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Industry News, Still Standing, Undercover, When Calls the Heart

CBC unveils its 2016 summer schedule with five new primetime series

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From a media release:

CBC Television today unveiled its summer 2016 schedule with five new series, returning home-grown hits and comprehensive coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The prime-time schedule includes comedies Baroness von Sketch Show and Four In The Morning; international crime drama Follow The Money; inspiring docu-series The Special Needs Hotel; political thriller Undercover; Firsthand documentary special Perfect; CBC documentary special Newfoundland at Armageddon; popular returning series Still Standing with Jonny Harris; new episodes of the Ha!ifax Comedy Fest hosted by Mark Critch; and When Calls The Heart, based on the bestselling novel by Janette Oke. CBC will also showcase a roster of Canadian movies on Saturday nights this summer, including Passchendaele, Monsieur Lazhar, John A: Birth of a Country, Uvanga and more.

The CBC-TV prime-time summer programming schedule is listed below, along with synopses for new series and returning favourites with summer premieres.

MONDAY
8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — Murdoch Mysteries season 9 (encores)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Book of Negroes (encores begin June 20)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Undercover (premieres August 22) *NEW SERIES*

TUESDAY
8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — Rick Mercer Report season 13 (encores begin June 14)

8:30 p.m. (9 NT) — This Hour Has 22 Minutes season 23 (encores begin June 14)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Still Standing season 2 (beginning June 14) *NEW SEASON*

9:30 p.m. (10 NT) — Baroness von Sketch Show (premieres June 14) *NEW SERIES*

9:30 p.m. (10 NT) — Ha!ifax Comedy Fest (beginning August 2) *NEW EPISODES*

WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — Dragons’ Den season 10 (encores begin June 22)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — The Romeo Section season 1 (encores begin July 6)

THURSDAY
8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — The Nature of Things (encores begin June 23)

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — The Special Needs Hotel (premieres August 25) *NEW SERIES*

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Keeping Canada Alive (encores begin June 16)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Newfoundland at Armageddon (June 30) *NEW CBC DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL*

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Perfect (August 4) *NEW FIRSTHAND DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL*

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Firsthand (encores begin August 25)

FRIDAY
8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — Schitt’s Creek season 2 (encores begin June 17)

8:30 p.m. (9 NT) — This Hour Has 22 Minutes season 23 (encores begin June 17)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Mr. D season 5 (encores begin June 17 until July 29)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Four In The Morning (premieres August 26) *NEW SERIES*

9:30 p.m. (10 NT) — Mr. D season 5 (encores begin June 17 until July 29)

9:30 p.m. (10 NT) — Raised By Wolves (encores begin August 26)

SATURDAY
8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — Murdoch Mysteries season 9 (encores)

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Follow the Money (premieres June 18) *NEW SERIES*

SUNDAY
7 p.m. (7:30 NT) — Heartland season 9 (encores begin June 19)

8 p.m. (8:30 NT) — When Calls the Heart season 2 (beginning June 19)*NEW SEASON*

9 p.m. (9:30 NT) — Baroness von Sketch Show encores (encores begin June 19)

9:30 p.m. (10 NT) — Still Standing season 2 encores (encores begin June 19)

CBC-TV SUMMER 2016 PRIMETIME PROGRAMMING SYNOPSES:

BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW — New Comedy Series
Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. (10 NT) beginning June 14

6×30 (Frantic Films)

This all-female, single-camera sketch comedy series takes a fresh look at the world’s narcissistic contemporary culture. Fast-paced and irreverent, Baroness von Sketch Show celebrates the absurd, mines the embarrassing and satirizes daily lives. Drawing on 15 years of comedy experience and multiple collaborations, the award-winning talents of Carolyn Taylor, Meredith MacNeill, Aurora Browne and Jennifer Whalen have teamed up once again as writers, stars and executive producers of this new series. Shot entirely on location in Toronto, the series is insightful and emotionally grounded while offering a witty take on everyday concerns. From the politics of ordering a coffee to entitled co-workers and open relationships, this satirical sketch show holds a fun-house mirror up to modern life.

