Everything about Featured, eh?

Blackstone, Dark Matter, Degrassi, Featured, Killjoys, Mr. D, Podcast, Saving Hope, Strange Empire, Sunnyside, X Company

TV, eh? podcast episode 184 – Full of Newsy Goodness

The team is at full strength and covering a lot of breaking news in the Canadian industry, including the cancellation and return of Degrassi, Martin Sheen joining the Anne of Green Gables TV-movie, Corus’ reboot of ReBoot and Season 1 and 2 of Blackstone heading to CBC for the summer.

Also discussed: Saving Hope gets a plum spot on CTV’s fall schedule, X Company and Strange Empire are available to binge-watch on Netflix Canada and Diane and Greg recap Rogers, Shaw and Bell Media’s fall schedules.

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Dark Matter, Featured

Dark Matter launches Canada’s summer of sci-fi

Call it Canada’s summer of sci-fi. That’s certainly how it’s shaping up, with Space’s newbies Dark Matter and Killjoys and Showcase’s returning Defiance all gliding across our screens for the upcoming couple of months.

The first out of the gate is Dark Matter, a space opera created by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie, the duo behind the Stargate franchise. Starring Anthony Lemke (19-2), Roger Cross (Continuum) and Zoie Palmer (Lost Girl), Friday’s debut catches up with a group of people who awaken from a deep sleep to find themselves on a space ship and with no memory of how they got there … or who they are. The idea for Dark Matter first came to Mallozzi back when he and Mullie were deeply entrenched in Stargate: Atlantis; they turned the idea into a graphic novel first before shopping it to networks as a series.

Mollozzi is quick to highlight a feature of Dark Matter that kept him enthralled in projects like Farscape and Firefly: humour.

“There is a lot of dark sci-fi out there that is great,” he explains. “But a lot of fans are missing a fun sci-fi series and there hasn’t been one on a ship-based show for awhile. We set out to make a fun show with a sense of humour while at the same time putting viewers on the edge of their seat every week.”

Space

It doesn’t take long for either of those plot points to appear in Friday’s debut. After awakening from sleep, the crew—One (Marc Bendavid, Bitten), Two (O’Neil, Broadway’s Les Misérables), Three (Lemke), Four (Alex Mallari Jr., Robocop), Five (Jodelle Ferland, The Cabin in the Woods) and Six (Cross)—begin to investigate their surroundings. Three is a sarcastic lover of weaponry who likes to shoot first and ask questions later, a rogue Mallozzi likens to Han Solo, Five is energetic and full of snark and One provides the leadership the squad so badly needs. The ragtag group uncover a seventh individual aboard: the ship’s android (Palmer), who makes a memorable first impression.

Who are they? Where are they? Where are they going and what the heck is locked behind a massive steel door in the bowels of the ship? The answer to the first question is delivered by the end of the debut while leaving things open for character evolution.

“Going back over my writing over the years is this idea of redemption,” Mallozzi says. “Nature vs. nurture. Are you born bad or are you a product of your environment? People form the strongest of friendships with their former enemies and the strongest of enemies with their former friends. It’s fascinating to me.”

As for what’s lurking behind that massive door? Mallozzi promises that will be resolved halfway through the season.

“We’re not going to string you guys along,” he says with a laugh. “There are setups and payoffs along the way. We’re going to find out the answers to two mysteries this season: who wiped their memories and what is behind that big metal door.”

Let the summer of sci-fi commence.

Dark Matter airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

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Featured

He Said/She Said: Reaction to Rogers/Shaw/Bell Media’s fall lineup

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Join Greg and Diane every Monday as we debate what’s on our minds. This week: Our thoughts regarding Rogers, Shaw and Bell Media’s 2015-16 broadcast schedules.

He Said:

Make sure you take a peek at Diane’s fall announcement scorecard for her grade on the networks when it comes to Cancon and our thoughts on CBC’s fall schedule.

Overall, I’m frustrated with the amount of Canadian content that Rogers and Shaw have lined up for City and Global. A measly 60 minutes are devoted to homegrown series on City thanks to a second window of Mr. D and original episodes of Sunnyside. That’s it. Mr. D has gotten the short end of the stick in this formula, leading off the night on Thursdays in November and into unproven U.S. import Life in Pieces. Sunnyside has a cushy spot between Bob’s Burgers and Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Sundays in a night of back-to-back sitcoms that Global and Fox have made famous.

Over it Global it’s even more dire because they have exactly zero minutes of Cancon lined up for the fall. Shaw boss Christine Shipton played up the midseason return of Big Brother Canada and newbies The Code and Houdini and Doyle which, again, is just three hours of original stuff amid all of the acquired programs from south of the border. Adding to my frustration, of course, is the fact that Shaw cancelled Remedy only to trumpet U.S. medical drama Heartbreaker. (Two days after Shaw jetted star Melissa George to their upfront, NBC bumped Heartbreaker to mideason.)

