Very, very sad that [Saving Hope] is ending. A completely original concept for a medical show, the actors were all amazing and best one of all is it was UNPREDICTABLE! So many shows now are not original and highly predictable, boring story lines and drab and boring. To lose this show is really disappointing, but I guess it was too “intellectual†to the general audience. They didn’t “get itâ€! Anyway, I wish all the actors have wonderful lives; all great and good things don’t last, unfortunately! Going to miss you, Hope Zion. —Patricia
I really like reno shows but I’m losing interest in [Home to Win]. The contractors act like 12-year-olds and the designers wear jeans so tight they can hardly walk!! If that’s how they work on a real job I’d fire them all. Grow up. —Stan
Very captivated by [Anne]. So well shot, written, acted, etc. I even convinced my family to watch an episode with me and they were hooked from there on in. :) Really hope Season 2 is not far off! —Adria
Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.
After a three-hour marathon that included their fellow competitors and family members watching from the sidelines, Thea and Trevor did battle in a three-course non-stop cook for the ages to win the $100,000 grand prize and title of MasterChef Canada.
By the time the dust steam had settled on Thursday night, Trevor the plumber/gas fitter from Edmonton had emerged victorious. Thea, the insurance broker from Vancouver, came in second place. Things may have been very different if the tamale ball Thea served chef Claudio Aprile hadn’t been raw in the middle, but the devil is in the details and that one ruined her chances of winning. Judges Alvin Leung, Claudio Aprile and Michael Bonacini awarded Trevor the trophy, explaining that his three-course meal presented the best story of the two.
“Winning this has kick-started my food dream,” Trevor told producers after the confetti had fallen. “My life is changing as we speak. Goodbye plumbing, hello cooking!”
“I’m really happy for Trevor,” Thea said in defeat. “I still feel like a winner. This has been the best journey I’ve ever had and nothing is going to stop me from pursuing my food dream right now.”
MasterChef Canada continued to be groundbreaking in its challenges this season by presenting a doozy of a final one: Thea and Trevor had three hours to create an appetizer, entree and dessert and the clock would not stop running. This meant the pair would not only have to stay focussed while cooking but have excellent time-management skills. Thea’s take on Mexican food with street corn panna cotta, pork cheek tamale and orange sponge cake played to her strength of having bold flavours while Trevor’s octopus and chips, lamb two ways and deconstructed chocolate mint ice cream cone showcased his sophistication in taste and plating.
There wasn’t a ton of drama during the hour-long episode—despite producers injecting dramatic music to suggest there was—and it all rightly came down to taste for final judgement from Claudio, Alvin and Michael. A frontrunner from Week 1, the only way Trevor was going to lose was if something catastrophic went wrong with one of his plates. As soon as the trio went off without a hitch his win was sealed.
What did you think of this season of MasterChef Canada? Did the right home cook win? Let me know in the comments below!
It makes total sense for the folks at AMI-tv to follow up their cooking series Four Senses with Eyes for the Job. Aside from cooking, home renovations take up a lot of our time so why not launch a do-it-yourself series?
Debuting Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on AMI-tv, Eyes for the Job is designed for viewers who are blind or low vision by having hosts Chris Judge and Rebekah Higgs describe what they’re doing while it’s being done. That’s evident in Episode 1 as the pair turn an old piano into a showstopper bar and tile the kitchen at Higgs’ home; they give a step-by-step description of exactly what they’re doing as they do it.
Shot and produced in Halifax by Clerisy Entertainment, the 13-episodes spotlight the skills of Higgs—an accomplished singer, songwriter and do-it-yourself mom—and Judge, who was born blind. That didn’t stop him from catching the DIY bug from his father.
“My father wasn’t trained carpenter, but he did it all of his life,” Judge says on the phone from Halifax. “As a kid, I was always getting in his way. I was out in his workshop putting my hands all over everything and asking him more questions than I’m sure he cared to answer.” Judge honed his skills in junior high by taking industrial arts, first embracing woodworking and then, as an adult, turning towards handyman jobs. Judge has always had an uncanny knack for being able to dismantle and rebuild things; he once shocked friends by putting together a barbecue grill just from feel.
Still, there were parts of Eyes for the Job that him pause: painting. As Judge, an assistive technology trainer at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind recalls, he wasn’t sure how a blind person could successfully paint walls to the standard a sighted person could. But with Higgs’ help, he not only learned how to do it but do it well.
Eyes for the Job isn’t just an excellent DIY series for its intended audience, it’s a fantastic renovation series period, something producer Dale Stevens strived for.
“What a great bar to set on this project, if we can make this not only for the audience at AMI but for anybody on any network,” Stevens says on the line from Dartmouth, NS. “I think we’ve created something that—regardless of what visual state you are—you’re going to watch this show and you’re going to like it.”
Eyes for the Job airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET on AMI-tv.
Attention Dark Matter fans! With the June 9 return of the sci-fi adventure on the way, star Anthony Lemke drops by Private Eyes to shake up Angie’s world. Thursday’s newest episode, “Boardwalk Empire,” written by Marcus Robinson and directed by Rob Lieberman, also introduces fans to Zoe Chow (Samantha Wan), who goes from client to employee in the blink of an eye.
Here’s Global’s official episode synopsis:
The tenacious Zoe Chow hires Shade and Angie to find out who has broken into her apartment in the Beach. It looks like their client may be imagining things – until they uncover a real-life conspiracy to tear down Zoe’s eightplex and replace it with a massive condo tower.
And here are some spoiler-free notes we gleaned from watching the episode.
Samantha Wan as Zoe Chow
Zoe makes an impact on Angie and Shade
It’s not so much the case that attracts Angie and Shade to Zoe, but her personality. She’s quick-thinking, exuberant and quirky as all get-out. As stars Cindy Sampson and Jason Priestley told us, hiring Zoe means Angie and Shade can spend more time in the field. We love that. Also, check out Wan in Second Jen, the hilarious comedy series she and Amanda Joy created for City.
The mystery is solved
Remember the envelope Shade found taped to the bottom of Angie’s dad’s desk? It contained a key to a safety deposit box and Angie opens the box before episode’s end. That sends her and Shade’s business in a new direction.
Anthony Lemke slimes it up
Lemke is the big bad in this week’s instalment. We don’t want to give anything else away, except to say Lemke isn’t your typical villain.
A change of scenery
The episode begins with Angie and Shade in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood and that area of the city will play a big part in the rest of Season 2. I’m excited about the opportunities that will give the show going forward.
Private Eyes airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
Jennica Harper is a Vancouver-based TV writer/producer. Recent credits include Season 2 of Cardinal for CTV, the ABC thriller Somewhere Between and the fourth and final season of Motive. Jennica also wrote and produced on the hit kids comedies Some Assembly Required for YTV and Netflix for which she won a WGC Screenwriting Award, and Mr. Young for YTV and Disney XD.
