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Hell Below portrays perilous life aboard wartime submarines

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of military programming, and Hell Below is a fantastic one. Produced by Parallax Film Productions out of Vancouver, the documentary series delves into life aboard submarines during the Second World War, and Tuesday’s newest is a humdinger.

“The Wolfpack”—broadcast on Smithsonian Channel Canada at 8 p.m. ET—explores the elite submariners that hunted Allied convoys bringing much-needed supplies from the East Coast of North America to Britain. At the centre of the episode is Otto Kretschmer, one of Hitler’s U-boat aces whose guts and gambles made him a successful and valued member of the German side. Kretschmer inflicted incredible damage by manoeuvring his submersible into the middle of convoys and then picking off ships one by one, leading to cataclysmic losses.

Filmed aboard era ships and subs, Hell Below successfully portrays not only the successes and failures of Kretschmer and his crew, but the claustrophobic conditions they operated in. With hundreds of feet between them and the surface—and with Allied boats dropping depth charges—being on a U-boat crew was not for the faint of heart. You can’t help but feel sympathy as depth charges shudder through the sub’s structure, springing bolts and letting in freshets of water. Expert analysis, re-enactments, stock footage and impressive CGI help tell the tale of Kretschmer’s career and what happened when the Allies finally put radar on their ships.

Hell Below airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Smithsonian Channel Canada. You can watch past episodes via Smithsonian Channel Canada’s website.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

HGTV Canada’s superstars team to create the ultimate Home to Win

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Superstars assemble! Take 20 HGTV Canada contractors and designers, drop them onto a property in dire need of renovation and what do you get? Home to Win, the network’s biggest giveaway ever, and a showcase for homegrown talent.

Hosted by ET Canada‘s Sangita Patel and debuting Sunday at 10 p.m. ET, Home to Win is a who’s who of demolition and design talent, including Bryan and Sarah Baeumler, Sarah Richardson, Scott McGillivray, Mike Holmes, Tiffany Pratt, Samantha Pynn, Paul Lafrance, Kate Campbell, Sebastian Clovis and Danielle Bryk. Basically, if they appear on an HGTV Canada series, they’re participating in Home to Win. It’s a smart move: it’s all hands on deck in the first episode as the participants search Canada for the ideal property to make over. But can so many artistic people with differing style ideas all get along?

“Bryan and I had a lot of questions,” Baeumler says during a press junket at Corus headquarters alongside Pratt and Pynn. “How do we get these 20 people together, align the schedule, make sure we all work well together … it just seemed like a huge feat. It took about an hour of thinking about it, and Bryan said, ‘This will work.'” It certainly does. It’s easy to assume these folks all get together on a regular basis to quaff and beer and talk shop, but that’s not the case. With busy production and business schedules to juggle, pros like Pynn and Lafrance would never have met and collaborated, let alone be featured in a series together.

Home_to_Win

“We all have our own different areas of expertise,” Pratt explains. “We all have our different arenas, so for all of us to come together and put it into one space, it’s really spectacular. It’s good times with everybody.” Unlike many renovation shows, there are no firm deadlines and no winner or loser. The group is working together over 10 episodes to create a beautiful space full of, as Baeumler says, stories, memories and connections.

“I knew that it would be a lot of fun,” Pynn says. “I knew there would be a lot of work, but it doesn’t feel like work. And the end reveal is just everything. It was an amazing experience.”

At the end of that experience, one Canadian will win the home and all of the furnishings. Auditions are open now and couldn’t be more simple: after giving the standard name and address information, you must record a one-minute video telling the casting team, “What makes a house a home?” Three contestants chosen will compete in Home to Win‘s finale.

“You have 20 people repeating the words ‘dream home,’ so you can’t not have a dream home, period,” Pratt says. “Everyone here and at home want to tune into that final episode and say, ‘Holy … Oh my God!'”

