Bitten, CTV – “Descentâ€
Elena’s (Laura Vandervoort) worlds collide when Jeremy (Greg Bryk) orders Clay (Greyston Holt) to accompany her to Toronto for protection. An unexpected survivor is able to give the Pack valuable new information about the Mutts.
Recently the CRTC renewed the several licences owned by Rogers. I won’t get into all the wonky details here but one aspect of the decision impacts on Canadian programming. And it’s entertaining.
OLN is a specialty service that was licensed to provide exclusively “programs that deal with outdoor recreation, conservation, wilderness and adventureâ€. On two previous occasions Rogers has tried to amend its conditions of licence so that it could broadcast more Canadian drama, more U.S. drama, cartoons and to remove the word ‘exclusively’. Rogers had limited success (they got cartoons) because the Commission felt that their requests would undermine the nature of service for which they were licensed. “Lost†reruns do not qualify as outdoor adventure.
Instead of US reruns (they have FX Canada now) Rogers started broadcasting the kind of reality shows that you see on Discovery and increasingly on History – “Baggage Battlesâ€, “Storage Warsâ€, “Ghost Huntersâ€, “Operation Repo†and my personal favourite “Whisker Wars†(competitive facial hair – seriously). Rogers put most of the benefits money that they are required to spend for the acquisition of the CITY stations and OLN into “The Liquidatorâ€, a series about Jeff Schwarz, a guy in Vancouver who buys and sells unwanted merchandise.
You might be a fan of “Whisker Wars†and “The Liquidator†but you would also have to agree that they aren’t outdoor adventure shows. The CRTC felt the same way and gave Rogers until January 31, 2015 to clean up their schedule and report on how OLN is now broadcasting shows consistent with their nature of service.
If we end up in some variation of a pick and pay universe, it will be increasingly important for consumers to know what a service is before they buy it. Enforced nature of service means that a broadcaster can’t entice a subscriber with one concept and then change it because they think that audiences have shifted or another form of programming is cheaper. For creators it is important to know what a broadcaster stands for now and for years to come when they are pitching proposals.
For everyone enforced natures of service work towards ensuring that there is real choice of programming in the broadcast system and broadcasters aren’t all chasing the same audience.
“Oh yeah!” is the common refrain on Republic of Doyle, but a more apt one for fans may be “Oh no!” since word came down earlier this year that the series’ upcoming sixth season will be its last.
Yup, Jake Doyle (Allan Hawco) is hanging up the keys to his GTO after driving his way into our hearts. Hawco and the rest of the cast told me that it was his plan to have the series he co-created with Perry Chafe and Malcolm MacRury go out on top rather than fizzle out (or, one supposes, be part of CBC’s recent cull that saw the cancellation of Arctic Air, The Ron James Show and Cracked).
Republic of Doyle‘s action-packed hours of crime solving and witticisms will be missed, but so will the weekly sojourns in St. John’s, a city that’s pretty as a postcard and boasts memorable real-life characters. Doyle is a unique and memorable series, and one that  ranks among viewers’ favourite Canadian series of all time next to programs like Corner Gas, Due South, The Beachcombers and even The Littlest Hobo. As we count down to Doyle‘s final season on the air, we got the stars of the East Coast drama to name their favourite home-grown series of all time.
Allan Hawco (Jake Doyle)
“Quentin Durgens, M.P. Â Gordon Pinsent played an M.P. in Ottawa.”
Krystin Pellerin (Leslie Bennett)
“Mr. Â Dressup.”
Mark O’Brien (Des Courtney)
“Codco.”
Marthe Bernard (Tinny Doyle)
“I was going to say The Kids in the Hall, but I feel like I should say Codco because my dad worked on it, but he also wrote for The Kids in the Hall, so I’ll say that.”
Sean McGinley (Malachy Doyle)
“Due South.”
Lynda Boyd (Rose Miller)
“It’s a toss-up between The Beachcombers and Mr. Dressup, because I grew up with both.”
Republic of Doyle returns to Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET this fall on CBC.
Which is your favourite Canadian TV show of all time? Comment below to let me know!
From Alex Strachan of Postmedia:
CTV’s The Listener will end with Aug. 18 finale
“CTV’s decision to cancel the homegrown drama after five seasons is part of the natural order of TV today. A proliferation of cable channels and industry-wide trend toward series with shorter runs has changed the old model of TV viewing.” Continue reading.
From Amber Dowling of The TV Junkies:
What’s next after Rookie Blue finale bombs?
“There was more than enough beat-boxing to go around on Wednesday night’s Rookie Blue finale, but we’re feeling a little bit like it was our hearts that were in a brawl after those cliffhanger endings. Holly’s taking a job in San Francisco? Dov can’t forgive Chloe? Marlo is pregnant?! It was so much to handle that we knew we had to turn to Rookie Blue showrunner Tassie Cameron for answers. Here she explains ultrasounds, the lack of Golly time in Season 5, Nick’s new romance and more. Bombs away!” Continue reading.
