Tag Archives: Eric McCormack

New seasons of Canadian original dramas Family Law and Departure return

From a media release:

Canada’s biggest stars shine bright this summer on Global with the return of Global scripted series Family Law and Departure, plus new reality competition series Superfan adds even more star power to this summer’s hottest schedule. The wait is over for Family Law Season 2, premiering Monday, May 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global and STACKTV. The principal cast including Canadians Jewel Staite, Victor Garber, Zach Smadu, Genelle Williams and Lauren Holly all return for the new season, which was the #1 new Canadian series when it debuted. Then, fresh off five nominations at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Drama Series, Departure Season 3 promises to bring the action this summer when it returns Monday, August 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global and STACKTV. Acclaimed Canadian actor Eric McCormack joins Emmy Award® winner Archie Panjabi and the rest of the ensemble cast as they investigate the sinking of a sea ferry destined for Newfoundland.

Airing Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT beginning May 22, Family Law Season 2 follows Abby (Jewel Staite) and her dysfunctional family as they help other dysfunctional families – all while navigating their own personal dramas. After six months’ probation at her father’s firm, Abby’s getting into the groove of family law –but her marriage is a trainwreck. Harry (Victor Garber), meanwhile, has finally made Daniel (Zach Smadu) a partner – but is he ready to share his firm with his son? Daniel’s quest for approval leads him to a carefree woman who is definitely not his type, or is she? And Lucy (Genelle Williams) is crashing at Joanne’s, hoping she can fix things with a newly-pregnant Maggie –and getting up her older sister’s nose at the same time.

Then later this summer, Departure Season 3 sets sail Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT starting August 7. The all-new, six-part event series follows the investigation into the sinking of a sea ferry, The Queen of the Narrows. It’s a beautiful day in Boston when almost 500 passengers board the ferry destined for Newfoundland, Canada. A few hours into the journey an “explosion” onboard throws passengers into a panic, rushing for lifeboats as the ferry takes on water with alarming speed. What unfolds for many of the passengers is an unimaginable nightmare with serious loss of life as the ship sinks in record time. The investigation team, led by Kendra Malley (Archie Panjabi) begin to unravel the many tangled threads of the investigation all in search of one answer: why did the Queen of the Narrows suddenly sink to the bottom of the sea?

Stay tuned for more summer lineup announcements coming soon, including the premiere date for the much-anticipated new Global Original Robyn Hood from prolific Canadian music video director and renowned TV director and filmmaker Director X. Plus another exciting new season of Big Brother!

Global’s entertaining lineup of hit series are also all available to stream anytime on STACKTV, GlobalTV.com and the Global TV App.

Family Law is produced by SEVEN24 Films (Heartland, JANN) and Lark Productions (Motive, Fortunate Son). It was created by Susin Nielsen (Robson Arms, Cedar Cove), who also serves as executive producer and showrunner. The series is executive produced by Jordy Randall, Tom Cox, Erin Haskett and Andy Mikita. For Corus, Susan Alexander is Production Executive; Rachel Nelson is Vice President, Original Content, Scripted, Factual and Kids; Lisa Godfrey is Senior Vice President of Original Content and Corus Studios; Colin Bohm is Executive Vice President of Content and Corporate Strategy.

Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Paul Pope, Jackie May, and Archie Panjabi are Departure’s executive producers, joined by Vincent Shiao and T.J. Scott. Patrick Cassavetti and Julie Lacey are the series producers. Executive producing for Starlings are Chris Philip and Karine Martin, along with Propagate Content’s Ben Silverman; Red Arrow Studios International’s Tim Gerhartz Rodrigo Herrera Ibarguengoytia, and Laura Beetz; and Sleeping Giant’s David A. Stern and D. Matt Geller. Departure is directed by T.J. Scott and created by Vincent Shiao. For Corus, Kathleen Meek is Production Executive; Rachel Nelson is Vice President, Original Content, Scripted, Factual and Kids; Lisa Godfrey is Senior Vice President of Original Content and Corus Studios; Colin Bohm is Executive Vice President of Content and Corporate Strategy.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Slasher: Ripper takes the franchise to a bloody great new level

What would Detective William Murdoch say? And would he be able to solve the crime? Those were the first two thoughts when I watched screeners of the first two episodes of Slasher: Ripper.

