Production Begins on Global’s Original Drama Series Remedy
Enrico Colantoni, Sarah Allen, Sara Canning, & Dillon Casey Star
Matt Ward, Genelle Williams, Patrick McKenna and Martha Burns Round Out Remarkable Cast
Shaw Media and Indian Grove Productions announced today that production has begun on Global Television’s highly anticipated drama series Remedy. Commissioned by Shaw Media’s original content team and produced by Indian Grove Productions, the series films in Toronto and Hamilton from September 29 until January 2014.
The high stakes, prime-time medical drama promises a distinctive ‘upstairs/downstairs’ glimpse behind the scenes of a downtown hospital, and goes beyond the OR and the ER to reveal the compelling community who together make the healing happen.
From creator and showrunner Greg Spottiswood (King), the series follows Griffin Conner, son of the Acting Chief of Staff, and brother to the strong and resourceful Sandy an ICU nurse, and the highly disciplined, perfectionist Melissa, a general surgeon. A med school dropout, having left in a haze of disgrace, Griffin is forced to return to Bethune General Hospital as its newest orderly. Working “downstairs” alongside a cast of colourful characters, Griffin gets a new perspective on a world he thought he knew.
Playing the Chief of Staff and family patriarch is previously announced award-winning actor Enrico Colantoni, (Flashpoint, Galaxy Quest, Just Shoot Me!). Dillon Casey, (Nikita, The Vow, MVP) stars as the charismatic, med-school dropout and prodigal son Griffin, Sara Canning, (The Vampire Diaries, Primeval: New World) plays Melissa, a General Surgeon, with her own set of complex issues and Sarah Allen, (Jozi-H, Murdoch Mysteries) plays Sandy, the eldest daughter, ICU Nurse and bride-to-be.
Rounding out the stellar cast are Matt Ward (TRON: Legacy, Charlie St. Cloud) as Sandy’s soon-to-be husband, the razor-sharp ER Doctor, Brian Decker; Genelle Williams (Warehouse 13, Doomstown) as Zoe Rivera, the scrappy, independent PSA who catches Griffin’s eye and Patrick McKenna (Hard Rock Medical, The Red Green Show) as Frank Kanaskie, working in the basement of the hospital, as Griff’s Supervisor in charge of Transport and Housekeeping. Award-winning actress and co-founder of Soulpepper Theatre in Toronto, Martha Burns (Slings and Arrows, Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays) joins the cast as Rebecca Chestnut, the absentee mom, high functioning family drunk and power attorney.
Remedy is produced by Indian Grove Productions in association with Shaw Media with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Ontario Film & Television Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. Red Arrow International holds international distribution rights. Bernie Zukerman (King, This is Wonderland) and Greg Spottiswood (King, Shattered) serve as executive producers. Kelly Makin (Rookie Blue, Flashpoint) and Adam Barken (Rookie Blue, Flashpoint) are co-executive producers with Jan Peter Meyboom (Murdoch Mysteries, Listener) producing.
The Movie Network Announces Free Multiplatform Sneak Peek of Season 4 of Multiple Award-Winning Original Production CALL ME FITZ, Beginning Sept.23
Last episode of Season 3 and first episode of Season 4 available to subscribers and non-subscribers via TMN GO, TMN OnDemand and TheMovieNetwork.ca
Guest starring Michael Gross, Season 4 premieres Monday, October 7 at 10 p.m. ET on TMN
Raunchy, rambunctious, and ready to go! The Movie Network announced today early access to the half-hour Season 4 premiere of CALL ME FITZ, two weeks before the television broadcast debut. Starting today, the Season 3 finale and Season 4 premiere – featuring new guest star Michael Gross (FAMILY TIES) – are available to audiences on TMN GO, TMN OnDemand and TheMovieNetwork.ca, leading up to the broadcast premiere on Monday, Oct. 7 at 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network.
Starring Jason Priestley as morally flawed car salesman Richard “Fitz†Fitzpatrick, CALL ME FITZ’s fourth season comes hot on the heels of a hugely successful performance at the inaugural Canadian Screen Awards earlier this year. The homegrown comedy took home four awards, including Sheri Elwood for Best Direction, and Joanna Cassidy and Stuart Margolin in Best Performance categories.
