All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Canadian Paralympian Stephanie Dixon joins AMI-tv’s Mind Set Go roster

From a media release:

Anaïd Productions is excited to announce that Accessible Media Inc.’s documentary series Mind Set Go begins production on eight new episodes this week in Vancouver.

For this third season on AMI-tv, acclaimed Paralympic medalist Stephanie Dixon joins the team as the series’ lead expert.  Dixon is a retired Canadian swimmer who is considered one of the world’s best and is leading Canada at the Lima 2019 Parapan Am Games and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as chef de mission. Born missing her right leg and hip, Dixon began swimming at the age of two and went on to win 19 Paralympic medals, seven of which are gold.

Each episode of Mind Set Go chronicles the three-month journey of individuals living with injury, disability or chronic pain, as they push the limits of their physical and mental barriers to lead a healthy, fit life.  Along their journey, participants meet with Dixon and other top Canadian Paralympic athletes who provide a clearer understanding of the obstacles the participants face, and what it will take to overcome them.

Mind Set Go is supported by the Canadian Paralympic Committee for its role in showcasing the successes of Paralympic athletes. The program is broadcast on AMI-tv and features Integrated Described Video (IDV), making it accessible to audience members who are blind or partially sighted. Mind Set Go also airs on Victoria, B.C.,-based CHEK-TV.

Anaïd Productions is filming all episodes in locations around Vancouver from now until November 2019. Participants have been selected from around the Lower Mainland, including Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Squamish. Season 3 participants and Paralympic athletes will be announced at a later date.

Mind Set Go is developed and produced by Anaïd Productions in association with Accessible Media Inc. with the participation of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, Canada Media Fund, Rogers Telefund, and the Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC. Assistance was also provided by the Government of Alberta, Alberta Media Fund and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.

The first two seasons of Mind Set Go are available to stream online at AMI.ca or on the AMI-tv app.

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Killjoys

Link: Tamsen McDonough talks Killjoys Season 5

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Tamsen McDonough talks Killjoys Season 5
“I think she goes through these ups and downs of understanding humans a little better and then they do something else that she doesn’t get. I like the waves she goes through, but she is always clear that Johnny is who she is crazy about and who she will do anything for while having to maintain the structures placed within her that she can’t break from.” Continue reading. 

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Amazing Race Canada, Featured

The Amazing Race Canada: Squishing in Saskatoon

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First, my apologies to those of you expected an Amazing Race Canada review last week. I took a week-long holiday and was, literally, off the grid. And second, after finally watching it, what’s with so many teams opting to take time penalties? To me, taking the penalty is a last-ditch decision, not gameplay.

Irina and Dave, Trish and Amy and Meaghan and Marie all skipped “Clamageddon,” which was a real shame. The fun of The Amazing Race Canada is watching teams compete … not sit on the sidelines. (Meanwhile, Aarthy and Thinesh and Anthony and James are showing what teamwork can do.) With Sarah and Sam landing in first place last week—and Meaghan and Marie eliminated—the remaining teams headed to Saskatoon.

It was nice to see a different team in the lead heading into this Leg and the athletes were hoping their “brave” mantra wound serve them well; Lauren and Joanne hoped their hometown would give them an advantage. Meanwhile, Dave and Irina continue to have targets on their backs and called a quick meeting at the Nanaimo airport for everyone to talk. It did not go well, however, and teams left even more fractured than before.

A woman and a man walk.Teams headed to the Canadian Light Source with Anthony and James in the top spot. Once there, they were instructed to journey to the Nutrien Cory Potash Mine. At the mine, teams went a kilometre below the surface to hang and seal ventilation curtains. Anthony and James have had recent experience hanging plastic thanks to some home renovations, so they worked fairly quickly and completed the task first, followed by hometown girls Lauren and Joanne and Sarah and Sam. Aarthy and Thinesh, who had an Express Pass to use, were struggling.

Next up: a trip to the local Shell station to fill up and get those ever-important tear-inducing messages and clues from home. Then, teams travelled to Champêtre County Vacation Ranch for the Detour. Here, squads could either Dance in a Square (calling square dance moves and dancing) or Walk in Circles (find ornamental corn hidden in a massive barn board maze). Anthony and James entered maze (I would have chosen that too), as did Lauren and Joanne, Sarah and Sam and everyone else. Dave and Irina chose Dance in a Square … and then, rightly, switched to do the maze instead. Trish and Amy chose to dance/call too and stuck with it.

