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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Saving Hope

Link: Saving Hope gets pride of place on CTV

From James Bawden:

Saving Hope: The New Canadian TV Season Begins
“There is a new Canadian TV season about to break although you’d never guess it by the waves of American series washing up at Global and City. The term I’m using is “Pride of Place”. And it’s CTV which gives pride of place to its hit returning Canadian series Saving Hope which revs up Monday Sept. 22 at 9 p.m. CTV is “hammocking” the series right behind the best new American series Gotham and right before the season premiere of Castle. And the second installment runs Thursday Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. in a similarly protected spot sandwiched between producer Sondra Rhimes’ returning ratings blockbuster Grey’s Anatomy at 8 and her latest opus at 10 titled How To Get Away With Murder. How’s that for protected status?” Continue reading.

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Canada's Smartest Person

Canada’s Smartest Person app released

From a media release:

TEST YOUR INTELLIGENCE WITH CBC’S NEW SERIES CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON AND ITS GROUND-BREAKING DIGITAL EXPERIENCE

  • The new interactive app allows viewers to participate with the show in real-time
  • Catch the special two-hour season premiere of CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV

CBC’s new competition series CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON launched its ground-breaking interactive app, brought to you in part by Subway, now available for iOS and Android devices or online at cbc.ca/smartestperson. Tune in to the special two-hour season premiere on Sunday, Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) and play along with the exciting digital companion, which allows Canadians to test their intelligence while going head-to-head against family, friends, the rest of the country as we search for CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON. Plus, catch special celebrity guest, comedian Colin Mochrie as he helps test the participants’ linguistic intelligence.

Based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON, produced by Media Headquarters, features unique intelligence tests that redefine what it means to be smart. Whether it’s using social smarts to detect if a person is telling the truth; musical smarts to play a one-of-a-kind instrument; or logical smarts to work your way through a maze of laser beams, the challenges are fun, mind-bending and ever-changing over all nine episodes.

The digital companion, produced by Konrad Group, allows viewers to play along in real time with each of the challenges during the broadcast. Users receive personal results that can be shared on Facebook and Twitter @CanadasSmartest #SmartestPerson, and can compare themselves to the series’ competitors and other at-home players across the country. During the week, users can sharpen their skills with special bonus challenges. Players can also invite their friends and family to join in the fun and create their own intelligence profile.

Each week, hosts Jessi Cruickshank (@jessi) and Jeff Douglas (@IAmJeffDouglas) guide viewers through the hour-long competition series, as four new hopefuls battle it out in front of a live studio audience. The competitors come from all walks of life and range from an Olympian, to an Air Force pilot, to a high school student. They must demonstrate their competency in the categories of linguistic, physical, musical, visual, social and logical intelligence in order the claim the title of CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON.

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Featured, Podcast

TV, eh? podcast episode 166: Spoiler Alert – Podcast Enclosed

Anthony, Greg and Diane talk about the feistiness of Netflix with the CRTC, the upcoming fall shows and our set visits to Murdoch Mysteries and Strange Empire, and Canadians’ comparative aversion to spoilers.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to become a Patron of the Podcast? We’ve got a Patreon page where you can donate a small amount per podcast and get a sneak peek of each release.

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Set visit and video: Murdoch Mysteries tightens up for Season 8

Yannick Bisson may look stern in the above photo, but he’s anything but that on the set of Murdoch Mysteries. The veteran actor was almost constantly smiling when the cameras weren’t rolling during an on-location shoot in Dundas, Ont.

The small town has hosted CBC’s hit time period procedural several times during production on Season 8, and Monday’s saw the cast and crew squished into the confines of a bridal shop on the main street for filming of “The Devil Wears Whalebone.” The pink-tinged business had been turned into the site of a fashion show boasting the latest advances in corset technology. Lithe ladies glided by during rehearsals and several takes under the watchful eye of director Eleanore Lindo and director of photography Jim Jeffrey.

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Kari Matchett (Heartland, Blue Murder) guests as corset seller Heloise Kramp, whose exclusive, groundbreaking design of women’s undergarments leads to a heinous crime. I, along with folks from Murdoch’s production company, Shaftesbury, watched rehearsals and takes as Matchett, Bisson and Jonny Harris rolled through their lines as Heloise, Det. William Murdoch and Constable George Crabtree. I’ve posted a rehearsal take below; it always cracks me up that Bisson tops off his period costume with modern running shoes and only wears dress shoes for wide shots.

Production ran smoothly throughout the day, pausing at one point when blackout curtains on the outside of the bridal shop–the scene was taking place at night–came loose and let sunlight into the room. Most of these folks have been working together for the last eight years, so they’re quick to joke or poke fun at each other; everyone came by to wish Harris a Happy Birthday and tease him about his advancing age.

Look for a feature story on Season 8 in the coming weeks.

 

Murdoch Mysteries returns Monday, Oct. 6, at 8 p.m. ET on CBC.

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Industry News

Shaw Media Appoints Christine Shipton to Senior Vice President, Content

shipton

From a media release:

Shaw Media today announced that it has appointed Christine Shipton to the position of Senior Vice President, Content, Shaw Media.

In this role, Ms. Shipton will be responsible for the company’s content strategy across all platforms, as well as overseeing the creation of Canadian original productions, acquisition deals for U.S. and international series, and scheduling for the company’s conventional and specialty channels.  A key focus of the position will be to ensure that Shaw is strategically evolving its content platforms and windowing rights amidst the ever-evolving media landscape, as well as forging key strategic partnerships to support the company’s growing roster of large, international co-productions.

“Christine is a luminary in the Canadian broadcasting industry and we are so pleased that she will be leading our Content team moving forward,” said Barbara Williams, Executive Vice President, Broadcasting and President, Shaw Media. “She has been involved in the vast majority of every major Canadian production over the past 25 years and brings with her enormous credibility in the content sector in Canada and the U.S.”

Prior to this position, Ms. Shipton was Vice President of Original Content for Shaw Media, responsible for the development and commissioning of all genres of Canadian original programming for the company’s 19 specialty channels as well as Global Television. During this time, she brought a major focus to Canadian productions for both Global and the company’s specialty networks, commissioning over 700 hours of Canadian content last year alone. Under her watch, 8 of the top 10 HGTV shows were Canadian and over 70 per cent of its Canadian shows were sold into the US. In this position, Ms. Shipton also spearheaded a number of complex, international co-productions including smash hits Vikings, Rookie Blue, Haven, Copper and Beauty and the Beast.

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