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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Say Yes to the Dress Canada returns with tears and dress triumphs

Much of television is the equivalent of comfort food: you sit down, tune in and know what you’re going to get. Such is the case with Say Yes to the Dress Canada, returning for Season 2 on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT with back-to-back episodes on W Network.

The franchise once again spotlights Canadian ladies from different backgrounds and personal stories with the same goal: to find the perfect dress for her wedding day. As it was in the debut season, Rachelle Pollari of Amanda-Lina’s Sposa Boutique in Toronto and her team of experts aid the gals and their families and friends in finding the perfect frock. The only change from Season 1 is that fashion director Joseph Spencer is out in favour of Tyrel, who helps put the finishing touches on each sale.

Say Yes to the Dress Canada has always been a tear-filled affair and Wednesday’s return is no different; the second episode spotlights bride-to-be Heather, who lost her mother at 17; and Ashley, whose mom skipped out when she was young, leaving John a single father. Several misses threaten to throw everything into disarray.

The genius of Say Yes to the Dress Canada continues to be the ability to tell meaningful stories about these brides and their families while seeking out the perfect frock within the constraints of a 22-minute runtime. By the end of each segment you feel like you know these ladies and wish you’d gotten an invite to their big day.

Coming up later this season: the stories surrounding a wedding officiant, a divorce lawyer, athletes and a lesbian couple. And the franchise features one of its own tying the knot, as consultant Dimitra comes in for a fitting and has the wedding of her dreams with her coworkers cheering her on.

Say Yes to the Dress Canada airs Wednesdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Dominic Monaghan hunts more Wild Things on OLN

I’ve always enjoyed Dominic Monaghan’s animal hunt-travel show. The aptly named Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan finds the spunky, energetic Lost actor as he hopscotches the planet seeking out dangerous, unique and odd-looking beasties from the animal world. Among the items on his checklist this season are the Indian Cobra, the flying lizard, giant whale sharks and the rare Aye-aye lemur of Madagascar.

Monaghan’s enthusiasm and dry sense of humour is what keeps me coming back to the series and the information he includes in each episode is just as entertaining as the subject matter. In Tuesday’s Season 3 return on OLN, Monaghan and his long-suffering Toronto-based cameraman Frank Vilaca trek to Belize in search of the Fer-de-Lance or Bothrops asper, an aggressive, six foot long reptile capable of leaping a third of its length to deliver a bite on prey.

As with the first two seasons, Monaghan’s enthusiasm is addictive: you really want him to succeed in his hunt for the snake. Padding out each episode is the story of the region, in this case the pair offer a triptych of wildlife and the people who live in Belize, including a stop at a pyramid and some background on the Mayan culture.

While searching for the Fer-de-Lance, Monaghan discovers a “small” tarantula the size of his hand and describes how long the species lives (and how it would bite him if so inclined), shops in a market and instructs Vilaca on successfully injecting anti-venom in case a snake makes its mark on either of them. The duo also discover an inquisitive member of the raccoon family and the strongest animal in the jungle.

As for finding the Fer-de-Lance … well … I’ll let you watch and find out for yourselves, but following Monaghan and Vilaca on their journey is worth tuning to.

Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on OLN.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

First Dates gets messy for Slice (and Global)

Update: Season 1 of Slice’s First Dates is being re-broadcast on Global starting this Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. Here’s what I wrote about the show when it debuted last September on Slice.

There’s a wall-sized sign on the wall in the restaurant where First Dates is filmed. The sign says: Things Can Get Messy, and it’s a pretty apt discription of Slice’s latest original series.

Filmed in one of Earls’ Vancouver locations, First Dates uses Big Brothers setup of filming with a multitude of cameras and microphones that capture every step—and misstep—single Canadians make on the dating scene.

Tuesday’s debut focuses on a trio of blind dates that run the gamut from success to bona fide train wreck. This being a nice Canadian production, however, there are no tears and screaming when a match isn’t made, though you can tell from Billi-Ann’s body language she just isn’t feeling it with Charles. Perhaps it’s his penchant for speaking in the third person, or his intimate knowledge of drinks with college-level amounts of booze in them. Regardless, it doesn’t take long for viewers to realize this HR dude by day, party guy by night, is no match for Billi-Ann.

Shaw Media

Much more successful are Denai and Edward, who flirt their way through dinner, aided by her numerous comments about his cuteness, his endless muscle flexing and a shocking moment where he undoes his pants during the appetizer course. Is this the way the kids act during dates nowadays? Are they at the point where twenty somethings throw caution to the wind and flash some skivvy to attract attention? Apparently.

That’s not to say First Dates isn’t highly enjoyable. It is, if you’re looking for pure guilty pleasure entertainment. First Dates the perfect show to sit and watch with friends so that you can laugh, poke fun at—and perhaps commiserate—along with for an hour.

First Dates airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on Global.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Timber Kings returns for Season 3 of incredible log home builds

Log homes are a work of art unto themselves, but what the team from Pioneer Log Homes of B.C. create are truly works of art. Bryan Reid Sr., founder and owner certainly thinks so.

“It’s truly like an orchestra,” he says on the line from Vancouver Island. Reid Sr.’s voice is filled with pride as he talks about his veteran crew being able to build homes with nary a word, communicating through hand signals—voices would be lost under the scream of crane hydraulics—as logs are guided into place and homes are created.

Reid Sr., and his artists return for Season 3, Sunday, Jan. 3, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV, with bigger projects and more laugh-inducing hijinks. Sunday’s return has a little bit of both, as Reid and Joel Roorda jet to Russia to put the finishing touches on an 82,000-square foot home—it more like a compound—boasting an Olympic-size pool and 13 sets of stairs; the log veterans teach a team of Russian builders how to construct the steps on their own.

Timber_Kingd

“Every time I went over there, the homeowner would pull me aside and tell me, ‘Bryan, I use your company as an example in my company, as the way to treat a customer,'” he recalls. “He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t even have to show up on the site, but he was there almost every day. He loved his home and what we did.” The massive home outside of Moscow is in sharp contrast to the challenge Peter Arnold takes on: creating a log raft—complete with motor and barbecue—that will triumph over white water rapids … with predictable soggy results.

Also on tap for Season 3? Projects see members of the team head to Germany, Philadelphia and the aforementioned Vancouver Island where Reid Sr., is creating something a little off-the-wall that will be shown later on this season.

“We’re building a log car,” he says with a chuckle. “It’s going to be electric, with a turbine. I’ve always wanted to do some kind of log car and now it’s a reality. It’s probably the craziest thing I’ve ever done.”

While much of Timber Kings is spent focusing on the homes being built, HGTV turns the tables on the guys with Under the Hard Hat. The six-part special, beginning March 13, provides in-depth peeks at each of the cast members, exploring their most impressive builds and over-the-top pranks unleashed on their co-workers.

Timber Kings airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV.

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Masterchef Canada, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Link: Women Behind Canadian TV: Cathie James

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Women Behind Canadian TV: Cathie James
“I’m not trying to make any kind of statement in my hiring, but I have found in this business, that for this kind of television, on the story side of it, I think women just have a greater affinity for shaping this material. We are dealing with real people and a lot of our job is just listening to them and getting them to tell us, in the most honest and compelling way, their stories. I hate to generalize but that is just something that female culture is more in tune to. We are listeners. I’ve found that sometimes when I’ve put men in those roles they just aren’t as interested in the material.” Continue reading. 

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