Everything about Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary, eh?

Corbin Tomaszeski cooks up truly Incredible prize on Food Race

Corbin Tomaszeski laments the fact that, with many having busy lifestyles, families aren’t able to enjoy quality time preparing or sharing dinner together.

They’ll get a little bit of both—in a seriously amped-up manner—via The Incredible Food Race. Debuting Wednesday on Food Network, celebrity chef Tomaszeski and ET Canada host Rick Campanelli serve as hosts and ringmasters as two families face off in physical challenges followed by a live cook-off in front of an audience; the audience then tastes both meals and votes for the winning family. What does the triumphant squad go home with? Groceries for a year courtesy of Walmart Canada.

“Competition shows usually award product, some kind of service or monetary amount,” Tomaszeski says. “There’s something really attractive and tangible when it’s food and you have the control over what you buy. And, hello, food is a basic necessity.” The former Restaurant Takeover host explains The Incredible Food Race is more about bringing people together and having fun, with a big prize at the end.

It doesn’t take long for the “fun” challenges to turn into a bona fide competition in Episode 1. The super-athletic Snyman family face off against the vegan Buddle-Gills in three tests designed to give distinct advantages during the final cook-off. The biggest of those three advantages? Several minutes with Tomaszeski coaching them while preparing food for the hungry voting audience. The Dinner Party Wars judge admits that, unlike feelgood co-host Campanelli, he wants to hear smack talk and see some tears because it makes for good TV. One of Tomaszeski’s favourite challenges is called “Sumo Sushi,” and features a team member rolling their own rice-based recipes … while wearing inflatable sumo wrestler costumes.

At this point, Season 1 is a mere six episodes filmed in Toronto, but Tomaszeski hopes, if a sophomore season is ordered, The Incredible Food Race can become a country-wide affair.

“I think we’ve only just scratched the surface with Season 1,” he says. “I think we should travel or have people from across Canada come here because there are so many different types of families and components of families out there that it’s a good idea.”

The Incredible Food Race airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network.

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Hockey Wives skate to Season 2 for W Network

A lot of pressure is put on NHL players. They’re paid to score—or stop—goals, expensive commodities that can suffer a career-ending injury or be traded to a team on the other side of the country. It’s a stress-filled, sometimes cruel sport.

But let’s not forget the wives, girlfriends and children behind the scenes whose lives are affected just as much as the players. Returning Wednesday on W Network, Season 2 of Hockey Wives follows 11 ladies who call NHL players their husband, fiancé or boyfriend.

“Some of the girls from Season 1 were throwing my name around to the producers and told me how much fun they had,” says show newbie Angela Price. “I went back and forth with the producers before finally saying yes.” Wife of Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, Wednesday’s return introduces viewers to the affable young couple away from the ice, participating in photo ops at their charity, the Breakfast Club of Canada. Baby talk is front and centre; cameras capture Angela detailing how the pair are trying to get pregnant.

Back for Season 2—alongside Keshia Chanté, Rhianna Weaver, Kodette LaBarbera, Tiffany Parros, Noureen DeWulf, Paige Getzlaf, Taylor Winnick, Ashley Booth and Maripier Morin—is Martine Forget, wife of Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier. She reveals her sophomore season storyline is filled by footage of her raising their infant son, Tyler, and planning the couple’s wedding.

Price and Forget admit not every part of their lives was recorded for Hockey Wives; the Prices’ home life hasn’t been documented and Forget nixed a dinner out in Toronto.

“They asked Jonathan and I to go out for dinner,” she recalls. “But dinner in Toronto, with the cameras, is just too much. With the cameras there’s just so much attention, so we said no.” Forget adds that, with the shaky start the Maple Leafs have had, her hubby would rather concentrate on his game than reality TV cameras.

It’s easy, in this social media-obsessed world, to dismiss the ladies as women swanning around mansions waiting for a paycheque to be cashed. Hockey Wives is an eye-opener. Sure, there are high-profile events to attend and swank dinners on the calendar, but so is everyday stuff like laundry, paying bills, helping with homework, changing dirty diapers or holding down a job. Throw in a partner who is away playing hockey much of the year and you’ve got recipe for disaster.

“I want viewers to understand that I’m a mom going back to work and that I’m not at home spending money all the time,” says Forget.

“There are so many different varieties of lifestyles in hockey,” Price says. “I’m excited for people to see that Carey and I live a very similar lifestyle to what we did before he became a professional hockey player and we find pleasure in doing the same things we’ve always done.”

Hockey Wives airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

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Link: It Takes Guts: TV For Your Intestines

From Jim Bawden:

It Takes Guts: TV For Your Intestines
“My idea for this TV documentary (It Takes Guts) really came about when I was finishing my last one.” I was asking my subject,  British geneticist Dr. Tim Spector what he was doing next and he talked all about his new book The Diet Revolution.

“And I knew if I could sell it to a network it might really work out.” The result It Takes Guts premieres on CBC-TV’s The Nature Of Things Thursday October 29 at 8 p.m.–it’s certainly a provocative journey inside the human intestines. Continue reading.

 

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Canada’s Worst Driver careens into Season 11

You’d think that, after 11 seasons on the air, host Andrew Younghusband would throw up his hands and drive away from Canada’s Worst Driver. After all, instead of slowly improving the way this country’s drivers are, they seem to be getting worse. Then again, Worst Driver is more about entertainment than education, no matter what Cam Woolley, traffic expert and former OPP sergeant; Philippe Létourneau, professional high-performance driving instructor; expert driving instructor Tim Danter; and registered psychotherapist Shyamala Kiru may say. And ratings don’t lie: Season 10 was the most-watched show on Discovery.

Returning Monday to Discovery, Younghusband gamely welcomes nine Canadians and their nominators to the series’ top-secret driving location—not really, it’s Dunnville, Ont.—where they’re put through the paces for the next eight weeks before one is saddled with the dubious title of Canada’s Worst Driver.

This season, challenges will be faster, and all take place in a super-charged Dodge Charger (a beautiful car mistreated by all) in recognition that cars continue to perform at a brisker pace. And in a series first, Younghusband dons a racing suit to introduce higher-speed versions of classic Worst Driver challenges like “Eye of the Needle” and the “Water Tank,” as well as new tests to demonstrate the real-life risks of high-speed driving and its effect on precision and judgment.

As with previous seasons, the producers give viewers a chance to get to know each of the competitors as they drive to Worst Driver‘s track. There’s Renee, who freaks out if she drives over 60 km/h and throws on her four-way flashers to encourage everyone to go around; distracted driver Jordan; lead-footed Tina, who quaffed a vodka cooler and shooter before driving to the show; inadvertent speeder Cameron; angry driver Alex; grandmother Polly; crier Jillian; and siblings Sholom and Shmuel. Yes, Worst Driver is fun to watch, but it’s also damned scary. All of these folks are more focused on texting, eating, drinking and updating their Facebook profiles than they are on the road; what does that say for the people around me on the road every day?

Sure, Worst Driver is about those behind the wheel and loved one’s riding in the backseat or shotgun, but Younghusband is a bona fide star. You can’t help but laugh at his quick wit and expressive face, especially when he’s incredulous at what these competitors do.

It only took me half of Monday’s return to have a grave dislike for Tina. She saw no problem with drinking before hitting the road and confronted Younghusband when he lightly suggested she might have a bad attitude. Still, it is early days, and she may—along with the others—realize the err of her ways and improve. If not? She’ll be Season 11’s Worst Driver.

Canada’s Worst Driver airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery.

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Comments and queries for the week of October 23

Is House of Bryan: The Last Straw for Bryan and Sarah Baeumler?

I need an address to mail Bryan Baeumler a letter (more of an impassioned plea) for his construction expertise. —Rebecca

Check out the contact information on Bryan’s website.


Rookie Blue cancelled by Global

I can’t believe they cancelled Rookie Blue, it was my favorite show. Why do all the good Canadian shows get cancelled, like Arctic Air and Flashpoint? Next you’re going to tell me Saving Hope, Remedy and Heartland are gone too. What is wrong with Canadian TV? —Donna

Unfortunately, Global pulled the plug on Remedy after two seasons.


Continuum‘s end … and new beginnings

I understand Kiera ‘s choice. Being a mom myself, I know for a fact that I would take the chance to return to my son. The sad part is that she was so focused on returning that she didn’t take into account that if changes that she helped Alec to make would also change her timeline. It was a bittersweet ending where she changed the future for the better but lost her son. I hope that she’s able to make life for herself or I’d like to think that Alec sends her back to 2015 where she can be amongst friends knowing her son is OK. —Fahima

 

Got a comment or question about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or @tv_eh.

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