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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television

Shaw announces 2012/13 specialty lineup

From a media release:

Shaw announces 2012/13 lineup

  • Slice™’s #1 Series The Real Housewives of Vancouver Renewed
    for Second Season
  • Showcase Debuts Massive New Dramas Copper and
    Beauty and the Beast
  • HGTV’s Mike Holmes Returns with a Brand-New Series
  • Broadcaster Commissions Over 650 Hours of Canadian Original Programming

On the heels of its highest performing season ever, Sliceâ„¢, the ultimate entertainment fix for women, has renewed its number one ranked series to date, The Real Housewives of Vancouver.

Jump starting the year on a high, Slice™’s fall schedule boasts the brand-new Canadian series Keasha’s Perfect Dress (WT), featuring renowned Kleinfeld’s bridal consultant Keasha Rigsby (Say Yes to the Dress), as well as The Mistress, a dramatic new series featuring self-proclaimed former mistress to Chef Gordon Ramsay and Lord Jeffrey Archer, Sarah Symonds. Returning for a new season this winter is the much-loved matrimonial showdown, Four Weddings Canada.

Showcase continues to be the top destination for the best in dramatic entertainment with a slew of new and returning hit series coming this fall. Starring Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) and produced in Canada by Take 5 and Whizbang Productions in partnership with CBS Studios, the brand-new series Beauty and the Beast will infuse Showcase with a fresh take on the fairytale classic. Other new series include the USA hit Common Law, which premiered to impressive audience numbers in the U.S., and the much-anticipated debut of the original series Copper, from creative dream team Academy Award®-winner Barry Levinson (Good Morning Vietnam, Oz) and Emmy® Award-winner Tom Fontana (Oz, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Borgias). In addition, Showcase will be the exclusive home to the original series World Without End, the bold follow-up to Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth starring Miranda Richardson (Rubicon, Merlin), Cynthia Nixon (Sex and the City), Ben Chaplin (Mad Dogs) and Canadians Sarah Gadon (A Dangerous Method) and Meghan Follows. Viewers can also look forward to new seasons of Showcase’s top-rated series Lost Girl, as well as Warehouse 13, Royal Pains, and the channel’s megahit series Covert Affairs.

As the number one entertainment specialty channel, freshly revamped HISTORY offers the most robust collection of authentic characters and programming showcasing history being made every day. In addition to premiering the captivating new Canadian series Bomb Hunters, the network is set to launch the gripping new series about navigating and transporting materials across one of history’s most treacherous bodies of water in Great Lake Warriors. HISTORY is home to the worldwide television event of the fall with Mankind: The Story of All of Us, the epic tale of the global rise of civilization, complete with danger, action, heroism and adrenaline. Returning shows include massively successful series like Swamp People, Ice Pilots NWT, American Restoration, Ice Road Truckers, Canadian Pickers and the channel’s top-rated series from last fall, Pawn Stars.

On HGTV this fall, Canada’s most trusted contractor Mike Holmes is back with bigger renovations and storylines in the brand-new Canadian series Holmes Makes It Right. Also on the fall schedule is the first ever Canadian edition of the UK hit series May The Best House Win, the ultimate open house experience where proud homeowners open their doors to each other to judge and be judged.

With the hugely successful second season of Top Chef Canada wrapping up, Food Network has announced that its number one series will return for another season. The network’s fall lineup of delicious entertainment includes the launch of the brand-new Canadian series SugarStars and a second season of innovative Recipe to Riches. The long-standing and hugely popular series Restaurant Makeover returns as Restaurant Takeover, showcasing new and exciting twists.

As the number one digital channel in the country and the top-ranking digital channel in the top 20 across all specialty channels, National Geographic Channel continues to inspire Canadians with the most innovative content about science, technology and human endeavors. Brand new series on the fall schedule are the cutthroat, bluefin tuna fishing business series Wicked Tuna and docu-series American Chainsaw, following chainsaw sculptor and hard rock star Jesse “The Machine” Green and his unusual crew as they create art out of wood. Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout? pits civilians against each other in a bid for merit badges.
Continue reading Shaw announces 2012/13 specialty lineup

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Global announces 2012/13 lineup

From a media release:

Global is proud to offer a wealth of new and returning Canadian original programming on the schedule this fall. Award-winning newsmagazine series 16×9 will move into a primetime slot on Friday nights while Saturday evenings gain a new documentary series, Close Up. Close Up is a series of one-off POV documentaries that chronicle the extraordinary and unusual world outside our door – remarkable people on the outskirts of what is deemed normal, hidden worlds, personal obsessions and unique subcultures.

Also on the originals slate is the much anticipated 2012 Canada’s Walk of Fame Awards which will be broadcast this fall from Toronto’s historic Elgin Theatre. The annual star-studded gala event will feature top tier talents being honoured by their colleagues with inspirational performances and heartfelt words. A list of inductees will be announced in the coming weeks.

Reality series Recipe to Riches is back with a new crop of Canadian home cooks competing to have their original recipes become a President’s Choice product.

