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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Sarah Off the Grid breaks ground Sept. 10 on HGTV Canada

From a media release:

This fall one of Canada’s top designers, Sarah Richardson, returns to HGTV Canada for her most ambitious project yet: building and designing an off-the-grid family home in the country. Premiering Sunday, September 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada, Sarah Off The Grid follows Sarah and her family – husband Alex and their two young daughters Fiona and Robin – as they build a family home meant to last for generations to come in Creemore, Ontario. Together, they marry off-the-grid living with Sarah’s signature style, resulting in a sustainable dream home filled with the greatest design hits from her 25-plus year career.Offering an unvarnished look at Sarah’s life, the six-part series dives deep into the designer’s day-to-day as she juggles being a mother, a business owner, and now, the unique challenges of sharing the role of

Offering an unvarnished look at Sarah’s life, the six-part series dives deep into the designer’s day-to-day as she juggles being a mother, a business owner, and now, the unique challenges of sharing the role of general contractor with her husband Alex on this latest build. Taking the lead on designing each room, Sarah enlists her co-conspirator and longtime collaborator, Tommy Smythe, for support as she takes on this year long project. Tommy, or as the kids call him “Uncle Tommy,” helps Sarah find design solutions that stand the test of time while staying true to her classic and casually elegant design esthetic. Fellow HGTV Canada stars Mike Holmes, Mike Holmes Jr., and Colin Hunter, also make guest appearances throughout the series providing Sarah and the family with much needed advice to finish their forever home.

Building a home off the main power grid which can service the needs of an entire family requires clever design decisions and innovative materials. Together, Sarah and Alex create the infrastructure to run the home, while leveraging unique sources of heat and lighting throughout, utilize a rebuilt heritage barn to house both the garage and the solar panels to generate electricity, and overcome the challenges of digging a well to pull enough water to service the family’s needs.

Sarah Off The Grid is produced by Alibi Entertainment Inc. in association with Corus Entertainment’s HGTV Canada. Exclusive bonus content including design tips from Sarah, sustainable living and lifestyle content, and extended reveals can be found at hgtv.ca throughout the series run. Episodes of Sarah Off The Grid are available online the day following broadcast.

 

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

CBC News announces new Sunday morning talk show starring Wendy Mesley

From a media release:

CBC News today announced a new Sunday morning talk show to be hosted by award-winning journalist Wendy Mesley. Launching in early 2018, the interactive program will focus on the intersection of media, technology and politics and be broadcast live on CBC and CBC News Network every Sunday morning, with further details to be confirmed at a later date.

In the new program, Mesley will put players from both media and politics in the spotlight as she pushes for answers and transparency, and provides critical analysis on how the newsmakers of the week are delivering their messages. The show will broadcast live from CBC in Toronto and feature a wide range of Canadian and global contributors and guests.

Mesley began her broadcast journalism career in 1979, first with CTV’s CFCF in Montreal before moving to CBC as a legislative reporter for local news and The National, based in Quebec City. During this six-year period, she covered the first referendum on sovereignty and some of the most fascinating politicians of our times, including René Lévesque and Pierre Trudeau. In 1985, Mesley moved to Ottawa as CBC’s first female correspondent to cover the prime minister from the parliamentary press gallery for The National. During this intensely political time, Mesley reported on such stories as the battles over free trade, the GST and the constitution, and soon after became the anchor of The National on Sundays. In 1994, Mesley helped create and hosted CBC’s award-winning news program Undercurrents, which examined the media and marketing world. Mesley currently hosts The National on Friday and Sunday evenings, and is also the host of CBC’s acclaimed documentary program The Passionate Eye. Mesley has won multiple Gemini Awards and this year won Best News Host or Interviewer at the Canadian Screen Awards. In 2006, Mesley was honoured with the John Drainie Award for her contribution to Canadian broadcasting.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Discovery’s Daily Planet dives into Shark Week

Shark Week certainly knows how to make a splash with big-name hosts and special events. The American Chopper cast (remember them?!), Les Stroud, Craig Ferguson and Andy Samberg have all taken a turn hosting; this year it’s actor-producer-director Eli Roth. The tentpole event for 2017 takes place on Sunday when former Olympic medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps gets into the water for Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White. Me? I’m more interested in what the folks at Daily Planet are doing.

Daily Planet‘s Shark Week coverage airs Monday, July 24, to Friday, July 28, at 7 p.m. ET on Discovery and features hosts Ziya Tong and Dan Riskin at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in Toronto presenting truly compelling segments during special episodes of their nightly science series. One preview segment next week finds Tong in the water with the toothy critters.

“I’ve gone diving enough times with sharks that I don’t think my heart rate changed at all,” Tong says alongside her co-host after completing filming at Ripley’s for the day. “I was more concerned with getting the right shot than the fact there were these massive animals around me. I love them and they’re so beautiful.”

“This really drives home that we practice what we preach,” Riskin says of Tong jumping in the water with sharks. “We want to show that, for the most part, sharks are not vicious killers. We put the more valuable co-host in the water to prove that she wasn’t going to get hurt.” Debuting in 1988, Shark Week has become a must-see event thanks to show titles like Shark: Maneater or Myth?, Teeth of Death and Anatomy of a Shark Bite. This year boasts programs like Great White Shark Serial Killer Lives, Great Hammerhead Invasion and Shark Vortex. Those outrageous titles may attract eyeballs, but the truth about sharks is much more mundane.

“The truth is, we have lots of stories this week about people who are in the water with great white sharks without a cage and they’re fine,” Riskin says. “They know what they’re doing and they would never throw the kid from the Nirvana album into the water with a shark.” He adds these experts know how the predatory fish posture and communicate what their intentions are. The result? The charisma and fascination surrounding them is still there, but the fear drops. Segments that Tong and Riskin introduce on Daily Planet include “Touching Great Whites,” as Jean-Marie Ghislain and Martin Kochling leave their dive cages behind to swim with sharks off the coast of Guadalupe Island; “Liverless Sharks,” regarding the mystery surrounding sharks washing up on South African shores with their livers expertly removed; and “Dead Whale Feast,” which—from its description—could be the gross-out of the whole lineup.

“Marine biologist Choy Aming is on a whale carcass bobbing in the middle of the ocean and all of these different species of sharks start coming up and feeding on the carcass while he’s sitting on it,” Tong teases.

“It’s in the sun, it’s baking and it’s decomposing,” Riskin adds. “He said it was like standing on a school bus made of tissue paper and covered in olive oil. A carcass is full of calories and animals need calories. A carcass in the ocean; what a great place to be.”

Daily Planet‘s Shark Week coverage airs Monday, July 24, to Friday, July 28, at 7 p.m. ET on Discovery.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Viceland’s Funny How? dissects the art of standup comedy

I listen to a daily podcast from former radio show hosts Humble & Fred. The pair, in addition to discussing the latest news of the day and dissecting their lives, often have standup comedians in to promote their latest shows and talk a little shop. I’m always fascinated when a comedian drops by because, quite often, discussion turns to writing and the mechanics of standup. I love that kind of insight. What makes a person want to get up in front of a room of strangers and attempt to make them laugh?

That’s all covered in Viceland’s latest original series, Funny How? Debuting Monday and broadcast all week long at 11:30 p.m. ET on the channel, Funny How? trails Canadian Kliph Nesteroff, former comic and author of The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy, as he discusses all things standup with the folks who do it every day.

The debut instalment, “The Art of the Bomb,” delves into exactly that … bombing on stage. Nesteroff shares his own experiences, rattling off numerous Toronto clubs where he crapped out, and chatting with folks like Dave Attell, Mike Birbiglia, Artie Lange and Chris Robinson, who recall their first time bombing with an audience. But what makes this episode, and Funny How? in general, so interesting is its analysis of standup comedy. What, exactly, does it mean to bomb on stage? Is it merely that your jokes don’t work, or does the audience play a part in it too? And how does failing on stage help in one’s evolution as a standup comic? As Attell says, failing on-stage doesn’t just happen in the beginning of your career; it can derail a veteran too.

Upcoming episodes cover breaking in, comedy classes, and niche comedy from the LGBTQ community to Christian comics. If you’re a visitor to comedy clubs, a fan of standup comedy or just marvel in the fact folks have the guts to do it as a hobby or career, give Funny How? a peek.

Funny How? airs Monday, July 10, to Friday, July 14, at 11:30 p.m. ET on Viceland.

Image courtesy of Rogers.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

The Scott Brothers go behind the camera with Reno, Set, Go!

Drew and Jonathan Scott have built themselves quite the empire thanks to television projects like Property Brothers, Buying and Selling, Brother vs. Brother and Property Brothers: At Home. Now the pair turn the cameras on another duo as they executive-produce Reno, Set, Go!

Debuting on Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada, the Scotts have cast designer Cheryl Torrenueva and contactor/model/professional clown Roger Morin as saviors who swoop in and, in just 36 hours, churn out an awesome project for a deserving family. With the Scott name attached to it, expectations were high Reno, Set, Go! would be a slick, entertaining program. But could it break free and be something truly unique from the unending feelgood renovation programs already packing lifestyle television?

In the first episode, Roger and Cheryl come to the rescue of Murray, a professional chef who’s seen his basement refuge turned into makeshift bedroom when his brother-in-law came to stay. Four months later, and Tristram is still sleeping on the couch, altering the dynamic in Murray’s home. As a thank you for letting him crash, Tristram organizes a reno of the master bedroom (Why doesn’t Tristram look for a place and move out, giving Murr the ultimate gift?), with the help of Cheryl, Roger and Murray’s wife Tamarah. What makes Reno, Set, Go! unique is that the homeowners, family members or helpers are involved not only in some of the planning, but construction too. Cheryl and Tamarah combine to make a bench for Murray and, with a small team of eager folks and 36 hours, the bedroom transformation is underway.

Cheryl and Roger are knowledgeable and charismatic, a must for a program like Reno, Set, Go! They also offer information and suggestions in an accessible way viewers can understand. There’s nary a word about struts, cantilevers and fulcrums to confuse folks. No, this isn’t an in-depth renovation series, but it is a light, enjoyable program perfect for some summer inspiration.

Reno, Set, Go! airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

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