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.
Amazing Race Canada, Featured, Podcast, Sunnyside

Comments and queries for the week of October 2

TV Eh B Cs Podcast: The Many Realities of Mike Bickerton

A good listen! I knew Kristen’s leg cramps on TAR Canada and all the penalties must have freaked out the producers!

Also knew it was too cold for a Survivor Canada, it’d be hard to tell whose who under all the winter clothes, see teams from a distance in the snow and they could find the Hidden Immunity Idols by just following the crew member’s footprints. —DanAmazing

Smart and silly Sunnyside returns to City

So happy this got a continuation. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s new episode! —Iris

Up in Arms a gem of a documentary

This is such a divisive issue. I grew up in rural Saskatchewan where guns are everywhere. My father probably at one time had a dozen guns around the farm and he used them often for shooting various pests, particularly skunks which often carried rabies or coyotes which went after livestock. My husband has guns, is an avid hunter (like most men around here) and also shoots a lot of skunks which wander into the village. Guns are just a way of life around here, it always has been. And people in Northwest Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta absolutely hated the gun registry because it costed law-abiding gun owners a lot of time and money and inconvenience. There are also of people in Saskatchewan who would support the NDP because Saskatchewan is more socialist in culture (this is where the NDP has their roots, recall) but because people here are afraid the NDP will bring back gun registries or something related, they won’t vote for them. —Ally Oop

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Greg@tv-eh.com or @tv_eh.

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Industry News, Mohawk Girls, Strange Empire, Sunnyside, X Company, Young Drunk Punk

WCG podcasts: Writers Talking TV

From the Writers Guild of Canada:

Writers Talking TV
Our screenwriting-focussed podcasts are recorded at WGC events in front of live audiences and are moderated by WGC members. The podcasts offer an opportunity to learn about the art and craft of screenwriting, as WGC screenwriters discuss their work.

To listen, click on the link and your player should automatically launch. To download the file to your Windows computer, right click on the link and click on the “save target as” option. Then browse to the location where you want to save the file and click save. Each file is between 20 MB and 40 MB in size. Continue to the podcasts.

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Rookie Blue

Link: Rookie Blue’s Travis Milne brings Saving Hope to the dark side

From Christy Spratlin of The TV Junkies:

Rookie Blue’s Travis Milne brings Saving Hope to the dark side
“I don’t want to spoil anything, but I’m excited for you to see what happens. There are some doubts though for sure. There is a lot of charisma to Tom that I find very interesting. I always like to bring a little bit of myself into all of the characters that I play in order to make them more authentic, and I feel like I did that with Tom. I loved being on Rookie Blue, loved it. I did that for seven years, but it was nice to play something a little different. It was like I stepped into another uniform. From a cop to a convict. From blue to orange. Hopefully next I’ll do a stint as a firefighter and then I’ll do some doctor show and that’ll be that for the next 10 years.” Continue reading.

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Forgive Me, Industry News

Season 2 of Forgive Me scheduled for Super Channel

From a media release:

Super Channel, Canada’s only national English pay television network, is pleased to announce that the Super Channel original series,Forgive Me, from writer and director Thom Fitzgerald, will return for a second season on Sunday, October 11 at 8 p.m. ET (SC1) and will also be available on Super Channel On Demand the following day.

Forgive Me is an emotionally powerful dramatic series that breaks the seal of the Catholic confessional. It follows a young priest straining under the ever-growing weight of his congregants’ confessions while trying to protect a secret of his own that could put his calling in peril.

Season one was nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards including Best Writing in a Dramatic Series by Thom Fitzgerald; Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series by Mike McLeod, Best Supporting Actor by Hugh Thompson; Best Supporting Actress by Jane Alexander; and Best Performance in a Guest Role by Brenda Fricker. The series also received an impressive six ACTRA Award nominations, with Mike McLeod winning for Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role in a drama series, and Jane Alexander and John Dunsworth receiving wins for Outstanding Performance – Female and Outstanding Performance – Male, respectively.

Halifax based rising star, Mike McLeod, reprises his award winning role as the Priest in the 12 episode second season of Forgive Me. Returning cast from the first season also includes acting legend and Oscar® winner Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias) as the Priest’s grandmother; ACTRA Award nominee and Gemini winner, Hugh Thompson (Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111) as Smith-O’Leary; Gemini and ACTRA Award winner, John Dunsworth (Trailer Park Boys) as the Prelate, Jeremy Akerman (Hobo With A Shotgun) as Father Gene, Rob Joseph Leonard (Sex and Violence) as Father Phil, and Lauren Liem (Sex & Violence) as Noelle.

Season two also sees seven-time Emmy® winner Ed Asner (Up), multiple Gemini Award winner Wendy Crewson (Slasher, Saving Grace) and Daniel Fanaberia (Sex & Violence) join the cast in supporting roles. Also making a returning guest appearance is Oscar®winner Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot) in her role as Mrs. Smith.

In season two, the Priest hears confessions from a fallen politician (Wendy Crewson), a reluctant soldier (Daniel Fanaberia), and a parishioner recovering from abuse (Hugh Thompson). The Priest’s personal life with his secret love child is threatening his position in the church, making him vulnerable to punishment from the Bishop (Ed Asner). The first episode finds the young Priest (McLeod) facing his toughest challenge yet. Beset with visions and dreams of martyrs and spectres, the Priest has to choose between medical treatments to try to save his life, or embrace his ghostly visions as visitations from the saints.

Forgive Me is produced by Doug Pettigrew and Thom Fitzgerald of Halifax-based Emotion Pictures, in association with Super Channel, with the participation of the Canadian Media Fund.

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Industry News, Orphan Black

Marblemedia reveals primetime slate for MIPCOM

From a media release:

Award-winning content creation company marblemedia, will premiere three new development titles at MIPCOM from the company’s Primetime Scripted division, which launched last year. The projects come from their highly publicized partnerships with Cirque du Soleil Média and OutEast Entertainment and features prominent television writers Karen Walton, Jennifer Kennedy and Ian MacDonald.

marblemedia will unveil a new 13×60’ sci-fantasy thriller called Alchemy, created by the award-winning producer and writer Karen Walton (Orphan Black, Ginger Snaps). The series is the first project in marblemedia’s venture with Cirque du Soleil Média, which will see the two develop a slate of shows together. Alchemy is currently in development withShowcase (Shaw Media) and will be executive produced by Matt Hornburg, Mark J.W. Bishop and Jacques Méthé.

marblemedia is also bringing the much anticipated Thank You, Ashley Madison, written by Jennifer Kennedy (Justified) and Ian MacDonald (Punched Up). Produced alongside LA-based company OutEast Entertainment, the series centres around a mother of two who goes on a deep personal journey when she casts aside her conventional morality to start an adultery website to avoid financial ruin. The series will be executive produced by Matt Hornburg, Mark J.W. Bishop, Steven Marrs (Rogue) and Courtney Hazlett.

Lastly, marblemedia has acquired the rights to author Edeet Ravel’s riveting novel Held. The book, which was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award, centres around a woman named Chloe who is kidnapped during her vacation and placed in total isolation for several days before coming face to face with her abductor for whom she develops deep feelings.

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