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.
Anne, Baroness von Sketch Show, Burden of Truth, Canada's Smartest Person, Crawford, Dragons' Den, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Great Canadian Baking Show, Heartland, Industry News, Kim's Convenience, Little Dog, Mr. D, Murdoch Mysteries, Schitt's Creek, Still Standing, The Detectives, The Nature of Things, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, When Calls the Heart, Workin' Moms

CBC announces new and returning programming slate for 2018-19 season

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From a media release:

Canada’s public broadcaster today announced its robust 2018-19 slate, including 17 new series and 36 renewed titles – one of CBC’s largest returning lineups to date. CBC’s upcoming year of original Canadian programming includes drama, comedy, factual, arts, music, kids, sports, news and documentary programming across television, radio and digital platforms, showcasing both new and established homegrown voices and creators.

NEW ORIGINAL SERIES

New CBC original Canadian series confirmed for the 2018-19 season include:

Comedy:

CAVENDISH (8×30, Winter 2019 – Temple Street), from the minds of Picnicface comedy troupe founders Mark Little and Andrew Bush, along with Garry Campbell (Kim’s Convenience). Bush and Little star as two bickering brothers who return to their PEI hometown to take care of their grumpy and ailing father, only to collide with the eccentric townsfolk and their even stranger superstitions.

Drama:

CORONER (8×60, Winter 2019 – Back Alley Films, Muse Entertainment), a procedural drama created for television by Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope), based on the best-selling book series by M.R. Hall. The series follows Jenny Cooper, a former ER doctor and newly appointed coroner investigating suspicious deaths. Suffering from clinical anxiety and recently widowed with a teenage son, Jenny is a woman of action driven by an intense desire for the truth.

DIGGSTOWN (6×60, Winter 2019 – Circle Blue Entertainment), a legal drama created by Floyd Kane (Across the Line) and set in the gritty arena of legal aid, focusing on Marcie Diggs, a star corporate lawyer who reconsiders her priorities after her beloved aunt commits suicide following a malicious prosecution. Landing at a legal aid office in Dartmouth, Marcie is driven by one thing – to never again allow innocent lives to be destroyed by the justice system. DIGGSTOWN is the first original Canadian drama series featuring a black female lead character.

NORTHERN RESCUE (10×60, 2018/19 – Don Carmody Television, CBC and Netflix co-production), a heartwarming family drama starring William Baldwin (MacGyver) and Kathleen Robertson (Bates Motel).  After the death of his wife Sarah, John (Baldwin), a Search & Rescue officer, packs up his three children and moves from their hectic urban life to a small northern town, where they all struggle with their new surroundings, new friends, and accepting Sarah’s death.

STREET LEGAL (6×60, Winter 2019 – IGP and Broken Clown Productions), the iconic character-driven legal drama returns with both familiar faces and new characters, and a focus on how the law is practised in Canada today, including contemporary themes and issues. Bringing STREET LEGAL into the 21st century, we pick up 25 years later with Olivia Novak (Cynthia Dale), now a named partner at a major Bay Street law firm.

UNSPEAKABLE (8×60, Winter 2019 – Mezo Entertainment), a searing depiction of the tainted blood scandal that began in the early 1980s. The limited series is told through the stories of two families severely affected by the worst public health disaster in Canadian history, with a strong cast including Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead), Shawn Doyle (Bellevue), Michael Shanks (Saving Hope) and Camille Sullivan (The Disappearance).

Factual & Arts:

CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON JUNIOR (6×60, Fall 2018 – Media Headquarters), hosted by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience), will see 12 remarkable kids take on exciting challenges in the six categories of intelligence – Physical, Musical, Social, Linguistic, Logical, and Visual – in front of a live studio audience, in the hopes of being crowned the first-ever title of Canada’s Smartest Person Junior.

FROM THE VAULTS (working title) (6×60, Fall 2018 – Banger Films), a visually exciting and entertaining cultural exploration using CBC Archive recordings as a window into Canadian history and music. Hosted by Amanda Parris and Tom Power, this archive series features musical performances and candid interviews, shedding a bright light on Canada’s musical journey.

HIGH ARCTIC HAULERS (working title) (8×60, 2019 – Great Pacific Media, a Thunderbird Company), a look at Canada’s resilient, vibrant northern communities and the determined men and women who help provide their lifeline to the outside world. These groups are linked together by the summer sealift, when ships loaded with critical cargo travel each year to the farthest reaches of the north to deliver food, clothing, supplies and vital pieces of infrastructure.

