Made in Canada reunion at Canadian International Television Festival

From a media release:

Made in Canada 15th Anniversary Cast Reunion at the Inaugural Canadian International Television Festival

  • Rick Mercer, Peter Keleghan, Leah Pinsent, Dan Lett, Jackie Torrens and Executive Producer Gerald Lunz all Confirmed to Attend
  • Saturday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m. at TIFF Bell Lightbox
  • Tickets Now Available, Visit www.CITF13.tv for More Information & Ticket Details
  • Follow CITF @CITF13

The hilarious and satirical Made in Canada series celebrates 15 years and have chosen CITF to celebrate its anniversary. Co-creator and star Rick Mercer, Peter Keleghan, Leah Pinsent, Dan Lett, Jackie Torrens along with Executive Producer Gerald Lunz, director Henry Sarwer-Foner, and series writers Edward Riche and Mark Farrell have all confirmed their attendance. Audiences will be treated to a screening and cast will be on-hand afterwards for a Q&A on Saturday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m.

George Anthony, CBC Television remarked: “It was a dream show for the network, not only because it was a critical success but also because it was a wildly entertaining showcase for Canadian guest stars. And the industry it lampooned was the first to praise it. The accolades from peers were overwhelming. Suddenly we were up for awards from the Writers’ Guild, the Directors’ Guild, the Canadian Comedy Awards. When the nominations for the 2002 Geminis were announced, Made In Canada led all other programs with 14 nominations, which I believe was the first and only time that a sitcom earned more nominations than any of the big dramatic series like DaVinci’s Inquest or the really big mini-series like Trudeau. Four of the nominations for Best Director in a Comedy Series or Program had gone to Made In Canada, and in an even more historic first, the series had won all five nominations for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series. Between the time we started the series and the time we finished, Made In Canada had earned more than three dozen Gemini nominations and taken home 10 Gemini statuettes.”

Made in Canada began its five season run on the CBC in 2008. A satire of film and television production, Made in Canada revolves around Pyramid Productions, a viper’s nest of creative incompetence, savage greed and hysterical backbiting. Alan Roy (Peter Keleghan), the head of the company, follows whatever is trendy in the production world, whether it be owning his own cable channel or having a designer office. His decisions are usually idiotic and occasionally impossible to fulfill and constantly lead to extra work for his staff; ‘Richard Strong’ (Rick Mercer), the ambitiously Machiavellian producer, the dim witted producer ‘Victor Sela’ (Dan Lett), cunning production accountant ‘Veronica Miller’ (Leah Pinsent) and Wanda Mattice (Jackie Torrens), the office secretary who shrewdly uses her job to attain more power than her role officially holds. Henry Sarwer-Foner directed 22 episodes over the five seasons including the pilot episode.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

TV, eh? podcast episode 157 – “It’s Getting Yummier”

Conference
The CRTC’s idea of what a Flash conference looks like.

Anthony and Diane are joined by techno-nerd Shane Birley to talk about what’s wrong with Canadian television — that is, about the CRTC’s Let’s Talk TV campaign. We sort-of answer two of their three questions and ignore the stupid one:

  • What do you think about what’s on television?
  • What do you think about how you receive television programming

But first we discuss the news in Canadian television, including Saving Hope’s renewal, The Amazing Race Canada and The Bachelor Canada casting, Working the Engels guest stars, and the Canadian International Television Festival.

Episode 157: Listen or download or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed.

