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CBC kicks off fall schedule on September 16

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From a media release:

CBC IS HOME TO THE BEST CANADIAN TELEVISION THIS FALL

  • Kicking-off on September 16, CBC-TV’s 2013 Fall Schedule Delivers Award-Winning Hits, Bright Stars, and Investigative Journalism That Matters

With gripping dramas, hilarious comedies, live events, award-winning news and investigative programs, CBC continues to be a leader in providing top-notch Canadian content this fall. The new schedule features the highly anticipated return of BATTLE OF THE BLADES, and the made-for-television movie, STILL LIFE: A THREE PINES MYSTERY. The season premiere of GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS TONIGHT kicks off the fall schedule, which also features the return of hits MURDOCH MYSTERIES, DRAGONS’ DEN, REPUBLIC OF DOYLE, HEARTLAND, RICK MERCER REPORT, MARKETPLACE and HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA.

  • BATTLE OF THE BLADES – The show Canadians fell in love with and embraced for three seasons is back! It returns with big Sunday night entertainment where anything is possible. This season of BATTLE OF THE BLADES promises to be the most interactive and innovative yet. CBC will kick off the digital campaign by announcing this year’s cast over one week in September, exclusively on the website and via social media. Visit cbc.ca/battle/ for more details. The season launches Sunday, September 22, at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). @CBCbattle
  • Starring Canadian acting luminary Donald Sutherland, CROSSING LINES is an action-packed international crime drama about a new global FBI unit that specializes in cross-border crimes and brings intercontinental criminals to justice. It joins the prime-time lineup at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on Tuesday evenings, and premiering October 8.
  • New set, new sizzle. Catch DRAGONS’ DEN in their new ominous den as the extraordinary deals continue to unfold. The season launches Wednesday, October 2 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). @CBCDragon
  • Celebrating the 10th season of GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS TONIGHT, George brings us the world’s most influential and fascinating actors, musicians, and newsmakers through his signature interview style. The season launches September 16 at 7 p.m. (7:30 NT). @strombo/@strombodotcom
  • HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA returns for the 2013–14 NHL season with a full slate of games featuring the sport’s biggest stars and best NHL match-ups and marquee events. The season begins with Molson Canadian NHL Face Off from Montreal on Tuesday, October 1 at 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT, as the Canadiens host their longtime rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, followed by Winnipeg at Edmonton at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT. The Ontario township of Sterling-Rawdon plays host to Kraft Hockeyville on Saturday, September 14 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT as the Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals face-off in a pre-season match-up in Belleville, ON.@hockeynight
  • This season on MARKETPLACE, Canada’s consumer watchdog goes all out to put the bite on wrongdoers and set things right. Undercover, online and on TV, Marketplace gets more bark for your buck with a revealing checkup on vet bills and goes on a nationwide hunt for Canada’s most frustrating packaging for the first-ever Wrap Rage Awards. The season launches Friday, October 4 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). @CBCMarketplace
  • MURDOCH MYSTERIES – Canada’s number-one dramatic mystery provides a season full of surprises as Detective Murdoch continues to unravel the city’s most devious murder mysteries all the while elevating his romance with Dr. Julia Ogden to new heights. Fans can also get ready for a Web series that peeks behind the scenes of CBC’s hit mystery show, with an exclusive inside look at the making of season seven. Dive into the history, characters, inventions, costumes, props and storylines featured in the new season, including interviews with the cast, crew, writers and producers who bring the show to life. The season launches Monday, September 30 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). @CBCMurdoch
  • REPUBLIC OF DOYLE – Like any family, the Doyles aren’t impervious to fracture, and they will find themselves pulled in dramatic new directions and facing big decisions that could forever affect their relationships — or change the trajectory of their lives — for good. REPUBLIC OF DOYLE brings you an all-new Web series featuring quirky ne’er-do-well Ned Bishop (Mark Critch), who is becoming more of a regular fixture in the life of the Doyles, whether Jake likes it or not. The season launches Wednesday, October 2 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT). @RepublicofDoyle
  • STILL LIFE: A THREE PINES MYSTERY, airing Sunday, September 15 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). Based on Canadian author Louise Penny’s international best-selling novel, STILL LIFE focuses on a picturesque small town that becomes unraveled after a beloved community member is found dead and the investigation into her death reveals layers of deceit, rage and long-simmering resentments.
  • With compelling in-depth stories and fast-reaction investigations of ongoing events, the fifth estate digs into things Canadians care about and gets results. This season Gillian Findlay discovers a hidden ingredient in most prepared food that is making us mighty sick — and asks ”Are we in North America eating ourselves to death?” Linden MacIntyre visits a village in Canada with a deadly secret. Bob McKeown delves into a mystery that certain institutions would prefer was kept silent. Mark Kelley encounters extortion in a menacing new form. And the fifth estate reveals a tragic human exodus in The Last Great Escape. The season launches Friday, October 4 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT). @CBCfifth
  • Canada’s number one political satirist, Rick Mercer, is back for an 11th season of THE RICK MERCER REPORT with his weekly dose of political satire, ranting, funny takes on the week’s top stories, and lively cross-country adventures. Providing a unique viewpoint on Canada from coast to coast to coast, THE RICK MERCER REPORT returns with two of the most talked-about features of every show: Rick’s rant and his cross-country adventures. The season launches Tuesday, October 8 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). Fans can also get a daily dose of the show weekdays at 6:30 p.m. (7 NT). @rickmercer

