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Killjoys: Atticus Mitchell talks Pippin’s heroics

Pippin Foster has been on quite the ride during his short time on Killjoys. First introduced last season as a young man with a mouth who can get anything you need from the black market, Pippin has of late become somewhat of a hero. And perhaps even a romantic one at that, if you take into account the goo-goo eyes he and Zeph have been sharing.

Now Pip is a fulltime member of Team Awesome Force and we couldn’t be happier. Neither can Atticus Mitchell, the actor who plays Pip with aplomb. We spoke to Mitchell—who has most recently starred in Young Drunk Punk and Second Jen—during a break in filming Season 4 to talk about the character and his music career, which you can follow on Spotify.

What’s it been like being part of Killjoys?
Atticus Mitchell: It’s been a breeze. There are always trials and tribulations with any project but for me, this has been a very strange, really easy go. I literally live 10 minutes away [from set] so my commute is set. I wake up 15 minutes before I have to be here. Everybody is fantastic, the scripts are always tight. We move fast and as long as we know everything it’s all hunky dory.

Pippin made an immediate impact on Dutch, Johnny and D’avin. He’s loud, brash and memorable. How did you get the role?
AM: I auditioned and got it. [Laughs.] Pretty much everybody in my age range went for it. With a show like this they’re introducing characters almost daily, so you have friends going out for the same show all the time. This was my first-ever audition for Killjoys and it happened to work out. It was just a guest-star role and then it turned into more.

At what point did they pull you aside and tell you this role would be expanded?
AM: If it says ‘guest star’ on the audition, that’s what you plan for. There were maybe two weeks of my life that I was dedicated to the series. They wrote another episode that I was in and I was like, ‘Great to be back!’ Then they wrote me into two scenes in the last episode of Season 3, which then turned into—on the morning of my last day—’Hey, are you free the rest of the day?’ I said, ‘Why?’ And they said, ‘Well, we have this ship sequence with a whole bunch of people looking over a monitor and deciding what to do. We’d like you to be in all those scenes.’ I was like, ‘OK, cool, yeah, I’m background.’ ‘No, we’ve written your lines.’ And here we are in Season 4.

Do you view Pippin as a hero?
AM: I think I saw him as not necessarily a hero, but a good guy. The good guy in their own story. He’s been raised privileged and runs around with a lot of bad people and enjoys his life. Then he got swept up into something that is about way more than him. That has transitioned him into this kind of hero role. If he thinks he’s the good guy in the story then he’s the good guy in the story.

What’s it like being part of the Killjoys family?
AM: It’s tough coming into a new show as a guest star and trying to find a place where you feel comfortable. It’s rare that a group will open their arms like this group has which is really nice. I’ve been on shows where new people come and go and you don’t really have time to get to know them. Here it’s necessary for everyone to feel welcome.

What are you doing when you’re not acting?
AM: I’m actually a composer. I make music on my piano.

For television and film or just for yourself?
AM: That could be a step I take but I’ve literally just started last year. I put out my first album of just seven songs of me playing the piano. That’s what I’m able to focus on outside of this.

Killjoys airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

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Link: Young Drunk Punk was more of what Canadian TV should be

From Canadian Crossing:

‘Young Drunk Punk’ was more of what Canadian TV should be
A Kids in the Hall star comes to you with a series. The series is based on an autobiographical theatrical show about that star’s childhood. The episodes are well-written with interesting characters. The show is very Canadian. And you don’t even have to produce Season 1 of the show since the episodes already ran elsewhere on Canadian TV. Continue reading.

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Link: Bruce McCulloch says new broadcaster being sought for second season of Young Drunk Punk

From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:

Life after cancellation? Bruce McCulloch says new broadcaster being sought for second season of Calgary-shot Young Drunk Punk
The search is on for a new home for the second season of Young Drunk Punk, which is based on Kids in the Hall alumni Bruce McCulloch’s years as an underemployed punk-rock aficionado in Calgary during the early 1980s. Continue reading.

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19-2 and Schitt’s Creek lead 2016 Canadian Screen Award TV nominations

Bravo’s gritty cop drama 19-2 and CBC’s high-profile comedy Schitt’s Creek topline the nominations for the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards. Announced Tuesday morning in Toronto at TIFF Bell Lightbox by Lyriq Bent (The Book of Negroes) and Aislinn Paul (Degrassi), 19-2 captured 12 nominations, including Best Dramatic Series and Best Performance nods for supporting cast and leads Jared Keeso and Adrian Holmes; Keeso and Holmes recorded a video to mark the occasion (check it out below).