IN THE MAKING (8×30, Fall 2018 – White Pine Pictures), an immersive journey inside the artistic process. Host Sean O’Neill travels the globe alongside some of Canada’s most extraordinary creators as they bring new work to life and face moments of opportunity, challenge and reward.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT(4×30, Winter 2019 – Proper Television), a factual entertainment series featuring budding entrepreneurs as they shop for the business of their dreams.

CBC Kids:

BECCA’S BUNCH (52×11, Jam Media), a must-see children’s comedy that combines live action, puppetry, and 3D animation.

BIG BLUE (52×11, Guru), an underwater comedy-adventure series about siblings Lettie and Lemo and the oddball crew of their submarine.

ENDLINGS (12×30, Sinking Ship), a sci-fi adventure series about four foster kids making a startling discovery that affects the entire universe.

KINGDOM FORCE (52×11, Industrial Brothers/Boat Rocker), an action series about animals protecting their community from danger with their unique skills that combine to form a giant robot.

MOLLY OF DENALI (38×30, Atomic Cartoons, CBC co-production with PBS), an adventure-comedy series about a 10-year-old Indigenous girl.

This fall, CBC will also broadcast the Canadian premiere of the new adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s literary classic VANITY FAIR (7×60, Mammoth Screen, ITV and Amazon Studios) starring Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One) as Becky Sharp, an ambitious social climber desperately trying to escape poverty and scale the heights of English society.

RETURNING SERIES:

CBC’s returning slate of scripted, factual and arts titles for 2018/19 is as follows:

ANNE WITH AN E (10×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW(10×30, Season 3) – *moves to fall 2018*

BURDEN OF TRUTH (8×60, Season 2, winter 2019)

CBC ARTS: EXHIBITIONISTS (26×30, Season 4, fall 2018)

CBC KIDS new seasons of original Canadian series DOT, ADDISON, and OLLIE THE BOY WHO BECAME WHAT HE ATE

CORONATION STREET (Season 20, fall 2018)

THE DETECTIVES (8×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

DRAGONS’ DEN (20×60, Season 13, fall 2018)

THE FILMMAKERS (8×30, Season 2, summer 2018 starting July 28)

FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES (10×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW (8×60, Season 2, fall 2018)

HALIFAX COMEDY FEST (6×30, Season 23, fall 2018)

HEARTLAND (11×60, Season 12) – *moves to winter 2019*

JUST FOR LAUGHS: GALAS (2018-2019)

KIM’S CONVENIENCE (13×30, Season 3) – *moves to winter 2019*

LITTLE DOG (8×30, Season 2, winter 2019)

MR. D (8×30, Season 8) – *moves to Wednesdays – final season*

MURDOCH MYSTERIES (18×60, Season 12, fall 2018)

SCHITT’S CREEK (14×30, Season 5, winter 2019)

THE STATS OF LIFE (8×30, Season 2, winter 2019)

STILL STANDING (13×30, Season 4, now in production on Season 5 for 2019) – *moves to fall 2018*

THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES (19×30, 1×60, Season 26)

WHEN CALLS THE HEART (Season 4, summer 2018 starting June 17)

THE WINNIPEG COMEDY FESTIVAL (5×60, Season 17, winter 2019)

WORKIN’ MOMS (13×30, Season 3, winter 2019)

CBC’s award-winning news and documentary programming also returns:

CBC DOCS POV (Season 3) – *moves to Friday evenings*

THE FIFTH ESTATE (Season 44) – *moves to Sunday evenings*

THE INVESTIGATORS WITH DIANA SWAIN (Season 3) *moves to Thursdays*

MARKETPLACE (Season 46)

THE NATIONAL

THE NATURE OF THINGS (Season 58)

TAKEN (Season 2, summer 2018 starting June 22)

THE WEEKLY WITH WENDY MESLEY (Season 2)

SPECIALS:

CBC’s annual lineup of specials and awards programming celebrating Canadian creators, artists and storytellers also includes:

INDSPIRE AWARDS (June 24)

CANADA DAYCELEBRATION (July 1)

CANADIAN COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION AWARDS (September 9, hosted by Shania Twain)

POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE GALA (September 17) – streaming via CBCMusic.ca

SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE (November 19)

AIR FARCE NEW YEAR’S EVE (December 31)

CANADA’S NEW YEAR’S EVE (December 31)

CANADA READS (March 2019)

CANADIAN SCREEN AWARDS (March 2019)

THE JUNO AWARDS broadcast live from London and MUSIC DAY ON CBC (March 17)

 ORIGINAL DIGITAL PROGRAMMING:

CBC’s diverse slate of digital original series and award-winning CBC SHORT DOCSincludes the following new titles that will stream on the CBC TV App and cbc.ca/watch:

ART IS MY COUNTRY, riveting profiles of 10 Canadian artists from various cultural backgrounds who are redefining and reshaping Canadian art.

OFF KILTER, a mockumentary that documents the remaking of failed up-and-coming choreographer Milton Frank into the critically acclaimed jerk he never got to be in the ‘90s.

WINSTON ROWNTREE’S PEOPLE WATCHING (Season 2, July), a comedy series featuring humorous and heartfelt short stories about 20-somethings searching for acceptance and romance.

FARM CRIME (August), a true-crime docu-series investigating unconventional offences in the world of farming and agriculture.

SEEN AND HEARD (September), uniting a mixed group of deaf and hearing performers to mount a unique adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

RED BUTTON (winter), the ongoing documentary project returns to provide remarkably candid perspectives of marginalized and misunderstood youth.

CBC SHORT DOCS:

FAST HORSE (Alexandra Lazarowich), exploring the return of the bareback horse-racing tradition to Blackfoot country.

QUEER PRIEST (Nicholas Bradford-Ewart), three docs following the lives of openly queer individuals who have chosen to become or remain priests despite the trauma that the Christian community has inflicted upon them.

SEDRA (Sura Mallouh), observing a 17-year-old and her family as they rebuild their lives in Canada after fleeing the Syrian war.

THE HOLE IN RESERVOIR HILL (Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson), a timely revisiting of the decommissioned nuclear bunker in North Bay, Ontario and the individuals who know its secrets.

In addition to making all television series available to stream live or on-demand via its digital platforms, spanning more than 4,000 hours of programming, CBC is also investing in new content exclusive to the CBC TV App and cbc.ca/watch including 250 hours of new programming. Featuring Canadian content as well as a curated selection of best-in-class drama, comedy, lifestyle and documentary content from around the world, new titles streaming in the upcoming year include PORTLANDIA, MOONE BOYand the Canadian premiere of Australian comedy RONNY CHIENG: INTERNATIONAL STUDENT.

 

PRIMETIME BROADCAST SCHEDULE

CBC’s 2018-19 primetime broadcast schedule is as follows:

All series will also be available to stream on the CBC TV App and at cbc.ca/watch.

(For Newfoundland and Labrador, please add one half-hour later for all times)

MONDAYS
8 PM – MURDOCH MYSTERIES *Season 12*(FALL/WINTER)

9 PM – FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES *Season 2* (FALL)/ CORONER*NEW SERIES* (EARLY WINTER)/ STREET LEGAL*NEW SERIES* (LATE WINTER)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

TUESDAYS
8 PM– STILL STANDING*Season 4*(NEW TO FALL)/KIM’S CONVENIENCE*Season 3* (NEW TO WINTER)

8:30 PM– THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES*Season 26* (FALL/WINTER)

9 PM – BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW *Season 3* (NEW TO FALL)/ SCHITT’S CREEK*Season 5* (WINTER)

9:30 PM– WORKIN’ MOMS*Season 3* (WINTER)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

WEDNESDAYS
8 PM– THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW*Season 2*(EARLY FALL)/ CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON JUNIOR*NEW SERIES* (LATE FALL)/ BURDEN OF TRUTH*Season 2* (EARLY WINTER)/ DIGGSTOWN*NEW SERIES* (LATE WINTER)

9 PM – VANITY FAIR*NEW SERIES*(EARLY FALL)/ MR. D*Season 8* (LATE FALL) – New Night/

UNSPEAKABLE*NEW SERIES* (WINTER)

9:30 PM– HALIFAX COMEDY FESTIVAL(LATE FALL)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

