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.
Featured, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 203 – Renewed, Screwed & Unglued

Greg and Anthony discuss the next couple of weeks of new and returning Canadian TV programming via the March and April calendars before exploring the series that have been renewed, cancelled or are on the bubble for the 2016-17 broadcast season.

(Correction: Greg mentions Schitt’s Creek will be back on CBC in the fall, but he is wrong. Season 3 of SC returns in winter 2017; Mr. D is the comedy airing in the fall.)

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Orphan Black

Link: ‘Orphan Black’ Star Tatiana Maslany Teases Fourth Season’s Clone Conspiracy

From Etan Vlessing of The Hollywood Reporter:

‘Orphan Black’ Star Tatiana Maslany Teases Fourth Season’s Clone Conspiracy
As the face of Orphan Black, Tatiana Maslany has captured high ratings playing a cast of clones, each grappling with personal crises and vulnerabilities.

Ahead of the fourth season debut on April 14, Maslany opened up about how she juggles on set a dozen, and counting, different characters in the popular drama on BBC America and Space in Canada. It’s all about staying in the moment. Continue reading. 

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Blackstone

CBC acquires broadcast rights to Seasons 3-5 of Blackstone

From a media release:

Prairie Dog Film + Television announced today that CBC has acquired the broadcast rights to air seasons three, four, and five of the hit drama, Blackstone. CBC previously broadcast seasons one and two as part of the network’s 2015 National Aboriginal History Month programming. Broadcast and digital platform details for the remaining seasons will be announced at a later date.

Known for its “ripped from the headlines” approach to storytelling, the Blackstoneseries is a fictional yet authentic drama series that explores the raw and real dynamics of family, power and politics on a First Nation reserve. Told through the entertaining and all-too-real storyworld of Blackstone, the series delves into prevalent and present day issues affecting Aboriginal communities, including: the missing and murdered Aboriginal women epidemic in Canada, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, oil and gas exploration on reserves and the devastating effects of the residential schools. While the portrayal can be dark, Blackstone is both the story of a community plagued by corruption, violence and injustice, and the inspiring story of the undying hope and resilience of people fighting for a better life in the midst of adversity.

Blackstone’s award-winning, predominantly Aboriginal cast includes: Carmen Moore, Eric Schweig, Michelle Thrush, Nathaniel Arcand, Steven Cree Molison, Tantoo Cardinal, Andrea Menard, Glen Gould, Justin Rain, Cheri Maracle, Jessica Matten, Ray G. Thunderchild, and Georgina Lightning, with appearance by Jennifer Podemski, Garry Chalk, and John Cassini.

Blackstone is produced by Prairie Dog Film + Television, with Ron E. Scott as Showrunner & Director, Jesse Szymanski as Co-Executive Producer, and Damon Vignale as Writer/Producer. The series currently broadcasts in Canada on APTN, in the United States on Hulu and HuluPlus, in New Zealand on Maori Television, and in Australia on SBS/NITV.  Blackstone has been nominated for 86 awards, including its most recent nomination for Best Dramatic Series in the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Shaw Media greenlights Season 4 of Chopped Canada

From a media release:

Shaw Media has green lit a super special fourth season of Food Network Canada’s hit series Chopped Canada. A country-wide casting call for the high-stakes culinary competition series is underway, searching for amateur chefs to compete in the prestigious Chopped Canada kitchen. Produced by Paperny Entertainment, in association with Shaw Media, Chopped Canada Season 4 includes six Juniors episodes (ages 9-13), five Teens episodes (ages 14-17), and four themed specials featuring grandmothers, firefighters, celebrities, and Chopped Canada judges. Broadcast details for the new season will be announced at a later date.

Chopped Canada is looking for grandmothers who rule their families’ kitchens, firefighters with a fiery passion for cooking, and young chefs between the ages of 9 and 17 who cook like pros. The series will be filmed in Toronto this Spring and all Canadians or permanent residents are welcome to apply. Online applications for Chopped Canada can be filled out by visiting choppedcanadacasting.ca. Deadline for applications is April 11, 2016.

