Yearly Archives: 2015

Remedy

Tonight: Remedy, Illusions of Grandeur, Escape or Die

Remedy, Global – “Fight or Flight” and “Day One”
Mel and Cutler are slated to catch a flight to Dallas to plan their future there when Griff’s alarming behaviour holds them back. Sandy insists the Conners address Griff’s drug problem immediately as a family, despite warning signs that suggest they should utilize professional help. Meanwhile, Mel duels with her replacement, Dr. Jake Reuben, over the care of her cherished high school English teacher, and Cutler identifies a patient with critical symptoms that a distracted Allen has missed.

Then, in episode “Day One”, Sandy is in critical condition following a car accident on her way to find an unstable Griffin. Zoe tracks down a messed up Griff and peels him off the roof, but when she cleans him up and brings him into Beth-H to see Sandy, Allen is livid. Mel pressures Jake and Dr. Bernstein to deliver the best medical care possible to Sandy, and Cutler tries to help a family whose son is displaying bizarre and troubling behaviour. Through the darkness Allen and Griff are able to reach a measure of understanding, and Griffin ultimately turns to his downstairs family for help.

Illusions of Grandeur, OLN – “Chicago”
Zack visits Chicago, once America’s magic mecca. He soon discovers that magic is still alive and well in Chi-town, when he finds a magician who has performed at the same pub for 40 years, and an auction of Houdini collectibles which sell for a small fortune. Finally, Zack attempts an impressive feat of mentalism in the heart of the city.

Escape or Die, OLN – “Man vs. Machine Escape”
Dean returns home to icy Winnipeg and his nemesis the Red River. Over 30 years ago, Dean had a near-fatal escape here and is back to face the river again. Chained to two massive ice-resurfacer machines trying to pull him apart, he has 60 seconds to escape his restraints or be left in pieces on the icy river.

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Featured, Motive, Podcast

TV Eh B Cs podcast 21 – The Sticky Notes and Love Boats of Sarah Dodd

Sarah is a screenwriter and story editor whose varied television credits include: PSI FACTOR CHRONICLES OF THE PARANORMAL, CODE NAME ETERNITY, BEASTMASTER, THE SHOEBOX ZOO, BLOOD TIES, FALCON BEACH, THE BORDER, ENDGAME, and PRIMEVAL: NEW WORLD.

Sarah developed the popular book series THE SADDLE CLUB for television and helmed the story department in its first season. After two seasons as the executive story editor and writer on the YTV series ZIXX (for which she won a Leo Award for Best Screenwriting), Sarah was promoted to show-runner for its third season.

While working continuously in television since 1995, Sarah also co-wrote the award-winning short film THE SPARKLE LITE MOTEL with director Cory Kinney and participated in the NSI Features First program with her horror feature EXTINCTION. As a story editor, Sarah has worked on such feature films as DEFENDOR, WEIRDSVILLE, HANK & MIKE and ARCTIC AIR. Sarah has just completed season three of the hit primetime series Motive as the Co- Executive Producer.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

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Mohawk Girls

Mohawk Girls begins production on a new season

From a media release:

APTN Original Series Mohawk Girls Renewed for Another Season

This past fall and winter Mohawk Girls’ first and second seasons aired to critical acclaim and today APTN and Rezolution Pictures announced that the series has been renewed for another season. Shooting begins tomorrow on 6 X 30-minute episodes of the series, which will air in fall 2015. The series is both filmed and set in Montreal and the Kahnawake Mohawk Territory in Quebec. Mohawk Girls will air in both English and Mohawk on APTN. Full broadcast details will be announced at a later date. The first year of the show was comprised of Season One and Two’s 13 episodes, shot in spring 2013 and 2014, and launched together in Fall 2014.

Mohawk Girls is a comedic look at the lives of four modern-day women trying to stay true to their roots as they attempt to forge their own identity in a small town where they battle cultural traditions. This dramedy series follows the journey of these 20-something women towards finding love and uncovering their sexuality while looking for acceptance within their community. Bailey wants to be the “perfect” Mohawk, but she’s ready to see what life beyond the “rez” feels like. Caitlin craves love from all the wrong men, including her absent dad and bad-boy boyfriend. Type-A Zoe is driven by the need to succeed while serving her community, but she’s got a secret, kinky, side to her. Anna, the newcomer to the “rez”, has a Mohawk father and a white mother and is having a hard time figuring out the rules in Kahnawake.

The dynamic cast of four leading women includes returning cast members Jenny Pudavick (Bailey), Brittany LeBorgne (Zoe), Heather White (Caitlin), and Maika Harper (Anna) as well as Meegwun Fairbrother (Butterhead) and Kyle Nobess (Thunder), who will reprise their roles as the men they love.

Mohawk Girls is created and executive produced by Tracey Deer and Cynthia Knight; Tracey Deer directs the episodes and Cynthia Knight writes. The series is produced by Rezolution Pictures’ Catherine Bainbridge, Christina Fon and Linda Ludwick, and executive produced by Catherine Bainbridge, Christina Fon, Linda Ludwick and Ernest Webb. Innovate By Day is the Digital Media Producer. Monika Ille is the Executive Director, Programming and Scheduling for APTN. The show has been picked up by US distributor GRB for worldwide sales representation.

