From Bill Harris of Sun Media:
Jillian MacLaughlin wins ‘Big Brother Canada’
The Big Brother Canada first-season finale could not have been more controversial. And not for reasons anyone could have predicted. Read more.
From a media release:
E! Orders New Unscripted Canadian Series BRAVE NEW GIRL
First she took on Donald Trump. Now she’s taking on the world. Bell Media’s E! announced today that it has ordered the new Canadian entertainment documentary series BRAVE NEW GIRL (working title) from Peacock Alley Entertainment. The eight-episode, 30-minute, unscripted series follows the glamorous and headline-grabbing life of model and former Miss Universe Canada contestant Jenna Talackova, as she moves from Vancouver to Toronto to pursue her career and start a new life in the big city. Joining her for the ride are Jenna’s fun and fearless friends, level-headed documentary filmmaker Elena and outspoken model and student, Dajana. BRAVE NEW GIRL begins production this summer and is set to premiere on E! in the fall.
In the entertainment documentary series BRAVE NEW GIRL, star Jenna Talackova may have been born with the name Walter, but make no mistake, the beautiful knockout is all woman. After the Vancouver beauty skyrocketed to notoriety as the transgendered girl with the gall to take on Donald Trump for the right to compete in Miss Universe Canada, Jenna won’t let anything keep her from her dreams. Each episode follows Jenna as she moves her life across the country and attempts to build her career in modelling, television, and fitness. The series also focuses on her eclectic entourage of fun-loving family members and close friends, including mother hen Elena who wants Jenna to get serious about her career, and the gorgeous and outspoken Dajana, who is always ready for the next adventure.
From BBM Canada:
Top programs – Total Canada
#5 Juno Awards – 1.908 million
#22 Murdoch Mysteries – 1.099 million
From a media release:
Seeing Double: Space Orders Second Season of Hit Original Drama ORPHAN BLACK
Space announced today that it has ordered a second season of its hit conspiracy clone thriller ORPHAN BLACK from Toronto-based Temple Street Productions. Just halfway through its first season, ORPHAN BLACK has been captivating viewers and keeping them on the edge of their seats as new twists and turns are revealed Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Space. With production set to begin on Season 2 later this year, the series will return in the spring of 2014 with 10 all-new, mind-bending episodes.
A record-breaker from the beginning, ORPHAN BLACK had the highest Original Series premiere ever for Space with an average of 513,000 viewers for its March 30 launch. After five episodes ORPHAN BLACK has been watched in part by 2.8 million Canadians. With a weekly average of 364,000 viewers, ORPHAN BLACK is the #2 series for Space this broadcast year behind only DOCTOR WHO.
Anchored by Tatiana Maslany (Picture Day) who, to date, portrays Sarah, Beth, Katja, Alison, Cosima, and Helena, at its core ORPHAN BLACK centres on English punk and streetwise hustler Sarah who returns home after being separated from her daughter. But her homecoming isn’t exactly what she expected. After witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her, Sarah takes over Beth’s life, including her job as a cop as well as her boyfriend Paul (Dylan Bruce, NCIS). Sarah soon discovers that she and Beth are clones, and as she becomes embroiled in the mystery, she learns that there are more of them out there – all genetically identical individuals nurtured in completely different circumstances. Working with her fellow ‘orphans,’ soccer mom Alison and PHD student Cosima, Sarah begins to unravel the mystery surrounding their identities, while also fighting for her life when an assassin begins killing the clones one by one.
ORPHAN BLACK also stars Jordan Gavaris (UNNATURAL HISTORY) as Felix, Sarah’s foster brother; Gemini Award-winner Maria Doyle Kennedy (DOWNTON ABBEY) as Mrs. S, Sarah and Felix’s hard-nosed working class foster mother; Kevin Hanchard (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE) as Art, a veteran detective who works alongside Beth; Michael Mando (THE KILLING) as Vic, Sarah’s sporadically violent ex; and Skyler Wexler (ALPHAS) as Kira, Sarah’s seven-year-old daughter.
Episodes of ORPHAN BLACK are available online at Space.ca following their television broadcast.
ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Space and BBC America. Executive producers are Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (BEING ERICA) at Temple Street Productions, and co-creators Graeme Manson (Cube, FLASHPOINT), and John Fawcett (SPARTACUS, THE SECRET CIRCLE). Manson also serves as writer and Fawcett as director. Production Executives for Bell Media are Trish Williams and Gosia Kamela. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Catherine MacLeod is Vice-President, Specialty Channels, Bell Media. Rick Brace is President, Specialty Channels and CTV Production. Phil King is President, CTV Programming and Sports.
Last week the Writers Guild of Canada handed out their screenwriting awards, including the TV Comedy award to Kim Coghill for the “Jerk Chicken” episode of Less Than Kind. TV, eh?‘s Rachel Langer quizzed her on the award, the episode and lessons learned.
What does the WGC Award win mean to you?Â
I’m honoured that my fellow writers have judged me not only funny enough, but also strong enough to lift this award, which I believe weighs 175 pounds. Because a lighter award wouldn’t mean nearly as much. I mean, you could actually kill someone with this thing. I’m not saying anyone did. Or would. Or thought about it. I’m just saying you could. It’s just a fact. Facts aren’t illegal.
What was it like to be nominated alongside your then-fiance, now-husband Denis McGrath (Congrats!) and the showrunner of LTK, Mark McKinney? Did that change the experience of winning for you?Â
I was thrilled to be nominated, but not really sure how they’d take it when I won. Denis seems fine so far – he cries, but mostly at night. Mark sends hate mail scrawled on old Slings & Arrows scripts, but that’s cool too, because it’s kinda like being threatened by Shakespeare, which is pretty flattering… So, um, I think they’re fine with it.
Tell us about your episode of Less Than Kind, and what the best and worst parts of writing it were?Â
In this episode, Sheldon, the awkward teenaged son, tries to turn himself into one of the “jocks,†best friend Miriam tries being a coquette, and pal Danny wonders why everyone’s turning into someone else. It all spirals out of control when Sheldon throws a jock party, and Danny and Miriam crash with a vengeance.
Worst part: reliving my adolescence.
Best part: reliving my adolescence through these incredibly complex and funny characters, especially with a show set in my hometown of Winnipeg.
If you had to share the award with one other person, who would it be and why?Â
Just one? All the other writers on LTK, rolled into one enormous aggregate individual containing tiny pieces of each person’s funniest bits. And if I couldn’t do that, I’d share it with my new husband, because he already has one, so now we have matching bookends.
If you could pick one lesson from working on LTK to bring with you to your next writing room, what would it be?
That “comedy†and “drama†aren’t opposites; a show doesn’t have to be one or the other. Good comedy is most powerful when it plays out against real emotions – anger, sadness, fear – because that’s how we experience humour in real life.
Also, when you need a cheap laugh, there’s nothing like the word “boogers.â€
Speaking of your next project, could you tell us a little bit about what you’re working on now?Â
I’m writing a couple of new pilots that are in that ‘comedy-with-drama’ vein.
If you could step into the writers room on any past Canadian Comedy, what would it be, and why?Â
My smart-ass side would pick Made in Canada, because it was so wonderfully snarky. But my playful side would pick SCTV – I adored those characters, ever since I was a kid. There’s nothing like watching a great character, written and performed with love.