In the nine-episode fourth season of the half-hour original comedy, things have certainly changed. With a new baby in the house – Elaine’s swinging party pad, no less – Larry thinks it’s the perfect time to dig out the family photo album, empty old boxes in the basement, and discover what made the Fitzpatricks the class-A derelicts they are today. Every new piece of the Fitzpatrick past that Larry uncovers sheds more light on the family’s twisted history and fuels the dysfunctional fire between them. By dredging up the past, Larry also unearths a nemesis hell-bent on eradicating the Fitzpatricks and their way of life – Pat Childs, played by new special guest star Michael Gross (FAMILY TIES).
CALL ME FITZ also features Peter MacNeill as Ken Fitzpatrick, Fitz’s father and patriarch of Fitzpatrick Motors; Tracy Dawson as Meghan Fitzpatrick, Fitz’s shrewish younger sister and thorn in his side; Donavon Stinson as Josh Mctaggart, the Fitzpatrick Motors in-house auto repair and wildcard; Kathleen Munroe as Ali Devon; Jonathan Torrens as Chester Vince; and Joanna Cassidy, who returns as Fitz’s mother Elaine Fitzpatrick
MURDOCH MYSTERIES RETURNS THIS FALL FOR A TANTALIZING NEW SEASON ON CBC TELEVISION
The all-new seventh season of MURDOCH MYSTERIES airs Mondays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) beginning September 30
Returning to CBC Television this fall for a dramatic seventh season is the number-one Canadian murder mystery, MURDOCH MYSTERIES, beginning on Monday, September 30 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). In a new season full of surprises, Detective Murdoch continues to unravel the city’s most devious murder mysteries all while elevating his romance with Dr. Julia Ogden to new heights.
Click here to view a sneak peek of MURDOCH MYSTERIES Season Seven.
In the season premiere, Murdoch Ahoy, Murdoch and his team find themselves aboard a state-of-the-art steamship for its maiden voyage at the request of ship-owner Clarence MacFarlane. Worried about jealous competitors and wild anarchists, MacFarlane wants to ensure his guests — a selection of Toronto’s high and mighty — are safe. But their smooth sailing hits the rocks when MacFarlane’s daughter goes missing and it’s suspected she has gone overboard. The investigation turns chaotic and precarious as Murdoch finds himself unscrambling myriad lies and unexpected dangers on the ship. Will Murdoch and his team make it safely to land, or will the ship‘s inaugural voyage be its last?
Murdoch Ahoy was filmed aboard the only remaining Edwardian passenger steamship in the world, the S.S. Keewatin, which is now moored in Port McNicoll, Ontario. Built five years before the RMS Titanic, the S.S. Keewatin utilizes similar machinery, including a quadruple-expansion steam engine and Scotch boilers.
In season seven, Detective Murdoch crosses paths with famous figures, including Thomas Edison and Guglielmo Marconi, against a backdrop of historical events including the assassination of American President William McKinley and the death of Queen Victoria. Murdoch and his team investigate some of their most challenging cases to date as they probe an apparent zombie invasion, encounter the early days of “talkies” and the motion picture industry, and explore the dangerous underbelly of competitive sports.
Watch MURDOCH MYSTERIES, Mondays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) beginning September 30.
Want more MURDOCH MYSTERIES?
Go behind the scenes of hit drama series MURDOCH MYSTERIES for an exclusive inside look at the making of season seven with Making Murdoch, a digital mini-series available each week on the CBC player. Making Murdoch includes interviews with the cast, crew, writers and producers who bring the show to life, and insight into the history, characters, inventions, costumes, props and storylines featured in the new season.
Thursday’s Secret Weapon: CTV’s Original Undercover Cop Drama PLAYED Premieres Oct. 3
Money. Guns. Cars. Drugs. Thursday night gets a dose of suspense this fall with the premiere of CTV’s compelling new original undercover cop drama PLAYED. Launching with CTV’s biggest promotional investment of any other network priority this fall, PLAYED joins CTV’s blockbuster Thursday night line-up at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning Oct. 3 (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times). And with a goal of driving awareness of the new series ahead of its debut, CTV announced today it will sample the emotion and tension-filled premiere with a one-week sneak peek, exclusively at CTV.ca, on the CTV App, and the CTV Mobile Channel on Bell Mobile TV, beginning Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9 a.m. ET.