Returning Thursday at 9 p.m. ET to Hollywood Suite, Slasher: Ripper is the latest instalment of the gruesome, gory whodunit from creator-executive producer Aaron Martin and fellow executive producer Ian Carpenter.

Set in the late 19th century, and partly filmed on the backlot where fellow Shaftesbury project Murdoch Mysteries is created, Ripper catches up with a Toronto galvanized by fear. There is a vengeful killer on the loose slaughtering the city’s elite in horribly creative ways. Charged with solving the case is Detective Kenneth Rijkers (Gabriel Darku), who becomes increasingly desperate to connect the deaths before the body count gets any higher.

Toplining this tale is Eric McCormack, who dons 19th-century garb to play Basil Garvey, a supremely nasty tycoon who holds Toronto in his greedy grip. Easily the evilest character McCormack has ever played, Martin and Carpenter were positively giddy with his performance.

“Not unlike last year, when we brought David Cronenberg in [for Slasher: Flesh & Blood], we were looking for that type of person for that and [executive producer] Christina Jennings said, ‘I wonder if we can get him?’ He told me that as soon as he read one of his first lines of dialogue he said, ‘I have to do this part.'”

Complementing McCormack is Martin and Carpenter’s stable of Slasher performers in Paula Brancati as heiress Viviana Botticelli, Jefferson Brown as pimp Horatio Dixon, Lisa Berry as physician Dr. Melanda Israel, Jo Vannicola as newspaper editor Enid Jenkins, Steve Byers as man of God, Andrew May Jr., Sabrina Grdevich as Viviana’s sister, Venetia, Christopher Jacot as brothel owner Terrence Crenshaw and Salvatore Antonio as sex worker Salomé. And while all are familiar faces to the franchise, Martin and Carpenter ensure their characters are always unique.

“We like to give them a chance to play outside of the roles they are usually cast in,” Martin says. The result is performances that are mesmerizing and truly memorable. That goes for the acting chops provided by new faces alongside McCormack. Murdoch Msyteries‘ Clare McConnell goes against type as Regina Simcoe, Frankie Drake Mysteries‘ Sharron Matthews as housekeeper Gladys and Killjoys‘ Thom Allison as Georges Rondeau.

Written by Martin, Carpenter, Shelley Scarrow and Lucie Pagé, the eight-episode scripts are taut, enthralling, exciting and deliciously over-the-top. And, thanks to director of photography Scott McClellan and director-executive producer Adam McDonald, the setting is disturbing and very un-Murdoch.

“That backlot is beautiful,” Carpenter says. “We set some visual goals, and Scott and Adam shot the hell out of it. We wanted to get the dirt, the animals, the feces, the blood … it was really exciting.”

Slasher: Ripper airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on Hollywood Suite.

Images courtesy of Shaftesbury.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Hollywood Suite slices into spring with the Canadian premiere of Slasher: Ripper

From a media release:

Hollywood Suite is ready to slice and dice into spring with the exclusive Canadian premiere of the fifth season of horror anthology series Slasher, with back-to-back episodes on April 6. The highly anticipated new season of Slasher: Ripper starring Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), will roll out new episodes airing Thursdays at 9pm ET on Hollywood Suite. Episodes will be available exclusively on Hollywood Suite On Demand following their premiere.

“Basil Garvey is the most evil character I’ve ever played… and I loved him! Can’t wait for Canada to see Slasher: Ripper in April!” said Eric McCormack.

“We are thrilled to be the exclusive Canadian home of the Slasher franchise,” said Sharon Stevens, Vice President, Programming at Hollywood Suite. “Horror fans won’t be disappointed, with Slasher: Ripper delivering all the terrifying scares and gore they’ve come to expect from the anthology, along with a chilling new setting.”

“It’s fantastic that the Slasher franchise has found such a strong fanbase here in Canada,” added Christina Jennings, Chairman & President, Shaftesbury. “We were delighted to be working with the brilliant Aaron Martin and Ian Carpenter again this season, along with the newest member of the Slasher family, the talented Eric McCormack.”

