With folks like the Trailer Park Boys and Screen Nova Scotia pleading that the area’s film industry tax credit not be cut from the province’s budgets this Thursday, Faisal Lutchmedial‘s video is a poignant reminder of the folks who help get these projects to the big and small screen.
From Patrick Munn of TVWise:
Spike UK Eyes ‘Transporter: The Series’, Canadian Drama ’19-2′
Viacom has yet to launch Spike UK just yet, but the nascent channel has already set its sights on two new exclusive drama series.
TVWise understands that Spike UK is in talks with Lagardère Entertainment and Content Film & Television to acquire the exclusive first run UK broadcast rights to action series Transporter: The Series and Canadian cop drama 19-2, respectively. Per sources, the deals cover the first two seasons of both shows, which are expected to premiere on Spike UK later this year. Continue reading.
Back in 2000, an episode of ER shook me so much that I think about it every once in awhile. “Be Still My Heart” guest-starred David Krumholtz as a man who everyone brushed off in the ER. I felt dread during the first storyline, as Paul Sobriki (Krumholtz) showed signs of paranoia and instability and only Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) knew something was amiss. By the end of that first episode, Paul had killed Lucy and John Carter (Noah Wyle) was stabbed in the back and clinging to life.
I drew an immediate parallel between “Be Still My Heart” and “Playing Doctor Conner,” Monday’s latest episode of Remedy, not because of the violence but because of the growing dread and ultimate shock I felt by the end. Having Griffin re-trace the steps he took with Jayne Baugher (Christine Horne) mounted up the tension. Slow to build the relationship between them—both were once in med school and in both cases “complicated” situations surrounded their departures—by the time Griff presented her file, and the diagnosis she had sarcoidosis on the road to progressive fibrosis, they had established trust.
I knew things would end badly for Jayne, but I didn’t expect what came next. After leaving Jayne alone for minutes—I’ll get to that in a second—Griff returned to find her missing. Deciding she didn’t want to burden her family with a long, drawn-out descent into death and her own awful experience of drowning in her own lungs, Jayne cut her wrists and faded away as Griffin watched. It was a tragic scene both because of what Jayne had done and—ultimately—what it forced Griff to do. Rather than tell Zoe the pain he was feeling and hand over the painkillers Linda had surrendered, he popped two.
Speaking of Linda, “Playing Doctor Conner” marked the evolution of her character. She may be a cold-hearted bitch, but she’s deeply troubled as well. The fact Griffin kept her secret—he was meeting with her when Jayne made her fatal decision—will build their relationship and for that I’m glad. It’s always nice to have a one-dimensional character to hate, but I prefer them with some substance too. (Let us also acknowledge the performance by Raoul Bhaneja as Eric, Bethune’s lawyer. I’ve never wanted to punch a TV lawyer harder in the mouth, so kudos to Bhaneja for that.)
Almost lost in the shuffle were the other storylines of the night. Allen once again proved older is wiser when he was able to diagnose a man suffering from chronic neck pain, giving Cutler a much-needed comeuppance and education in listening to patients rather than rushing them out the door. And who else cheered Sandy when she told Mel to back off regarding hiring a nanny? Mel needs to focus on something else. Like maybe Dr. Stubble?
Notes and quotes
Remedy airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
From T.L. Stanley of Ad Week:
What Do 13 of the Strongest Women on TV Have in Common? They’re All Tatiana Maslany
A few short years ago, Tatiana Maslany was an up-and-coming actress with improv comedy chops, some TV and small movie roles under her belt and a profile little known outside her native Canada.
Those days are definitely behind her.
Now she’s regularly mobbed at fan gatherings like San Diego’s Comic-Con and revered by TV critics for her work on BBC America’s much-lauded, sci-fi-tinged thriller Orphan Black. In it, the 29-year-old juggles multiple roles—a dizzying number of sister clones, totaling 13 characters by Season 2’s end—in a twisty, edge-of-the-seat series that explores nature versus nurture, with the military, a sinister corporation and a religious cult thrown in for added intrigue. Continue reading.
Join Greg and Diane every Monday as we debate what’s on our minds. This week: on-screen advertising is becoming more and more prevalent. Is it harshing your TV buzz?
He said:
On-screen advertising is ruining primetime viewing for me. There, I said it, and I know I’m not alone.
Remember when network bugs—the logos for CTV, CBC, Fox and others—first started infiltrating the lower right corner of our television screens? Viewers, including me, were outraged that their TV real estate was being invaded by those little buggers. The networks then faded out the bugs so they were still there, but less invasive and annoying. I recently noticed that often those logos no longer grey out and stay brightly-lit in the corner of the screen, as if I had no clue that I tuned to A&E for Bate’s Motel and The Returned.
But the network bugs pale in comparison to the advertising that has, increasingly often, taken up the entire lower third of the TV screen. Ads for CraveTV constantly interrupt my viewing of MasterChef Canada. CSI: Cyber teasers jump up during Motive on Sunday nights. Listen, I get that networks have to embed ads in their programs to counter the fact Canadians are using their PVRs to zip through commercial breaks, but I have a serious issue when the ad directly affects my viewing. There have been countless times when the name of a reality show competitor has been hidden by an on-screen ad. Not a huge deal, I admit. Reality shows remind us of competitors all the time through interviews and editing.
It was what happened to X Company last Wednesday night that got me really steamed. An ad popped up during an important scene between two German officers. The pair were discussing their next move of attack and the dialogue was all performed in German. Problem was, an ad completely obscured the subtitles from view so anyone who didn’t understand German was completely in the dark as to what was going on. To their credit, X Company‘s twitter account swiftly posted this apology and transcript of the dialogue.
The gaffe should never have happened in the first place. There should be a dialogue between the programming and advertising department where they figure out where an on-screen ad can be placed so that it causes the least amount of damage to a TV show’s storyline. I can only imagine what Denis McGrath—who wrote that episode of X Company—thought when the scene was hidden by advertising. It’s an insult to Denis and any other producer, writer, actor, actress or crew member on a TV program that has seen their work partially hidden by advertising. Television is art, and the art is being obscured and besmirched.
Would you accept it if Coke or Nabisco slapped a sticker over part of a Tom Thomson work at an art gallery? You would not. You would be outraged. Leave my TV alone!
She said:
When I finally installed an over-the-air antenna last month after living on a diet of Netflix, screeners, iTunes and website and app viewing for several years, I had two thoughts: a) yay me for finally getting it done and b) oh my god it’s all advertising.
Online advertising has its own annoyances, as does awkward product placement within the shows themselves, but nothing beats covering the action on-screen. Some channels used to have motion graphics in that lower third to make sure your eye diverts from the story you’re watching. Do they still do that? I don’t know because the annoying advertising is making me use my newfound over-the-air channels for emergencies only, like, um, watching The Voice or the Oscars live.
That said, let me play devil’s advocate: something has to pay for the content in an era when more people use PVRs and fast forward through commercials, when more channels divide the mass audience, and when more households have cut the cord while online advertising hasn’t kept pace with what a network can earn on broadcast.
I can watch X Company on the CBC website or app and be annoyed by repetitive but less frequent commercials and a clunky viewing experience, or I can wait until it might appear on Netflix, or I can buy the season from iTunes for $21 (um, no), or I can suffer with the kind of advertising that appears over the air, but something has to pay for the shows we love.
However, to be clear: there is absolutely no excuse for onscreen advertising to obscure important action or, worse, subtitles.  I don’t know whether to blame CBC or the producers or both, though. There have always been “safe areas” when producing shows — the protected 4:3 area during the early days of the widescreen TV transition, title-safe areas, action-safe areas. So why is there not an advertising-safe area or subtitle-safe area known to both X Company producers and CBC alike?
One failure is simply a mistake. We can forgive and forget. But intrusive advertising is an ongoing nuisance we likely have to live with unless networks can find a better way to finance shows in today’s television landscape.