Your hosts

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Amazing Race Canada auditions open

From a media release:

Off to the Races: CTV Announces Casting Details for Season 2 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

  • Online audition videos and applications for Season 2 can now be submitted at CTV.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada
  • Olympic champion and Canadian hero Jon Montgomery returns as host for Season 2

Take your mark Canada, and go online! Fresh off a record-breaking first season, CTV announced last night during THE AMAZING RACE that casting for Season 2 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is open. Now, RACE fans and adventure seekers from across the country have a chance to be part of the television phenomenon that took the country by storm last summer, setting a new benchmark as the most-watched Canadian series on record. Fans can go online now at www.CTV.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada and submit an audition video and application for their chance to join host Jon Montgomery on road, on the race-of-a-lifetime adventure. Potential teams are encouraged to showcase their personalities and explain why they want to be part of the immensely popular competition series. The deadline for submissions is Thursday, Dec. 26 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is looking for dynamic and enthusiastic teams of two who possess a strong personal connection. They must be articulate, competitive, interesting, outgoing, and adventurous. Teams will get the opportunity to participate in detours, roadblocks, U-turns, and other challenges as they endure approximately 28 days of “The Race” in various conditions, environments, and climates.

Auditioning for THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Step 1
Prepare a video for submission that focuses on the positives and negatives of the relationship between you and your teammate. The producers are eager to hear what makes a “pairing” tick.

Step 2
Take an up-close picture of your “team”, as well as an up-close picture of each individual, so you can send it in when you apply online.

Step 3
Completely fill out the online application and upload your video and photos at www.CTV.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada.

If the producers are interested in your team competing on the series, they will be in touch!

For more information about THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, viewers are encouraged to visit www.CTV.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada for full casting details and FAQs, and follow @AmazingRaceCDA for the all the latest news and information.

Among the eligibility requirements that should be noted for applications for “The Race”:

Racers must be at least 19 years of age as of April 1, 2014.
Racers must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Interview: Colin Ferguson of Haven

HavenShowcase’s original production Haven returns for its fourth season tonight at 9pm ET/6pm PT with a premiere packed with action, revelations, and new Troubles. Season four picks up six months after the devastating events of the season finale in which the town was pummelled by a violent meteor storm.

TV, eh?’s Martha Marcin, along with several other bloggers, interviewed new cast member Colin Ferguson, who portrays William, a handsome and mysterious stranger whose secret agenda leads him to Audrey Parker (Emily Rose).

Stephanie (geekchicelite.com): Just wondering what your first impressions you had of William and how is your perceptions – your first perceptions of him since changed?

Colin Ferguson: I guess when it all started was I was in Los Angeles and I’ve been friends with Shawn Piller for many, many years. And for years he’d say, we’d love to have you on the show…great, I’d love to be on the show, but you’re never sure if that continues. So this year he said, “We have a real character for a season on Haven, are you interested? And I said, yes, what’s the character about? And he said, I can’t tell you, you’ve got to come to the writers room. So, I go to the writers room and my first impression of William was that he was going to be fun to play.

They said, “What we’re going to try to do is write him so you don’t know if he’s good or bad. And for every time that you think you know he’s good, you’re going to go, wow! Or is he really bad? And I have to say they’ve succeeded brilliantly.

Stephanie Mernagh: So William is described as a very enigmatic stranger as it were, throughout the season are we going to see his past unravel?

Colin Ferguson: Yes, absolutely. We’re going to learn everything about William, yet at the end it doesn’t completely tie-up, there’s still questions, there’s still things you want to know. This is a big season of Haven this year. I think it’s the best one.

Martha Marcin (TV, eh?): We got a BIG question for you. There’s a few love interest floating around Haven, particularly around Audrey, soooooooo what about William? Are you going to get in on that action?

Colin Ferguson: Hopefully! Yes, I would say that there is affection for William at some point by some of the characters. Maybe all the characters secretly they harbour a few affections for William, I can’t speak for them. But there’s definitely something that happens with William and – I wish I could tell you more, right? But I would start spoiling things if I did, so I can’t.

Martha Marcin: Too bad.

Andrew Powell (the GATE): Hi, there. I’m really curious what it was like working with a cast because, you know, it’s a bit of an established cast that you’re coming into and I’m wondering how that works with them.