OTHER CBC-TV FALL 2013 PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS:

  • BEST RECIPES EVER, Canada’s most-watched daily food program returns to CBC this fall for its fifth big season with host and chef Christine Tizzard. The show has recently released its second cookbook, featuring the very best Canadian Living recipes from seasons three and four. The season starts Monday, September 23 at 3 p.m. (3:30 NT). @BestRecipesEver
  •  The Psych Crimes Unit is back with CRACKED, more unified and stronger than before, with a new female lead along with David Sutcliffe, and Brooke Nevin (from Chicago Fire, Breakout Kings). This season, CRACKED brings you The Tenants, an eight part Web series building up to the season two finale. A corrupt property manager is found murdered and there’s no shortage of suspects. . . over the course of eight weeks, we’ll flash-forward to an assortment of characters who are somehow connected to a brutal case that will be solved in the thrilling finale. The season launches Monday, September 30, at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT). @CrackedonCBC
  • DOC ZONE returns to enlighten and entertain with another season of thought-provoking documentaries. This fall, look for stories about Canada’s Not Criminally Responsible laws and the Condo Game in Toronto and Vancouver. The season launches Thursday, October 3 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT). @CBCDocs
  • Season seven of HEARTLAND brings a new way to watch Canada’s favourite family drama: The Heartland Companion app. The app works on your tablet or smartphone and syncs to the live (or PVRed) broadcast, serving up a wide range of HEARTLAND companion content — from extra scenes and elements that extend the story even further, to behind-the-scenes extras, and even a nationwide HEARTLAND Trivia Challenge where viewers can win great prizes from the show. The season starts Sunday, October 6 at 7 p.m. (7:30 NT). @HeartlandonCBC
  • IN THE KITCHEN WITH STEFANO FAITA is back for a third season of all-new recipes, guests and fun this fall. The first official IN THE KITCHEN… cookbook, featuring the most popular recipes from seasons one and two, will be released in October 2013. The season starts Monday, September 23 at 3:30 p.m. (4 NT). @CBCinthekitchen
  • STEVEN AND CHRIS remains the hottest daytime destination for all things lifestyle — continually bringing more fun and fabulous content to weekday viewers. The fun starts Monday, September 23 at 2 p.m. (2:30 NT). @stevenandchris
  • THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES, Canada’s longest-running political satire, returns to take on big issues and small-minded politicians. 22 Minutes a week is not enough! The intrepid news team behind THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES brings you a new Web series: The 22 Minutes Update. It’s a bite-sized version of the show you know and love, a 2.2 Minute mid-week update that delivers (and sends up) the very, very, very latest news with exclusive newsdesk stories, field pieces, and more. The season launches Tuesday, October 8 at 8:30 p.m. (9:00 NT). @22_Minutes
  • THE NATURE OF THINGS, Canada’s longest-running science series, presents an ambitious new season: from invasive carp and zombie ants, to decoding the “gay gene” and David Suzuki’s very personal quest to understand Alzheimer’s. And starting on March 13, 2014, Wild Canada, a stunning four-part series in the style of Planet Earth: it’s Canada as you’ve never seen it before, an epic story through time and across the vast scale of the Canadian landscape. The season launches Thursday, October 3 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT). @CBCDocs

