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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television

The Amazing Race Canada announces winner and second season

From a media release:

Tim Sr. and Tim Jr. Win First Ever THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

Race On! CTV Orders Season 2 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA

Get ready to race again, Canada! Following tonight’s dramatic season finale of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA which ultimately saw Tim Sr. and Tim Jr. win the race following a game-changing Road Block, host Jon Montgomery announced on behalf of CTV that the ratings blockbuster has been green-lit for a second season. The announcement was made at the conclusion of the live, one-hour reunion special, AFTER THE RACE, produced in front of a studio audience direct from CTV’s Queen St. headquarters in Toronto. Auditions for Season 2 of #RaceCDA will be open later this fall. Fans are encouraged to visit www.CTV.ca/TheAmazingRaceCanada and the CTV Facebook page for audition details as they become available, and follow @AmazingRaceCDA for the all the latest updates and information.

“It has been an absolute pleasure and honour to participate in the first ever THE AMAZING RACE CANADA,” said Tim Sr. and Tim Jr. “Coming away having won this incredible title we hope that our accomplishment is inspiring to any who suffer chronic disease or hardship. Our sincere desire is that you find hope in dark days, strength for the task at hand and courage to face the road ahead. Keep fighting!”

“Auditions for Season 2 of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA will open later this fall,” said host Jon Montgomery via satellite from outside the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. “So hurry up, get your partner, and start thinking about your audition video.”

Canada’s most-watched program of the summer and the #2 program of the entire broadcast year, the blockbuster, record-breaking, fan-favourite THE AMAZING RACE CANADA raced ahead of the pack with an average audience of 3.3 million viewers each week. The smash-hit, original series vaulted into the record books earlier this summer as the biggest debut on record for a series in Canada (3.5 million viewers), and has kept pace ever since.

The Season 1 action continues on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 10 a.m. ET, with the digital companion series INSIDE THE RACE WITH BLACKBERRY. Hosted by Danielle McGimsie (@MissDMcG) and Teddy Wilson (@TeddyWilson), this final episode of the year features the Season 1 winners as they look back at their cross-country journey and reflect on the emotional rollercoaster in the final Toronto leg of the race. Tim Sr. and Tim Jr. walk McGimsie and Wilson through all the pivotal moments of their race, including the Flags and Flowers Road Block which became the final key step to winning the half-million dollar grand prize – one quarter of a million dollars in cold hard cash, plus two 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays, and the opportunity for two to fly free for a year anywhere Air Canada flies worldwide (175 destinations) in Executive First Class.

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Played premieres October 3

From a media release:

Thursday’s Secret Weapon: CTV’s Original Undercover Cop Drama PLAYED Premieres Oct. 3

Money. Guns. Cars. Drugs. Thursday night gets a dose of suspense this fall with the premiere of CTV’s compelling new original undercover cop drama PLAYED. Launching with CTV’s biggest promotional investment of any other network priority this fall, PLAYED joins CTV’s blockbuster Thursday night line-up at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning Oct. 3 (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times). And with a goal of driving awareness of the new series ahead of its debut, CTV announced today it will sample the emotion and tension-filled premiere with a one-week sneak peek, exclusively at CTV.ca, on the CTV App, and the CTV Mobile Channel on Bell Mobile TV, beginning Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9 a.m. ET.

PLAYED follows the Covert Investigations Unit (C.I.U.), an elite, Toronto-based undercover police unit formed to infiltrate criminal worlds. In nerve-wracking confidence games or “plays,” these smooth-talking cops flirt with killers, befriend gang members, and arrange gun shipments – all to collect evidence, coax confessions, and make arrests.

In PLAYED, the C.I.U. team faces the risks of going undercover to infiltrate, and bring down, criminal organizations. With the new style of short-term, high-intensity undercover work, each covert “play” is crafted quickly and executed at an even faster pace. Placed into various worlds of crime without a safety net, the cops are in constant danger. Wearing wires, coaxing confessions, and setting up stings, the cops of the C.I.U. must think quickly, talk smoothly, and rely on pure instinct. If these cops aren’t convincing, if they aren’t real, if they miss one cue – their lives are over in an instant. They slip in and out of characters so often, they sometimes lose track of who they really are. The bonds within the team are close, and the conflicts are intense. The team is everything.

The talented and instinct-driven Detective John Moreland (Gemini Award-nominee Vincent Walsh, DECEPTION, LOST GIRL) is used to being in charge, but when consummate strategist Rebecca Ellis (Chandra West, NYPD BLUE, JOHN FROM CINCINNATI) is suddenly given the reigns, conflict ensues. Balancing her keen intellect against his from-the-hip instincts, Rebecca and John need each other to pull off their risky plays – and they know it.

In the heart-pounding premiere, entitled “Drugs” (Thursday, Oct. 3 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, and in a digital preview beginning Thursday, Sept. 27 at 9 a.m. ET across CTV digital platforms), undercover detective John Moreland (Walsh) faces suspension after assaulting a Drug Squad officer. He gets a second chance when Detective Sergeant Rebecca Ellis (West) recruits Moreland and his team into her newly formed Covert Investigations Unit. The C.I.U.’s first case is to take down David Thorpe (Serge Houde, 50/50), an elusive drug kingpin Moreland has been hunting for years. Rebecca’s leadership and her fragile relationship with Moreland are severely tested when Thorpe suspects that Moreland is a cop.

Set and shot in Toronto, the high-risk drama also stars Lisa Marcos (THE LISTENER, FLASHPOINT) as Maria Cortez, a cop who has an exceptional ability to read a mark and transform herself to adapt to any situation; Dwain Murphy (COMBAT HOSPITAL, NIKITA) as Daniel Price, whose confidence and magnetic warmth easily dispels suspicion; Agam Darshi (SANCTUARY, RING OF FIRE) as Khali Bhatt, whose effortless skill with technology is a real asset for the team; and Adam Butcher (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE, BOMB GIRLS) as Jesse Calvert, the undercover unit’s explosive rookie.

PLAYED is produced by Muse Entertainment Enterprises and Back Alley Film Productions Ltd. in association with Bell Media. The series was created by Greg Nelson (SAVING HOPE, ROOKIE BLUE), and developed in association with executive producers Janis Lundman and Adrienne Mitchell (DURHAM COUNTY, BOMB GIRLS). Greg Nelson serves as executive producer and is co-showrunner with Adrienne Mitchell who also directed the pilot episode. Other episode directors include: Charles Binamé (CYBERBULLY), Kelly Makin (FLASHPOINT), Bradley Walsh (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST), Andy Mikita (BITTEN), Rachel Talalay (BOMB GIRLS), and Jerry Ciccoritti (LIVES OF SAINTS). The director of photography is Thom Best (THE BRIDGE), and the production designer is Aidan Leroux (BOMB GIRLS).

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TV, eh? podcast episode 150 – “Non-Controversial Fish in the Universe of the World”

It’s a light news episode post-vacation, with babble on the lost Rick Mercer interview, Seed’s pickup by The CW, production starting on 19-2 and Motive’s second season, Craig Olejnik’s guest starring turn on Haven, and Blackstone’s September 25 premiere.

Episode 150: Listen or download or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed.

Your hosts

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Motive season 2 in production

From a media release:

Production Begins on Season 2 of CTV’s Hit Cop Drama MOTIVE

  • Kristin Lehman returns to lead ensemble cast including Gemini Award-winner Louis Ferreira, Brendan Penny, Lauren Holly, and Roger Cross
  • Warren Christie (below left)  joins the MOTIVE cast for Season 2 as a new detective on the team

Production has begun on Season 2 of original Canadian cop drama MOTIVE. The #1 new Canadian scripted series of the 2012/2013 TV season*, MOTIVE wrapped its first season with an average audience of 1.1 million viewers. The 13-episode, one-hour drama starring Kristin Lehman as Detective Angie Flynn, shoots in and around Vancouver through January 2014, leading up to its mid-season debut on CTV.