Colin Ferguson: It was great, short answer. Longer answer, I’ve known Emily (Rose) for years because of all the sci-fi stuff we’ve done. I’ve done a movie with Lucas (Bryant) in the past. I knew Shawn (Piller) obviously from years before. I’ve known Eric for years. I didn’t know Adam (Copeland), but what a phenomenal guy. He toes the line amazingly, he plays his role great and he knows exactly what he’s doing.

So you show up in this town, and even though you’re friends with everybody you’re never really sure how it’s going to go. You know, people’s bugaboos come out when they work.

So I show up on set and they were so welcoming. There’s not a ton to do in Chester so at night you end up having dinner with each other, and you end up playing cards in someone’s house. So it’s a real family sort of feel.

Natasha Dunkley: Is there anything else that you want to add in general about Season 4, what Canadians can look forward to you being a Canadian filming in Canada…

Colin Ferguson: Just little stuff I’d love to say. The crew in Halifax was phenomenal. It’s a Canadian show, it’s really nice to see the Maritimes portrayed and it’s a beautiful part of the world. From an entertainment perspective, this is the best season that they’ve done and we’re really proud of it and it gets bigger and bigger as the season goes along so I hope people tune in, I hope they enjoy it.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Colin Mochrie, Wendy Crewson & Jennifer Irwin to guest star on Working The Engels

From a media release:

COLIN MOCHRIE, WENDY CREWSON AND JENNIFER IRWIN TO GUEST STAR ON WORKING THE ENGELS

Halfire-CORE Entertainment and Shaw Media announced today that Gemini Award-winners Colin Mochrie (This Hour Has 22 Minutes, She’s the Mayor) and Wendy Crewson (Saving Hope, Revenge), and Gemini Award-nominee Jennifer Irwin (Eastbound & Down, Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays) are set to guest star in the first three episodes of Global Television’s new half-hour original comedy series Working the Engels. Mochrie, Crewson, and Irwin join series regulars Andrea Martin, Kacey Rohl, Azura Skye and Benjamin Arthur. Additional guest stars for upcoming episodes to be announced in the coming weeks.

Commissioned by Shaw Media’s original content team, produced by Halfire-CORE Entertainment and written by Katie Ford (Miss Congeniality, Desperate Housewives) and Jane Ford (Listen Missy, Material World), the 12-episode series is currently shooting in Toronto.

In this laugh-out-loud comedy, a family of ne’er-do-wells must band together to keep their heads above water when their father and breadwinner passes away, leaving them a mountain of debt. The Engels must all go to work running Dad’s storefront law firm, with one minor problem – daughter Jenna Engel (Rohl) is the only one who is qualified to practice law. Unfortunately for Jenna, this also means taking on her eccentric relatives as co-workers, including her self-involved mother Ceil (Martin), her pill-popping sister Sandy (Skye) and her bad boy brother Jimmy (Arthur). Jenna, the youngest sibling, becomes the unlikely family patriarch, running the law firm and keeping her crazy family together.

Mochrie guest stars as Miles, Ceil’s mild-mannered, long-suffering accountant. He did the books for Ceil’s late husband and has the unpleasant task of telling Ceil the truth about the financial disaster her husband left behind.

Crewson plays Margueritte Guernsey, a rich, entitled, beautiful woman who is the subject of a lawsuit. Margueritte is used to getting what she wants. Much even to Margueritte’s surprise, it looks like what she wants is… handsome, hunky, not-so-bright bad boy, Jimmy Engel.

Charisse Dunne, played by Irwin, is a gorgeous shark of a lawyer and partner at a high-powered law firm. She manages to turn heads, but makes Glenn Close in Damages look like a sweetheart. After Jenna spectacularly quits, Charisse becomes bent on Jenna’s total destruction.

Working the Engels is produced by Halfire-CORE Entertainment with Katie Ford, Jane Ford, Howard Busgang, Tom Nursall and Noreen Halpern serving as Executive Producers.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail