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Featured, Saving Hope

Charlie lands a new gal pal on Saving Hope

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I’ve had a couple of readers comment they don’t like the up and down between Alex and Charlie during this final season of Saving Hope. They’ve commented about Alex smooching with Manny and how Charlie is being left in the cold. Well, Charlie gets his smooch on this Sunday courtesy of guest star Kristen Lehman, who plays someone from Charlie’s past. She’s not the only guest on Sunday: What Would Sal Do? co-star Jennifer Dale drops by in a memorable role as Martha, Alex’s mother.

Here’s what CTV says about Sunday’s episode “Doctor Robot,” written by Adriana Maggs and directed by James Genn:

When Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance) gets a call that her alarm is going off, she arrives home to an unexpected surprise. Then, with one of the participants in her cancer trial with Dr. Maggie Lin (Julia Taylor Ross) not responding to medication, Alex and Maggie are forced to turn to Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks), the newly-appointed Chief of Surgery, for his opinion when they can’t agree on a method of treatment. Meanwhile, Dr. Zach Miller (Benjamin Ayres) is reluctantly transitioning the E.R. to an Urgent Care facility, until a patient who challenges societal conventions persuades Zach not to settle for second best. 

And, as always, a few more hints from us.

We love Jennifer Dale
If you haven’t seen her in CraveTV’s hilarious What Would Sal Do?, check her out there before Saving Hope on Sunday. She makes an immediate impact on Alex’s life in a surprising and funny way—she has opinions about Charlie—before things get very serious.

Cassie and Dev are having troubles
He wanted to keep things casual between them, but now that’s he’s gotten his way he’s not happy with that either. Dev needs to seriously make up his mind. Meanwhile, Thomas has got big plans for Cassie, but is she interested?

A patient makes an impact on Charlie
A man who is acting very unlike himself causes Charlie to rethink his decisions of late.

Saving Hope airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of CTV.

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Dark Matter, Featured, Killjoys, Wynonna Earp

Comments and queries for the week of April 14

All I can say is, thank heavens for my DVR. There’s simply no way I can spend three hours in front of my TV every Friday night [watching Dark Matter, Killjoys and Wynonna Earp], no matter how much I might want to. —DMK

I am about to quit watching [Saving Hope]. They keep taking Alex and Charlie apart and she is with everybody; it’s hard to follow it when it’s so up and down. Now she’s kissing another doctor and she pretty much wants nothing to do with Charlie and doesn’t seem to care if their son sees him. Unfortunately, I would say this is the worst season, totally disappointed. I think I will actually glad that it will come to an end. —Tandy

I can’t believe what I just saw in the last five minutes [of Murdoch Mysteries‘ season finale]. I love the show, but I think I’m going into a depression. I enjoyed the fact that the feathers were ruffled and everything is not dandy. However, I think the writers pushed it just a little too far with the five cliffhangers; three or four would have sufficed. I hope the next episode will be released soon because I don’t know how long I can go without sleep. I sincerely hope Julia survives as well as Crabtree and Brackenreid. It would be a shame if such an inspirational woman character was to be killed off. P.S.: I want to congratulate the actors who have done an excellent job this season and thank them for their hard work. William and Julia are great inspirations in character, thought, intelligence, morals and opinion. —EVS

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

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Featured, Masterchef Canada

MasterChef Canada scrambles one home cook with egg challenge

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More than a few of you were shocked by the end of last week’s episode of MasterChef Canada when Thea and Mai’s well-meaning coaching of Justine and Matt lead to both of the strong home cooks to be eliminated. But, Justine and Matt and Alice did have the opportunity to return to the kitchen, as producers presented those two with one slot in the competition.

Whether you think it’s fair that someone cut from a competition show is certainly up for debate—I personally don’t—it certainly makes for some good TV when those still in it see someone coming back. That was the case for the Top 6, who were gobsmacked when Alice returned. For those who missed it, Justine, Matt and Alice fought for a spot back on the show in Redemption, an online exclusive judged by Claudio Aprile. Alice outlasted the other two—head online to see what happened to Matt—and was back in the action.

However, “Egg Showdown,” wasn’t a love-in, as the Top 7 donned black aprons and were informed no one was safe from elimination this week. Again, mad props to MasterChef‘s producers, who have amped up the challenges and made it tough for the cooks to advance this year. Thursday’s instalment tasked everyone with escalating tests involving the most basic of ingredients: the egg. Cooks would win a Pressure Test and be sent up to the gallery with the final pair fighting to stay on the show.

First up was a Scotch egg, that hard-boiled, sausage and breading encased mouthful, purportedly eaten in pubs. Making the job even tougher? Just one egg was given to each cook, meaning it had to be perfect. I think Thea’s hands were seizing up because of the ice water bath her egg was sitting in, but I’m no expert. Regardless, she got her egg done and fried alongside her competitors. Barrie, who said he’d never prepared a hard-boiled egg before, produced the best Scotch egg and was whisked to safety along with Aaron and Thea.

The next test? Eggs Benedict. Hollandaise sauce can be a killer, though Miranda thought she had it nailed down. Of course, the most confident person had issues and Miranda’s Hollandaise started to split. Still, she got it done and her plate looked good. What about taste? Undercooked bacon and broken sauce threatened to send Miranda home. An overcooked yolk sent Alice into the final test with Miranda while Trevor and Mai were safe.

The two home cooks faced off to create a cheese soufflé, with just 30 minutes to do it. Miranda made all the right moves, getting firm peaks on her egg white and getting them in the oven on time. Alice contaminated her whites with some yolk and they refused to whip. Stunningly, and showing an incredible amount of class, Miranda helped Alice get her soufflé’s in the oven. Miranda could have stood back and watched Alice fall, but instead, she came to her aid. Miranda prepared three, so took the best-looking soufflé up for tasting and it wowed the judges, earning the chance to move on. For Alice, it was the end of the road, but she almost made it with help from Miranda.

Do you think Miranda should have helped Alice complete her dish? Let me know in the comments below.

MasterChef Canada airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Featured

CBC’s anthology web series Save Me is instantly bingeworthy

It’s easy to tell when a television network is truly behind one of their projects. Clearly, CBC is fully supporting Save Me. How could I tell? A half-day of interviews for show creator, writer and director Fab Filippo and producer Lisa Baylin, and a Facebook Live session for the duo plus actors Amy Matysio, Emma Hunter and Suresh John, who co-star in some of the show’s 10 episodes.

Save Me is a web series, but it’s getting the same attention from the network Still Standing or Baroness Von Sketch Show would. There’s a reason: Save Me is damned good.

Now available on CBC’s website, Save Me follows Toronto EMT Goldie (Filippo) and his assorted partners (Matysio and John are two), as they arrive on the scene of 911 calls. The twist? The paramedics are the through line connecting the people making an emergency call rather than being the focus. That’s not to say we don’t get some back story into Goldie and his fellow EMTs lives—we do—but they’re not the focus.

“Lisa called me and said, ‘Do you have anything?'” Filippo recalls during a chat at CBC’s Toronto headquarters. “It wasn’t on HBO yet, but I had been watching High Maintenance and it had the structure of it wasn’t about the pot dealer, it was about the people who bought the pot. I loved that structure because it was an anthology but had the groundedness of wanting to tune in and see the same person every week.” The former Being Erica and Billable Hours actor has a friend—nicknamed Meeps—who is an EMT and Filippo thought that career could fit into a structure like High Maintenance. Baylin agreed. Filippo went on a ridealong with Meeps, made some notes, and bounced ideas around with Baylin. A year and half later and Save Me is online.

A shot from Episode 3 of Save Me, “Possible Anaphylaxis.”

“We produce a variety of shows and are known as trailblazers because we’re always testing different models in the digital space,” Baylin, vice-president of content and production for iThentic, says. “I really wanted to do an anthology series and was looking for the right story. When Fab mentioned the paramedics, we thought it had a very natural feel for an anthology show. We could have these great emergencies and opportunities to stunt cast.” Baylin describes fleshing out the stories of people from all walks of life across Toronto, crafting the characters and approaching actors to participate in one or two shoot days for a four to 10-minute episode.

Save Me‘s guest cast is a 46-person who’s who from the television and theatre world. Brent Carver, Michael Healey, Paul Braunstein, Jean Yoon, Sonja Smits, John Bourgeois, Tony Nappo, Mayko Nguyen and Sugith Varughese are just a sampling of the talent who drop by to play instantly memorable characters. A sample: Emma Hunter portrays Cora, a woman in Episode 1, “H.B.D.,” who grows increasing drunk at a birthday brunch and then suffers a grievously hilarious injury. But for every funny moment—and there are many like “Possible Anaphylaxis”—Save Me offers thoughtfulness and hope too; scenes between Goldie and Kevlar (Matysio) are downright romantic.

“The biggest challenge was the time constraint,” Filippo says. “Mixing the genres wasn’t tough for me because that’s what I love the stuff that’s dark and makes me laugh. I was studying short form content because I didn’t want this to be a slice of life where it ends and you don’t get resolution. I wanted to build each moment so, at the end, you went, ‘OK, I just watched a story.'”

Season 1 of Save Me is available on CBC’s website.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Featured, Web series

Web series Forgotten Corpses takes a bite out of the zombie genre

At first glance, one would assume Canadian web series Forgotten Corpses is just another addition to the zombie genre. And, in some ways, it is. In the pilot episode, there is a farmhouse, a lot of mist, a guy and girl walking quietly, speaking in hushed tones … and then doing battle with a gaggle of undead brain-eaters.

But where shows like The Walking Dead and Z Nation are showing signs of serious wear, Forgotten Corpses sets itself apart not only for how professional it looks but the scope of the series. Don’t believe me? Watch the pilot episode below. These folks have lofty plans for their web series and seem to be on the right track. Their supporters are certainly insatiable: they blew past their Kickstarter goal and are plotting the filming of 13 episodes this summer.

“Caine Chow filmed the pilot episode and is the only original person to come over to the web series,” says writer Whitney Kitchur. “Everyone else is new.” Megan Laursen, who played a zombie in the pilot, has joined Chow as a producer and director on Forgotten Corpses. The duo had writers lined up by last December, including Kitchur, story editor Candice Wong, executive story editor Brandon Laraby and writers Michael Lake and Jessica Peng.

Forgotten Corpses focuses on Joyce (Lee Lawson) and James (Greg Willmot), two strangers who meet after the zombie apocalypse. They’re together, but only because they need to be. James is timid and not ready to fight anyone, let alone a zombie. James hasn’t adapted to the post-apocalyptic world yet. Joyce, however, is ready to kick some butt. In the world of Forgotten Corpses, we already know you take the undead down by a headshot and Joyce does it with aplomb.

“There are some twists that I can’t reveal,” Kitchur says of upcoming scripts in the 13-part web project. “But one of the biggest differences between this and other zombie shows is that we’ve taken modern science [into consideration]. There are some recent scientific developments and testing that will really scare people.” The other angle being explored? The mental health of folks ranging around a world inhabited by zombies. Season 1 will focus on the characters’ mental health and how they’re dealing, or not dealing, with this situation.

“We thought that eight-minute episodes were perfect,” Kitchur says. “We didn’t want to have a lot of filler story. We wanted to really focus on these two characters because we think that character-driven story is a lot better in this sort of situation.” Joyce and James will encounter other survivors during their Season 1 cross-country travels. Episode 1 begins with a survivor radio broadcast that launches the pair’s journey. Forgotten Corpses really is a guerilla project surviving on a shared love with everyone involved. Kitchur says almost everyone is currently a student, has a daytime job or a family; story breaking and writing was done after work hours or on weekends.

Next steps for Forgotten Corpses is a table read on April 15 with filming in May and release date on—fittingly—Halloween. A second season is also in the cards.

You can find out more details about Forgotten Corpses on their website.

Check out the pilot episode of Forgotten Corpses!

 

 

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