CBC-TV FALL 2013 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE:

MONDAY

7 p.m. (7:30 NT) – George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

7:30 p.m. (8 NT) – Coronation Street

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) – Murdoch Mysteries

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) – Cracked

10 p.m. (10:30 NT) – The National

TUESDAY

7 p.m. (7:30 NT) – George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

7:30 p.m. (8 NT) – Coronation Street

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) – Rick Mercer Report

8:30 p.m. (9 NT) – This Hour Has 22 Minutes

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) – Crossing Lines

10 p.m. (10:30 NT) – The National

WEDNESDAY

7 p.m. (7:30 NT) – George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

7:30 p.m. (8 NT) – Coronation Street

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) – Dragons’ Den

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) – Republic of Doyle

10 p.m. (10:30 NT) – The National

THURSDAY

7 p.m. (7:30 NT) – George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

7:30 p.m. (8 NT) – Coronation Street

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) – The Nature of Things

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) – Doc Zone

10 p.m. (10:30 NT) – The National

FRIDAY

7 p.m. (7:30 NT) – George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight

7:30 p.m. (8 NT) – Coronation Street

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) – Marketplace

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) – the fifth estate

10 p.m. (10:30 NT) – The National

SUNDAY

7 p.m. (7:30 NT) – Heartland

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) – Battle of the Blades

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) – Dragons’ Den

10 p.m. (10:30 NT) – The National

CBC-TV FALL 2013 DAYTIME PROGRAMMING

MONDAY – FRIDAY

2 p.m. (2:30 NT) – Steven and Chris

3 p.m. (3:30 NT) – Best Recipes Ever

3:30 p.m. (4 NT) – In the Kitchen with Stefano Faita

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Orphan Black makes CTV debut

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From Jim Slotek of the Toronto Sun:

Critical darling ‘Orphan Black’ gets big network debut
In the beginning, says Orphan Black executive producer David Fortier, there was a mental image of a subway suicide. “John Fawcett and Graeme Manson, the two creators, came up with this idea of a woman on a subway platform, looking across and seeing her spitting image throwing herself in front of a train.” Continue reading.

From Alex Strachan of Postmedia News:

Orphan Black makes its broadcast network debut
There’s a moment, right at the start of Orphan Black, the Space/BBC America co-production that makes its broadcast-network debut, that will tell you all you need to know about how this wildly uneven sci-fi parable became a TV cause célèbre. Continue reading.

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Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany wins Television Critics Association Award

From a media release:

Space Congratulates Tatiana Maslany on Television Critics Association Award Win for Her Role in Original Series ORPHAN BLACK

  • Regina-native Maslany received her award for Individual Achievement In Drama tonight in Los Angeles
  • Season 1 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT beginning Aug. 16 on CTV
  • Season 2 premieres Spring 2014, exclusively on Space

