From DK Latta of Huffington Post Canada:
Why Canadians Should Be Watching ‘Bomb Girls’
Bomb Girls is the World War II drama-cum-soap opera focusing on the Canadian homefront and the gals (and guys) working at a munitions factory. And I’ll stick my neck out and say Bomb Girls is probably the best Canadian series being made right now, at least when you consider its different elements. Read more.
From Adrian Mack of the Georgia Straight:
Continuum bunkers down in Vancouver
The CBC building on Hamilton Street is already better protected than the Pentagon. But security has been intensified in the past few weeks since Continuum moved into the bunkerlike complex, providing the wildly successful Showcase series with a base of operations and an appropriately sterile location for its second season, now in production. Read more.
From a media release:
ORPHAN BLACK is Most-Watched Original Series Debut in Space History with 404,000 Viewers
The series premiere of what the Hollywood Reporter calls “one of the most intriguingly entertaining new series of the year” lived up to its hype Saturday night. Space’s new Original Series ORPHAN BLACK debuted to a record-breaking 404,000 viewers, making it the highest-rated Original Series premiere in the channel’s 15-year history. Overall, Space was the #1 specialty network of the day Saturday, with the return of DOCTOR WHO at 8 p.m. averaging a rousing 654,000 viewers, powering ORPHAN BLACK’s mind-blowing audience at 9 p.m.
In all, almost 900,000 viewers watched some or all of ORPHAN BLACK’s first episode, which launched a complex urban mystery after lead character Sarah comes face-to-face with a stranger who looks just like her. The premiere episode, “Natural Selection,” was also the most-watched specialty program during its timeslot.
Seed, City – “Rebel Without Lamazeâ€
As a former nerd, Rose (Carrie -Lynn Neales) worries that her Lamaze class will be high school all over again. Fortunately, Harry (Adam Korson) thrived in high school and is ready to help out. Meanwhile, Anastasia (Abby Ross) plans for her own school’s formal, while Jonathan (Matt Baram) and Janet (Laura de Carteret) try to capture the few parent-child milestones they have left. Plus, Michelle (Amanda Brugel) and Harry realize that they dated the same woman years ago.
Bomb Girls, Global – “Fifth Columnâ€
While out with the girls, Gladys finds herself a magnet of unwanted attention – first from a mystery man and then from an overly-curious redhead who questions her about the factory.
Meanwhile, in a bid to get closer to her daughter, Lorna enlists Kate to volunteer with her at Sheila’s hospital; and Betty’s budding relationship with Teresa intensifies.
“We have so much more to explore, plus I’ll have delivered the baby.†That’s how Carrie-Lynn Neales, who plays Rose on the Canadian comedy Seed, feels about the opportunity to continue for another season. “Renewal is still up in the air, but we have a great fan base and the audience is growing, so everyone is pretty hopeful.â€
Although this is Neales’ first time as a regular on a TV show, her two years spent with the Classical Theatre Project has taught her how to breakdown a script and really find the rhythm of her character’s words. She talked about how great writing is the first step in that process and that Seed has great writing: “All the characters have richness.â€
Neales also raved about the cast. In fact, as she walked away from her audition with Adam Korson, who plays Harry, she said it struck her how fun it had been. Not the usual audition experience at all.
“I was surprised at how quickly and how well all the cast members connected. At the first table read, Amanda Brugel, who plays Michelle, had me in stitches.â€
Neales says she knows her experience is rare. “Everyone in the cast and the crew are amazing and offer great support to really play. It’s a fun set, which is important because the days are long – 12 to 14 hours.â€
Neales said her character Rose had impeccable instincts, but is very guarded. If she was going to offer Rose any advice as she embarks on motherhood it would be to trust her instincts and enjoy every moment. Neales says that she and Rose are frighteningly similar.
As for shooting on location in Halifax, she found the people there lovely. Her brother obtained his Masters at Dalhousie University so she had previously spent some time there. The long days didn’t leave a lot of free time to enjoy the local music and arts scene. However, she did find a favourite coffee spot near her hotel, where she consumed too many cups of coffee as she poured over her scripts. Neales hopes to return to the comfort of that coffee spot and the opportunity to play again with the cast of Seed for another season.
Seed airs Mondays on City.
By Ann MacDonald