Granted, Shaw has loaded up on Canadian content on its specialty channels with unscripted fare like Curse of the Frozen Gold, Battle Factory, Klondike Trappers, Unusually Thicke, The House that HGTV Built, Leave It to Bryan, Chef in Your Ear, Chopped Canada Teen Tournament, Food Network’s Great Canadian Cookbook, First Dates and scripted work in Vikings. That’s certainly more than what Rogers offers on OLN, FXX and FX Canada.

Bell Media comes off like a saviour thanks to putting Saving Hope in the prime Thursday night 9 p.m. slot on CTV, a move that shows confidence in the series. Motive and MasterChef Canada will both be back at midseason on CTV while CTV Two packs Saturday nights with repeats of The Listener, Flashpoint and Motive. On the other hand, Bell Media is playing it safe by sticking with what works on CTV and CTV Two; I wish the upcoming Letterkenny was given a chance to shine on the main networks rather than on The Comedy Network and CraveTV.

She Said:

How depressing is it that the highest praise we can bestow on the major private networks this season is “yay, one of them is giving one of their own shows a decent fall timeslot”? Canadian TV: the home of lowered expectations.

Fall is a rough time for homegrown programs, though, amid the saturation of US shows’ big budgets and big marketing campaigns. It seems we’ve learned time and again that new series have a better chance of a successful launch in winter rather than fall.

Which doesn’t explain why there’s not much to say about the “16” part of their 2015-16 schedules. Motive and MasterChef Canada are coming up this winter and … no, never mind, there’s no “and.”

Global and City still have announced nothing original scheduled for post-Christmas. Only Global used the 2015-16 season announcements as an opportunity to talk about new upcoming shows – The Code and Houdini and Doyle, not yet in production and with no air dates attached, so don’t expect to see them before spring — and that appeared to be a case of misdirection in the hopes people wouldn’t notice they had butkus actually scheduled for 2015-16 in their scheduling announcements so far. The specialty networks are where Shaw has shows, but the mothership network? Nada. 

I expect more development/in production announcements soon-ish, given how thin things are looking like right now and rumours of shows in their last seasons. I also expect Canadian shows may be slotted in ad hoc as US cancellations force a hole in the precious simsub schedules. But when putting on a show for advertisers through upfronts and high season schedules, the private networks are still all about that U.S. product with little to no room for original productions.

There’s a persistent rumour that Canadian productions don’t bring in the Canadian advertising like a U.S. show does. Chicken? Egg? If the networks don’t value them as much, it becomes hard to argue that advertisers and audiences should.

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Featured, Orphan Black

Review: Orphan Black — The Six

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SPOILER ALERT: Please do not read on unless you’ve seen the Season 3, Episode 8 of Orphan Black, titled “Ruthless in Purpose, and Insidious in Method.”

Orphan Black episodes like this week’s bring to light just how remarkable Tatiana Maslany is. We almost take it for granted now, that the manic laughter of Helena, the tepid murmuring of Cosima, the dastardly side-stare of Rachel, the uptight cleanliness of Alison and the dark edge of Sarah all come from the same person. When you think about it, it seems insane that a show can be as engaging, as interesting, with one actor as the crucial centrepiece.

And of course, was playing a new clone (who we saw before, briefly, at her encounter with the Castors): Krystal Goderich. In her push-up bra and blonde hair, Krystal is instantly memorable and pretty much exactly how Felix describes her—as Sarah would be if she went to college. Maslany plays this character so easily, like Krystal’s been on the show since the beginning.

Jordan Gavaris also got a turn to shine, and it’s been a while since we’ve gotten a chance to see his chops, which I recall from Season 1. (That’s CHOPS, not CHAPS.) He was woefully underused in Season 2. Finally we’re freed from boring housebound Felix, and we’re treated to hardcore street punk Felix. When he slapped on the headset and spoke in his straight Canadian man accent to Krystal, it was one of my favourite Orphan Black moments to date. This is the fun stuff, this is the kind of thing fans are after.

Same goes for the Cosima/Shay/Delphine plotline, as many fans have a lot invested. I’m actually strangely invested myself, probably a testament to the realistic relationship being portrayed. OK, so it involves a clone, a progressing mystery disease and a multinational conglomerate, but I mean the emotions and the dialogue, guys. When Delphine and Cosima kiss, in my head I could hear “No! No! Don’t cheat on Shay!” and silently cheered when Cosima backed off. But at this point, we obviously can’t trust Shay. She’ll end up being a spy and then Cosima will get back together with Delphine. With all this talk about death and near-death experiences, seeing Delphine in a light … makes me concerned that Cosima will die in the end with Delphine by her side. Food for thought.

Even the Alison/Donnie plot is getting darker. Now Jason is very much a threat to their marriage, and it’s apparent that Alison is barely hanging on to her convictions. I gotta hand it to Donnie, he tries to get in there. He’s beaten to a bloody pulp, but at least he attempts something. I personally can’t wait until the drug-dealing scheme is over. Take the money and run, Hendrixes.