Space congratulates ORPHAN BLACK’s Tatiana Maslany on her TCA Award win in the Individual Achievement in Drama category, as announced by The Television Critics Association earlier this evening in Los Angeles. The star of the hit Space original series from Temple Street Productions, produced in partnership with BBC America, was honoured at the 29th Annual TCA Awards for her critically-acclaimed work in ORPHAN BLACK, beating out other TV powerhouses including Bryan Cranston (BREAKING BAD), Vera Farmiga (BATES MOTEL), Monica Potter (PARENTHOOD), and Matthew Rhys (THE AMERICANS). To date, Maslany has wowed audiences by portraying seven distinct clones in ORPHAN BLACK, including streetwise hustler Sarah Manning, Detective Beth Childs, German Katja Obinger, soccer mom Alison Hendrix, PHD student Cosima Niehaus, the unpredictable Helena, and the mysterious pro-clone Rachel Duncan.

Bell Media recently announced that beginning Aug. 16, ORPHAN BLACK will make its network premiere on CTV, Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times) and on the CTV Mobile channel on Bell Mobile TV. Production on Season 2 of ORPHAN BLACK is set to begin in late September in Toronto, and will premiere in Spring 2014, exclusively on Space.

A Regina-born actor now living in Toronto, Tatiana Maslany is a rising star who has been acting for over 15 years in film, television, theatre, and radio. She has amassed an incredibly impressive resume with leading roles in many features including The Vow and Kate Melville’s buzzed about film Picture Day, for which she received a 2013 ACTRA Award. Her role in Grown Up Movie Star, opposite Shawn Doyle, competed at Sundance 2010 and garnered her the special jury prize for Breakout Star at the festival, as well as a Genie nomination.

Her recent feature credits also include Cas & Dylan, Blood Pressure, Entitled, and Violet And Daisy which premiered at Toronto International Film Festival® (TIFF) 2011. Some of Maslany’s television credits include THE TANDEM, WORLD WITHOUT END, her Gemini-nominated performance in NATIVITY and CERTAIN PREY, as well as Gemini award-winning performances on BLOODLETTING AND MIRACULOUS CURES, and CTV’s FLASHPOINT.

ORPHAN BLACK centres on English punk and streetwise hustler Sarah who returns home after being separated from her daughter. But her homecoming isn’t exactly what she expected. After witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her, Sarah takes over Beth’s life, including her job as a cop as well as her boyfriend Paul (Dylan Bruce, NCIS). Sarah soon discovers that she and Beth are clones, and as she becomes embroiled in the mystery, she learns that there are more of them out there – all genetically identical individuals nurtured in completely different circumstances. Working with her fellow ‘orphans,’ soccer mom Alison and PHD student Cosima, Sarah begins to unravel the mystery surrounding their identities, while also fighting for her life when an assassin begins killing the clones one by one.

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Making the clown cry: The true life story of “comerama” Less Than Kind

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Written by Less Than Kind showrunner Mark McKinney, reprinted with permission

We shot the last scene of Less than Kind on a hot July afternoon in 2012; a furious Josh Blecher (Ben Arthur) has tracked down his younger brother Sheldon (Jesse Camacho) and their confrontation is the final explosion of long simmering resentment.

It’s a loud scene, and the brothers are dropping F bombs in this leafy upscale neighborhood of Winnipeg. Our location scout paces nervously and assistants are sent hurrying to shoo away families with young children that have wandered over to watch. Dear reader, please imagine this picture beginning to dissolve …

It is 2005. I am finished on the last season of Slings and Arrows. I am unemployed. I complain to my agent. He retaliates by setting up a meeting with two new writers: Marvin Kaye and Chris Sheasgreen. Their project is a half-hour comedy about a raging Jewish father and his family, which features an overweight, precociously bright younger son named Sheldon. It’s based on Marvin Kaye’s life growing up in Winnipeg. His stories are hilarious, frightening and true. Marvin and Chris are also actors. We talk about acting. We agree it would be good to get great actors because then the acting would be great.

Obvious – sure – but that actually was a pivotal conversation and that understanding to try and find a cast of acting thoroughbreds and marry them to authentic story kept me motivated until the project finally crystalized two years later with an order for the first season.

