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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

The Scott Brothers help create forever homes in new HGTV Canada series

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From a media release:

Drew and Jonathan Scott are on a mission to turn families’ ordinary houses into their lifelong dream homes in the new series Property Brothers: Forever Home (7×60) premiering Monday, June 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada. In their latest series, the brothers help families whose current property needs a complete makeover in order to make it their forever home. To unlock a home’s full potential, Drew and Jonathan will focus on overhauling several key spaces to suit the families’ needs and wishes.

In each episode, Drew will take the homeowners on a tour of nearby renovated homes to learn about the features they love and which ones they can live without. With this information and the homeowner’s budget in mind, Jonathan will bring the family’s design dreams to life using detailed 3D graphics. He will present the homeowners with two options that showcase different ways their house can be reimagined for different budgets. The stakes are high for everyone – for the couples, who must decide how their ideal home should look, and for Drew and Jonathan, who must deliver renovations that surpass the homeowners’ expectations.

Property Brothers: Forever Home is produced by Scott Brothers Entertainment in association with Corus Entertainment Inc., with Drew and Jonathan as executive producers.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Makeful’s Handmade Hotels explores luxury rentals

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Unless I’m travelling for work, I refuse to stay in a hotel. I much prefer Airbnb for the convenience, homeyness and prices to what hotel chains offer. And, after watching Handmade Hotels, Katie Herbert has opened my eyes when it comes to booking a hotel for a group.

Debuting Tuesday with back-to-back episodes at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on Makeful, Herbert takes viewers on a journey to see a trio of short-term rentals designed for larger groups. A renovation specialist who isn’t afraid to think outside the box in her day-to-day gig, Herbert knows a unique design when she sees it. And Handmade Hotels has plenty to offer when it comes both whimsy and wow factor.

After a bit of a history lesson—short-term rentals date back to boarding houses of the 19th century when workers and their families came to the city and needed somewhere to stay when they weren’t on the job—Herbert visits the first location, a home dating from 1880. After renovating it for her family, homeowner Abigale now offers it as a short-term property for up to nine guests. One of the unique and eye-catching items in the property is a clawfoot tub in the kitchen with a very cute story behind it. As Herbert says, that tub is just the type of item to garner attention when folks search online for somewhere to stay and makes for a great conversation piece.

Herbert’s next stop is a 6,000-foot place, The Darling Mansion, that can easily host 10. Among the highlights in Tanya’s former doctor’s home turned art spaces are antiques and visual curiosities, a room called “The Opium Den” with open shower, and “The Magic Carpet Ride,” boasting a bed suspended from the ceiling.

Upcoming instalments spotlight hidden rooms, eco-friendly homes, tiny homes and historic properties, all part of the short-term rental market.

Handmade Hotels is the latest original production from Blue Ant Media and it’s the perfect fit to a brand offering great homegrown shows like Blown Away, Great Canadian Cottages and Brojects. I’m looking forward to seeing more.

Handmade Hotels airs Tuesdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on Makeful.

Images courtesy of Blue Ant Media.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Comments and queries for the week of May 10

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I’m a 64-year-old male who is a fan but who finds Bryan in [Island of Bryan] as a male chauvinist pig who doesn’t listen, is a self-centred jerk, and gives a bad reputation to guys. —Don

Once again [Big Food Bucket List is a] great idea but the wrong host. Catucci knows absolutely zero about food. I wonder if he has found other words besides “that’s fantastic” or that’s so yummy” to describe food. —Bill

I was watching You Gotta Eat Here on Saturday and thinking, “I wonder where he is and what he is doing?” I love that show. Then that night I saw a commercial for the new show. I am so happy that he is coming back to TV. I have marked it on my calendar. —Brenda

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

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Groundbreaking Indigenous docu-series Future History returns for a second season premiering May 14 at 8 p.m. ET on APTN

From a media release:

Following the success of its trailblazing first season, Future History returns to explore stories of Indigenous communities at the forefront of the reclamation movement in Canada. Future History, Season Two (13×30) premieres Tuesday, May 14 2019, at 8 p.m. ET exclusively on APTN East and 8 p.m. MT on APTN West.

This smart, heartfelt docu-series is produced and directed by award-winning Canadian producer and actress Jennifer Podemski (Empire of Dirt, Dance Me Outside, Cardinal, Degrassi: The Next Generation) and co-produced by Geoff Ewart (Empire of Dirt, The Associates, The Border). Future History is written by actress and writer Tamara Podemski (Coroner, Heartland, Four Sheets to the Wind) and co-hosted by notable Indigenous activist and artist Sarain Fox (RISE) and Kris Nahrgang, an archeologist reclaiming his identity. The co-hosts bond together as they explore their own biases and beliefs, journeying into Indigenous communities to meet innovators who are harnessing Indigenous Knowledge as a way to rewrite history and transform their future, ultimately reconnecting with their land and heritage.

Audiences this season can expect to be captivated by a 13-year old water activist and cultural warrior; find joy and get down at a youth dance and music workshop; hear valuable and compassionate stories from a suicide prevention and intervention organization and understand how Indigenous Knowledge is implemented in cutting edge social science research, childbirth and prenatal care, just to name a few. A full list of episode descriptions is available here.

Future History is made possible by the generous support of Canada Media Fund (CMF), Rogers Documentary Fund and APTN.

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Featured, Masterchef Canada, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Mary’s Kitchen Crush showcases Mary Berg’s cooking skills and heart

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When I first met Mary Berg, it was to shadow her during her MasterChef Canada Season 3 audition. As we spoke that day, I was struck by her enthusiasm and passion for food, and her humour. She went on to show that during MasterChef Canada, eventually winning Season 3. We reconnected during the filming of Berg’s first television series, Mary’s Kitchen Crush, and she hasn’t changed one bit.

Debuting on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, Mary’s Kitchen Crush has Berg’s touches all over it, from the recipes she makes—three to four originals per episode inspired by someone who has made a meaningful impact on her life—to the show’s set, sprinkled with photos and other personal items. In the first episode, it’s Berg’s mother, Myra, who arrives to enjoy the fruits of her daughter’s labour via an herb and garlic stuffed lamb tenderloin with oven-roasted asparagus, garlic and herb flatbread, and a strawberry-rhubarb galette for dessert.

“The reason I did catering was that I just wanted to share my food with people outside of my own kitchen,” Berg says during a break in filming last year. “The fact that I get to share my recipes with people through different avenues is really exciting.”

The program’s production company, Proper Television, is smart to let Berg be her charming, geeky self, madly waving her arms around (and uttering some truly bad jokes) as she creates tasty plates that are accessible and easy for home cooks. Thirty episodes of Mary’s Kitchen Crush were filmed—with a total of roughly 145 recipes—over a two-month production schedule.

“I’m a little bit of a Type-A personality and a control freak,” Berg says with a laugh. “It was basically me sitting in a barcalounger at my cottage writing and working.” Berg wrote all of the recipes, tested about half herself and tested the rest with the show’s culinary team. The goal is for the recipes to work and for viewers to actually make them. And while she loves nothing better than to spend an entire Sunday tweaking a recipe, Berg knows home cooks simply don’t have that time.

“All of the recipes for this show, and anything that I’m developing in general, I think, ‘Could my mother do this?'” Berg says. “She’s not great in the kitchen, and if Myra Berg can do it anybody can do it.”

Mary’s Kitchen Crush airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Image courtesy of Bell Media.

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