Everything about Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary, eh?

T+E to bow original series The Weapon Hunter

From a media release:

T+E, a Blue Ant Media network, announced today the world premiere of The Weapon Hunter, a Blue Ant Media six-part, original series, produced in association with Cream Productions. Launching July 7, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, The Weapon Hunter follows the adventures of history buff and restoration expert, Paul Shull, as he embarks on a coast-to-coast quest to get his hands on and help resurrect some of the world’s rarest and most remarkable pieces of military history.

The series follows Shull and his lifelong obsession with military history and technology and he’s on a one-man mission to find and fire the weapons that helped shape the modern world.  To achieve his goal, Shull enlists the aid of a loosely-knit network of history obsessed collectors.  They’ve spent decades – and small fortunes – amassing military collections that rival those found in any museum.  Now, they’re opening their doors to allow Shull the once-in-a-lifetime chance to come face to face with the past.

The Weapon Hunter is produced by Cream Productions with David Brady and Kate Harrison as Executive Producers. Matthew Booi is the Series Producer.

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Mighty Ships sets sail for Season 8

From a media release:

MIGHTY SHIPS is set to shove off for its epic eighth season, delivering an unparalleled stem-to-stern journey alongside the world’s most sophisticated vessels, premiering Sunday, July 19 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT exclusively on Discovery. The long-running Canadian mega-hit series, produced by Bell Media’s Exploration Production Inc. (EPI) in association with Discovery and seen in more than 150 territories around the world, uses stunning cinematography to capture the spectacular scale and innovation behind everything from luxurious cruise ships and cargo haulers to warships and oil drilling rigs, along with the navigational challenges of stormy seas and extreme weather.

Season 8 kicks off with twice the might, featuring all-new back-to-back episodes showcasing “Quantum of the Seas” – the world’s most deluxe cruise ship, boasting extreme sports facilities and an observation pod that takes guests to staggering, skyscraper heights. And battening down the hatches for the second episode of the evening, “Hawk” takes viewers aboard one of the world’s most powerful semi-submersible transports – a vessel that must actually sink before she swims.

Episode highlights from MIGHTY SHIPS – Season 8 include:

Quantum of the Seas
Sunday, July 19 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Quantum of the Seas is the world’s most innovative cruise ship. Filled with big toys, guests can fly a trapeze, surf, or even skydive without ever leaving the ship. With an observation pod reaching 90 metres high, Quantum offers a bird’s eye view of herself. For the crew, this first full-length cruise is no time to play. Quantum’s indoor facilities get a workout during early winter weather off New Jersey. Later, her captain battles strong winds in the tight confines of Caribbean ports. Finally, a computer glitch undermines the big show in the most technologically advanced theatre at sea.

Hawk
Sunday, July 19 at 8 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT
To transport one of the world’s largest oil drilling rigs halfway around the world, Hawk has to sink before she swims. To load, she sinks down in the water, submerging her expansive deck. Then, Hawk slips under the rig, expels her ballast and rises up – lifting  her towering cargo like a champion. From there, she embarks on a 25,000-kilometre voyage, beginning with the notorious traffic in Singapore, continuing through stormy seas off Western Africa, and finishing up with an unexpected drift in Norway that puts the ship and her cargo in jeopardy.

Happy Star
Sunday, July 26 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Happy Star is brand new and ready to lift and transport the world’s heaviest industrial equipment around the world. Her first major job takes her from China to Eastern Canada, carrying the massive components for a crane-and-conveyor system. Along the way, Happy Star’s crew faces a baffling engine problem that sets them adrift for 24 hours. Then through day and night, they crash their way through daunting ice. Arriving at port, the crew sets the mighty ship’s towering cranes to assemble the entire system, creating a new iron ore loading facility. But frigid temperatures threaten to bring the entire operation to a halt.

Algoma Equinox
Sunday, August 2 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Algoma Equinox is built to haul more cargo faster, using less fuel than any other Laker.  On this voyage, her crew scrambles to load and transport grain from one end of the world’s largest inland waterway to the other –  passing through four Great Lakes, as well as the mammoth locks and tight canals that comprise the St. Lawrence Seaway. Equinox and her crew battle the fierce ice and winds, encountering sudden and enormous shifts in water depth. And after offloading the grain, she takes on a load of iron ore heavy enough to bend the hull of the ship!

HDMS Peter Willemoes
Sunday, August 9 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
HDMS Peter Willemoes is the pride of the Royal Danish Navy. One of three in a new class of frigate, she’s built to protect an entire battle group. On this voyage, Willemoes and her crew undertake the most intense battle training exercise ever seen on MIGHTY SHIPS. They engage every weapon aboard – from machine gun, to cannons to a Harpoon sea-to-sea missile – and undertake rapid evasive maneuvers. But Willemoes’ crew must do all of this while sustaining multiple simulated damages. If they prove they can fight while wounded, this warship and her crew will be cleared for active deployment.

Maersk Interceptor
Sunday, August 16 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
The Maersk Interceptor is the largest rig of her kind. Purpose-built to drill for oil in the harshest seas on the planet, she plants her 207-metre long legs into the seafloor, then lifts her platform high above the raging seas, drilling as deep as three kilometres down. The biggest challenge comes at the start: towing the rig 170 kilometres off shore, positioning her, and readying her massive derrick for drilling. On this – her first-ever job – Interceptor’s crew is challenged by high stakes and the tough decisions required to survive the biggest storm to hit the North Sea in two decades.

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Food Network and Tricon start production on The Incredible Food Race

From a media release:

Family, food, and fun are racing to Food Network Canada’s Fall schedule as production begins on the new Canadian original series, The Incredible Food Race. Hosted by Rick Campanelli (Entertainment Tonight Canada), each episode of The Incredible Food Race features two families battling it out in a super-charged race full of fun food challenges and a main event: the family versus family cook-off of a kid-approved meal.

Food Network Canada’s Chef Corbin Tomaszeski (Restaurant Takeover, Dinner Party Wars) joins the series as chef mentor and commentator for each episode’s main cook-off event. In each episode, the competing families will battle for the grand prize of a year’s supply of free groceries, courtesy of series sponsor, Walmart Canada.

The Incredible Food Race shoots its six episodes across Toronto and the GTA this summer, with stops at some of the city’s most buzzed about food events. Production gets underway this weekend at Toronto Ribfest 2015. The Incredible Food Race will premiere on Food Network Canada in Fall 2015 – broadcast details to be announced at a later date.

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Preview: To Russia with Love focuses on LGBT community in Sochi’s shadow

There were a lot of headlines and TV broadcasts spotlighting the LGBT community leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The country makes no secret of the fact homosexuality is viewed as deviant behaviour and that one could be arrested just for protesting in favour of that life choice.

CBC focuses its documentary lens on the LGBT community leading up to—and during—the Games from several angles. Narrated by Glee’s Jane Lynch, To Russia with Love follows U.S. figure skating commentator Johnny Weir, Canadian speed skater Anastasia Buscis, New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellerup and Australian snowboard cross racer Belle Brockhoff in the days preceding Olympic trials. With the UN renouncing Russia’s views on the LGBT community and Billie Jean King being named to the U.S. Olympic delegation, Buscis, Skjellerup and Brockhoff realized that if they did medal in Sochi they could be public spokespeople for their community on the world stage.

The well-rounded To Russia with Love includes interviews with LGBT activists in Russia who worry of reprisals after the cameras and eyes of the world turn away after Games are done and the challenge facing Konstantin Yablotskiy, who aims to host the gay-friendly Open Games just days after Olympic Games end.

Some of the most gripping footage is captured at Mark Tewksbury’s home in Calgary where he not only reflects back on his life post coming out and asks tough questions of Weir and the athletes over dinner. They may have high hopes of making a statement in Russia, but what would it cost them?

It’s a question they grapple with during their whole trip and reflect back on once they get home. Should they have staged a protest—as Tewksbury secretly hoped—or were the public discussions about the issue a big enough step?

To Russia with Love airs Thursday at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Check out this teaser for tonight’s broadcast:

 

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Hockey Wives scores Season 2 … and new ladies

From a media release:

Corus Entertainment’s W Network announced today the first set of new and returning wives who will be featured in the highly-anticipated second season of the docu-series Hockey Wives. New stars include Keshia Chanté, one of Canada’s most versatile music stars, host of BET’s hit music countdown show 106 & Park and girlfriend of Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ray Emery; and Rhianna Weaver, a Montreal-based philanthropist and marketing professional and wife of veteran Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver. Returning stars include Kodette LaBarbera, Tiffany Parros, Noureen DeWulf, Maripier Morin and Martine Forget, with additional new wives to be announced in the coming months. Produced by Bristow Global Media Inc., in association with W Network, Hockey Wives Season 2 is scheduled to premiere this fall, with LG signed on as the lead sponsor.

Hockey Wives Season 2 will continue to have unmatched access to the off-the-ice lives of the women who are the captains of their families, careers and relationships. Following the success of the first season the series will continue to delivers a rare opportunity for fans to meet accomplished “captains” off the ice and explores the meaning of being married to the game. With an exclusive look into the high-stakes lives of WAGs (wives and girlfriends) of professional hockey players, the series reveals that it takes an incredible woman to manage fulfilling personal careers and stick handle life off of the ice with some of today’s top pro athletes.

Being married to the game comes with its fair share of perks, but make no mistake the hockey life isn’t for the faint of heart.  Balancing family, career and personal aspirations against a backdrop of the pressures of being traded, injury, career uncertainty, long periods of separation is a constant juggling act. And, if you happen to be in one of the country’s biggest hockey cities, it’s like living in a fishbowl.  Meet the off-ice Captains – sexy, savvy, jet-setting women, stick handling life through another grueling hockey season. From wives who are rookies, to those who are facing free agency or whose partners are Stanley Cup winning superstars, these women form a team of their own, supporting and encouraging one another through personal and professional highs and lows.

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