Meanwhile, Schitt’s Creek does battle in the comedic categories, with co-stars Eugene and Dan Levy facing off for Best Performance and the Tuesday night comedy fighting off fellow CBC series Mr. D, Mohawk Girls, Young Drunk Punk and Tiny Plastic Men for Best Comedy Series.

Space’s Orphan Black did well too, snagging 13 nominations including performance acknowledgements for Ari Millen and Tatiana Maslany, though it was shut out of the Dramatic Series list. Global’s final season of Rookie Blue was recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, as Missy Peregrym and Ben Bass received nominations.

The nominees in the key television categories are listed below. Who do you think deserves to win? The two-hour Canadian Screen Awards gala airs Sunday, March 13, at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role

  • Gerry Dee, Mr. D
  • Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
  • Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek
  • Dave Foley, Spun Out

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

  • Adrian Holmes, 19-2
  • Jared Keeso, 19-2
  • Ari Millen, Orphan Black
  • Ben Bass, Rookie Blue
  • Aaron Poole, Strange Empire

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role

  • Brittany LeBorgne, Mohawk Girls
  • Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek
  • Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
  • Belinda Cornish, Tiny Plastic Men

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

  • Kristin Lehman, Motive
  • Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
  • Megan Follows, Reign
  • Missy Peregrym, Rookie Blue
  • Jennie Raymond, Sex & Violence

Best Dramatic Series

  • 19-2
  • Blackstone
  • Motive
  • Saving Hope
  • X Company

Best Comedy Series

  • Mr. D
  • Mohawk Girls
  • Schitt’s Creek
  • Tiny Plastic Men
  • Young Drunk Punk

Best Reality/Competition Program or Series

  • The Amazing Race Canada
  • Big Brother Canada
  • Dragons’ Den
  • Game of Homes
  • MasterChef Canada

Best Animated Program or Series

  • Endangered Species
  • Numb Chucks
  • Rocket Monkeys
  • Slugterra

Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program or Series

  • Annedroids
  • Degrassi
  • Full Out
  • Max & Shred

Best Factual Program or Series

  • Emergency
  • Ice Pilots NWT
  • Jade Fever
  • Million Dollar Critic
  • Still Standing

Best International Drama

  • Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
  • Vikings

Best Lifestyle Program or Series

  • Buy It, Fix It, Sell It
  • Carnival Eats
  • Income Property
  • Masters of Flip
  • Survivorman Bigfoot

Best TV Movie or Limited Series

  • The Book of Negroes
  • First Response
  • Forget and Forgive
  • Kept Woman
  • Studio Black!

The rest of the television categories can be seen here.

As previously announced, comedian Norm Macdonald will host the 2016 event. Wendy Crewson—currently starring on CTV’s Saving Hope—will receive the Earle Grey Award for acting and Martin Short will be honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Canadian Screen Awards air Sunday, March 13, at 8 p.m. on CBC.

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The TV Ehwards: And the winners are …

Thanks to everyone who took the time during the Christmas holidays to cast your vote in 10 categories in our annual TV Ehwards. Some shows lead from the very beginning while other programs snuck in to take their category in the end.

Here are the winning shows in each category, with the votes and percentage of votes each show had:

The Police Surgeon Award for Best Canadian Medical Drama
Saving Hope (686 votes, 62 per cent)

The Seeing Things Award for Best Canadian Crime Drama
Blackstone (715 votes, 41 per cent)

The Quentin Durgens, MP, Award for Best Canadian Historical Drama
X Company (1,700 votes, 46 per cent)

The Beachcombers Award for Best Canadian Family Drama
Heartland (1,637 votes, 72 per cent)

The Starlost Award for Best Canadian Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series
Lost Girl (3,634, 49 per cent)

The King of Kensington Award for Best Canadian Comedy Series
Young Drunk Punk (698 votes, 41 per cent)

The Wayne & Shuster Award for Best Canadian Sketch Comedy Series
Still Standing (1,161 votes, 50 per cent)

The Bastard Offspring Award for the Crossover You Most Want to See
Saving Hope-Motive (298 votes, 32 per cent)

The Reimagination Award for The Show You’d Like to See Brought Back
Due South (297 votes, 31 per cent)

Shows that you SHOULD watch, but you DON’T watch, but you still don’t want them to go away
The Nature of Things (380 votes, 37 per cent)

Check out the final tally in all of the categories; we’ll discuss the results in Tuesday’s podcast.

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