TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 1206
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Continuum

Helix actress joins Continuum guest cast

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From a media release:

Reunion Pictures, in association with Shaw Media, today announced casting for the group of Future Soldiers who have arrived to battle Keira Cameron (Rachel Nichols) and her team in the final season of Showcase’s Continuum. The formidable cadre includes Kyra Zagorsky (Helix, Soldiers of the Apocalypse), Michael Eklund (Bates Motel, Shattered), Ty Olsson (The 100, Nerds and Monsters), Aleks Paunovic (The 100, Arctic Air), Lisa Berry (Xlll: The Series, Nikita) and Garfield Wilson (Almost Human, Arrow).

Showcase’s Canadian original action-drama about a policewoman from 2077 who travels back in time to track down escaped Liber8 convicts from the future is currently in production. The six one-hour episode conclusion wraps in late May and premieres July 26, 2015 on Showcase.

Among the regular returning cast are Victor Webster (Castle, Melrose Place), Erik Knudsen (Jericho, Scream 4), Brian Markinson (Mad Men, Arctic Air), Stephen Lobo (Arctic Air, Smallville), Roger Cross (Motive, Arrow), Omari Newton (Blue Mountain State, Sophie), Luvia Petersen (The L Word), Terry Chen (Bates Motel, Combat Hospital) and William B. Davis (X-Files).

Continuum is created by Executive Producer Simon Barry (The Art of War) while DGC Award-winner Patrick Williams (Shattered, Smallville) is Executive Producer and Director. Reunion Pictures partners Tom Rowe, Lisa Richardson and Matthew O’Connor are Executive Producers.

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Dragons' Den, X Company, Young Drunk Punk

Tonight: Young Drunk Punk, Survivorman, Dragons’ Den, X Company

Young Drunk Punk, City – “Space Invaders”
When Shinky (Atticus Mitchell) becomes a guitarist in Calgary’s hottest band, Ian (Tim Carlson) sets off to find his own talent as a critic for the local newsletter – but friend becomes foe when Ian agrees to review Shinky’s concert. Meanwhile, Lloyd (Bruce McCulloch) finds his own nemesis while trying to photograph a skunk, and Belinda (Allie Macdonald) takes a piece of advice to heart by stepping up at work, but learns that being in charge doesn’t always mean being happy. Breakfast Television Calgary news anchor Ted Henley makes a cameo appearance.

Survivor Man: Finding Bigfoot, OLN – “Klemtu”
Canada’s favourite survivalist comes home. Canadian Screen Award winner Les Stroud returns to OLN with six special episodes of Survivorman, focused on the elusive Bigfoot. Les Stroud dives deep and puts his reputation on the line to either prove or disprove the existence of a species of man-like primate thought to have become extinct after the last Ice Age: the elusive and mythical Gigantopithecus (e.g., Sasquatch and Bigfoot). On the season premiere, Survivorman Les Stroud’s current quest takes him to the wilderness of Klemtu, an Indian reserve on the coastal fjords of British Columbia, to investigate hundreds of reports of Bigfoot sightings by local residents. Is it myth or fact? One thing is for sure, Klemtu is an environment where large animals could exist indefinitely.

Dragons’ Den, CBC – season finale
After an exciting ninth season that featured new Dragons, unforgettable pitches and record-setting deals, the DRAGONS’ DEN season finale takes viewers outside the Den to find out what it takes to get to the top. This special “Success” episode celebrates some of the Dragons’ most successful deals in the Den, as well as some of the biggest accomplishments in their own lives and businesses. Tune in as the Dragons reflect on their careers, each sharing their personal keys to success, and how they got to where they are today.

X Company, CBC – “Into the Fire”
As Paris is torn by a massive roundup of Jews, the team must help an early Holocaust witness bring his story to Allied leaders. Meanwhile, German agents close in on Aurora and Alfred.

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Canada's Smartest Person

CBC casting for Canada’s Smartest Person

From a media release:

CBC’s popular competition series CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON is back for a second season, and inviting Canadians to compete for the ultimate title. The national search for competitors kicks off online today and interested participants can apply or nominate someone online at cbc.ca/smartestperson. Competitors don’t have to be a math whiz or trivia buff to apply.  Competitors last season were a diverse group of Canadians and included a radio host, an Olympian, a firefighter, a surgeon and a stay-at-home mom.

Based on the ground-breaking Theory of Multiple Intelligences, CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON redefines what it means to be smart. Competitors go head-to-head in mind-bending, action-packed challenges that showcase their strengths in six categories of intelligence: logical, visual, physical, linguistic, musical and social.  Most people excel in two or three of these categories, but only a few excel in all meaning it can be anyone who takes the title.

CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON is looking for dynamic and enthusiastic Canadians from all backgrounds who have well-rounded smarts. Apply or nominate someone online at cbc.ca/smartestperson.  Applicants must be 16 years of age or older by Jan. 1, 2015 to apply.  The deadline to apply is June 21, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON was the number-one new Canadian series of the 2014 fall television season. The series also features an interactive television component that allows viewers to play along on mobile devices. It is one of the most popular interactive experiences ever produced in Canada, with over 180,000 app downloads and one million intelligence tests completed.

CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON, hosted by Jessi Cruickshank, will return with all-new episodes this fall on CBC Television.

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X Company

Link: X Company Deserves Its Second Season

From James Bawden:

X Company Deserves Its Second Season
X Company is CBC’s new World War II drama that probably seems even better than it is. That’s because of the sheer lack of competition: the conventional Canadian networks simply will not make anything they cannot sell to the U.S. market.

Witness the cruel fate of Global’s Combat Hospital –one dazzling summer run followed by a cancellation after ABC pulled the plug in the U.S.

Of course I expected X Company to be greatly entertaining fare. After all it was created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern who created the CTV hit Flashpoint. Continue reading.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Survivorman searches for Sasquatch

I’ve always enjoyed Les Stroud’s show, Survivorman. I know I’d be dead if I was left in any of the situations he has been in, but it’s fun as heck to watch him fight to survive in hostile settings like the Arctic, jungle and plains.

Stroud returns Wednesday for six special episodes on OLN that focus on a legendary creature I’ve been fascinated with since I was a kid: Bigfoot. Stroud was given special permission by a Native Canadian band to stake out a spot in Klemtu, B.C., an area known as such a hot spot for Sasquatch that it’s not even a question of whether the hairy beasts exist because townsfolk have seen them walking down the main street and in their back yards.

Small-screen searches for Bigfoot have been around for years—Finding Bigfoot may be the most popular—and none have captured real, tangible evidence of the animals save for screams in the night and plaster casts of footprints. And the same holds true for Survivorman, at least until the last segment of Wednesday’s debut. It’s then that Stroud, who is virtually unshakable in all of his survival experiences, catches a major case of the willies thanks to something happening that he can’t explain.

Unlike traditional episodes where Stroud is dumped in a location, sets up camp and starts recording with cameras right away, the premiere spends several minutes taking sweeping shots of the town with eyewitness accounts flashing on-screen. This isn’t about surviving on what he catches in the water or in traps, or about keeping warm, this is about encountering a Bigfoot. Along the way, Stroud outlines how hoaxers have, over the years, faked footsteps, and addresses Bigfoot naysayers who say the lack of any found skeletons means the animals don’t exist.

Does Stroud finally pull back the curtain on one of our biggest mysteries? You’ll have to tune in to find out.

Survivorman: Bigfoot airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on OLN.

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