Links: SurrealEstate, Season 2

October 4, 2023 Greg David

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Previewing SurrealEstate Season 2 Premiere “Trust the Process”
We’re a week out from the return of our favorite supernatural real estate squad as SurrealEstate Season 2 begins on Syfy in the US and CTV Sci-Fi and Crave in Canada. It’s been a circuitous route – cancelled soon after the first season finale in October 2021 and then uncancelled with a surprise announcement in May of 2022. May you live in interesting times, y’all. Continue reading.

From Meredith Jacobs of TV Insider:

Link: ‘SurrealEstate’: Luke’s Struggling, Susan’s Taking Charge & More Season 2 Scoop (VIDEO)
The Roman Agency is once again open for business, but things are different. SurrealEstate is back for its second season on Syfy on October 4, though it almost didn’t get one. Continue reading.

From Greg Archer of Movieweb:

Link: Exclusive: Tim Rozon Says the Demons in Season 2 of Surreal Estate Are So Much Scarier Than Before
SyFy’s Surreal Estate has plenty of frights and mystery in escrow. The quirky hit show won audiences over in season one as real estate agent Luke Roman was bombarded with surprises at The Roman Agency. Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Previewing SurrealEstate “The Butler Didn’t” with George R. Olson
“One of the things that makes Luke such a great character for me is that he has this combination of pragmatism and compassion. One of the really nice discoveries that we walked into or, or kind of found our way into about Luke, was that even without his powers, it doesn’t change the fundamental compassion of the guy and the way he looks at this other world, which he’s been given a rare glimpse into.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Danishka Esterhazy talks SurrealEstate: “The Butler Didn’t”
“We [knew] the right actor can make this scene so amazing. Somebody who’s got great comic timing and a real personality and range. If you give this scene to just an average Joe, it won’t sing. We needed somebody who’s really, really special. So when we were casting, we found out Patrick was available.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: George Olson and Danishka Esterhazy Talk SurrealEstate “I Put a Spell on You”
“But I think because of a natural love of female-driven gothic horror, the penultimate scene in Kay’s attic was my favorite that I just loved putting together. I loved that set that we built. And I love Tara Yelland’s performance. I think she’s so charismatic and fascinating and scary and wonderful.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Spencer Creaghan Talks SurrealEstate Season 2 Soundtrack Volume 1
“I come from a soundtrack background. I like soundtrack music. I listen to a lot of soundtrack music. A lot of the people that I listen to on a daily basis are film composers and TV composers. Growing up, I listened to The Lord of the Rings soundtracks and The Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks and all these kinds of things.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Previewing SurrealEstate “Set Your Flag On Fire” + Talking Character with Spencer Creaghan
“And Luke was probably the most interesting because the piece that I wrote as my pitch was supposed to be Luke’s theme. But as I watched the show and as I spoke with George, I learned that Luke’s a pretty deep guy. Then that riff wasn’t gonna be enough to really capture who he was.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Tim Rozon Talks SurrealEstate Season 2 + a Preview of “Dearly Departed”
With just two episodes left this season, SurrealEstate is entering the home stretch of its second season. Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Spencer Creaghan Talks About Creating SurrealEstate’s Signature Sound
SurrealEstate is winding down its second season, with two episodes left, and just as in Season 1, Spencer Creaghan’s music continues to be a character unto itself. Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: George R. Olson, Tim Rozon, and Sarah Levy Talk the SurrealEstate S2 Finale
How’s everyone doing after the finale? As we close out the second season of SurrealEstate, some of our merry band of misfits are scattering to the winds–Zooey to law school, Phil to the Vatican, and Augie back to his think tank with Rochelle, while Lomax stays on in the new Roman Ireland Agency. Continue reading.

This October, CTV Sci-Fi Channel embraces spooky season with new and returning series

October 1, 2023 Greg David

From a media release:

Beginning October 4, CTV Sci-Fi Channel’s October schedule is possessed by ghosts, vampires, some unlikely heroes, and…real estate agents! With a slate of new and returning series, first to hit the market is Season 2 of CTV Sci-Fi Original series SURREALESTATE, returning Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET beginning Oct. 4, with new original series PARANORMAL REVENGEhaunting Fridays at 9 p.m. ET beginning Oct. 6 on CTV Sci-Fi, CTV.ca, and the CTV app.