THURSDAYS
7 PM –  THE INVESTIGATORS WITH DIANA SWAIN*Season 3* (FALL) – New Night

8 PM– DRAGONS’ DEN*Season 13* (FALL/WINTER)

9 PM– THE DETECTIVES*Season 2*(EARLY FALL)/ FROM THE VAULTS*NEW SERIES* (LATE FALL)/ CAVENDISH*NEW SERIES* (WINTER)

9:30 PM– LITTLE DOG*Season 2*(WINTER)

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

FRIDAYS
8 PM– MARKETPLACE*Season 46*(FALL/WINTER)

8:30 PM– IN THE MAKING*NEW SERIES* (EARLY FALL)/ THE STATS OF LIFE*Season 2* (EARLY WINTER)/ UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT*NEW SERIES* (LATE WINTER)

9 PM – CBC DOCS POV*Season 3* (FALL/WINTER) – New Night

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

11:30 PM –CBC ARTS: EXHIBITIONISTS(FALL/WINTER)

SATURDAYS
Afternoon– ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES*Season 4* (FALL/WINTER)

6:30 PM– HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA(FALL/WINTER)

SUNDAYS
Afternoon– ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES*Season 4* (FALL/WINTER)

7 PM– ANNE WITH AN E*Season 2*/HEARTLAND*Season 12* (WINTER)

8 PM– THE NATURE OF THINGS*Season 58* (FALL/WINTER)

9 PM– THE FIFTH ESTATE*Season 44* (FALL/WINTER) – New Night

10 PM – THE NATIONAL

 

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Featured, Industry News

Daily Planet cancelled at Discovery Canada

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It’s the end of the road for Daily Planet. No more “High-Tech Toys Week,” no more “Shark Week,” no more daily science updates from hosts Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin. Bell Media announced is has chosen not to renew the long-running Discovery series after 23 seasons.

“To our viewers, we will always love and appreciate the support you gave us every night at 7e/4p,” a tweet from the show’s Twitter page read on Wednesday afternoon. “From @ziyatong, @riskindan and the @dailyplanetshow family, thank you for watching.”

 

Co-host Ziya Tong followed up with her own message:

 

Co-host Dan Riskin also took to Twitter to say his goodbye:

 

“This programming change reflects the significant financial pressures Bell Media faces in a broadcasting industry defined by growing international competition, evolving viewing options, and an uncertain regulatory framework,” read a statement sent from Bell Media on Wednesday.

Debuting as @discovery.ca in 1995 with host Jay Ingram, the program was renamed Daily Planet in 2002. Ingram exited Daily Planet in 2011 after 16 years at the helm. Past hosts have included Judy Haladay, Gill Deacon, Natasha Stillwell and Valerie Pringle. The program captured a Canadian Screen Award in 2017 for Best News for Information Series.

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Children's Programming

Just Like Mom and Dad renewed for new episodes

From a media release:

Award-winning global media production and distribution company marblemedia is thrilled to announce that Just Like Mom and Dad has been officially greenlit by YES TV in Canada and BYUtv in the US for the production of 22 new episodes slated to launch in Fall 2018.

The first 20 episodes of the series still continues to rollout, and since the launch in January 2018 Just Like Mom and Dad has become North America’s new favourite family game show, and is the highest rated family game show in Canada!

Just Like Mom and Dad is a hilarious and fun-filled game show that celebrates and rewards families for how well they know each other. Each episode features three teams of parent-kid pairs that are all trying to accumulate the most points after three rounds of family fun.

New episodes will feature more amusing questions and questionable baking, older kids between 8 and 15, more spectacular prizes and even crazier Bake Off recipes. marblemedia is currently seeking fun, energetic families to compete on new episodes, and interested parent-kid pairs can visit www.JustLikeMomandDad.com to apply.

To accompany the launch of the new block of episodes, the mobile Just Like Mom and Dad game (iOS, Android), created by marblemedia, will also see new updates to build upon its current success. New updates include the introduction of an ‘in-game announcement system’ which alerts players of poignant game and brand information, a new block of challenges and additional prizes for winners.

marblemedia secured all production and distribution rights in an agreement with Bell Media. This multi-year format deal includes worldwide program and format distribution rights to the series, through marblemedia’s distribution arm, Distribution360, along with digital and ancillary rights. In addition, marblemedia has partnered with Segal Licensing, which will be handling licensing and merchandising for the series. marblemedia is also excited to have Baskin Robbins and Dave and Busters as returning partners for the series and is currently in discussions with a number of other brand integration partnerships for participation in the series.

