Tag Archives: Discovery

Frontier

Discovery’s Frontier renewed for second season ahead of Season 1 debut

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From a media release:

Demonstrating unwavering confidence and commitment to its first-ever original scripted drama FRONTIER, Discovery Canada is proud to announce the renewal of the series for a second season. Production of Season 2, once again starring Jason Momoa (GAME OF THRONES, Justice League), is currently underway in advance of the gritty new series’ world premiere on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 9 p.m. ET on Discovery Canada.

Produced in association with Discovery by Take The Shot Productions, together with their partners at ASAP Entertainment, filming of FRONTIER’s six-episode second season is now underway in St. John’s, Nfld., Cape Breton, N.S., Cornwall, U.K., and Ottawa. Season 2 of the premium, beautifully vivid 4K UHD-produced drama is set to premiere in 2017 in Canada on Discovery. Both seasons will be streamed around the world via partner Netflix.

Returning with Momoa in Season 2’s star-studded international cast are Landon Liboiron (HEMLOCK GROVE, DEGRASSI), Alun Armstrong (NEW TRICKS, Braveheart), Zoe Boyle (DOWNTON ABBEY, SONS OF ANARCHY), Allan Hawco (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE), Jessica Matten (A Red Girl’s Reasoning), and Shawn Doyle (HOUSE OF CARDS, BIG LOVE). The cast will be guided once again by celebrated filmmaker Brad Peyton (San Andreas, Incarnate, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island), who returns to direct the first episode of Season 2.

Set against the stunning, rawness of 1700s Canada, FRONTIER is a thrilling action-filled series revolving around warring factions vying for control of the fur trade in a ruthless game of wealth and power. FRONTIER is co-created by Rob and Peter Blackie, and produced by Take The Shot Productions together with their partners at ASAP Entertainment, in association with Discovery, the exclusive Canadian broadcaster. Netflix is the international partner. Edwina Follows is Executive Producer for Discovery, and Ken MacDonald is Vice-President and General Manager, Discovery. Tracey Pearce is President, Distribution and Pay, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Broadcasting and Content, Bell Media. For Take The Shot Productions, Alex Patrick, John Vatcher, Rob Blackie, Peter Blackie, Allan Hawco, Perry Chafe, and Michael Levine are Executive Producers. For ASAP Entertainment, Brad Peyton and Jeff Fierson are Executive Producers.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Andrew Younghusband returns to Discovery with Worst Driver and Tougher Than It Looks?

Andrew Younghusband has built himself quite the empire over on Discovery. I first spoke to the affable Newfoundlander when he was on Life Network’s (remember that channel?!) Tall Ship Chronicles. The next time we met up was during filming of Season 1 of Canada’s Worst Handyman. Now, with multiple seasons of that, Don’t Drive Here and Canada’s Worst Driver on his resumé, Younghusband returns with Season 12 of Driver and the debut of Tougher Than It Looks?

Airing back-to-back on Mondays, Younghusband hosts Driver’s usual passel of inept Canadians behind the wheel of automobiles before being front and centre doing some of the most bizarre—and taxing—jobs out there.

After a dozen years of Canada’s Worst Driver, we know exactly what to expect from the series: awful drivers who are oblivious to how dangerous they are behind the wheel going through challenges designed to teach them how to be better.

And, frankly, a dozen years of it, I’m pretty much done with the franchise. Clearly, I’m in the minority—the show was the network’s most-watched last season and the No. 1 specialty project in the key demographics—but my frustration at these unsafe folks who often have a blasé attitude about how much of a menace they are grows with every minute. Still, the show is doing a valuable service in educating the contestants and viewers in the rules of the road.

tougher

Tougher Than It Looks? is something entirely different from Younghusband in that he’s doing the Dirty Jobs thing … with a twist. Where Mike Rowe performed the grimiest gigs out there, Younghusband is tackling any occupation. The hook? He has just one day to practice and, hopefully, perfect.

There’s a reason Younghusband hosts so many programs. He’s not only charismatic, but he’s funny and can ad-lib. That comes into play in Episode 1 of Tougher when he attempts to best as many Guinness World Records as he can. First up? Being one of two people hauling three fire trucks using their bodies and lengths of rope. Alongside Younghusband is Rev. Kevin Fast, who has set several strength-related world records in the tome. It’s certainly a tough task, and at its most critical point it looks like Younghusband’s eyes are going to shoot out of his head and land in some poor spectator’s lap.

The rest of the first instalment shows Younghusband as he tries to break 20 Guinness records in one day, a pretty tall task and an opportunity to show how odd many of the records are. Some the categories he tries to best? Stacking coins, eating an onion, unravelling a roll of toilet paper, hula hoop revolutions and most jumps on a pogo stick. I have to say, Tougher is one heck of a good time and I’m sad it’s only a half-hour long. Maybe we’ll get an hour in Season 2.

Canada’s Worst Driver airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Tougher Than It Looks? airs Mondays at 11 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Discovery’s Mighty Trains celebrates riding the rails

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Teddy Wilson loves to travel. He also loves trains. So it makes total sense that the InnerSpace and sometime Daily Planet co-host would—when he’s not talking all things sci-fi or science—ride the rails for Discovery’s newest series.

Mighty Trains, debuting the first of six episodes Sunday on the specialty channel, is the latest in the “Mighty” franchise that has previously celebrated ships, planes and cruise ships. But where those three had narration and one-sided conversations to describe what it’s like living and working on the machinery in the sea and sky, Mighty Trains has Wilson climbing aboard, talking directly to viewers and folks riding and working on the trains.