Finally, Bomb Girls, the drama profiling the Canadian women who risked everything to build bombs for the Allied forces fighting on the European front, returns with all-new episodes in 2013. Shot on location in Toronto, Bomb Girls stars Meg Tilly (Caprica), Jodi Balfour (Supernatural), Charlotte Hegele (Murdoch Mysteries) and Ali Liebert (Health Nutz).

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Industry Update – Rogers/Citytv 2012 Upfronts

This is my first time at the Rogers Media/Citytv 2012 upfronts. This year, they are held at Toronto’s Massey Hall. Historically, the Rogers upfronts don’t provide much in the way of Canadian scripted fare, or Canadian content. In fact, Murdoch Mysteries‘ Citytv run ends this summer. If viewers miss the fifth season, they can watch it on CBC this fall…or watch Citytv’s reruns of the fifth season, if they air as “encore presentations” this fall. Try to wrap your head around that one.

I go into the Rogers upfronts not expecting much – maybe a low-rated documentary series for Citytv, foreign reality-show formats with the word “Canada” flour-pasted onto the side, and American programming – the usual.

Citytv’s fall schedule is its usual heady mix of American shows, and “encore presentations” of Rogers “original series.” Saturday, by now, is Citytv’s Canadian cultural ghetto. Less Than Kind will even air 9:30 PM ET on Saturdays this fall, and it better not be four-year-old reruns of the first season.

More encouragingly, Citytv has two original comedies up for 2013, Seed and Package Deal. Seed is about a sperm bank donor, and how he deals with the byproducts of his white gold. Package Deal is “about three overly close brothers and the woman who comes between them,” which reads as generic. So did Shaw Media’s Continuum, when it was announced.

The Citytv press conferences are basic. There are the usual American stars to sell their wares – Katie Couric promoting her new talk show, Brandon Routh and Michael Urie promoting Partners, and Max Greenfield shilling New Girl. Dominic Monaghan beats the drum on Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, an OLN/Channel 5/BBC America nature show, while Tyler Harcott sells viewers on the merits of The Bachelor Canada.

Andrew Orenstein and Joseph Raso promote their respective shows, Package Deal and Seed. Citytv sells Package Deal as the first Canadian multi-camera sitcom in decades, which ignores YTV’s Mr. Young. Perhaps youth sitcoms aren’t as glamorous as adult sitcoms. Package Deal shoots in Vancouver, and has Mr. Young‘s production company, Thunderbird Films, behind it.

An interesting announcement concerns Citytv and Sportsnet sewing up rights to HBO’s 24/7 Maple Leafs/Red Wings: Road to the NHL Winter Classic. This isn’t a Canadian series, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are the first Canadian team with a 24/7 profile. Given that Rogers is set to own 37.5% of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, this is Canadian content, in a way. Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment owns quite a few sports channels, so Rogers wants to feature a prospective acquisition.

Hopefully, Rogers and Citytv build on their commitments to homegrown programming. It’s nice to see Rogers and Citytv muster a little more effort than usual, even if the overall strategy is “let’s buy a lot of American programming, and here’s our version of a popular reality show format.” I didn’t expect Citytv to announce any new shows, beyond The Bachelor Canada.

One niggling issue: no announcements regarding G4 Canada, or bio? What did they do, break Rogers Media’s priceless Ming vase, or something?

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Tyler Harcott to host The Bachelor Canada

From a media release:

Tyler Harcott Named Host of The Bachelor Canada on Citytv

  • Veteran Canadian TV personality has hosted 14 series in Canada and the U.S.
  • Will help recently announced bachelor Brad Smith on his journey to find love, in the first-ever Canadian version of the popular Bachelor franchise

Having hosted nearly every kind of TV show in almost every kind of environment – from studio and junkyard to cruise ship and on location in the Middle East – veteran host Tyler Harcott will bring his 17 years of experience to a new audience as the host of The Bachelor Canada, premiering this fall on Citytv. Harcott was introduced today as part of Citytv’s annual Upfront presentation.

Earlier this month, CFL free agent Brad Smith was revealed as the first-ever Canadian bachelor. Additional details about the production, including the identities of the 25 Canadian bachelorettes, will be announced in the coming weeks.

A native of Calgary, Harcott, 43, earned a communications degree at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) Polytechnic before getting his start in the entertainment industry in theatre, film and television. His first foray into broadcasting was as a radio disc jockey at CKGY FM in Red Deer, Alberta. Shortly following, Harcott landed his first hosting job in 1995 while visiting Hong Kong, which led him to various other culture-rich locales, including India, Dubai and Indonesia. Throughout his career, Harcott has hosted 14 programs, including Wired, Junkyard Wars, Guess Who’s Coming to Decorate?, and Miss America: Countdown to the Crown.

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TV, eh? podcast episode 94 – “We’re a Nice Pat on the Back. Shut Up.”

Diane couldn’t think of another excuse to ditch Anthony for the podcast so we’re back this week talking about Continuum’s great numbers, Sanctuary’s demise, The Listener and Pawnathon Canada’s returns, Less Than Kind’s fourth and final season is in production, the Leo awards were handed out, Astral approved the BCE acquisition, EOne is looking at Alliance, and how to get to the next level in Canadian television.

Episode 94: Listen or download here or subscribe via iTunes or with any other program via the TV, Eh? feed

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