Producers for the series include Mark Bishop, Matt Hornburg, Steve Sloan, Stephen Turnbull,  alongside  Lorna Dueck for YES TV, Jim Bellfor BYUtv, Randy Lennox and Mike Cosentino for Bell Media, and Adam Ivers for Omnicom’s Highway Entertainment.

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Featured

APTN’s Guilt Free Zone returns for raucous laughs and rockin’ talent

Guilt Free Zone‘s tagline is “This Show is Ridiculous.” That’s true, but it’s also hilarious, educational and truly unique.

Returning for its third season this Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. ET on APTN, Guilt Free Zone (GFZ) is something I’ve never seen in Canadian primetime. It’s a sketch comedy, variety and musical series that showcases solely Indigenous musicians and talent every week while delivering a humorous take on colonization.

“I remember sitting around, thinking about doing a variety show,” GFZ co-creator, co-executive producer, star and Juno-winning singer-songwriter Derek Miller recalls of his initial idea for a program. “It’s grown a personality and a full vibe since then. It’s been an evolution to see how it goes from an original intellectual property idea to actually stuff happening.”

You can’t talk about GFZ without mentioning its past. Season 1 of the variety program had more of a traditional late-night talk show look, with Miller behind a desk, interviewing Indigenous guests from all walks of life, interspersed with moments of sketch comedy and showcasing a musical guest. Then, in 2015, after watching two episodes of the program, the federal government revoked the program’s tax credit, citing GFZ was a talk show and therefore exempt from receiving money. That forced Laura J, Milliken, the series’ co-creator, executive producer, writer and president and CEO of Big Soul Productions, to do some major scrambling. The result? What GFZ is today. I think the show is better for it, and Milliken agrees.

“That prompted a huge wave of creativity and it was actually a really good thing,” Milliken, the co-executive producer of the Gemini-nominated Moccasin Flats, says. “I kind of paced around my house for like, a month, trying to figure out how we could make it the Guilt Free Zone and keep all these wonderful performances but also give it that comedic feel and also say the things we wanted to say.” To tune into GFZ is to visit a legal speakeasy that Derek has won in a poker game. Derek has no clue how to run a bar and relies on the staff of oddballs who he inherited along with the bar to help him. Those include multiple characters played by Amy Matysio (Save Me), Herbie Barnes (Tipi Tales), Darrell Dennis (Blackstone), Camille Stopps (Killjoys), Craig Lauzon (Royal Canadian Air Farce) and Michaela Washburn (The Thaw).

Those wacky characters—and a writing staff that includes Milliken, Katya Gardiner and Dennis—enables to show to go off in wild, hilarious directions. One upcoming Season 3 instalment, “Dick Trouble,” sees the GFZ crew reminiscing about life pre-cell phone, plunging Derek into a film noir sequence while another, “Whack and Roll,” features puppies and an 80s dance off. There is also an acknowledgement of the taking of sovereign Indigenous lands through the lens of comedy.

“We do make commentary in the comedy about who we are and that we’re still here and we have a sense of humour,” Milliken says. “We make political jabs, social jabs and stereotypical jabs. We fight against the stereotypes that are cast upon us, but really the Guilt Free Zone is a place that’s ours and a place that we have to work together on to preserve and make ours.”

The other half of GFZ‘s weekly episodes are the stellar musical performances. An exclusively Indigenous list of performers—in addition to Miller—takes to the stage this season, including Lee Harvey Osmond, Leela Gilday, DJ Shub, Vern Cheechoo, David R. Maracle, Lacey Hill and Arthur Renwick, introducing viewers to an extensive set of bands, performers and singer-songwriters to take note of.

“In my mind, the performances are so beautiful,” Milliken says. “We’re really trying to show these people in the best way possible. “We’re here. We’re here to stay. We have talent and we have laughter.”

Guilt Free Zone airs Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET on APTN.

Images courtesy of Big Soul Productions.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Everyday heroes grab the spotlight in Discovery’s Hellfire Heroes

There’s a saying being used on social media about not all heroes wearing capes. While it’s mostly being used in a cute or funny way, it’s apt when describing the folks in Discovery’s newest original series.