Marvin and Chris were new to the scene and didn’t know what I, the purported veteran, had done my best to not learn; that TV series are a business, that shows are made, and interfered with, and ultimately judged by their ability to attract eyeballs and that they are not often enough ‘”art”. We wanted “art” and we didn’t know better. And that ignorance has made all the difference.

We wanted the Blechers to be a real family, warts and all, and extract from their stories and collisions comedy and drama, a ‘”comerama” or “dramedy” hybrid that could nimbly move between the two opposite poles. Nowadays Girls is a good example of this, Enlightened and Modern Family too but the only example we had in 2005 was Weeds.

Further setting a goal like that was personally dangerous for me because it quickly summons the most perilous waypoint a comedian can deal with; the impulse to show that the clown can cry. This is dangerous. It’s new territory. It requires a whole other sense of timing and structure and brother, it can go skin crawlingly wrong. i.e “You never go full retard”.

The dramedy of Slings and Arrows not withstanding I believed that staying funny required you stay close to your hard, unforgiving, acerbic takes on life, story and characters but as the years roll by and more just happens; kids, ailing parents and all manner of reversals of fortune. Life starts to demand that you acknowledge it with somewhat more care and detail. It threatens to make you, gulp, sincere. You are at risk of becoming the person you used to make fun of.

As we set out to sculpt our “comerama” we lean heavily on Marvin’s stories. There is something both re-assuring and demanding about springboarding off of real life. Although we will start to do it less and less over time they ground the first season in a place of “truthiness.”

In subsequent seasons the writers dig deep into their personal lives to keep the comedy rooted in reality. You can take the slights and drama of your remembered high school days and marry it with the fresh living fear you have for your kids and hey presto hilarity ensues. Our work day is 1/3 Oprah, 1/3 goofiness and 1/3 Halo 3.

When we begin casting we get very lucky (again) when Maury Chaykin agrees to meet with us for the lead role of the raging Dad, Sam Blecher. Maury was one of our greatest actors. He has been in a file in the back of my mind since his unforgettable  absolutely perfect role in War Games. He also has a fearsome reputation. We meet a few times to pitch him the role of the father Sam. It’s like fishing for bear. We hook him with the character and reel him in very VERY slowly.

With Maury as our waypoint the rest of the cast falls easily into place around him. The comedy tone is dialed up to authenticity. He is a dream and the show we want begins to appear. The first season is good and the second is even better.

Maury died suddenly. We have lost our friend and lead actor. We have a conference call to break the news to the cast scattered across the country. A few days later my own Mom passes away, then a couple of months later another of our lead actors Wendel Meldrum loses her mother. Death is all over the place.

There is no avoiding the drama now. I quake in my clown shoes.

But the place where the show now lives is available to absorb these horrible blows. We realize we have created a real family and that the whole season can arc off the forces unleashed by the sudden passing of a father and husband.

Not surprisingly the first episodes that deal with the death of Sam Blecher are the best ones yet. AND they are funny too. The writers, directors and cast work through their grief through the show. Life and fiction meet. Yup – we might have a little art happening.

TV shows can go on for ever. But they shouldn’t. My favorite SNL update joke describes the Lost writers imagined reaction to a sixth season renewal as “Oh shit!”. There is no way we would ever ask to leave but it’s almost a blessing to be told at the start of the fourth season that it will be our last. It is something we can write to. We know how.

One of first things we talk about is the void of that first summer after high school ends and something else looms. It affects everyone. For Mom it’s the end of the family at home. For Sheldon it’s the beginning of the rest of the rest of his life. For his older brother it is the end of his real youth and the stories all flow out from there.