Anthony and James whipped through the maze fairly quickly—I wonder if Anthony’s height was an advantage?—and they moved on in first place.

Two women read words on a card.At Victoria Park, teams participated in lacrosse with the Saskatchewan Rush, first passing the ball to each other and then hitting two of four targets. Again, Anthony and James completed the task quickly and departed while everyone else was still back at the ranch. Sam and Sarah exited in second place to look for Jon, with Dave and Irina in hot pursuit.

The Leg’s Pit Stop was located at the Remai Modern Art Museum, and with over 15 minutes of broadcast left, that meant teams were going to really struggle. That was proven correct by Lauren and Joanne, who kept heading back towards the entrance rather than finding the exit. Aarthy and Thinesh did the same thing, which kept them towards the back of the pack.

Anthony and James completed the Leg in pole position, scoring a trip to Costa Rica and free gas for a year. They were followed by Sarah and Sam and Irina and Dave. It came down to a footrace between Aarthy and Thinesh and Trish and Amy, with the former arriving just ahead of the latter, giving the moms … yet another chance because it a non-elimination Leg. The pair will have to complete an additional challenge next week.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

  1. Anthony and James
  2. Sarah and Sam
  3. Irina and Dave
  4. Lauren and Joanne
  5. Aarthy and Thinesh
  6. Trish and Amy (non-elimination Leg)

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Season 2 of Hitler’s Last Stand returns to Smithsonian Channel Canada

Parallax Film Productions Inc. is putting out some pretty amazing programming.

The Vancouver-based production company first jumped onto my radar with Battle Castle, an excellent series that recreated castles and showed how they were used for war. I’ve written about Hell Below, which documents the claustrophobic life for those working in U-boats during the Second World War. Now Parallax is back with Season 2 of Hitler’s Last Stand.

Currently broadcast Tuesday nights on Smithsonian Channel Canada, Hitler’s Last Stand tells the stories of Second World War battles post-D-Day, when German forces were being pushed back by the Allies but were still fighting.

“These aren’t the stories about the generals,” says Maija Leivo, executive producer. “These are the stories of these guys who had these unimaginable missions. They were the ones who had to take that hill, cross that river or build the bridge under fire.”

A male soldier looks into the distance. A fire burns behind him.In the first hour-long episode of Season 2, “Lost Battalion,” (available to stream on Smithsonian’s website) an American regiment on D-Day plus 62 drives for the coast to liberate the French port city of Saint-Malo, and encounter Nazi resistance and every road blocked. Even when the 3rd Battalion does break through, within hours, they find the roadblock retaken by Nazi forces and the group surrounded. It’s a harrowing story brought to life not only by the fact it’s all true—and explained by historians, experts and stock footage—but because of the stellar wardrobe, makeup, filming and, yes, tanks.

“We try, as much as we can, to as much filming in-camera as possible,” says Ian Herring, Parallax’s founder. “We do a little CGI for some explosions, but for the most part those are real explosions.” Herring is constantly on the lookout for items from the Second World War that he can purchase and use for filming, scooping up clothing, vehicles and the aforementioned tank when he can. Having a bonafide tank roll through your shot gives immediate realism to the shoot, but it’s not without a glitch or two. Herring remembers a first-season tank its owner had trouble keeping running.

“We shot for 35 days in Season 1 and got his tank running on the last one,” he recalls with a laugh. When Herring needed a German tank, he found one in Plymouth, England. It was brought to Vancouver via the Panama Canal and landed in Seattle, where it was loaded onto a flatbed truck and driven up to Vancouver.

“We got to the Canadian border and the customs people there said, ‘Tank? What the heck? Carry on.’ And we shot the last week of production using a German tank.”

Hitler’s Last Stand airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel Canada. You can watch past episodes via Smithsonian Channel Canada’s website.

Images courtesy of Parallax Film Productions Inc.

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Killjoys

Links: Vivian Lin and Derek Robertson talk Killjoys “Three Killjoys and a Lady”

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Vivian Lin and Derek Robertson talk Killjoys “Three Killjoys and a Lady”
“Two parallel things came together. The first idea was a homage of doing our version of The Thing and what that would be—being paranoid and not trusting each other and our team turning against each other. That was a floating idea for a while.” Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Derek Robertson and Vivian Lin talk Killjoys “Three Killjoys and a Lady”
If you have some tears in your eyes as you come here to read our weekly Killjoys postmortem chat we can’t really blame you. Continue reading. 

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