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Ruby Skye jumps from online to TV

Ruby Skye P.I. is a detective series, but the show’s success is a Cinderella story. An independent project two seasons old, filmed on a shoestring budget and posted on the Internet garners wide acclaim. A third season is partially funded by the CBC, debuts online and then jumps to the network’s morning television schedule. That’s Ruby Skye‘s story, and it’s one borne out of frustration.

“I wasn’t able to tell the stories that I wanted to in the restricted, narrow focus that children’s television has at this moment,” creator Jill Golick says. “There wasn’t a mystery show on television. Nobody was looking at making show’s with girl leads. It was a way for me to tell the story that I wanted to tell.”

Ruby Skye P.I.‘s tale began in 2010 when the Independent Production Fund started offering funding for web series. Golick–after writing on such series as Sesame Street, Noddy, Shining Time Station and Instant Star–was dabbling in the digital realm and had pitched several ideas to the IPF; they backed seasons 1 and 2 of Ruby Skye. A chance conversation with CBC executives at a conference led to the public broadcaster acquiring the first two seasons–The Spam Scam and The Haunted Library–for their website and commissioning a third season, The Maltese Puppy, along with the IPF, Bell Fund, Shaw Rocket Fund and Canada Media Fund. Now Ruby’s Season 3 adventures are available on CBC television as of Oct. 4.

“CBC’s intention was always to make a web show and we didn’t start Ruby thinking, ‘Oh, this should be a TV series,'” Golick explains. “We started thinking when you’re talking to today’s youth you put it on the screen where they are.”

Golick and Julie Strassman (Full House, Sophie, Metropia) co-write Ruby Skye P.I., and this third instalment, The Maltese Puppy, is a fun one. Ruby (Madison Cheratow, Wingin’ It), the sassy, smart star of the series, takes over the dog-walking route run by her sister Hailey (Marlee Maslove, Hailey Hacks) when she comes upon a crime scene. A local charity has been robbed of precious toys and there are a number of suspects, including the charity’s founder, Colin Cumberbund (Seán Cullen). Plus, Ruby has somehow ended up with one extra dog at the end of her leashes–a Maltese–and she’s doesn’t know where the owner is. Each episode–clocking in around the five-minute mark–is packed with whip-smart dialogue, top-notch performances and a cliffhanger style that keeps you wanting more.

“When people find it on the Internet they blow through all the episodes all at once,” Golick says. “We have that pace that makes you want to keep consuming it like potato chips.”

Episodes of Ruby Skye P.I.: The Maltese Puppy can be seen during the Kids CBC! programming block starting Saturday, Oct. 4, or on the network’s web page.

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Bitten, Featured, Podcast

TV eh B Cs podcast – Daegan Fryklind on Floof, Hearts, and the Vest of Asskickery

In this week’s discussion with Daegan Fryklind, we talk about getting ready for Season Two of Bitten, the interactive relationships between writers and fans, planning a ten episode season, cascading hierarchies of producers, and a little place called Castle Frightenstein.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Featured, Orphan Black

Interview: Ari Millen juggles clones and werewolves

Kingston-born actor Ari Millen performed in high school plays and used to play with a school’s camera equipment to make “weird slasher movies” with his childhood friend, though he had his eye on the NHL. But when a separated shoulder interfered with his hockey plans, he joined an improv team and ended up solidly on the path to actor instead of goalie.

He had just finished filming the upcoming werewolf movie Hunter’s Moon when he spoke to Anthony Marco for the TV eh B Cs podcast about his career, including his training, theatre background, and his most famous role to date — as Mark in Orphan Black.

Fans got a shock at the end of season two when his character was revealed to be part of a set of male clones. “Me included,” Millen interjected.

“When I signed on I was told I was in the first six and then I’d have a glorious death,” he explained. “An Orphan Black death is an Orphan Black death – they are pretty great. I was really hoping Helena would take me out in some gruesome way.”

“I got the script for script and I read it and I thought, ‘I’m not dead.’ Then seven came, and eight came, and I’m not dead. Then I got a phone call.”

Creator Graeme Manson finally told him he was going to be the male clones. “I’d just thought my character Mark was going to survive the season and that was good enough for me.” Instead, he’s poised to perhaps be another Tatiana Maslany on the show – we’ll find out when season three airs.

