian content and guest appearances from the likes of Paul Coffey and Phil Esposito, Rent-a-Goalie (Showcase, 9:30 p.m.) is a concept so crazy … it might just work (as they say in sitcomese).” Read more.

From Bill Harris of Sun Media:

• An awesome character to play: Sarain Boylan Loves Her Character On Rent-a-goalie
  “It isn’t Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella. But according to Sarain Boylan, playing Malta in Rent- A-Goalie has everything a girl could want. ‘Not only is it an awesome character in terms of the sex, the drinking, the smoking, the cursing -everything that I love in life,” Boylan said. “But they let me get away with it.’” Read more.

From Ashley Fitzpatrick of the Western Star:

• Rent-A-Goalie makes save for local charities
  “It was rough, it was tough, it was — OK, not so much of either. But the charity hockey game held in Deer Lake between a team of former NHLers Darren Langdon and Bob Probert along with local senior league players and the team from the popular Canadian television show Rent-A-Goalie was certainly wildly entertaining.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux of the Canadian Press:

• ‘Rent-A-Goalie’ celebs play charity hockey games to promote new season
  “If the tight little band of nutbars who appear in “Rent-A-Goalie” seem like they’d be a hoot to hang out with, they are and then some.” Read more.

From Chris Clay of the Mississauga News

• NHL legend reprises role on hockey sitcom
  “Fans of Mississauga native and NHL legend Paul Coffey can check out the Hall of Fame defenceman’s acting chops when he guest stars in an episode of the comedic television program Rent-A-Goalie.” Read more.

From Marija Djukicc of Media in Canada:

• Testees secures premiere date
  “Showcase’s new 13-ep comedy series Testees, by Kenny Hotz, creator of the hugely popular show Kenny vs. Spenny, is set to premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 9 pm. The series follows the lives of two best friends who work as test subjects for the product testing facility Testico.” Read more.

From a media release:

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is pleased to announce the nominations for the 23rd Annual Gemini Awards, recognizing the year’s best in Canadian English-language television. The Gemini Awards Broadcast Gala will be presented in Toronto, ON at the John Bassett Theatre on Friday, November 28, 2008. Canwest Broadcasting joins the Academy in celebrating this year’s exceptional achievements, airing the Gemini Awards Broadcast Gala on E! Network and Showcase at 9 pm ET.

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From me at Blogcritics, based on the Blogtalkradio interview:

• Rent-a-Goalie Is As Heart-Filled As It Is Fart-Filled
  “Rent-a-Goalie, which just finished production on a third season set to air in the fall, is an ensemble comedy centred around Cake, a recovered-from-every-imaginable-addiction hockey nut who runs his replacement goalie service out of Cafe Primo in Toronto’s Little Italy. Cake lives by The Code, his personal philosophy on life that keeps him out of trouble. Almost.” Read more.

The latest TV, eh? podcast is now available.

• At the top of the show: X-Weighted contestant Gaia joined us to talk about her experience on the Slice network’s weight-loss reality show.
• 15 minutes past the hour: Christopher Bolton, creator and star of Showcase’s Rent-a-Goalie, talked about the show and the season one DVD release in conversation with Denis McGrath.
• 50 minutes past the hour: Accessibility advocate Joe Clark chatted about his recently launched website, CaptioningSUCKS.com, which takes aim at crappy closed captioning.

Listen in the player below, visit the show site, or  subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed.

The new version of the TV, eh? podcast – the live Internet radio version – airs Sunday at 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern. If you can’t listen live, tune in later for the archive. (Note: The player embedded in the right sidebar on this blog will still play last week’s show on Robson Arms/TV on the web/Bill C-10 until this week’s show is complete and archived.)

This Sunday, April 27, the guest lineup will be:

1. At the top of the show: X-Weighted contestant Gaia joins us to talk about her experience on the Slice network’s weight-loss reality show.
2. Around 15 minutes past the hour: Christopher Bolton, creator and star of Showcase’s Rent-a-Goalie, will talk about the upcoming season and the season one DVD release in conversation with Denis McGrath.
3. Around 45 minutes past the hour: Accessibility advocate Joe Clark joins us to chat about his recently launched website, CaptioningSUCKS.com, which takes aim at crappy closed captioning.

Call in to join the conversation at 646-200-4063, or leave a question for our guests in the comments and I may ask it on the show.

From RM Vaughan of the Globe and Mail:

• Goalie star scores a hat trick
  “Like many Canadian actors tired of playing bit parts on U.S.-produced movies of the week and nameless characters on television shows with established casts – or, worse yet, enjoying the, ahem, artistic challenge of starring in eccentric Canadian indie films, the kind used as Cancon filler on pay-per-view cable stations – Christopher Bolton followed the Paul Gross/Sarah Polley/Daniel MacIvor plan and decided to write, produce and star in his own material.” Read more.

From Suzanne Ellis of CityNews:

• NHL Greats Flex Their Acting Muscles On Comedy Series
  “At a table in an intimate café two men are engaged in a tense conversation. One rises and makes a dash for the nearest exit, but the door puts up a fight. Struggling, he eventually gets it open, but by then it’s too late. Grinning, actor Chris Bolton comes back through the door and the Rent-A-Goalie cast and crew share a laugh before preparing for the next take.” Read more.