Bowing Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery, Hellfire Heroes follows the firefighters of central Alberta who put their lives on the line every day in remote communities. Far from the big cities of the province, the men and women of the Lesser Slave Regional Fire Service and Yellowhead County Fire Department are charged with keeping folks and properties safe without the things we take for granted in larger communities.

Tuesday’s debut episode focuses on one of those differences when an expansive trailer home goes up in flames: a water source. With no fire hydrant system to use, the Lesser Slave squad relies on the water they’ve trucked into the site to knock the fire down. But the warren of buildings threatens the lives of two firefighters who’ve headed into the blaze.

We spoke to two members of the Yellowhead County Fire Department—Chief Albert Bahri and Lieutenant Gabriella Sundstrom (left in the image above)—about the show, why they chose this profession, what they hope viewers take away from watching Hellfire Heroes and what you can do to help out.

I’ve watched the first episode of Hellfire Heroes and it’s very dramatic stuff.
Chief Albert Bahri: This is what we do daily. A lot of people look at it and say it’s dramatic but for us, it’s what we do every day and a realistic view of what we do.

Chief Albert Bahri

It’s one thing to do your jobs every day, but it’s another to have television cameras and a production crew follow you while you do that. Did you have any reservations about being followed?
AB: Absolutely. Our job is to keep people safe or make people safe and keep our personnel safe. We do that very well, and when you bring in somebody from the outside that isn’t part of the team and that zone of safety that we have created, how do you deal with that and how do you bring them in so that they’re safe? We had huge reservations but they were alleviated when we looked the guys and started to work with them. We provided a great deal of training as well, so they knew when we needed to zag, they needed to zig and vice versa, to make sure they were in the right spot but also the safe spot. As a fire chief and a director here, in the beginning, it was interesting to see how to film this, while keeping in mind that you’re coming into someone’s life that is maybe the worst time in their life. The crews were spectacular.

Lieutenant Gabriella Sundstrom: At first, I thought it might be interesting to see how it went and then it turned out to be great. The guys had a lot of questions and they learned very quickly how to move with us and work with us.

One thing I noticed going through the biographies of so many of the firefighters involved is that this career goes through generations of families. Gabby, why is that?
GS: It’s kind of a community service. A lot of people want to help their communities somehow, whatever that may be. And I think the other part of it is the fire service has a huge tradition of honour and pride that people take in the service that they do. When you get a taste for that, it’s really hard to do anything else.

AB: When you have family members that he been involved in it, you’re very interested. My son, from the age of four, has been interested. I was intrigued as a younger person as well from my father who was in the military but had done some firefighting with that. It’s a huge community, a huge family, that you are part of. You actually have two families to turn to and they become intertwined and intermingled quickly. My son is a firefighter now and my daughter is interested in it. A lot of the people we have, they’ve gotten the bug from a family member.

What’s the bug? Is it to help people? Is it the adrenaline rush?
AB: I think it’s a combination of many things. I think a big part of it is to give back, as Gabby said, to your community. You want to help people. There is a great adrenaline rush. I remember my first call and the rush. Even now when a call comes in, it’s still there. But when you get it, you can’t get rid of it.

I live in Toronto, where fire hydrants are plentiful. Where you’re fighting fires, there just aren’t. What kind of logistical nightmare does that pose?
AB: That’s one of the things that, for me, made the show special. You look at the size of our area—22,000 square kilometres—and we don’t have any of those water supply areas in our rural spot. We have to bring it by truck. We have to find, once we empty that truck, where to refill. We have to strategically locate those areas. In Alberta, there are two seasons, winter and construction, and in winter there’s five feet of ice you have to cut through. We have to overcome that and it’s a huge struggle. We have very large water tankers and we are also locating tanks that we have put in the ground and insulated so we have water stored so we can go and take water out of those tanks.

What do you want viewers to come away with when they watch Hellfire Heroes?
GS: I hope they walk away with a better understanding of all the things that we do and the pride that we take in providing the best services that we can to people. And, when you see those flashing lights, pull over and let us get past you.

AB: I want them to see what we really do. I want them to see the size of our area but I want them to look at the whole service in general across Canada and say, ‘Is there a place that I can go and volunteer and get involved in this?’ Our volunteer membership across Canada is decreasing. My hope is to bring an awareness of what you can do and how to do it so that people can come forward and say, ‘I’d like to try that.’ You don’t know if you like it until you try it, so we’re more than willing to accept anybody that wants to try.

Hellfire Heroes airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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