Everything about Bad Blood, eh?

Preview: CBC’s Wild Cards is a primetime delight

Watching the first episode of Wild Cards, I was immediately reminded of Private Eyes. Criminally cancelled too soon, the Jason Priestley/Cindy Sampson series had the same spunk and heart Wild Cards has. Turns out that makes sense, as many of the behind-the-scenes folks involved worked on Private Eyes too.

Debuting Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem, Wild Cards is charming, light and full of fun. Created by Michael Konyves (Bad Blood) Wild Cards features demoted big-city detective Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti, Murdoch Mysteries), who is paired with clever con woman Max Mitchell (Vanessa Morgan, Degrassi, Saving Hope), to solve crimes.

With a whos-who of producers in Private Eyes‘ James Genn, Shawn Piller, Lloyd Segan and writers Alexandra Zarowny, James Thorpe—and Wynonna Earp‘s Noelle Carbone and Coroner‘s Morwyn Brebner—there is plenty to like writing-wise. And the casting and lead cast chemistry is spot-on.

When we first meet Max, she’s plotting to rob a rich woman of her fortune. Caught by the police, Max is hauled into the police station for questioning by Cole, who was called in from harbour duty—the bulk of his days are filled giving tickets to wayward boaters—when the third in a string of high-profile thefts take place. With all hands on deck to solve the crimes, Cole is relegated to handling Max. Overhearing the police chief (Terry Chen) describe the circumstances of the latest heist, Max divulges to Cole what she thinks the thief will do next. She’s right, and the City Commissioner teams the two up. Solve the case, and Cole is back on the beat he wants and Max gets probation. Win-win, right?

While Cole is by the book, Max’s unique set of skills is key to capturing the baddie. I wasn’t even halfway through Wednesday’s pilot, “The Infinity Thief,” and was already enjoying the back-and-forth repartee between Gianniotti and Morgan. Morgan’s Max is sassy and smart, going over the top with clothing, accents and charm to gather intel while Cole tries to keep up.

I won’t ruin the ending of the episode, but the storyline does involve twins, priceless art and one of many appearances by the aforementioned Jason Priestley, who checks in as Max’s dad, George. This new series is wild, and I’m loving it.

Wild Cards airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Comments and queries for the week of June 14

[Bad Blood] should have a show with a female mobster and use Teresa. [Anna Hopkins] is great in the role. —Paul


It is great to see John Catucci back on TV. He has a great handle on good eats and puts it across in a way that we all can enjoy. —Ian 


Not hearing even a hint of one of the Newfoundland and Labrador accents [on Hudson & Rex] was very surprising. I suspect too many broad accents would create a limited audience but none at all seems strange given there is some emphasis on the fact that the story takes place in St. John’s. —Victoria

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

New Metric Media bolsters original slate with three development deals from critically-acclaimed authors

From a media release:

New Metric Media, the independent production company behind Hulu’s hit series “Letterkenny” and the popular Netflix series “Bad Blood”, has optioned the rights for multiple projects from three renowned authors including bestselling Criminologist Dr. Michael Arntfield (“Murder City: The Untold History of Canada’s Capital of Serial Homicide”), veteran author and Toronto Star’s lead investigative reporter for organized crime Peter Edwards and popular online personality Anne T. Donahue, announced today by Mark Montefiore, President, New Metric Media.

Based on the book by best-selling true-crime author Dr. Michael Arntfield, “Monster City” divulges the true account of the serial killers who terrorized Nashville’s music scene for over three decades in recent history — and the cold-case Murder Squad determined to bring an end to the sadistic killing sprees of ‘The Motel Killer’, ‘The Fast Food Killer’ and ‘The Rest Stop Killer’ among others. An industry-leading consultant on crime trends and emerging forensic methodologies, Arntfield is attached to consult on the project. Monster City is published by Little A, the literary fiction and nonfiction imprint of Amazon Publishing.

New Metric Media is extending its partnership with Peter Edwards, currently serving as an Executive Producer on the hit TV series “Bad Blood” which is based on one of his books. The indie prod-co will develop multiple television series to create the “Peter Edwards Universe”, based on optioning the rights to a selection of his novels. Some of his most notable books under the deal include “Unrepentant: The Strange and (Sometimes) Terrible Life of Lorne Campbell, Satan’s Choice and Hells Angels Biker” and “The Bandido Massacre: A True Story of Bikers, Brotherhood, and Betrayal”, both of which were national bestsellers as well as upcoming titles such as “The Wolfpack” to be published by Penguin Random House this year.

 “Nobody Cares” is a frank, funny personal essay collection by the author of popular newsletter ‘That’s What She Said’ Anne T. Donahue.  The prolific and raw memoir about work, failure, friendship, and the messy business of being alive in your twenties and thirties also deftly tackles the subject of mental health. As she shares her hard-won insights from screwing up, growing up, and trying to find her own path, Anne’s essays offer all the honesty, laughs, and reassurance of a late-night phone call with your best friend. Donahue is attached in the adaptation.  “Nobody Cares” is published by ECW Press.

 Michael Arntfield is repped by Sohrab Merchant at The Characters, Grace Freedson at Grace Freedson’s Publishing Network and Danny Webber at Hall Webber LLP. Peter Edwards is repped by Juliet Forrester from Top Left Entertainment and Premier Artists’ Management. Anne T. Donahue is repped by Addison Duffy at UTA and Carly Watters at PS Literary.

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Link: Meet the Rizzuto Family, the subject of Netflix’s Bad Blood

From Madison Medeiros of Refinery29:

Link: Meet the Rizzuto Family, the subject of Netflix’s Bad Blood
Crime lovers, rejoice. If you’ve caught up on Narcos: Mexico and are itching for more organized-crime stories, Netflix has the cure for you in its latest series, Bad Blood. The show, which originally aired on City TV in Canada, loosely tells the true story of a Montreal mafia led by infamous gangster, Vito Rizzuto. Continue reading. Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Link: Citytv’s Bad Blood is about to go global

From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

Link: Citytv’s Bad Blood is about to go global
Canadian actor Kim Coates was talking recently to his friend, the visionary bad-boy American writer and producer Kurt Sutter.

Sutter had cast Coates in his defining role as enforcer Tig Trager in FX’s violent, genre-defining biker drama Sons of Anarchy. But what the producer really wanted to know was when he would be able to see Coates’ well-regarded Canadian Mafia-themed show, Citytv’s Bad Blood. Continue reading.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail