WIPEOUT CANADA | EPISODE 6 | “EAST VS. WEST” SUNDAY, MAY 8 – 8PM ET/PT

Wipeout Canada has scoured the nation from east to west to find some of Canada’s most agile contestants for this special episode. Contestants from both sides of the country team up to represent their coast and prove that they are the strongest and wackiest contestants to face the obstacle course. They compete for a chance to go home with the grand prize of $50,000 and the bragging rights of “Wipeout Canada Champion.” This week’s contenders include a hippie from Vancouver, a barn girl from Stettler, Alberta and a lumberjack from Halifax. Who will be best, East or West? The hilarious hosts, Jonathan Torrens and Ennis Esmer offer their off-beat commentary as they watch contestants tackle the big red balls, dizzy dummy, sucker punch wall and the wipeout zone. Jessica Phillips reports direct from the course as the contestants flex their muscles.

MAKING HOUSE – ORIGINAL SERIES PREMIERE

Husband and wife designer and contractor, Jennifer Reid and Chad Kulchyski have spent ten years of marriage making beautiful homes for other people. Now, with three young children and a fourth on the way, they are making their own dream home – and they’ve given themselves only five months to complete it before their new baby is born.

In the first episode, the family prepares to move into the rental apartment where they will live until their house is completed. With Chad constantly on the phone and running off to his other job sites, a pregnant and very angry Jenn is left to do most of the work. Feeling completely burned out and run-down on moving day, Jenn and Chad push themselves to get all of the bedrooms ready before the kids come home for the night. With ambitious plans, a tight budget, their own businesses to run and three children fighting for their attention, Jenn and Chad will certainly have their work cut out for them. Making House premieres with back-to-back episodes Tuesday, June 7 at 8 p.m.

From a media release:

Brand new series Almost Heroes and Single White Spenny premiere Thursday, June 2, 2011

Kicking off the summer comedy lineup, Almost Heroes follows Terry (Paul Campbell; Battlestar Galalctica, Knight Rider) who returns home after hearing of his father’s death to help his younger brother Peter (Ryan Belleville; Finn on the Fly, Life on a Stick) tie up loose ends and hopefully, sell the family business: a comic book store called the Silver Salmon. He arrives to find the store in financial ruin and his brother incapable of making any decision other than which super power he wished he had. The brothers put their differences aside to revive the business along with the help of the mall security guard Boyd (Colin Mochrie; The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes To Town, Who’s Line is it Anyway), childhood friend Bernie (Lauren Ash; Howie Do It, Lars and The Real Girl) and property manager Rayna (Athena Karkanis; The Border, The Best Years). Created and executive produced by brothers Ryan and Jason Belleville and executive produced by Noreen Halpern and Rachel Fulford of Entertainment One, Almost Heroes premieres Thursday, June 2 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Replacing his search for dignity with a search for true love, Canadian comedy favourite Spenny (Spencer Rice; Kenny vs Spenny) returns to Showcase with Single White Spenny, a comedy of relationship errors where he struggles to find love, be loved, get love, rent love, buy love, steal love, melt love and sell love. From trying his hand at an open relationship to seeking motherly love that was lacking from his real Mom, Spenny navigates single life with an ineptitude all his own. Aided by best friend Chelsea (Amy Matysio; Corner Gas), employee Jessica (Nikki Payne; Video on Trial, Last Comic Standing), hindered by his lurking neighbour, Phil (Wayne Thomas Yorke Meet the Fockers, Wingin’ It) and largely ignored by his egocentric mother (Deb McGrath; Little Mosque on the Prairie), Spenny demonstrates exactly what not to do when on the hunt for a life partner. Executive produced by Ira Levy and Peter Williamson of Breakthrough Entertainment and developed by executive producers Howard Busgang and Tom Nursall, Single White Spenny premieres Thursday, June 2 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.

From Andrew Ryan of the Globe and Mail:

• Stuart Townsend’s winding road to Canada’s frigid embrace
  The career of Stuart Townsend has more bumps and twists than a shillelagh. The native of Howth, County Dublin, currently stars in the Canadian-made show XIII: The Series, but is likely better known for the ones that got away. After turns on the British stage and small parts in independent films, Townsend’s profile rose by portraying the vampire Lestat in the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, which he promptly followed by playing Dorian Gray in the big-budget feature The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Read more.