PLAYED follows the Covert Investigations Unit (C.I.U.), an elite, Toronto-based undercover police unit formed to infiltrate criminal worlds. In nerve-wracking confidence games or “plays,†these smooth-talking cops flirt with killers, befriend gang members, and arrange gun shipments – all to collect evidence, coax confessions, and make arrests.
In PLAYED, the C.I.U. team faces the risks of going undercover to infiltrate, and bring down, criminal organizations. With the new style of short-term, high-intensity undercover work, each covert “play†is crafted quickly and executed at an even faster pace. Placed into various worlds of crime without a safety net, the cops are in constant danger. Wearing wires, coaxing confessions, and setting up stings, the cops of the C.I.U. must think quickly, talk smoothly, and rely on pure instinct. If these cops aren’t convincing, if they aren’t real, if they miss one cue – their lives are over in an instant. They slip in and out of characters so often, they sometimes lose track of who they really are. The bonds within the team are close, and the conflicts are intense. The team is everything.
The talented and instinct-driven Detective John Moreland (Gemini Award-nominee Vincent Walsh, DECEPTION, LOST GIRL) is used to being in charge, but when consummate strategist Rebecca Ellis (Chandra West, NYPD BLUE, JOHN FROM CINCINNATI) is suddenly given the reigns, conflict ensues. Balancing her keen intellect against his from-the-hip instincts, Rebecca and John need each other to pull off their risky plays – and they know it.
In the heart-pounding premiere, entitled “Drugs†(Thursday, Oct. 3 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, and in a digital preview beginning Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9 a.m. ET across CTV digital platforms), undercover detective John Moreland (Walsh) faces suspension after assaulting a Drug Squad officer. He gets a second chance when Detective Sergeant Rebecca Ellis (West) recruits Moreland and his team into her newly formed Covert Investigations Unit. The C.I.U.’s first case is to take down David Thorpe (Serge Houde, 50/50), an elusive drug kingpin Moreland has been hunting for years. Rebecca’s leadership and her fragile relationship with Moreland are severely tested when Thorpe suspects that Moreland is a cop.
Set and shot in Toronto, the high-risk drama also stars Lisa Marcos (THE LISTENER, FLASHPOINT) as Maria Cortez, a cop who has an exceptional ability to read a mark and transform herself to adapt to any situation; Dwain Murphy (COMBAT HOSPITAL, NIKITA) as Daniel Price, whose confidence and magnetic warmth easily dispels suspicion; Agam Darshi (SANCTUARY, RING OF FIRE) as Khali Bhatt, whose effortless skill with technology is a real asset for the team; and Adam Butcher (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE, BOMB GIRLS) as Jesse Calvert, the undercover unit’s explosive rookie.
If I were told by the Canadian TV gods when I started this site that I could only ever interview one Canadian TV personality, it would be Rick Mercer. And yet I don’t think I’d ever asked for that interview, believing he’d be out of reach, knowing I’d be tongue-tied and awkward (more than usual, I mean).
Conducting this interview
But when he came to Vancouver last year for CBC’s fall media launch I eagerly signed up for my 15 minute slot. Besides diverting too much brain power to thinking “don’t gush Diane, for god’s sake don’t gush,” I loved the experience and gushed about it to everyone afterward (“He knows the site! He was nice to me!”)
And then, tragedy struck. Actually it really did, but also in the midst of a lot of traveling I lost the recorder before I’d managed to retrieve the interview from it.
I still hadn’t worked up the nerve to ask for another chance when en route to Iceland this month I found the recorder tucked in a hidden pocket of my carry-on — which I swear to the Canadian TV gods I searched thoroughly last year — and promptly transcribed the interview on the plane before I could lose it again in a geyser, lagoon, volcano, or backpack pocket.
So this will not be the most current interview with Mercer you’ll read this fall, but it may be the most gratefully bestowed and recovered. Keep in mind these thoughts are from spring 2012.
This looks pretty scary
So a new season — what is there left for you to do?
Well that is the question, but that’s a question I’ve asked myself for 8 seasons now and we always seem to do just fine. It’s still a big country and there’s a lot of people in it, and they do a lot of interesting things so we always manage to find stories. It’s a tough question in that I can’t tell you what we’re going to do, but that’s because we never know what we’re going to do. [He mentions a few possibilities for last season.] All the balls are in the air and we don’t know what we’ll be doing from week to week.