Listen to the full interview here, including discussions about growing up in Kingston and transitioning to Toronto, learning by watching on set, and JUST wrapping the film Hunter’s Moon. Plus a little obligatory talk about growing up goalie and grasping for a lost Italian word… chinotto!

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Featured, Heartland

Review: Heartache on Heartland

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Raise your hand if you knew that kiss between Prince Ahmed and Amy was going to have an impact on her relationship with Ty? Yeah, I did too, but I have to admit I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly. That’s going to put a damper on the hero worship Georgie has got going for Amy right now.

Season 8 of Heartland–CBC’s Sunday night stalwart–opened magically with Amy resplendent in a tight-fitting dress and a sexy updo as she attended a goodbye party held by Ahmed for his European Equestrian squad. His gift of a sparky, diamond-encrusted necklace served as a precursor to the smooch that would have Georgie freaking by episode’s end.

Heartland has always been a show that’s flown under my radar, garnering the ratings to be renewed via loyal fans yet a program I’ve only seen in passing. I’m looking forward to watching on a weekly basis for TV, Eh? simply because it’s a change of pace front my usual series choices and boasts a stellar cast. At the top of the list is Amber Marshall; she and co-star Graham Wardle have literally grown up playing Amy and Ty, and by now they’ve embraced the characters they portray. Amy’s arrival back at Heartland after months away was met with a chest-crushing hug by Ty that quickly turned sour when they learned the land they’d planned to buy had been sold out from under them.

Compounding the stress of losing the land was Georgie being under Amy’s feet. She had taken on all of Amy’s chores while she was away and the ranch hummed along, leaving Amy to wonder exactly what her place was at Heartland. That, coupled with jet lag, Ty buying a new truck and the knowledge that Jack had secretly married Lisa (that sure got Lou hot under the collar) reduced Amy to tears of frustration. The one place she relied on to be a firm foundation in her life had been upended.

By the end of Heather Conkie’s script for “There and Back Again,” Ty and Amy had made up, but the kiss Georgie witnessed online is going to get back to Ty at some point. That, along with the fact Ahmed gave Amy that necklace, is going to test their strength as a couple and challenge their trust.

Other thoughts

  • Why was Jack so reluctant to tell the family that he and Lisa were married? Was he ashamed?
  • Does anyone else think it was kind of jerky for Tim to make that horse deal knowing it would screw up Ty and Caleb’s plans?

Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.

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Canada's Smartest Person, Featured

Preview: Canada’s Smartest Person an addictive test of intelligence

Are you the type of person who is naturally successful at word puzzles? Do you wow your friends with your sports prowess? Think you’re just all-around more intelligent than everyone else in the room? Canada’s Smartest Person may very well be for you.

Debuting Sunday at 8 p.m., CBC’s rollicking game show goes beyond the standard I.Q. test–dismissed as too narrow to gauge real intelligence–to find the Canadian who is successful in a total of six categories. After an exhaustive cross-Canada search, 32 finalists compete in the categories of Math & Logic Intelligence, Visual & Spatial Intelligence, Body & Kinesthetic Intelligence, Linguistics Intelligence, and Musical Intelligence and Interpersonal Intelligence.

Sunday’s two-hour debut introduces viewers to the first four finalists–who by the time the episode ends is trimmed to one who moves on to the finals–and co-hosts Jessi Cruickshank and Jeff Douglas. Cruickshank, known for her personality co-hosting The Hills After Show on MTV Canada, is a natural to corral the show finalists. Her reactions to blunders and successes are classic, as are the numerous ways she contorts her body in a physical reaction to how well the finalists fare. Or don’t. As It Happens Happens co-host Jeff Douglas is the dude who explains the six ways of measuring intelligence and serves as the at-home viewers’ guide through app and online game play. Slow and steady, he’s the one with the task of explaining the results as they arrive in real-time from across the country.

But the real star of Canada’s Smartest Person is the online and smartphone app available for viewers to play along at home. With an easy-to-use interface and plenty of instruction by Douglas, viewers are encouraged to play along in games that are related to–but not always exactly like–the games the show’s finalists are playing. Enter a few extra bits of login information and at-home players can see how they rank against friends and family and other participants across the country. It’s adds a level of fun, addictive game play that honestly at times overshadows the television series.

Canada’s Smartest Person airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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