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Discovery unveils fall schedule; Highway Thru Hell & Worst Driver return dates

From a media release:

On the heels of a tremendous broadcast year that saw Discovery reclaim its position as the #1 entertainment specialty channel among total viewers while maintaining its lead among key demos in primetime*, the network today unveiled its Fall 2015 lineup. Featuring the return of fan-favourite hits mixed with several newly acquired titles, Discovery’s fall season kicks off with an early start for perenial favourite MYTHBUSTERS airing Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT beginning Aug. 23. The premieres ramp up with the Season 21 premiere of Discovery’s flagship daily science magazine program DAILY PLANET on Monday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT, followed by the season premiere of EDGE OF ALASKA at 9 p.m. ET/PT and new series TREASURE QUEST: SNAKE ISLAND at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Then, following the Labour Day long weekend, Discovery’s massive Tuesday night lineup launches when Jamie Davis and his heavy vehicle rescue company return for a thrilling new season of the homegrown hit HIGHWAY THRU HELL beginning Sept. 8 at 10 p.m. ET/PT,immediately following the debut of highly anticipated new series PACIFIC WARRIORS (9 p.m. ET/PT). But first, Tuesday nights get started with a new season of another Canadian favourite, FOOL’S GOLD (8 p.m. ET).

The premieres continue throughout September and into October with another new title appearing on Discovery – CUBAN CHROME airing Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT beginning Sept. 3. New titles will also debut across the Discovery suite of channels through September and October (highlights below).

Discovery’s Fall 2015 Premiere Dates:

Sunday, Aug. 23

7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT

MYTHBUSTERS (New Season)

So exactly how hard is it to find a needle in a haystack, anyway? And can water dripping on your forehead really drive you insane? These are the kinds of questions, myths, and urban legends put to the test in this humorous series.

Monday, Aug. 31

7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT

DAILY PLANET (New Season)

Co-hosts Dan Riskin and Ziya Tong serve up another season of wonderful, weird, and watercooler-worthy stories from around the world. Feeding the need for speed with race cars and rocket ships, and inspired by the newest generation of inventors and adventurers,DAILY PLANET provides an all-access pass to the gadgets, gizmos, and tech toys that are shaping the future.

9 p.m. ET/PT

EDGE OF ALASKA (New Season)

Hidden deep in the wilderness of eastern Alaska is the toughest town in America: McCarthy. Once considered the state’s very own “Sin City”, McCarthy is now an isolated town surrounded by extreme wilderness – a refuge for people who don’t want to be found. While some believe in continuing the town’s frontier way of life, others feel the future of McCarthy hinges on it pushing forward into the modern age.

10 p.m. ET/PT

TREASURE QUEST: SNAKE ISLAND (NEW SERIES)

In 1524, a horde of Incan gold – known as the “Treasure of the Trinity” – was stolen. For 500 years, Jesuit priests and privateers such as Thomas Cavendish and mathematician Paul Thiry have searched for this legendary bounty. Now a new theory has emerged about the treasure’s possible location – a remote locale home to thousands of deadly vipers. The series features a team of the world’s top explorers as they set out on a two-month journey to find the priceless treasure.

Thursday, Sept. 3

8 p.m. ET/PT

HOW IT’S MADE: DREAM CARS (New Season – World Premiere)

HOW IT’S MADE: DREAM CARS lifts the hood to reveal how luxury cars are made, learning about their inner workings and showcasing their gorgeous interiors. For each “dream car” featured, distinguishing features are brought into focus and celebrated during exhilarating test drives on private courses.

10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT

CUBAN CHROME (NEW SERIES)

Through “A Lo Cubano” Car Club, a passionate group of car enthusiasts, restorers, mechanics, and apprentices, the series explores the challenges and joys of life in Cuba, presenting an authentic look into the club’s culture of passion, grit, determination, and ingenuity.