Joining SURREALESTATE on Wednesdays, and making its Canadian broadcast debut, REGINALD THE VAMPIRE sinks its fangs into the 9 p.m. ET timeslot beginning Oct. 11. DOOM PATROL also returns to the CTV Sci-Fi schedule beginning Oct. 12 as the final six episodes of the series air Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. ET.

New episodes of SURREALESTATE, PARANORMAL REVENGE, REGINALD THE VAMPIRE, and DOOM PATROL are available to stream on CTV.ca and the CTV app.

New and Returning Series:

SURREALESTATE Season 2
Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET beginning October 4

Without his special abilities to see, hear, and speak to the supernatural entities that complicate his clients’ real estate transactions, Luke Roman (Tim Rozon, WYNONNA EARP) leans heavily on his eccentric team, even as his associate Susan (Sarah Levy, SCHITT’S CREEK) becomes captivated – and captured – by a mysterious home of her own.

SURREALESTATE is produced by Blue Ice Pictures in association with Bell Media and SYFY with the participation of PictureNL. George Olson developed the series for television and serves as showrunner and executive producer. Lance Samuels, Daniel Iron, Armand Leo, Danishka Esterhazy, Neil Tabatznik, Cosima von Spreti, and Kevin Anweiler also serve as executive producers. For Bell Media, Sarah Fowlie is Head of Production, Original Programming; Carlyn Klebuc is General Manager, Original Programming; Pat DiVittorio is Vice-President, CTV and Specialty Programming. Justin Stockman is Vice-President, Content Development & Programming, Bell Media. Karine Moses is Senior Vice-President, Content Development & News, Bell Media and Vice Chair, Québec, Bell.

Season 1 of SURREALESTATE is available to stream on CTV.ca and the CTV app, beginning September 28

PARANORMAL REVENGE *New Series*
Fridays at 9 p.m. ET beginning October 6

PARANORMAL REVENGE offers a fresh approach to creepy, hair-raising stories that emanate from the dimension beyond. Each story unfolds from the perspective of a main storyteller – a victim – who has been targeted by a mysterious paranormal entity or entities. What follows is a truly original and compelling approach: a mash-up of the true-crime procedural and terrifying ghost stories.

PARANORMAL REVENGE is produced by Sphere Media in association with Bell Media. For Sphere Media, Robin Bicknell is the Series Producer; Bruno Dubé, Marlo Miazga, Corinna Lehr, Andrea Griffith, Aidan Denison, and Sean Connolly are Executive Producers. For Bell Media, Rachel Goldstein-Couto is Head of Development; Danielle Pearson is Senior Production Executive, Original Programming; Sarah Fowlie is Head of Production, Original Programming; Carlyn Klebuc is General Manager, Original Programming; Pat DiVittorio is Vice-President, CTV and Specialty Programming. Justin Stockman is Vice-President, Content Development & Programming, Bell Media. Karine Moses is Senior Vice-President, Content Development & News, Bell Media and Vice Chair, Québec, Bell.

REGINALD THE VAMPIRE *New Series, Canadian Broadcast Premiere*
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET beginning October 11

Imagine a world populated by beautiful, fit, and vain vampires. Reginald Andres (Jacob Batalon, Spider-Man: No Way Home) tumbles headlong into it as an unlikely hero who will have to navigate every kind of obstacle – the girl he loves but can’t be with, a bully manager at work, and the vampire chieftain who wants him dead. Fortunately, Reginald discovers he has a few unrecognized powers of his own.

REGINALD THE VAMPIRE is produced by Great Pacific Media, Modern Story Company, December Films, and Cineflix Studios and executive produced by Harley Peyton, Jeremiah Chechik, Todd Berger, Lindsay Macadam, Brett Burlock, and Peter Emerson. Produced in Association with SYFY, the series is based on the on the Fat Vampire series of novels by Johnny B. Truant. Cineflix Rights acts as worldwide distribution partner.

Canada's Ultimate Challenge

CBC, Insight Productions and The Gurin Company announce Season 2 of Canada’s Ultimate Challenge

September 30, 2023 Greg David

From a media release:

CBC, Insight Productions, and The Gurin Company today announced production details for the second season of the original reality competition format CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, with Canadian broadcaster Brandon Gonez on board to host. Shooting this September and October, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE (7×60) turns the entire country into a giant obstacle course with challenges taking place from coast to coast. Kicking off in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the series is set to premiere on CBC Gem and CBC in 2024. More details, including the Players and locations, will be announced in the coming months.

Each episode of CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE takes place at an awe-inspiring location where the Players – 20 people from across the country competing in teams of four – compete in spectacular team challenges that put their skills to the test.