Do you ever say no to some of the things they want you to do?
Oh sure. There’s a group of individuals who stand on horseback and do figure 8s and stuff while standing on horses. They’ve asked me to join them and I’ve said no, so they say “what do you have against us?” I say “I don’t have anything against you, but I’m terrified of standing on a horse. It frightens the shit out of me. I’m afraid I’ll die.” So I can’t do it. I’m too afraid. They were like, “but you’ve jumped out of a plane.” I was strapped to a soldier! I wasn’t standing on the back of a horse.
You have done scarier stuff though.
The interviewer at — you guessed it — 12, kneeling on a horse
Everyone has their own line. I didn’t want to jump out of a plane, but I did jump out of a plane. Whereas my brother, who’s a pilot, says emphatically he’d never jump out of a plane. He’s said there could be someone with a gun and they could shoot him and he would not jump out of the plane. I’m talking with a parachute. He just would not jump out of a plane. So that’s his line. Me, I’m not standing on the back of a horse. And they’re all 12 year old girls too. That’s the other thing. Of course they are 12 year old girls, and I’m like, “I’m afraid,” and they don’t believe me.
Tell me about the charity work you do. You have Spread The Net and — other things.
Yeah, I don’t do much charity work. One of the advantages of being on TV I suppose is that you can sometimes leverage the fact that you’re on TV for good versus evil. I do evil most of the time but occasionally I do good. At the same time it can be embarrassing if there’s a perception that you do a lot of charity work because Canadians by and large are pretty charitable people. I just consider it volunteer work really. So instead of going down and helping work a table somewhere I get to promote something. But in terms of time it’s probably less than my parents did their entire lives while they were raising a family.
Spread The Net is something I’ve supported — well, I’m one of the cofounders — and I found a way to incorporate it into the show. We have this Spread The Net challenge every year and students across the country have raised millions of dollars which is tremendous. But again, the kids are the ones doing the heavy lifting — they’re the ones doing the fundraising. I just say “do it.”
That one kind of hit me by surprise. I guess when I ranted about Jamie Hubley committing suicide I felt a responsibility. When I rant even about a serious subject I generally try to inject some humour, and that was the first time I didn’t attempt to. I guess because I was so angry and I didn’t feel like it was appropriate. So I knew it was a bit of a departure. I was heartened by the reaction and pleased at the reaction. But yeah for a while there I became the patron saint of gay teenagers with low self-esteem. That kind of took me by surprise.
(Laughs) There’s worse things you could be.
Yeah, and their poor mothers who are so worried about them. They’re emailing me and I’m like, I am not a psychiatrist.
I read an interview you did later that expressed surprise about how many times a person can come out in this country, because you were criticized for not mentioning yourself in the rant.
I felt it got hijacked a little bit but I’m loathe to talk about that because that’s not indicative of the overall response. In the gay community, as far as there is one — I mean, there’s a gay community but like any other community there’s lots of voices in it — I can certainly understand that some people feel I’m not out enough, and that was the criticism.
And I still don’t know, when it comes to that rant. Some people say “why didn’t you say you were gay in that rant?” I’m pretty bulletproof by saying well, because I’ve said I’m gay before. But I certainly know that any time it’s in the paper that I’m gay there’s all the comments following it: “I didn’t know he was gay.” And then a month later there’ll be a story in the same newspaper and: “I didn’t know he was gay.” So part of me thinks maybe I should have said it, but then part of me also knows that if I had, I’m going to become the story. And certainly that was not the story. So I honestly don’t know on that one. But I was heartened by the response.
Do you get frustrated when interesting political things are going on and you’re not on the air?
Oh sure, yeah, that can be frustrating. Although I’ve been lucky. The last federal election was called I think the day before I did my last taping, but then I went and covered the election for Maclean’s magazine. I got to go on the plane and cover the campaign. So if something’s happening there’s all sorts of venues. In this day and age you can just get an iPhone and start a YouTube channel.
That might not pay quite as well.
With the election I was just looking for a gig for someone to put me on that plane. I didn’t tell them at the time that I would have paid them to get me on the plane. Happily Maclean’s was willing to pay for it.
A new season of The Rick Mercer Report premieres October 8 on CBC.