Tuesday, Sept. 8

8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT

FOOL’S GOLD (New Season – World Premiere)

The Shotgun Exploration crew is back at Straw Lake in their hunt for gold. Armed with greater knowledge, new equipment, and hopefully better luck to help them avoid going broke, the crew hopes to strike it rich.

9 p.m. ET/PT

PACIFIC WARRIORS (NEW SERIES)

This new series follows the only commercial fishermen haul their catch from a kayak…alone. With only a paddle, these brave Hawaiian men and women venture out to catch some of the most desirable fish in the sea, relying on brute strength to pull in 500-pound Marlin, Tuna, Mahi Mahi, and Ono.

10 p.m. ET/PT

HIGHWAY THRU HELL (New Season – World Premiere)
It’s man versus Mother Nature and the toughest men in the towing business being pushed to their breaking point. The stakes are high – lives, the economy, and thousands of jobs depend on the highways staying open. Building on last season’s risky gamble to expand his heavy recovery operation from the B.C. mountains into the frozen Alberta north, Jamie Davis is tackling new highways this year and facing bigger wrecks than ever before.

Wednesday, Sept. 9

10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT

AIRPLANE REPO (New Season)

Pilots pursue aircraft across the country slated for repossession.

Thursdays, Sept. 10

9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT

FAST N’ LOUD (New Season)

FAST N’ LOUD follows Rawlings and Kaufmann as they return derelict rides to their former glory and get them back on the road – but not without putting their own hot-rod spin on them first.

Sunday, Sept. 13

9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT

YUKON MEN (New Season)

Tanana, Alaska on the Yukon River, a frozen village of 200 people, is at the junction of two powerful rivers at the edge of civilization. With no roads in or out, wolves howl through the frigid night air, reminding residents just how isolated they really are.

10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT

NAKED AND AFRAID (New Season)

Each week, a new pair of complete and total strangers – one man and one woman – find themselves stranded in and, quite literally, exposed to some of the world’s most extreme weather environments. The duos are left high and dry with no food, no water…or clothing!

Monday, Sept. 14

8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT

HOW IT’S MADE (New Season – World Premiere)

A closer look at how everyday things are manufactured. Each episode features three to four products, with the mix consisting of everyday items including jeans, aluminum foil, and cereal, as well as less common products like wax figurines, braille typewriters, and pinball machines.

Monday, Oct. 26

10 p.m. ET/PT

CANADA’S WORST DRIVER (New Season)

Viewers follow eight drivers, each nominated by a friend or family member, as they are put through the paces in a controlled driving environment and evaluated by a panel of experts. Each episode features tried-and-tested challenges designed to push the drivers to their limits. Each driver must first master basic training and then more advanced techniques in order to graduate. If they don’t, they could be crowned “Canada’s Worst Driver”.

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Super Channel original Slasher begins production; casting announced

From a media release:

Super Channel and Shaftesbury today announced casting and start of production for Slasher, an eight episode, one-hour psychological thriller series (also airing on Chiller in the U.S.). Katie McGrath (Jurassic World, Dracula, Merlin) stars as Sarah Bennett, a young woman who returns to the small town where she was born, only to find herself the centerpiece in a series of horrifying copycat murders based on the widely known, grisly killings of her parents. As the murders escalate, long-buried secrets are revealed, making everyone around her a suspect…or a victim. Sarah finds herself questioning everything and everyone around her, including her husband Dylan (Brandon Jay McLaren, Graceland, The Killing), her grandmother Brenda Merritt (Wendy Crewson, Saving Hope, Revenge), family friend Cam Henry (Steve Byers, The Man in the High Castle) and the town’s police chief, Iain Vaughn (Dean McDermott, Ecstasy, CSI).

Slasher will be filmed in Sudbury, Parry Sound and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario until October 2015. The series will premiere in 2016.