Of all the main characters (Maslany played six of them tonight), Scott got the s**t end of the stick. I have grown quite fond of the gentle nerd over this season, with his real estate fantasy board games and extensive sci-fi book collection. Not only does he get held up by Rudy, he loses the Island of Dr. Moreau, has his co-plan foiled and then loses his job. Oh no, wait. Krystal gets the s**t end of the stick if they’re doing what I think they’re doing, which is taking her eye for Rachel and then keeping her for tests/as a Rachel replacement. Yeah, that’s far worse. I hope she doesn’t die, she would make for an interesting character going forward. Things are looking sour for everyone, and judging by clips of the next episode, they’re going to get worse before they get better.

Off to London next week. Cheerio!

Clone of the Week: This is a toughie. I’m going to have to say Krystal. She was engaging (more than likely because she’s new), and it always fascinates me how Maslany wraps herself around these roles.

Random Thoughts:

  • Emmy submission! Globe submission! Seriously, I know sci-fi is an underrated genre, but c’mon six very different characters—often more—in one episode? Is that a world record?
  • Did I hear mention of a Polish clone? Sigh. That is just wonderful.
  • Felix: “Did I just get seconded into this s**t?”
  • Shout-out to the Firkin on King! Drank there many a time.
  • LOVED that shot of Rachel looking through the magnifying glass with her good eye. There were actually a ton of good shots tonight, but this one particularly stood out.
  • Krystal: “Bitch Mistress Cums-a-Lot.”
  • Helena + Gracie, co-workers, friends for life.
  • Delphine: “I’m French. We enjoy lovers.”
  • Rachel’s “top speed” in her wheelchair. I totally appreciate these quick quips you throw in there, writers!

Orphan Black airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Space.

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Featured

The Canadian networks’ 2015-16 season announcement scorecard

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The Canadian network upfront dust has settled and 2015-16 schedules have been revealed. How does their Cancon stack up in terms of quantity, before we’re able to judge much on quality? Let’s take a closer look based on their recently announced lineups for fall and winter:

CBC

  • Canadian scripted shows:  9 1/2
  • New: The Romeo Section, This Life, Young Drunk Punk
  • Returning: Heartland, Murdoch Mysteries, Rick Mercer Report, 22 Minutes, Schitt’s Creek, Mr. D, X Company
  • Grade: B+

The public broadcaster’s lifeblood is original programming, making it unique among the major networks. Budget woes mean more creativity, if you can call reduced seasons an example of creativity, but also new arts and factual programming as well as international acquisitions. CBC gets a half point for airing City’s original production Young Drunk Punk; I admire the cooperative spirit that allows both networks to spread out their Cancon spending without the benefit of appropriate specialty channels of their own, like the biggest private networks who can air one show across multiple channels. With additional factual and news programming, including new shows this summer, CBC is the home of hope for a homegrown television lover.

City

  • Canadian scripted shows:  1 1/2
  • New: Mr. D
  • Returning: Sunnyside
  • Grade: D+

I’m grading on a curve for this smallest of the networks, and hoping they have more originals up their sleeve despite their minimalist fall announcement. Seed, Package Deal and Meet the Family are dead, but they recently ordered more episodes of sketch comedy show Sunnyside for fall. While Young Drunk Punk will benefit from CBC’s bigger reach, Mr. D may get some new eyeballs but a larger audience than its CBC run is highly unlikely.  A second season of Young Drunk Punk hasn’t been announced yet, and City didn’t take the upfronts as an opportunity to do so.

Global

  • Canadian scripted shows:  Zero
  • New: Nothing
  • Returning: Zilch
  • Grade: Is there such thing as an F-?

They recently cancelled homegrown medical drama Remedy while picking up the requisite American medical drama, and Rookie Blue may or may not be ending this summer.  Unless Global rushes their greenlit The Code and Houdini and Doyle into production and finds a cancellation in its simsub schedule during the regular television season, they’re unlikely to have any scripted original shows until at least spring 2016 — on par with their 2014/15 schedule.

CTV

  • Canadian scripted shows:  2
  • New: Nothing
  • Returning: Saving Hope, Motive
  • Grade: C+

Original productions on CTV are positively abundant compared to their rival Global — though some credit goes to their increased Cancon spending requirements after Bell’s purchase of Astral. Even then, they have one scripted show each starting in fall and winter, with Saving Hope out of the gate first in a plum timeslot. They still have a produced season of the sadly tainted Spun Out waiting in the wings. Will they schedule it when gaps appear in their simulcast schedule due to U.S. cancellations, or burn it off quietly some Saturday evening, or kill it entirely? Would they be able to kill it entirely without  issues with the funding agencies? Will we hear soon about more new original series for CTV? So many questions, and we can only wait for answers.

 

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