Back on set, in the last scene, our Sheldon Blecher is exhausted by an extraordinary day. He should leave Winnipeg but his brother is throwing the mother of all tantrums and the award winning Ben Arthur has never been funnier. And then the scene pivots; as the camera focuses on Sheldon we see he loves his ridiculous brother and knows, at this moment, Josh really needs a win. So he gets in the car to go home and falls asleep. It’s a perfect comerama moment. We shoot five takes and the last one is the best. The assistant director calls it. Less Than Kind is done. There are forty of us standing on sidewalk and lawns. We are kind of stunned. Then I am overjoyed and beaming but when I look over I see Chris choking back tears and Marvin weeping like a baby. He always does that. The clown is crying.

Oh yeah. I better call my agent.

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Rookie Blue renewed by both Global and ABC

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From a media release:

#BLUEISBACK! GLOBAL ANNOUNCES EARLY RENEWAL OF HOMEGROWN HIT ROOKIE BLUE

  • New Season to Premiere on Global and ABC in 2014

Global Television, alongside broadcast partner ABC, jointly announced today the renewal of the summer’s popular drama series, Rookie Blue, for a fifth season.

Currently, Rookie Blue is the *most watched program in its timeslot since its return on May 23 – with over 1.5 million loyal fans tuning in for the Season 4 debut episode. South of the border on ABC, Rookie Blue ranks #1 Thursday nights in the 10pm hour in Total Viewers this summer to date. Rookie Blue is also broadcast internationally on Universal Networks International’s pay-TV channels. The drama is growing over its prior summer average by 15% in Total Viewers to deliver its most-watched season in 3 years – since Summer 2010.

The fifth season of the series will start development in the fall and will move into production in January 2014.

Rookie Blue is executive-produced by award-winning Tassie Cameron (Flashpoint), Ilana Frank (The Eleventh Hour, Would Be Kings), David Wellington (The Eleventh Hour, Would Be Kings), Russ Cochrane and John Morayniss (Klondike, Rogue). Rookie Blue is a production of ICF Films and Entertainment One.

A one-hour, original dramatic series that provides a candid look at the personal and professional lives of five rookie cops as they navigate their first years on the beat. Now in their fourth year on the job, these officers continue to face brand-new challenges every week — and they’re trying to roll with the punches without looking like the rookies they still feel themselves to be. Andy McNally and Nick Collins were gone six months for their undercover operation. But while they were gone, everything seems to have changed at 15 Division. Last season, our officers all got what they thought they wanted — and then had to deal with the repercussions. This year, they all have to look change right in the eye and learn to adapt to life’s curveballs — leaving them all with some big, bold choices to make. Learning to adapt to change is a huge part of growing up. And these five new officers are putting that life lesson into practice, every single shift of season four.

Shot entirely on location in Toronto, Rookie Blue stars Missy Peregrym (Heroes, Reaper) as Andy McNally, Gregory Smith (Everwood) as Dov Epstein, Charlotte Sullivan (The Kennedys) as Gail Peck, Enuka Okuma (24) as Traci Nash, Travis Milne (Leslie, My Name is Evil) as Chris Diaz, Peter Mooney (Camelot, Falcon Beach) as Nick Collins, Ben Bass (The Eleventh Hour) as Sam Swarek, and introducing this season Priscilla Faia (Eleventh Victim, Psych) as Chloe Price and Rachael Ancheril (The Listener) as Marlo Cruz. Also starring in the series is Matt Gordon as Oliver Shaw and Lyriq Bent as Frank Best.

Rookie Blue airs Thursdays at 10pm ET/PT on Global. In Thursday’s July 18 episode, “Poison Pill,” a chaotic drug arrest by Andy and Marlo triggers an all-out crisis when it’s discovered that the drugs are contaminated with deadly bacteria. Swarek leads the squad in the scramble to get the tainted drugs off the streets before an outbreak sweeps the city. Meanwhile, Andy and Marlo are plunged into an intimate decontamination process, forcing Marlo to expose a shocking secret while under quarantine. And Dov and Chloe see their budding romance threatened when Dov suspects Chloe is hiding secrets.

Source: BBM Canada PPM Data, Total Canada, Ind 2+ AMA(000), Thursday 10p-11p, May 20 – July 14th 2013

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