Everything about Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary, eh?

Flashpoint, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New tonight: Flashpoint, The Liquidator, Doc Zone, Match Game

Flashpoint, CTV – “Fit For Duty”
A shattered, emotionally disturbed man (AJ Buckley, CSI: NY) boards a city ferry with a shotgun and a suspicious package. Fearing the worst, Team One speeds to the scene, and discovers the delusional man is in fact a gifted pianist, and the package is a baby.

The Liquidator, OLN – “A Matter of Trust”
Jeff finds himself negotiating for the goods in an Italian gelato café that might be selling more than just ice cream. As a guy who makes his living on a handshake, does Jeff know whom to trust?

Doc Zone, CBC – “Love, Hate & Propaganda III: War on Terror – Part 2”
Days after the 9-11 attacks on America, President George Bush declares “war on terror.” This two-part documentary looks at the role propaganda played leading up to the tragedy and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Match Game, Comedy
Watch from the safety of the couch as celebrity panellists Kevin McDonald (KIDS IN THE HALL), Scott Thompson (KIDS IN THE HALL), Eddie Della Siepe (VIDEO ON TRIAL), and Leah Miller (SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA, Host of E!) get into all sorts of mischief.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New tonight: We Day on CTV

We Day 2012, CTV
This fall, nearly 20,000 students in cities across Canada gathered to celebrate We Day, the largest youth-empowerment event of its kind, led by international children’s’ rights activists and Free The Children co-founders Craig and Marc Kielburger. The jam-packed, one-hour special features the most inspiring performances from the We Day events in Toronto (Sept. 28) and Vancouver (Oct. 18). Viewers can witness the inspired and inspiring performances by THE X FACTOR’s Demi Lovato, Vancouver’s own Hedley, singer-songwriter My Name Is Kay, Canadian superstar Nelly Furtado, surprise Toronto guest K’NAAN, American rockers One Republic, and surprise Vancouver guest Cody Simpson.

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Bomb Girls, Featured, Flashpoint, Murdoch Mysteries, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Canadian TV’s Fall Hits and Misses

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By Diane Wild of TV, eh?

Now that CBC has announced its winter season and other networks’ January premieres are starting to trickle in, it seems like a good time to look back at the hits and misses of Canadian television this fall. I’m picking three of each – feel free to add your own in the comments.

Hits

Flashpoint
It’s rare for a show to end on its own terms before microscopic viewing levels force cancellation, but Flashpoint’s producers decided to walk away after a long, successful five-year run, and the final season has been its most successful yet in terms of ratings. CTV is giving the much-loved series a big send-off with a two-part finale December 6 and 13, a screening in Toronto, an online chat and live after-show, and the opportunity for fans to win memorabilia. (P.S. watch for a special Flashpoint fundraising auction by the creators coming soon here, too.)

Murdoch Mysteries
One of the best feel-good news stories in Canadian TV this year – breaking a string of dismal news on cancellation after cancellation – was CBC reviving Murdoch Mysteries after its Citytv death. A surprising sequel to that happy news is the ratings season five has earned for CBC this fall – a season that had just completed a summer run on Citytv, yet in its replay is getting even more viewers. New episodes start on January 7, and my ratings expectations are high.

Citytv
I know, I know, they cancelled Murdoch Mysteries while the ratings were still good, but they did give it a five-season run, and after parent company Rogers launched FX Canada, Murdoch didn’t fit the brand anymore (“brand” in this case meaning shows that can be rerun in perpetuity across all of a company’s channels to begrudgingly fulfill Canadian content requirements.) And yes, Citytv inflicted The Bachelor Canada on us this fall. But they deserve some credit for having more scripted shows in the works than we’ve seen in a long time — Seed and Package Deal — and keeping that news coming over the fall. Yes, I’m giving them kudos for having two scripted series coming up. At least two is more than one.

Misses

Global
It’s hard to really argue with this strategy, but the network doesn’t even pretend it will send Canadian shows into battle with US fall premieres. Rookie Blue ended its season just in time to scoot out of the way. In this fall’s Friday Death Timeslots, with nothing else to simulcast, Global has been airing the scarcely promoted newsmagazine series 16×9 plus Bomb Girls reruns. Let’s hope in the future they will build on the success of Bomb Girls with more of their own content to spread thinly across all of parent company Shaw’s networks.

Strombo at 7
It seemed like a good idea at the time: move Canada’s Boyfriend earlier in the day where more viewers could date him. But 7 pm isn’t quite primetime either, and it turns out Strombo isn’t quite news-like or Coronation Street-like enough to thrive in that timeslot sandwich, and some of the show tweaks didn’t quite work for me, including the panel trying to be funny about random subjects. Ratings took a nosedive from the former Jeopardy/Wheel of Fortune heights … but at least Strombo is undeniably Canadian.

Over the Rainbow
Judging by my Twitter stream, the people who watched enjoyed the show. Judging by the ratings, not enough people watched. It’s the kind of show that shouldn’t be too expensive to produce so maybe it satisfied CBC’s expectations, but it was yet another reality show and no Battle of the Blades ratings-wise. Then again, how can you beat hockey players and figure skaters on Canadian television? The Dorothys didn’t do it.

So … what were your hits and misses in Canadian TV this fall?

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New tonight: Marketplace, The Fifth Estate, Match Game

Marketplace, CBC – “When the Repairman Knocks”
We outfit garages with hidden cameras and put garage repairmen to the test.

The Fifth Estate, CBC – “Lance Armstrong: Master of Spin”
Lance Armstrong was an inspiration to millions – he overcame a deadly disease and was hailed as one of the world’s greatest athletes – but insiders knew the truth. the fifth estate examines the widespread use and abuse of doping in international cycling and how Lance Armstrong kept this dark secret for years.

Match Game, Comedy
Kick off the weekend with guest panellists Greg Grunberg (HEROES), Jeremy Hotz (MY FAVOURITE MARSIAN), Elvira Kurt (COMEDY NOW!), and Tara Spencer-Nairn (THE LISTENER).

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Flashpoint, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New tonight: Flashpoint, Nature of Things, Doc Zone, Liquidator, Match Game

Flashpoint, CTV – “A World of Their Own”
Team One is on the trail of Cole Berkley (Andrew Walker, Lawman), a desperate man who kidnaps a prominent politician in a last-ditch effort to save his land. Struggling to connect with Cole, the Team discovers he’s risking his life for his deaf nephew (Connor Price, Good Luck Chuck) who’s scarred by a traumatic past. But when the team learns that Cole himself is being used, Team One faces an explosive situation, with the life of Cole’s nephew hanging in the balance.

The Nature of Things, CBC – “The Norse: An Arctic Mystery”
An intrepid Arctic archaeologist is on the verge of proving that the first meeting between Europeans and North Americans happened centuries before Christopher Columbus. There are the tantalizing bits of evidence, like the Norse ship station in Newfoundland. But nothing has been found there or anywhere else to suggest that Arctic peoples and the Norse met face to face a thousand years ago. Until now.

Doc Zone, CBC – “Tales From KP”
Stories of some of the most carefully guarded secrets of Kingston Penitentiary with some of the most unlikely characters —on both sides of the law!

The Liquidator, OLN – “No Rest for the Wicked”
After reaching his breaking point, Jeff reluctantly lets his family take him on a brief vacation to help him de-stress from work. Will the vacation stop him from making deals?

Match Game, Comedy
Holy BLANK! It’s D. L. Hughley (D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS), Steve Smith (THE RED GREEN SHOW), Sabrina Jalees (COMEDY NOW!), and Laura Cilevitz (VIDEO ON TRIAL) on the panel!

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