From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:
Production begins on Season 10 of Murdoch Mysteries
Another former Downton Abbey cast member will guest star on Canada’s Murdoch Mysteries. Samantha Bond played Lady Rosamund on the popular British period drama. She’ll join guest actors including Peter Keleghan, Peter Stebbings, Alex Paxton-Beesley, Daniel Maslany and Bea Santos in Season 10 of Murdoch, which has begun production in Ontario. Continue reading.
From Bridget Liszewski of the TV Junkies:
Wynonna Earp’s Natalie Krill on hiding that major reveal
If you’re still in shock over that major reveal from last week’s Wynonna Earp episode then you’re not alone. Not many fans were expecting to find out that Eve (Natalie Krill), the young woman helping Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) to escape the cult in the woods, was actually her long lost sister Willa who had been kidnapped by revenants years earlier. “I think they did it really well because you don’t see it coming in that way,†Krill told The TV Junkies of her character’s big reveal. Continue reading.
The second episode of Working it Out Together explores the positive ripple effect that childbirth creates via a woman within her community. It is about empowerment. It also critically examines, from the perspective of colonization, the effect that western medicine has had on the process of birthing in Indigenous communities across Canada.
We begin with the idea that women’s bodies are designed for childbirth. But the process of childbirth also acts to connect women of a community together. Historically, one woman within the community held a position of great distinction: the midwife. It was the function of traditional midwifery to attend to the emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental health needs of expectant mothers, their newborns, and the families welcoming their newborns. However, with the invasion of western medicine came the belief that birthing was dangerous and thus required powerful people–educated physicians–to control the procedure. Governmental control* of women’s reproduction persisted and midwifery as a whole, across Canada, was outlawed. This disconnected women from their bodies and fathers/families from the process as well.
Traditionally, the cyclical process of birth is seen as a means of renewal and hope, restoring balance to the community at large. The western practice of removing childbirth from the community to the sterile environment of the hospital, isolates women during the procedure, necessarily severing the initial ties between mother, child, and community. This in turn has created yet another social fracture among the people of the community and has disrupted the emotional and social balance in people’s lives for generations.
We are also reminded that historically, midwives attended successful births in very challenging environments, with limited resources, when compared to the living conditions that are more common today. In this context then, trained midwives are able to recognise possible complications that could threaten the health of both mother and child. If suitable medical instrumentation is also available, midwives can make these diagnoses well in advance, thus ensuring proper care for their patients.
The entire scenario further complicates birthing for women who live in the north. Communities that lack birthing centres are forced to fly expectant mothers south to the nearest hospital weeks in advance of their due dates. This removes them from family and friends for weeks at a time. Children are left missing their mothers; fathers and families are left struggling to care for distraught children. This is done because of the “what if” scenario, a plausible argument. However, the added emotional stress this places on a community and/or family, coupled with the financial stress caused by extended hospital stays, could be eased simply by placing trained midwives, with appropriate equipment, in communities.
Episode two follows the journey of Shillene McNaughtan, a mother of three, pregnant with her fourth child. It is Shillene’s belief that the birthing centre at Six Nations is the more suitable location for a natural act of life, rather than attending a hospital for a procedure. In Shillene’s case, we are also reminded of the complications gestational diabetes causes . Gestational diabetes in Indigenous women occurs at a rate five times the national average.
***Spoiler Alert*** Shillene gave birth to a healthy baby boy!
*This episode also touches on the government management of Indigenous reproduction with the forced sterilization of Indigenous women during the 1970’s. I wish we dug deeper into this very dark aspect of colonization in Canada.
From a media release:
Bell Media confirms 2016/17 original production slate
Bell Media confirmed today its leading slate of new and returning original entertainment programming for the 2016/17 broadcast year in advance of the #CTVUpfront presentation in Toronto. With Canada’s most-watched and most-acclaimed original programs, Bell Media reinforces its industry leadership with original productions, including its recently announced commitment to produce all new original scripted series in 4K.
More Canadians make Bell Media their choice for homegrown programs than any other media company. CTV’s SAVING HOPE is the most-watched Canadian drama among all key adult demos, while the network is home to the country’s top two Canadian series among total viewers, THE AMAZING RACE CANADA and MASTERCHEF CANADA; the top Canadian programs in daytime, Bell Media Production’s THE MARILYN DENIS SHOW and THE SOCIAL; the most-viewed entertainment news program, ETALK; and the most-watched original series on entertainment specialty for all key adult demos, Discovery’s CANADA’S WORST DRIVER.