“I think the producers wanted to add a host to this one because the nature of trains is about the journey and a bit more of a focus on the passengers and the travel element,” Wilson says. “And I think having a host is representative of the viewer and drawing them into the journey.” He’s right. When I think of riding a train, it’s about looking out the window, experiencing the scenery, drinking in the adventure and chatting with my seatmates.

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But Mighty Trains, like its counterparts, does go under the hood to explore what’s so special about these trains. Sunday’s first instalment follows Wilson on the Glacier Express, an eight-hour ride from Zermatt, Switzerland, at the base of the Matterhorn, to the ski town St. Moritz. With parts of the line in operation for more than 125 years, it takes old technology to get these sleek, modern train cars through its climb of almost 5 km along inclines of up to 12 per cent, way over the three to four traditional trains can handle.

“This rack and pinion technology is an ancient technology, but it’s used on these ascents and descents,” Wilson says. “Seeing this technology in action and getting to visit the place where they actually build the train cars … I was absolutely blown away by it and that fascination really extended to every episode.” Future Sundays spotlight The Shinkansen, Japan’s bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka; Norway’s North Rail Express, a state-of-the-art freight service between the Arctic Circle and Oslo; the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad and its relationship to the Klondike Gold Rush; and The Ghan in Australia, which travels between Adelaide in the south and Darwin in the north, bisecting the country in its three-day journey.

A Canada-based production wouldn’t be complete without celebrating a train in this country; that happens Oct. 30 when Mighty Trains hops on The Canadian—star of the $10 bill—for the four-day journey from Toronto to Vancouver.

“I’m a proud Canadian and have been all over the country, but I had never crossed the country by train,” Wilson says. “That was a real life highlight for me, waking up every morning and seeing this completely different landscape from the window of a train.”

Mighty Trains airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Discovery.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Featured, Frontier

Photo gallery: First-look at Discovery’s Frontier

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With less than a month away until Frontier‘s debut on Discovery, and we’re thrilled to present a photo gallery of the major cast and the characters they’ll play.

And while we’ve known folks like Jason Momoa, Allan Hawco, Shawn Doyle and Jessica Matten were involved from the beginning, finding out Greg Bryk, Katie McGrath and Alun Armstrong have roles in the six-parter have gotten us giddy.

Frontier—co-created by Rob and Peter Blackie—follows Canada’s violent history circa the 1700s, as warring groups battle for control of the country’s fur trade.

Frontier debuts Sunday, Nov. 6, at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Discovery.

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Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Frontier

It’s a cutthroat, untamed new world as Discovery’s Frontier premieres November 6

From a media release:

FRONTIER, Discovery Canada’s riveting new drama, makes its worldwide debut Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, beginning Nov. 6. Ambitiously cinematic in scope, the network’s first-ever scripted series shot entirely in stunning 4K UHD follows the chaotic and violent struggle to control wealth and power in the North American fur trade of the late 18th century. The gritty series’ star-studded international cast is led by action star Jason Momoa (GAME OF THRONES, Justice League), Landon Liboiron (HEMLOCK GROVE, DEGRASSI), Alun Armstrong(NEW TRICKS, Braveheart), Zoe Boyle (DOWNTON ABBEY, SONS OF ANARCHY), Allan Hawco (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE), and Jessica Matten (A Red Girl’s Reasoning). Unabashedly true to its time period, the six-part series offers viewers the raw beauty and cutthroat power struggle of the fur trade, portraying a world of unfettered ferocity.

Discovery’s broadcast of FRONTIER is sponsored by Samsung Canada, the exclusive 4K UHD TV partner. The series is commissioned by Discovery Canada and shot in St. John’s, Nfld., Louisbourg, N.S., and Cornwall, U.K., providing the stunning backdrop for this premium, beautifully vivid 4K UHD drama series. Following each television premiere, episodes of the groundbreaking series will be available on the Discovery GO app.

Set against the stunning, raw backdrop of 1700s Canada, FRONTIER is a thrilling action-filled series revolving around warring factions vying for control of the fur trade in a ruthless game of wealth and power. Irish stowaway Michael Smyth (Liboiron) has barely stepped foot in the New World when he becomes embroiled in a dangerous battle between the fearless and violent Declan Harp (Momoa), and the formidable Lord Benton (Armstrong) of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

A dramatic story of revenge and riches, betrayal and brutality, and survival of the fittest in the James Bay fur trade, FRONTIER’s rich and raw cast of characters are all gunning to be the last man standing – from the combustible Scottish Brown Brothers (Hawco, Michael Patric, Stephen Lord), to crafty ale house owner Grace Emberly (Boyle), to treacherous Captain Chesterfield (Evan Jonigkeit), and rich America entrepreneur Samuel Grant (Shawn Doyle). All are willing to do whatever it takes to hold the keys to the kingdom of the New World.

FRONTIER is co-created by Rob and Peter Blackie, and produced by Take The Shot Productions and ASAP Entertainment, in association with Discovery, the exclusive Canadian broadcaster. Netflix is the international broadcast partner. Edwina Follows is Executive Producer for Discovery, and Ken MacDonald is Vice-President and General Manager, Discovery. Tracey Pearce is President, Distribution and Pay, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Broadcasting and Content, Bell Media. For Take The Shot Productions, Alex Patrick, John Vatcher, Rob Blackie, Peter Blackie, Allan Hawco, Perry Chafe, and Michael Levine are Executive Producers. For ASAP Entertainment, Brad Peyton and Jeff Fierson are Executive Producers.

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