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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Industry News

CTV Greenlights New Detective Series for 2017/18 Slate

From a media release:

– New 10 episode one-hour drama produced by renowned Canadian producer Ilana Frank’s ICF Films (SAVING HOPE, ROOKIE BLUE) with Entertainment One (eOne) in association with CTV –
– The series is currently in pre-production with casting underway, set to begin production in Spring 2017 –

CTV announced today that it has greenlit a new 10 episode, one hour detective series for the networks 2017/18 programming slate. The currently untitled ensemble drama series is from Ilana Frank, the producer behind hit CTV series SAVING HOPE. Casting for the series is currently underway with production set to begin this spring.

The new drama centres on two female detectives. Together they work to solve the challenging cases of the major crimes unit while navigating the realities of their very real and relatable personal lives.

The series was developed by Ley Lukins who serves as Co-Showrunner and Executive Producer with Adam Pettle. Other writers include Sandra Chwialkowski, Adriana Maggs, Naledi Jackson, Sarah Goodman, and Hayden Simpson. Executive Producers are ICF’s Ilana Frank (SAVING HOPE, ROOKIE BLUE), John Morayniss, and Linda Pope, with co-executive producers Jocelyn Hamilton and Sonia Hosko.

The series is produced by ICF Films with eOne in association with CTV, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit. All distribution rights are handled by eOne.

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Industry News

Link: Fuss over American Super Bowl ads ignores reality of Internet TV

From Kate Taylor of The Globe and Mail:

Link: Fuss over American Super Bowl ads ignores reality of Internet TV
But the broadcasting system that the CRTC oversees wasn’t actually established to enrich Canadian television consortiums or American producers and rights holders; nor even to get Canadians’ cheap and easy access to U.S. content. It was established to get them access to quality Canadian content and the real problem with the Super Bowl fuss is that it distracts from discussions about how Canadian programming is to be funded in the future and how Canadians will find it. Continue reading. 

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Bellevue

Link: Women Behind Canadian TV: Adrienne Mitchell and Jane Maggs

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Women Behind Canadian TV: Adrienne Mitchell and Jane Maggs
“That’s a real goal of ours is to foster female talent, both writing and directing. We often worked as collaborators, and I will say that I cannot believe how strong Jane is in terms of her work as a showrunner. I didn’t feel like I was working with someone that I had to mentor. I felt like I was working with an equal and it was a meeting of minds that I could just dream of. It all worked really well and we just get each other because our aesthetics and ways of telling stories are really quite similar.” Continue reading.

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Featured, Pure

Pure’s season finale: Faith, the Funks and fighting back

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Things don’t look good for Noah Funk on Pure. His plan to out Eli Voss to O’Reilly and the rest of the DEA backfired in a major way: she was shot and survived. Sadly, the same can’t be said for Abel: Eli shot him in the chest and left him to die in the quarry. Clearly, Eli is a man of his word when it comes to threats; but is Noah?

With the final episode of Pure Season 1, “Baptism,” airing Monday night on CBC, here’s the network’s synopsis:

Forced to choose between his beliefs or his life, Noah crosses the ultimate moral line in his showdown with Eli Voss.
And here a few little tidbits we gleaned from watching the screener:
Eli isn’t done killing
When Episode 6 begins, Voss makes a phone call to Ontario and has a deadly request for Gerry Epp. Hats off to Peter Outerbridge for his performance; Eli is a cold-blooded character I can’t help but love seeing on screen. He’s alway bad news, but he’s been fun to watch. Last week I highlighted a scene between Noah and Eli as the best of the season. I was wrong; their scene this week is better.
O’Reilly calls out Bronco
In an amazing scene at the DEA office, Bronco and O’Reilly go head-to-head and she spells out his shortcomings in just a few intense sentences. Michael Amo’s dialogue is spare, but when his characters speak, they get right to the point.
Anna speaks her mind
Anna Funk has quietly been a pillar of strength for her family, and she steps up once again (with words and fresh baking) when danger comes her way. Will her words fall on deaf ears … or make her situation worse?
What have you thought of the first season of Pure? Comment below!

Images courtesy of CBC.

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Murdoch Mysteries: Brackenreid is back!

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How is it possible that we’re already on Episode 14 of this season of Murdoch Mysteries? It seems like only yesterday Season 10 bowed and here we are in the final stretch.

After an extended period of time away—first at the Olympics in St. Louis and then jaunting to Panama with Pendrick—Inspector Brackenreid returns to Toronto. Here’s CBC’s official description of “From Murdoch to Eternity,” written by Simon McNabb and directed by Jill Carter.

Murdoch devises a mysterious tonic that restores youthful vitality, but his pursuit of a partnership alarms Crabtree.
Here are a few more tidbits after watching the episode:
A longtime character gone?
The episode begins dramatically, with Murdoch on stage, in front of a hushed crowd, revealing a great man—and recurring guest star—is no more. Since the synopsis mentions “a mysterious tonic that restores youthful vitality” it’s no surprise the good detective is speaking of James Pendrick. What happened to the great inventor, and why is Murdoch peddling his fountain of youth? The opening scene also features a shocking entrance by Brackenreid.
Margaret returns
With her husband back, it makes sense Margaret would appear in Monday’s episode too. Her reaction to seeing her husband is … well … um … interesting.
Crabtree does some investigating
It’s not common for George to do sleuthing without some guidance from Murdoch, but he does just that. He’s got a good reason, and calls on Louise Cherry and Samuel Bloom for help.
Orphan Black‘s Ari Millen stops by
Ahead of Orphan Black‘s Season 5 return in June, Millen portrays Tanner, a member of Canadian intelligence who has some questions—via Prime Minister Laurier—about the tonic.
Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Images courtesy of CBC.

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