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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

W Network adds four more Hockey Wives

From a media release:

Corus Entertainment’s W Network announced today four additional women who will be featured in the highly-anticipated Season 2 of the docu-series Hockey Wives. The new wives include Angela Price, wife of Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price; Paige Getzlaf, wife of Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf; Taylor Winnik, wife of Toronto Maple Leafs left wing Daniel Winnik and Ashley Booth, wife of free agent David Booth. They join previously announced wives Keshia Chanté, Rhianna Weaver, Kodette LaBarbera, Tiffany Parros, Noureen DeWulf, Maripier Morin and Martine Forget. A W Network original series, produced by Bristow Global Media Inc. (BGM), Hockey Wives Season 2 premieres Wednesday, October 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.

The Hockey Wives are back with a brand new game. Some of their husbands are gunning for the Stanley Cup, while others are letting their six packs slide as they head out on their yachts for the summer. But they can’t kick back for long. Free Agency is just around the corner when shocking trades and contract surprises can rock the league – who will be offered a contract and who will be left waiting for the call?

This season on Hockey Wives the ladies behind some of hockey’s biggest stars bring their compelling stories to the screen. There are a lot of changes in store for the families – surprising trades, nuptials, new contracts, new babies, difficult moves to new countries, painful goodbyes, injury and heartbreak. Life moves quickly when married to the game, but these ladies lace up their skates and stick-handle their lives through yet another grueling hockey season.

Executive Producers for Hockey Wives are Julie Bristow President & CEO BGM, Claire Adams, Head of Content, BGM, Carli Posner and Megan Sanchez-Warner. John MacDonald is the Executive Vice President of Television and Head of Women’s and Family Television for Corus Entertainment and Kelly Shouldice is Director of Original Programming for Women’s and Family Television.

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Strong Winds and Icy Conditions Hit CMT This Fall

From a media release:

Corus Entertainment’s CMT (Canada) delivers two thrilling original reality series this October. Viewers will get a first-hand look at the eye of North America’s fiercest storms as chasers Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes battle high winds and big stakes on the series premiere of Tornado Hunters debuting Friday, October 16 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (repeat at 9:30 p.m. PT). The action continues with Ice Racer Showdown starting at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT (repeat at 10:30 p.m. PT). Host Clayton Bellamy of Canadian country group, The Road Hammers, tests everyday drivers as they brave brutal arctic conditions through a variety of icy road obstacle courses in order to claim the title of Ice Racer Champion.

Tornado Hunters (10 x 30 minutes) picks up from last fall’s pilot broadcast premiere with epic footage from the twin tornados in Pilger, Nebraska. Greg Johnson, Chris Chittick and Ricky Forbes are looking to make 2015 a banner year for their storm-chasing team, loading their storm truck, Flash, with new camera gear to help capture more extreme weather imagery than ever before. This season features the Tornado Hunters tackling the most powerful and jaw-dropping tornados in North America, from massive rain-wrapped tornados to multiple twisters and the storm of the summer in Manitoba. Viewers can catch up on the two-part pilot episode Thursday, October 8 starting at 11 p.m. ET/ 8 p.m. PT in advance of the Season 1 premiere on Friday, October 16 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (repeat at 9:30 p.m. PT). Tornado Hunters is produced by Saloon Media in association with CMT and with the participation of the Bell Fund.

On Ice Racer Showdown (12 x 60 minutes), five drivers brave the frigid temperatures taking on two fun-filled elimination challenges, each jam-packed with icy obstacles and angry snowball throwing yetis. The three that survive the grueling tasks will go head-to-head in a thrilling ice race to claim the ultimate title. Hosted by The Road Hammers’ Clayton Bellamy, each hilarious adrenaline-fueled one hour episode has happy hockey moms and pizza delivery guys taking on tough talkin’ truckers and cab drivers to prove who’s the coolest driver on the ice. Guest judges include award-winning actor and comedian Donovan Workun, two-time Olympian skeleton racer Michelle Kelly and technical judge and rally racing champion, Jorge Dascollas. Ice Racer Showdown is produced by Corkscrew Media in association with CMT.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Cottage Life’s Brojects heads inside for spinoff

From a media release:

After two seasons battling blackflies, bears and the odd spring blizzard, Andrew and Kevin Buckles, the creative duo behind the Cottage Life series, Brojects, bring the cottage indoors with Brojects: In The House, a new 13-episode half-hour series featuring more of what the ‘bros’ do best — turning traditional home and cottage projects on their head. This time, the real-life brothers transform a former Masonic Lodge into the ultimate escape destination, complete with an indoor outhouse, a bike bar and a retractable sleeping platform — just to mention a few of the projects they have planned.

Among the one-of-a-kind concepts currently under construction at the former Lodge is an indoor skatepark, which features two quarter-pipes at the opposite ends of the living room area that can be turned upside down, creating a domed sleeping area below and a top bunk above.

Now in its third season, Brojects has been an unqualified success for Cottage Life and its distribution arm, Blue Ant International. Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. recently announced that the series will make its U.S. television premiere this fall on Great American Country as Lake Guys.

Brojects: In The House launches Spring 2016 on Cottage Life. Principal photography began June 29, 2015 in Great Village, Nova Scotia.

Brojects: In The House is produced by Farmhouse Productions Inc. The series was created by Kent Sobey and Andrew Buckles; producers are Kent Sobey, Andrew Buckles, Howard Ng and Kevin Buckles. Farmhouse Productions Ltd. is a film, television and digital media production company based in Toronto, Ontario. Productions include Brojects, SOS: Save Our Skins, Papillon, The Time Traveler and Air Guitar in Oulu.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Highway Thru Hell hauls into Season 4

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There’s something horrifying about watching a tractor trailer, weighed down with supplies, sliding slowly off an icy highway and into a ditch. It’s a bit of a mind-blower to witness the effect millimetres of frozen water has on such a big beast. But it’s something Jamie Davis and his staff see almost every day during winter travel on the Coquihalla Highway and he’s made a career out of it.

This Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery, Highway Thru Hell rolls on with 13 new episodes, documenting the successes, drama and disappointment that involves Davis, his staff and competitors. It takes a special type of person to go into the freezing cold and pull rigs off chunks of highway with nicknames like “The Smasher,” but it’s just another day for Big Al, who’s at the helm of Quiring Towing; within minutes of the Season 4 return he’s helping the occupants away from their smashed car, worried they’ll be injured by a sliding rig.

Meanwhile in Lac La Biche, Davis is busier than ever, and has expanded his fleet to cover not just the oil fields but Edmonton itself.

And while you can rest assured the Coq gets slippery in winter, there are changes afoot in Season 4. Davis’ right-hand man, Howie, left to work for a city-based towing company to be closer to his family, and Adam cut ties to work for a rival outfit in B.C., meaning Colin has to step into the role. Colin’s first job? To pull a tractor trailer upright using the rotator, a tougher machine to operate than a tow truck, and newbie John has two decades of towing on his resumé, but must prove he belongs on the B.C. team.

What I like about Highway Thru Hell is the lack of extra fluff. Sure, we learn the personal stories of the folks working these snowy strips of asphalt, but the focus is almost always on the men and women putting their lives on the line to help others out of a tight spot. (And kudos to the producers, who often include a quick science lesson as to how these trucks ended up in their precarious positions.) I may not have the skill-set to drive a tow truck and haul rigs around, but I can certainly appreciate and salute those who do.

And man, does it look stunning in HD.

Highway Thru Hell airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on Discovery.

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