Additional cast include Mary Walsh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Enuka Okuma (Rookie Blue),Erin Karpluk (Being Erica), Patrick Garrow (Hannibal, Bitten), Christopher Jacot (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Mayko Nguyen (Defiance, Cracked), Rob Stewart (Killjoys, Suits), Hannah Endicott-Douglas (Casino Jack), Shawn Ahmed (MsLabelled, Paranormal Investigators), Jessica Sipos (Dark Matter), Jefferson Brown (Rookie Blue, Degrassi: The Next Generation), Mark Ghanimé (Helix), Dylan Taylor (The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, Covert Affairs), Booth Savage (Mr. D.), Victoria Snow (Cra$h & Burn), Sabrina Grdevich (Skins) and Rainbow Sun Francks (The Listener).

Developed and produced by Shaftesbury in association with Super Channel and Chiller, Slasher is written and created by Aaron Martin (Killjoys, Being Erica) and directed by Craig David Wallace (Todd and the Book of Pure Evil). Aaron Martin, Christina Jennings and Scott Garvieare executive producers. Casting by Stephanie Gorin. Content Media Corporation is the distributor. Slasher is funded with the participation of the COGECO Program Development Fund.

 

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Jason Priestley & Molly Ringwald head up Family’s Wonderful Wayneys

From a media release:

Canuck A-lister Jason Priestley (Call Me Fitz, Beverly Hills: 90210, Haven) and celebrated actress Molly Ringwald (The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Breakfast Club and the upcoming Universal Pictures film Jem & The Holograms) bring the funny to Family Channel, starring as seemingly-flawless parents to five children in the new original series The Wonderful Wayneys. From Aircraft Pictures and Dolphin Entertainment, The Wonderful Wayneys follows Paige and Wayne Wayney as they forge the path to familial greatness. The live-action comedy, created and executive produced by the witty and cheeky Tom Saunders (Arrested Development, The Larry Sanders Show), begins filming in Toronto on July 27 and will deliver 26 half-hour episodes to DHX Television for Spring 2016.

The wonderful Wayneys are an amazing family: good looking, MENSA smart, talented, athletic and popular to boot. Paige (Ringwald) and Wayne Wayney (Priestley) have worked hard at raising “multi-exceptional” offspring and are proud of their children: Adam, Conner, Bentley and Derek. Everyone in town envies them or wants to be them, and you can even find Paige’s book about raising her extraordinary family on the bestseller list. But alas, their fifth child, Emmett, is not marching in lock step on the path to familial greatness. What he lacks academically, athletically and artistically, he makes up for with relentless enthusiasm and curiosity. Emmett knows that one day he’ll find his way, but in the meantime he’s determined to celebrate his C-average status in spectacular creative fashion – no matter how often his best laid plans threaten to destroy the family’s living space, reputation or sense of safety.

Filling the roles of Priestley and Ringwald’s multi-exceptional children in the series are: Luke Bilyk (Degrassi, Lost Girl) as Adam; Katie Douglas (Defiance, Max & Shred) as Conner; Matthew Tissi (Call Me Fitz, Transporter) as Bentley; Jake Sim (The Amazing Gayl Pile, Arthur) as Derek; and newcomer Simon Cadel as Emmett.

The Wonderful Wayneys is produced by Aircraft Pictures (Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil, What’s Up, Warthogs!) with producers Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, and Dolphin Entertainment (Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, Zoey 101, and the upcoming feature film Max Steel, based on the Mattel action-figure franchise) with Executive Producer Bill O’Dowd. Tom Saunders (Arrested Development, The Larry Sanders Show) is Series Creator and Executive Producer. The show is co-executive produced by Steve Skrovan (Everybody Loves Raymond, Hot in Cleveland) and Garry Campbell (MADtv, Kids in the Hall). Tia Ayers, Barbara Haynes, Skander Halim, Max Reid, Josh Gal, Kate Spurgeon and Emer Connon round out the writing room.

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Link: Syfy Acquires Comic Book Adaptation ‘Wynonna Earp’

From Lesley Goldberg of The Hollywood Reporter:

Syfy Acquires Comic Book Adaptation ‘Wynonna Earp’
Syfy is continuing to bulk up scripted roster.