 

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Featured

Where have all the critics gone?

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It’s been eight years since Variety published an article about the diminished ranks of television critics in US newspapers, replaced by wire copy or nothing at all. I wrote a reaction with the Canadian perspective, which at the time I said was even more dismal than our southern cousins.

Guess what? It’s worse now, and worsening.

The Toronto Star at the time of those posts had Vinay Menon, Jim Bawden and Rob Salem, none of whom are still with that beat. Now they tend to use non-beat reporters and Canadian Press wire copy. Dana Gee is no longer on the Province’s TV beat, and Alex Strachan was recently laid off as Postmedia’s TV critics.

Scott Stinson of the National Post now covers sports, leaving TV to wire copy and a collection of bloggers who sometimes seem vaguely aware there might be thriving homegrown shows. The Toronto Sun’s Bill Harris remains, but the other Bill, Bill Brioux, is making a go of it as a freelancer for the Canadian Press, among others.

Huffington Post Canada just gutted their localized television coverage and no one in the Canadian TV industry seemed to notice or care. We’ve benefited from Chris Jancelewicz’s Orphan Black recaps making the transition to TV, eh?, and The TV Junkies among other places has benefitted from Denette Wilford’s TV writing. But Huffpo Canada is left posting hypocritical, gutless articles about how Canadian TV needs more trenchant criticism and the best sites for film and television coverage while not having to bother doing any itself.

TV Guide Canada went dark last year and its writers dispersed online, their passion for covering TV leading to them writing about it wherever they can,  including reviving this site (hi Greg David) and the birth of The TV Junkies (hi Amber Dowling).

Loud voices within the Canadian TV industry rail against the Globe and Mail’s John Doyle, presumably thinking no criticism is better than his criticism. The rate things are going, they might get their wish.

In the US, some of those veteran critics migrated to AOL-owned Original Recipe Huffington Post and to other funded sites like Hitflix (angel investors) and The A.V. Club (owned by The Onion). Canadian TV coverage  relies more and more on passionate individuals’ pocketbooks and labour, as well as the occasional Indiegogo and Patreon campaign.

The rise of online criticism is wonderful thing, but not at the expense of mainstream coverage that is pushed to people with the rest of their news. Not at the expense of a paid critical community.  Not when some publicists still treat online criticism as the poor cousin of newspapers. Not at the expense of eliminating our own culture from the broader pop cultural discussions.

Apologies to Pete Seeger but where have all the TV critics gone, long time passing? Gone to other beats or trying to create their own websites, every one. Oh, when will they ever learn?

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Sensitive Skin

Production Begins on Second Season of The Movie Network and Movie Central’s Original Canadian Series SENSITIVE SKIN

From a media release:

The Movie Network and Movie Central announced today that the second season of their Canadian Screen Award-winning original series SENSITIVE SKIN is currently in production in Toronto for six weeks. The new six-episode season focuses on Davina, played by series star and executive producer Kim Cattrall (SEX AND THE CITY), as she enters a transitional phase in her life that uproots her from the sterile streets of Toronto to a new life in the picturesque Toronto Islands. Genie and Tony Award®winner Don McKellar (The Grand Seduction) resumes his role as director and executive producer, while multiple Gemini Award winner and Tony Award® winner Bob Martin (MICHAEL: TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS) returns as executive producer. Season 2 is slated to premiere in 2016. Season 1 of SENSITIVE SKIN was picked up by Sky Arts in the U.K. and concluded its critically acclaimed broadcast run earlier this month.

Also returning for Season 2 are: Nicolas Wright (White House Down) as Davina’s neurotic son Orlando; Gemini Award-winner Colm Feore (GOTHAM) as Davina’s brother-in-law Roger; Tony Award winner Joanna Gleason (Last Vegas) as her conservative older sister Veronica; Gemini Award-winner Mary Walsh (THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES) as Sarah Thorn, a well-known radio personality; and Gemini Award-winner Clé Bennett (FLASHPOINT) as Theodore.

Earlier this year, SENSITIVE SKIN took home four Canadian Screen Awards including: the Bell Media Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role(Don McKellar); Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series (Don McKellar); Best Photography in a Comedy Program or Series (Douglas Koch); and Best Picture Editing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series (Matthew Hannam).

The first season of SENSITIVE SKIN followed the story of a woman of a certain age and her long-time husband who sold their family home and moved downtown to a hip condo in a conscious effort to change their lives. The series was created by Hugo Blick (ROGER & VAN HAVE JUST GOT IN). It starred and was executive produced by Kim Cattrall, along with Don McKellar (who directed all six episodes) and Bob Martin (who wrote all six episodes). The second season is written by Susan Coyne (SLINGS & ARROWS), Rosa Laborde (Léo), and Lynn Coady (ORPHAN BLACK). Niv Fichman (Rhombus Media) and Sari Friedland return as producers, with Henry Normal (Baby Cow Productions), Hugo Blick, Andrea Gorfolova, and Jon Rutherford returning as executive producers alongside Cattrall, McKellar, and Martin. The second season of SENSITIVE SKIN is produced by Rhombus Media in association with Baby Cow Productions, The Movie Network, and Movie Central, with the participation of the Rogers Cable Network Fund. Tricon Films & Television serves as international distributor.

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