Brandon Gonez Bio
Brandon Gonez is one of the country’s most beloved broadcasters and the CEO/Founder of Gonez Media (GMI), Canada’s fastest-growing online news and entertainment company. Prior to the launch of GMI, Gonez was a reporter and anchor at CP24 and Your Morning and began his career in Northwest British Columbia as a video journalist for CFTK-TV News. Born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, ON, Gonez is a graduate of York University with a B.A. in Communications and has a certificate in Television and Radio broadcasting from Seneca College.

Commissioned by CBC, CANADA’S ULTIMATE CHALLENGE is executive produced by Erin Brock, John Brunton, Mark Lysakowski, and Jeff Thrasher for Insight Productions (A Boat Rocker Company) and Phil Gurin for The Gurin Company.

Heartland

Link: Family dynamics: Happiness and trauma will be a part of Heartland’s 17th season

September 30, 2023 Greg David

From Eric Volmers the Calgary Herald:

Link: Family dynamics: Happiness and trauma will be a part of Heartland’s 17th season
There is a scene near the end of Heartland’s Season 17 opener where the Fleming sisters are cloud-watching near a pond in the fields of Alberta. For the most part, CBC’s Sunday-night favourite has been seen as a family-friendly enterprise known for its horses, wholesome humour, romance, beautiful scenery and the odd flash of gentle drama. Continue reading.

Plan B

Vinessa Antoine, Vincent Leclerc and Sarah Booth to star in the second season of the CBC original drama series Plan B

September 20, 2023 Greg David

From a media release:

CBC today announced a second season of the time-bending original drama series PLAN B (6×60) from KOTV. An adaptation of the popular French-language drama series of the same name (now in its fourth season for Radio-Canada), season 2 will focus on a completely new story, starring Vinessa Antoine (Diggstown, Interrogation), Vincent Leclerc (lxe-13, The Revenant), and Sarah Booth (Three Pines, Heartland).

The new season follows Mia Coleman (Antoine), a Montreal police officer. Mia is approaching her fortieth birthday and grieving the end of her relationship with her ex, and her ex’s son, whom she embraced as her own. At work, the constant injustice she faces gnaws at her own sense of purpose. Mia’s already tumultuous life is turned upside-down when a seemingly routine intervention in a family crisis involving Paul (Leclerc) and Keri Whitman (Booth) results in the worst imaginable outcome. What if Mia and her partner Tyler had the evidence that would have prevented this life-altering event? Through Plan B, a strange agency that can take her back in time, Mia will stop at nothing to prevent a family tragedy, and will embark on a journey during which she’ll delve deep into her own psyche, confronting buried emotions and an unresolved past. Could Mia’s chosen path be a desperate but subconscious attempt to heal her own wounds? Season 2 of PLAN B explores the mind of a woman who, in her efforts to change a family’s destiny, discovers her own.

A CBC original production, PLAN B is produced by Quebec-based production company KOTV, with international distribution by Red Arrow Studios International. Jean-François Asselin, who co-created the original French-language series, directs and also co-writes, with Celeste Parr, this English adaptation. Asselin also serves as Showrunner and Executive Producer, alongside Louis Morissette. For KOTV, Louis-Philippe Drolet, Celeste Parr, Mélanie Viau, Jacques Drolet and Aisling “Ash” Chin-Yee are Executive Producers. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports; Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content; Sarah Adams is Director of Current Production, Drama; and Nicola Makoway is Executive in Charge of Production.

Plan B Internationally
The French series is enjoying great success on the international market. Adapted and broadcast by TF1 in France in May 2021, the made-for-France adaptation of the series starring Julie De Bona rose to the top of the charts. In Flemish Belgium, the adaptation broadcast in March 2021 was also a great success. Additionally, Season 2 won Best Scripted Format at the 2020 C21 International Format Awards.

Pier-Luc Funk (Genesis, Matthias & Maxime) stars in Season 4 of the original Quebecois version of the series. This new season is available in the Vero.tv section of ICI Tou.tv Extra and currently airing on ICI Télé.

About KOTV
For over a decade, Montreal-based company KOTV has partnered with renowned creators to bring a multitude of programs in fiction, documentary, variety, magazine and youth to the screen. A leader in the field of production, adaptation and television distribution, KOTV is distinguished by its ability to renew itself. Its ambitions know no borders and the company continues to ascend by opening up to new markets via original English-language productions through international co-productions, and by exploiting its drama and variety formats around the world.