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.
Industry News

CBC transports a Canadian family though six decades in Back in Time for Dinner

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From a media release:

CBC, 3Bird Media and Entertainment One (eOne) today announced a new factual entertainment series, BACK IN TIME FOR DINNER (6×60), premiering Thursday, June 14 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC. Hosted by Carlo Rota (Great Canadian Food Show, Little Mosque on the Prairie, 24) and based on the hit Warner Bros. format of the same name, this social experiment takes one Canadian family on a whirlwind trip back in time as they eat their way through six decades of Canadian life.

Over the course of the series, the Campus family – five food-loving, busy middle-class suburbanites – will surrender their modern diets and lifestyle to go back in time. Starting in the 1940s and landing in the 1990s, their home will become a virtual time machine as it is transformed into a new decade each week. With a weekly guide presented to the family by host Carlo Rota, the Campuses will cook and eat their way through the experiment, experiencing first-hand changing family dynamics, gender roles and diets, as influenced by the social, technological and economic realities of each decade.

In some episodes, the Campus family will be joined by a special celebrity guest who can shed light on some of the trends from the decades they’re reliving and reflect on iconic moments of that time. Guests include Sharon Hampson and Bram Morrison of Canadian music trio Sharon, Lois and Bram; renowned Hockey Night In Canada host Ron MacLean; fitness duo Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod of Body Break; and television personality, fashion editor and author Jeanne Beker.

Chowing down solely on the food of the era, the family will cook and eat their way through Canada’s past. What the family eats — who prepares it, where it comes from, where it’s stored, what foodstuffs are available — will act as a prism, bringing into focus how world events translated onto the dinner plates of everyday Canadians. From frozen dinners to elaborate desserts, every meal will tell a story.

Active and outgoing, the Mississauga, Ontario-based Campus family is used to non-stop action. Busy, multitasking mom Tristan leads the pack, working as a nurse and using her organizational skills and wit to keep everyone in line. Dad Aaron is the family’s calming influence, with an affable, laid back attitude. All three of the Campus kids have busy schedules of their own: Eldest daughter, 18-year-old Valerie, loves music and has a talent for sports, particularly softball and field hockey; 17-year-old Jessica shares her sister’s passion for music, but is also a voracious reader and loves the arts: and 15-year-old son Robert is a hockey nut with a heart of gold, finding time to help everyone in the neighbourhood with anything they need.

A CBC original series, BACK IN TIME FOR DINNER is produced by 3Bird Media and eOne with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. Executive producers are Jennifer Twamley and Andrika Lawren for 3Bird Media and Jocelyn Hamilton and Vibika Bianchi for eOne.

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Industry News

Thunderbird to bring Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves to television

From a media release:

Thunderbird Entertainment announced today that they have optioned Cherie Dimaline’s award-winning novel, The Marrow Thieves. The book, which won The Governor General’s Literary Award for Young People’s Literature – Text and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers last year, will be adapted as a limited series for television.

The Marrow Thieves takes place in a not-too-distant future after humanity has nearly destroyed the world through global warming. An even greater evil lurks: the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost— the ability to dream. In this dark world, sixteen-year-old Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden — but what they don’t know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves. Despite the bleak future depicted in The Marrow Thieves, it resonates with a message of hope, loyalty and belonging.

“We were thrilled when Thunderbird expressed interest in The Marrow Thieves, but our thrill quickly gave way to the genuine enthusiasm and excitement Alex Raffé brought to our discussions. We could not imagine a better home for the book’s characters and story,” said Marc Côté, publisher of Cormorant Books.

The best-selling book was a CBC Canada Reads selection, has spent eleven weeks on the Globe and Mail bestseller list reaching #1, received starred reviews from Quill & Quire, Kirkus, School Library Journal, and Booklist. The Marrow Thieves was one of the Globe and Mail 100 Best Books of 2017 and is currently shortlisted for the White Pine Award. It was named one of the top ten books by the Ontario Library Association and was named an Honour Book by the American Indian Library Association.

“Because The Marrow Thieves has become an important work for the Indigenous community, it was essential to find a team who could bring this story to life with a commitment to honour its messages and worldview. Thunderbird has made such a commitment and I am happy to be working with them as this project comes to life and gains an even larger audience,” said author Cherie Dimaline.

Linda Saint of The Saint Agency arranged the deal with Thunderbird’s Senior Vice-President Scripted Production Alex Raffé.

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Canada's Smartest Person

CBC kicks off search for Canada’s Smartest Person Junior

From a media release:

The search is on for CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON JUNIOR (6×60), a new CBC competition series that will be taped in front of a studio audience at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre and premiere this fall. Based on the hit format Canada’s Smartest Person and produced by award-winning Media Headquarters, this competition will crown one amazing young Canadian with the first ever title of Canada’s Smartest Person Junior. Canadian kids aged 8 to 12 can apply now at cbc.ca/smartestpersonjunior until June 30.

Like the grownup edition, CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON JUNIOR is inspired by The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Over six weeks, 12 remarkable kids will showcase their smarts in fun and spectacular challenges across six categories: physical, musical, social, linguistic, logical, and visual smarts. In this entertaining and action-packed series, the young competitors will battle for the coveted title of Canada’s Smartest Person Junior with the whole country cheering them on. Applications are now open to kids who excel in diverse fields such as: dancing; gaming; snowboarding; doing puzzles; playing music; debating; creating science fair projects; raising horses; making movies; or telling jokes; because, after all, intelligence comes in all shapes and sizes.

In a twist on the original format, audiences will see the same cast of incredible kids week-to-week. Those competitors with the strongest performances each week will advance to the next episode, while the others will be up for elimination. In the season finale, the top six finalists will go head-to-head one final time. The competition will culminate in a heart-stopping showdown between the top two combatants in the world’s most intense intelligence obstacle course, the Super Gauntlet, for the chance to be named Canada’s Smartest Person Junior.

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Awards, Featured

Spiral, Anne, Letterkenny and Cardinal top 22nd Annual WGC Screenwriting Awards

Writers for Spiral, Anne, Letterkenny and Cardinal were among the winners at the 22nd Annual Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Awards in Toronto on Monday night.

The event, held at the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning’s Koerner Hall, celebrated the country’s screenwriting talent in television, web series and film. Spiral writer Karen McClellan (pictured above) won in the Shorts & Webseries category for her script “The Girl in the Dream.”

“Writers don’t get here on their own,” McClellan said. “I want to say a special shout-out to some writers who have taken a chance on me in the past: Susin Nielsen, Shelley Eriksen, Bruce Smith and a dear friend who is not here tonight but always in my heart, Denis McGrath.”

Letterkenny‘s Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney won the TV Comedy category for their Season 2 script, “Relationships,” while Cardinal‘s Aubrey Nealon took home the TV Drama trophy for the Season 1 episode, “John Cardinal.”

Gavin Crawford, comedian, writer and host of CBC Radio’s Because News hosted, starting the night off with a surprise appearance by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne a.k.a. Crawford. As Wynne, Crawford extolled the virtues of Canadian television and film writers while taking a jab at recent adaptations of Anne of Green Gables and Alias Grace.

“I’m particularly excited about Kale & Prune, a six-hour CBC miniseries adapted from a Margaret Atwood’s Whole Foods receipt,” he joked.

Alison Lea Bingeman, Marsha Greene, Rachel Langer, Joseph Kay, Cynthia Knight, Adriana Maggs, Elize Morgan, Jiro Okada and Sugith Varughese presented the night’s categories.

Mark Ellis was the recipient of The Denis McGrath Award for his service to the Writers Guild of Canada, Michael MacLennan was given The WGC Showrunner Award, Sarah Dodd the Sondra Kelly Award and Sherry White the Alex Barris Mentorship Award. WGC president Jill Golick, whose term has ended after eight years, had the final say of the night with an impassioned plea to the group’s members.

“Stories are the best way to change hearts and minds,” Golick said. “Keep writing my friends. Keep finding ways to bring truth to light. ”

The category winners are:

Shorts & Webseries
Spiral, Episode 101 “The Girl in the Dream,” written by Karen McClellan

Children’s
Mysticons, Season 1 “Sisters in Arms,” written by Sean Jara

Movie of the Week & Miniseries
Alias Grace, written by Sarah Polley

Best Script from Season 1
Anne, Season 1 “I Am No Bird, And No Net Ensnares Me,” written by Moira Walley-Beckett

TV Comedy
Letterkenny, Season 2 “Relationships,” written by Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney

TV Drama
Cardinal, Season 1 “John Cardinal,” written by Aubrey Nealon

Tweens & Teens
The Stanley Dynamic, Season 2 “The Stanley Cheer,” written by Matt Kippen

Feature Film
Entanglement, written by Jason Filiatrault

Documentary
The Hundred-Year-Old Whale, written by Mark Leiren-Young

 

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