New Bell Media Original Series for 2016/17:
Drama
Comedy
Factual
Returning Bell Media Original Series for 2016/17:
Reality
Drama
Comedy
Factual
Events & Specials
The ground-breaking, crowd-sourced broadcast event CANADA IN A DAY, in celebration of Canada’s upcoming 150th anniversary, headlines Bell Media’s slate of new original movies, documentaries, and specials for the 2016/17 broadcast year. The slate also includes:
Returning Bell Media Production Original Series for 2016/17
Complementing this fulsome slate of original Canadian independent productions is a robust lineup of top-rated in-house entertainment productions from Bell Media Production renewed for new seasons in 2016/17:
Source : Numeris, Sep 21, 2015 – May 22, 2016. Entertainment specialty ranking based on Aug 31, 2015 – May 8, 2016. Local news ranking based on Spring 2016 diary survey, A25-54.
From a media release:
CraveTV Taps Comic Megastar Russell Peters for Next Original Series, RUSSELL PETERS IS THE INDIAN DETECTIVE
CraveTV, in partnership with CTV, announced today its second original series, RUSSELL PETERS IS THE INDIAN DETECTIVE. The new series follows on the success earlier this year of CraveTV’s breakout hit series, LETTERKENNY. Worldwide comic sensation Russell Peters stars in the four-part, one-hour, fish-out-of-water dramedy. Commissioned in partnership with CTV from Big Light Productions (THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, HUNTED, MEDICI: MASTERS OF FLORENCE), Blue Ice Pictures (MADIBA, THE BOOK OF NEGROES, October Gale), and Wonder Films (Water, The Young Messiah), RUSSELL PETERS IS THE INDIAN DETECTIVE is set to begin production this fall in 4K. The production will shoot in Durban, Mumbai, and Toronto, before premiering on CraveTV in 2017.
Developed for Peters by acclaimed writer and executive producer Frank Spotnitz (THE X-FILES, THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE) and Smita Bhide (HUNTED, TRANSPORTER: THE SERIES), RUSSELL PETERS IS THE INDIAN DETECTIVE follows Peters’ Doug D’Mello, a charming, smart, ambitious Toronto cop of Indian heritage whose dreams of becoming a homicide detective are put on hold when he is unjustly suspended. While on leave, D’Mello visits his dad in Mumbai, where he gets embroiled in a local case and pursues an impressive and beautiful attorney. As a dangerous investigation unfolds, D’Mello must also grapple with culture shock in a country where, despite his heritage, he is an outsider. Equal doses comedy and high-stakes drama, RUSSELL PETERS IS THE INDIAN DETECTIVE marks Russell Peters’ first starring role in a scripted television series.
The series builds on the long-standing relationship with Peters, which has included A RUSSELL PETERS CHRISTMAS, now a Bell Media holiday scheduling tradition, Peters’ two stints as host of THE JUNO AWARDS, as well as the 2003 CTV COMEDY NOW! special that propelled him into an international phenomenon when it was posted anonymously on the internet and made its way around the globe.
RUSSELL PETERS started doing stand-up in 1989 at the age of 19 at open mics in his native Toronto. Peters is the first comedian to sell-out Toronto’s Air Canada Centre six times since 2007, and just completed his Almost Famous World Tour, which took him to over 120 cities across 25 countries with more than 500,000 fans. Having released four stand-up specials since 2004, Peters recorded his new special, RUSSELL PETERS ALMOST FAMOUS at Toronto’s Massey Hall, which will be released in October. Recently, Peters was a judge on NBC’s LAST COMIC STANDING, and appeared in Spike TV’s hit show, LIP SYNC BATTLE. Peters can also be seen in Jon Favreau’s critically acclaimed movie, Chef, and can be heard as one of the voices on Disney’s The Jungle Book.
INDIAN DETECTIVE is created and executive produced and written by Frank Spotnitz and co-written by Smita Bhide, both of whom also wrote the first episode. It is executive produced by Blue Ice Pictures’ Daniel Iron and Lance Samuels (MADIBA, THE BOOK OF NEGROES, October Gale), Wonder Films’ Mark Burton (Water, The Young Messiah), CPI Pictures Clayton Peters (RUSSELL PETERS: NOTORIOUS, RUSSELL PETERS VERSUS THE WORLD), and Paul Canterma. Co-executive producer is Sharon Remmer (THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE, MEDICI: MASTERS OF FLORENCE). Sarah Fowlie is Director, Independent Production, Comedy, Bell Media. Executive for Bell Media is Chris Kelley. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks and CraveTV, Bell Media. Randy Lennox is President, Entertainment Production and Broadcasting, Bell Media.