Motive1

When viewers last saw Angie (Kristin Lehman, THE KILLING) in the dramatic Season 1 finale, she was pushed to make an irreversible decision during a psychological murder investigation, while also coming to terms with her son Manny (Cameron Bright, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2) heading off to college. The gripping second season picks up four months later, with a new face at the station – one that Angie is not too pleased to see. A confident new detective (Warren Christie, ALPHAS, Apollo 18) joins the homicide department as Team Commander, revealing a mysterious link to Angie’s past.

MOTIVE stars Kristin Lehman as spirited Detective Angie Flynn, Louis Ferreira (SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE) as her thoughtful and patient partner, Detective Oscar Vega, and Lauren Holly (NCIS) as the team’s lead medical examiner, Dr. Betty Rogers. The series also stars Brendan Penny (THE ASSISTANTS) as the team’s eager young Detective Brian Lucas; Roger Cross (ARROW) as Staff Sergeant Boyd Bloom; Cameron Bright as Angie’s teenage son, Manny Flynn; and new to the series this season are Warren Christie as a Detective and Team Commander, and Valerie Tian (ARROW, 21 Jump Street) as a new rookie Officer.

Motive2MOTIVE is produced by Foundation Features and Lark Production in association with Bell Media. Executive Producers are Daniel Cerone (DEXTER, THE MENTALIST), Louise Clark (CORNER GAS, THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF VANCOUVER), Rob Merilees (Capote, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus), Erin Haskett (THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF VANCOUVER), Rob LaBelle (MENTAL), Lindsay Macadam (Battle in Seattle), James Thorpe (LOST GIRL), and Dennis Heaton (CALL ME FITZ, Fido). Showrunners for Season 2 are James Thorpe and Dennis Heaton. Daniel Cerone is the series creator. The series is distributed internationally by NBC Universal International and the first season has just completed airing on ABC in the U.S.

Trish Williams and Rebecca DiPasquale are Production Executives, Bell Media. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks. Phil King is President, CTV Programming and Sports.

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The Listener’s Craig Olejnik to guest star on Haven

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From a media release:

Craig Olejnik to Guest Star on Showcase’s Haven

  • Season 4 of Haven Premieres Sunday, December 1 at 9 P.M. ET/PT

Showcase’s Haven adds Craig Olejnik (The Listener) to its list of guest stars when the hit series returns for its fourth season on Sunday, December 1 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Olejnik joins previously announced guest stars Emma Lahana and Christian Camargo, and Colin Ferguson.

Olejnik portrays Aiden Driscoll, a handsome and kind young man with a baby on the way. Nephew to Haven’s prominent Reverend Ed Driscoll (Stephen McHattie), Aiden is the better of the two Driscoll brothers – until he finds himself at the centre of events that could completely destroy the town of Haven. Olejnik appears in episode 408.

Season 4 of Haven picks up six months after the devastating events of the season three cliffhanger in which the town was pummeled by a violent meteor storm. Audrey (Emily Rose) and Duke (Eric Balfour) vanished into thin air leaving an injured Nathan (Lucas Bryant) marooned in Haven.

Haven, based on the novella, The Colorado Kid, from renowned author Stephen King, follows former FBI agent Audrey Parker, who becomes a cop in the small town of Haven, Maine, and soon discovers the town’s many secrets – which also hold the key to unlocking the mysteries of her lost past.

From leading independent studio Entertainment One (eOne), Haven is co-commissioned by Shaw Media in Canada and globally via Universal Networks International (UNI).

The creative team behind Haven includes executive producers John Morayniss (Klondike, Rogue) from eOne Television and David MacLeod (Legends of the Fall, The Ray Bradbury Theater) of Big Motion Pictures, who are joined by Lloyd Segan, Shawn Piller, Scott Shepherd (Stephen King’s The Dead Zone, Greek) of Piller/Segan/Shepherd and Matt McGuinness (Journeyman, Dark Blue) as well as Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn (Stephen King’s The Dead Zone), who also developed the series.

Haven is produced by Entertainment One and Big Motion Pictures in association with Piller/Segan/Shepherd and airs on Showcase in Canada, Syfy in the US and internationally on UNI’s multiple Syfy Universal channels. Entertainment One controls the worldwide distribution rights to the one-hour series and concluded a deal with Germany’s Tele München Group (TMG) for the television rights in Continental Europe.

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