Chopped Canada Season 4 sees Brad Smith return as host alongside the series’ esteemed panel of rotating judges – Mark McEwan (Top Chef Canada), Lynn Crawford (The Great Canadian Cookbook), Michael Smith (Chef Michael’s Kitchen), Susur Lee (Top Chef Masters), Roger Mooking (Man Fire Food), John Higgins (George Brown College), Anne Yarymowich (George Brown College), Antonio Park (Park Restaurant in Montreal), Massimo Capra (Restaurant Makeover), and Eden Grinshpan (Eden Eats).

Winners of the celebrity and Chopped Canada judges specials will each receive $10,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Winners from each of the themed and teens episodes will each be awarded $10,000, and the winners of junior episodes will each receive $5,000. Celebrities and Chopped Canadajudges competing in the new season will be announced at a later date.

In each episode of Chopped Canada, four chefs compete before an all-star rotating panel of three expert judges. Armed with skill and ingenuity, the chef competitors race against the clock to turn the mystery ingredients from their iconic baskets into an extraordinary three-course meal. Course-by-course, the judges decide which competitor host Brad Smith will “chop” from the competition until only the winner remains.

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Featured, Wynonna Earp

Melanie Scrofano gets fired up for Wynonna Earp

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Melanie Scrofano attended a convention once before, but nothing was like her experience this past weekend at WonderCon. The Canadian actress, who has appeared in The Listener, Being Erica, Degrassi: TNG and Pure Pwnage, was blown away by Wynonna Earp‘s passionate fans, especially because the series—based on the comic books created by Beau Smith—hasn’t debuted yet.

“A lot of them are fans of Beau, who is like a god, a lot are fans of [showrunner] Emily [Andras] because of Lost Girl and a lot of them have seen the trailers and are into what they’re seeing,” Scrofano says. Bowing Monday, April 4, on CHCH (Earp debuts Friday, April 1, on Syfy) the project revolves around the great-granddaughter of Wyatt Earp, Wynonna (Scrofano), a smart-talking young woman who returns to the burg of Purgatory, Alberta, on her 27th birthday. There she not only runs into typical small-town attitudes, but learns the family curse she thought was a myth is real: the folks Wyatt has killed are returning to Earth as demons. Armed with great-great-grandad’s gun and impressive fighting skills, Wynonna does battle against those who would prefer to see her dead. But where Wynonna is fast on her feet and great with a gun, Scrofano is, well, not.

“Apparently, I have heavy hands,” she explains. “I’m not very good at not punching people. There is a way to fight on TV so that you stop short. I go right through. The only thing about me doing my own stunts is that someone else is going to get hurt. I did punch my stunt coordinator right in the face. He didn’t love that.” (Stunt performer Holly Raczynski tackled the more physical demands.)

When she’s not returning demons to their rightful place, Wynonna is rebuilding her relationship with sister Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley), and establishing one with Agent Xavier Dolls (Shamier Anderson), who has come to Purgatory to recruit Wynonna for a secret government task force that takes down supernatural baddies. Scrofano says Wynonna and Dolls bond over what they get into over the next 13 episodes, and viewers learn Dolls has a vested interest in making the bad guys go away. Will there be love between Wynonna and Dolls? No comment, says Scrofano.

There certainly appears to be no love lost between Wynonna and her great-great-grandfather’s best friend. Doc Holliday (Tim Rozon) appears in Season 1, but seems to have aligned himself with head demon Bobo Del Rey (Michael Eklund) rather than acquaint himself—and side with—Wynonna.

“I can say that, just like all of us, Doc is neither 100 per cent good nor 100 per cent evil,” Scrofano says carefully. “We’re all just shades of grey and trying to find our way. Doc’s past is really, really complicated. He’s 133 years old and has had some issues. No matter what way he goes, you can’t help but love him.”

Wynonna Earp debuts Monday, April 4, at 9 p.m. ET on CHCH.

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