The new season takes the Slasher franchise back in time to the late 19th century with Eric McCormack as Basil Garvey, a charismatic tycoon whose success is only rivaled by his ruthlessness, as he oversees a city on the cusp of a new century, and a social upheaval that will see its streets run red with blood. There’s a killer on the loose, but instead of targeting the poor and downtrodden like Jack the Ripper, The Widow is meting out justice against the rich and powerful. The only person standing in the way of this killer is the newly promoted detective, Kenneth Rijkers, whose ironclad belief in justice may wind up being yet another victim of The Widow.

Produced by Shaftesbury, the new season of Slasher is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Thomas P. Vitale, Aaron Martin, Ian Carpenter and Adam Macdonald.

Canadian Slasher fans can currently stream Slasher: Flesh & Blood, which was released last fall and stars horror icon David Cronenberg, exclusively on Hollywood Suite On Demand.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Travelers ending after three seasons

The Travelers‘ mission is complete. Star Eric McCormack made it official on Friday afternoon, confirming the sci-fi drama will not return for a fourth adventure.

“Travelers Program One, as well call it, is complete,” McCormack said on the show’s Facebook page. “On behalf of our creator Brad Wright, my fellow producers and directors, designers, our writers, our amazing crew in Vancouver, and our cast—who I love more than they know—I want to say thank you. All three seasons of Travelers will continue to be available for you to re-discover and, hopefully, bring some others along with you.

“But, for now, Protocol 5,” he continued. “Much love from 3468 in the 21st.”

“Well, all good things…,” Wright tweeted on Friday afternoon. “Thanks to the greatest cast, crew, directors, writers, artists and producing partners a guy could ask for. Love to you all. And to
@Netflix for stepping up so we could make Season 3!”

Created by Brad Wright and executive-produced by McCormack, Wright and Carrie Mudd, Travelers starred McCormack, MacKenzie Porter, Nesta Cooper, Jared Abrahamson and Reilly Dolman as a group of agents sent from the future to change the path of humanity by putting their consciousness into the bodies of others. Patrick Gilmore, Leah Cairns, Jennifer Spence and Ian Tracey were all part of the cast.

Travelers most recently won a Banff Rockie Award for Best Science Fiction, Fantasy or Action Program at the Banff Television Festival. It also captured Leo Awards for Best Direction for William Waring and Best Guest Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series for Spence.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Links: Travelers, Season 3

From Stuart Derdyn of the Vancouver Sun:

Link: Mackenzie Porter readies new album as Travelers 3rd season airs on Netflix
“I think our show is definitely sci-fi, but it has a lot of really heavy relationship issues and interaction as well. Add in the mystery aspect as well and I think that brings in people who would never probably watch a show like ours. I feel like I’ve not only had to play one cool character, but a host of them because of how the arc has developed.” Continue reading.

From Victoria Ahearn of the Canadian Press:

Link: Eric McCormack sees ‘many parallels’ between ‘Travelers’ and today’s world
“We’ve seen post-apocalyptic visions for decades — they usually involved man destroying himself, usually with the atom bomb or something. But now what we’re seeing is two-fold: It is climate change, it’s very much what we’ve done to ourselves without admitting it, and even now our government isn’t admitting it down here, which is just incredible.” Continue reading. 

From Merrill Barr of Forbes:

Link: ‘Travelers’ Season 3 Review: Netflix’s Anti-Prestige Drama Hit Continues To Shine
Since the dawn of Netflix originals, one show has continued to soar precisely because of its adherence to traditional TV standards, and that show is Travelers. Continue reading.

From Michael Ahr of Den of the Geek:

Link: Travelers Season 3: The History of a Historian
“My goal with the portrayal is to accurately depict what people go through in real life and not to over-embellish it or glamorize it or anything because it’s a real problem, addiction.” Continue reading.

From Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun:

Link: ‘A rare situation’: Eric McCormack weighs in on ‘Travelers’ and ‘Will and Grace’
“Well, what ended season two was the realization that the secret was out. The Traveler program, that there were people from the future among us, was about to hit the world. So it was a cool cliffhanger, but with all streaming shows you got to wait for a year. Season three is very much about how we as an organization quell all the rumours.” Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail