Everything about Transporter, eh?

Link: Spike UK Eyes ‘Transporter: The Series’, Canadian Drama ’19-2′

From Patrick Munn of TVWise:

Spike UK Eyes ‘Transporter: The Series’, Canadian Drama ’19-2′
Viacom has yet to launch Spike UK just yet, but the nascent channel has already set its sights on two new exclusive drama series.

TVWise understands that Spike UK is in talks with Lagardère Entertainment and Content Film & Television to acquire the exclusive first run UK broadcast rights to action series Transporter: The Series and Canadian cop drama 19-2, respectively. Per sources, the deals cover the first two seasons of both shows, which are expected to premiere on Spike UK later this year. Continue reading.

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Tonight: Heartland, Canada’s Smartest Person, Transporter

Heartland, CBC – “The Big Red Wall”
After her initial shock at her grandfather’s announcement, Lou throws herself into party planning mode and forces Jack into an awkward reunion with an old acquaintance. Ty becomes the middleman when Amy and Caleb butt heads over horse training. And still reeling from her recent discovery, Georgie pulls away from Amy and focuses on donating money to an online animal sanctuary. Look for Greg’s review of the episode tomorrow morning.

Canada’s Smartest Person, CBC
A cheese salesman, a novelist, a stay-at-home mom and a firefighter compete in six new revealing intelligence challenges that go beyond the traditional IQ test or trivia challenge. Plus, catch a special guest appearance by Canadian rock star Raine Maida (Our Lady Peace).

Transporter: The Series, The Movie Network/Movie Central – season premiere
In Rome, the 12-year-old son of an Italian judge witnesses his father‘s murder at the hands of a contract killer. As the sole witness, the boy must now give evidence against his father‘s killer. But there are threats against his life and he is in hiding at a safe house in Germany. The trial is due to take place in Rome, so the boy needs Frank (Chris Vance, PRISON BREAK, DEXTER) to protect his life and deliver him safely to the court house to testify. Read Greg’s story and interview with Transporter co-star Mark Rendell.

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Transporter back from the dead with Canadian comic relief

Like a good action hero surviving gunshots and headbutts, Transporter: The Series made it through some serious Season 2 uncertainty.

The action project, based on the film franchise created by Luc Besson, was in the midst of production in 2011 when lead Chris Vance was injured during filming in Toronto. Then U.S. network Cinemax dropped the show and there were showrunner changes. Now, with X-Files veteran Frank Spotnitz running things, the co-production between France’s Atlantique Productions, QVF Inc. and M6, along with The Movie Network and Movie Central in Canada, the show roars back to the pay channels on Sunday night with the first two back-to-back instalments of a 12-episode run.

Vance is Frank Martin, a ex-Special Forces operative who skips around the world transporting packages of various value–Sunday’s first storyline finds him protecting a 12-year-old boy who witnessed a high-profile murder–with bad guys always in pursuit. Along for the ride are Violante Placido (The American) as former French Intelligence Officer Caterina Boldieu; Charly Hübner (Unter Nachbarn) as Dieter Haussmann, Frank’s mastermind car mechanic; François Berléand as French Police Inspector Tarconi; and Canadian Mark Rendall (30 Days of Night) as computer whiz Jules Faroux.

“Jules is sort of the odd man out,” Rendall explains. “He’s not slick,  he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing most of the time, he’s not built for all the action and shit that Frank gets into. He’s the behind-the-scenes guy who does all of the computer hacking and stuff.” Jules is the opposite of Frank, a necessary break from the dark violence that is such a big part of the series.

Rendall divulges Jules is around for the back half of the season; the Toronto actor–who counts voicing Arthur the aardvark on the iconic animated kid’s series among his body of work–spent a week in Prague filming his Transporter scenes. By the end of his time shooting Rendall had come up with a pseudo-back story for Jules: he came from a military family, so he never really made any friends and rebelled against his father, who worked for government agencies, by learning to hack. As for how Jules came into Frank’s life, Rendall divulges his character was working for a rival Transporter before moving over to his current employer.

Unfortunately, other than acting like he was swaying back and forth inside the back of a tractor trailer, Rendall didn’t get a chance to partake in any of the fisticuffs that are part of Frank’s career and a stable of the Transporter franchise.

“The closest I came to any kind of stunts was standing close to something that exploded or riding a horse,” he admits. “I really wanted Jules to be in a fight scene and punch someone out accidentally or hit someone with a computer. Maybe next season. We’ll see.”

Transporter: The Series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/MT on The Movie Network and Movie Central.

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Troubled Transporter taps new showrunner for second season

transporter.jpg

From Etan Vlessing of the Hollywood Reporter:

Frank Spotnitz Tapped as New Showrunner on ‘Transporter’ TV Drama
The X-Files executive producer Frank Spotnitz has come on board as the new showrunner for a planned second season of the Transporter TV series. Despite Cinemax parting ways with the Chris Vance-starring action drama, a second cycle is in development with M6 in France and HBO Canada, according to executive producer Fred Fuchs. Continue reading.

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