The NBCUniversal-owned cable network has acquired Canadian comic book adaptation Wynonna Earp.

The 13-episode drama is based on the IDW comic book created by Beau Smith. Emily Andras (Lost Girl,Killjoys) developed the series for TV and is set to serve as showrunner on the Syfy drama, which will bow in April. Continue reading.

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Just For Laughs confirms production slate for Summer 2015

From a media release:

If content is king, then comedy content is the king of kings. Just For Laughs, one of the largest purveyors of stand-up comedy content in the world, is delighted to share a glimpse of its lineup for 2015.

CW Network
The CW will broadcast an exclusive two-hour U.S. TV special, taped at this summer’s festival. The show will be hosted by Howie Mandel and feature top comedians and new stars, as well as behind-the-scenes exclusives. Just For Laughs will also produce an original online series for CW Seed, the CW’s digital studio, called The Elevator Talk Show with Pete Holmes. In addition, the CW will acquire over 20 hours of Just For Laughs catalogue from our stand-up library that will be available on CW Seed.

Showtime
The Nasty Show, one of Just For Laughs’ summer franchise hits, is going to air on Showtime in the U.S. The show is set to air as a special hosted by Artie Lange with a lineup that includes Gilbert Gottfried and Jimmy Carr, amongst others. The Nasty Show will also air on Super Channel in Canada in 2016.

Bell Media
Just For Laughs All Access has been renewed for two more seasons on Canada’s The Comedy Network with thirteen one-hour [13 x 60] and twenty-six half-hour [26 x 30] episodes in both 2015 and 2016. The series will be filmed at Place des Arts and Club Soda this summer, and will feature hosts Trevor Noah, Neil Patrick Harris, Norm Macdonald, Ellie Kemper, TJ Miller, Chris D’Elia, amongst others. Viewers will be treated to extended, commercial-free versions of both the Ellie Kemper and Neil Patrick Harris Galas on The Movie Network this fall.

CBC 
CBC has announced a slate of four new hour-long specials. Shows will be filmed this summer at Place des Arts, hosted by stars Wanda Sykes, Patrick Stewart, Jane Lynch and Alan Cumming.

Lone Eagle Entertainment & Just For Laughs
At this summer’s festival, Just For Laughs and Lone Eagle will be presenting a live version of their format for a new television series, The Wake, as part of Just For Laughs ComedyPro on Thursday, July 23 at 11:30 am. In The Wake, Gilbert Gottfried gets to attend his own funeral. A co-production between Lone Eagle Entertainment and Just For Laughs, The Wake is guaranteed to be the funniest funeral you will ever attend.

International Markets
Australia’s Network Ten will once again be filming at the Just For Laughs summer festival and airing a special hosted by Joel Creasey, which is dedicated to showcasing Australian talent alongside internationals. Network Ten will also be airing two hour-long specials featuring gala footage from year’s past, also hosted by Joel Creasey. In addition, Foxtel (The Comedy Channel) will air 10 half-hour long [10 x 30] specials, which will be filmed at the Sydney Opera House this October, as part of the Just For Laughs Sydney Festival. In collaboration with Comedy Central, Just For Laughs will produce an international-themed show, including two comics from South Africa, Conrad Koch and Jason Goliath; one comic from Spain, Alex O’Dogherty; and Italy’s, Francesco de Carlo. The popularity of stand-up comedy is growing internationally, and our Comedy Central partners recognize that bringing their comics to our prestigious festival promotes their local talent, while strengthening our brand in their territory. Additionally, Just For Laughs continues to licence stand-up to networks in Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, Benelux, Hungary and other international markets.

Hulu
Select TV productions, featuring the biggest international comedy stars from Just For Laughs, are now available to stream on Hulu and Hulu Plus in the U.S. (and for tech savvy viewers worldwide).

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