Home to Win airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

CBC’s Crash Gallery Season 2 casting now open

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From a media release:

CASTING CALL: We are looking for creative, confident, energetic artists looking to showcase their skills and talent on national TV!

Lark Productions is now casting Canadian artists for Season 2 for the groundbreaking CBC series – Crash Gallery.

We are looking for artists from a wide variety of mediums from painters, sculptors and mixed media artists to tattoo, graffiti, carving, street art, animators, illustrators, all creative mediums apply.

We want to hear from you if:

• You want an opportunity to showcase your talent on a televised, national stage
• You have advanced art skills (the ability to draw & sketch is a must)
• You are enthusiastic to take on an art challenge both within & outside your specialized medium
• You are comfortable on camera and have an outgoing personality
• You aren’t afraid to get a little competitive!

Casting is currently open, so apply today!

Please send your name, photo, artists bio, contact information and 2-3 photo samples of your artistic work to casting@larkproductions.ca. Please include links to any relevant pages or media articles.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Link: Love It Or List It sued by North Carolina couple for leaving their home ‘irreparably damaged’

From Sadaf Ahsan of The National Post:

Love It Or List It sued by North Carolina couple for leaving their home ‘irreparably damaged’
Love it Or List It or lawsuit are the options today for the HGTV home renovation series that is finding itself in the middle of a legal battle with a North Carolina couple who claim the show left their house in shambles after a supposed makeover. Continue reading. 

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

W Network’s Game of Homes returns for drama-filled Season 2

The home renovation show with the best twist on a TV title ever returns with one of the biggest prizes in Canadian TV. Season 2 of Game of Homes is back Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network with resident judges Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, host Dave Salmoni and four pairs of two looking to score one heck of a grand prize: a house, furniture inside the house and a plot of land to put it on.

Where Season 1 had the backdrop of Vancouver, the sophomore go-round is based just outside of Toronto, and eight weeks of toil turns into triumph for two people. Will it be Kim and Harry, who want to win the house for financial freedom and a chance to spend more time with their kids? Maybe best friends Domenic and Michael, hoping to move out of their parents’ home. There is also engaged couple Courtney and Tyler; and mother and son duo Shelley and Alex, looking to win the house to secure financial stability for Alex’s future. Regardless of who wins, the road is a bumpy one.

“When things happen and they realize, ‘Holy shit, I could win a house,’ that’s one reality,” says Salmoni during a break in filming. “Then there’s the reality of the first time they don’t enjoy being part of a TV show. ‘I’m having a first AD scream at me?’ ‘I have to do that again?’ There are a lot of things you don’t consider when you sign on to do a design show.” Salmoni, an animal trainer and host of such nature series as Rogue Nature and Into the Pride and heading up Mark Burnett’s adventure series Expedition Impossible, dispenses tough love to the competitors, who are challenged to renovate a room at a time in the run-down abodes they’ve chosen. At the end of each episode, McAllister, Ryan, a guest judge weigh in on whose room looks the best.

“Colin and I are very practical and there can only be one winner,” Ryan says. “But to get there, there is a big emotional journey. We have connected with the contestants, but we have to keep that barrier alive where we can be critical without offending.”

“I want them all to win, but I’m there for the rules,” Salmoni explains. “If you tell me you’re tired? Tough, this is what you signed on for. If you received some comments from the judges that you didn’t like? Tough, do better next time.” There’s a lot of that attitude—both from the judges and contestants—in Episode 1. The dazzle of being part of a television show quickly fades when hours stretch into days, ingenious ideas crumble and tempers flare. McAllister, Ryan and guest judge Todd Talbot pull no punches in their criticisms of the living room renovations and leads to bruised egos.

“The stress of it is expected for a show like this,” Salmoni says. “What I didn’t expect was the weather. It’s getting cold and there’s no heat in the houses. They’ve been struggling.” Luckily, the grand prize is worth it.

Game of Homes airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

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