FOLLOW THE MONEY — New Drama Series

Saturdays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) beginning June 18

10×60 (Acquired from DRTV)

Follow the Money is a Danish drama that takes audiences into the world of economic crime, following swindlers and corporate moguls and the crimes they commit in the pursuit of wealth. When the body of a man is washed ashore near a wind farm, police detective Mads (Thomas Bo Larson) is called out to investigate. At first, it merely looks like an industrial accident, but the case implicates those in the upper echelons of Energreen — one of Denmark’s most successful energy companies. The CEO of Energreen is the charismatic Sander (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), and young lawyer Claudia (Natalie Madueño) is working hard to advance in the company. Nicky (Esben Smed), a former car thief and mechanic, works at his father-in-law’s garage. He has put his life of crime behind him for his girlfriend’s sake, but his new colleague Bimse (Lucas Hansen) tempts Nicky with a chance to make a quick buck. Set in the worlds of both economic and violent street crime, Follow the Money tells the stories of the rich, the poor, the greedy and the fraudulent — people who will go to any lengths to build the lives of their dreams.

FOUR IN THE MORNING — New Comedy Series

Fridays at 9 p.m. (9:30NT) beginning August 26

8×30 (Serendipity Point Films)

Four in the Morning is an edgy comedy that follows four friends in their twenties as they navigate life at the unpredictable, emotional and bewitching hour of 4 a.m. Dealing with themes of life and death, love and heartbreak, friendship and betrayal, it’s a series about self-discovery, disappointment and clawing after dreams that always feel out of reach. The series is created by Ira Parker, who also holds an executive producer credit alongside Ari Lantos, Jeff Sagansky, Mark Musselman and Matt Geller.

HA!IFAX COMEDY FEST — New Episodes

Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. (10 NT) beginning August 2

6×30 (Pilot Light Productions)

The Ha!ifax Comedy Fest cracks like a whip and moves like a bullet. Hosted by the ever-funny Mark Critch (This Hour has 22 Minutes) and featuring more than 60 stand-up performances, the series was shot in various locations around Halifax and crisply edited into six half-hour episodes. This season features 30 Canadian and international comedians, including festival favourites Lachlan Patterson (Last Comic Standing), Gemini Award-winner Nikki Payne, Graham Chittenden, Tim Nutt, Erica Sigurdson, newcomers Matt Wright, Sean Emeny and Daniel Tirado, and comedy legends Harland Williams and Caroline Rhea.

NEWFOUNDLAND AT ARMAGEDDON — New CBC Documentary Special

Thursday, June 30 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT)

1×120 (Gala Films and Morag Loves Company)

Newfoundland at Armageddon tells the epic story of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and its bloody destruction on the morning of July 1, 1916, a battle that led to enormous consequences on the life of Newfoundlanders. On July 1st 1916, 800 soldiers of the Newfoundland regiment rose from St. John’s Road trench and marched into no man’s land. “We died like tethered goats,” recalled one officer. Less than 35 minutes later almost every Newfoundlander was wounded or dead. As the boy soldiers suffered, so did the heroic women of their lives – who somehow picked up the scattered pieces. How the women did it is central to the story at the heart of this tragedy.

PERFECT — New Firsthand Documentary Special

Thursday, August 4 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT)

1×60 (Rapide-Blanc)

Perfect follows Canada’s national synchronized swimming team as they strive to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Shot over the course of a year and benefiting from exclusive access to the team, it reveals a world of extraordinary sacrifice and determination. Combining the beauty of dance with the intensity of swimming, this sport not only demands a staggering level of athleticism and artistry, it also requires that a team be physically homogenous: virtual clones of the same ideal body. As these young athletes aim for the world’s podiums, they must strive to maintain their health and self-esteem.

RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES

Aug. 5–21 beginning at 7 a.m. ET (4 a.m. PT) each day

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be CBC/Radio-Canada’s 20th as Canada’s Olympic Network and the first Olympic Games hosted by a South American city. Including Team Canada, approximately 10,500 athletes representing 206 countries will be in Rio de Janeiro this summer to compete in 306 medal events. As Canada’s Olympic Network, CBC/Radio-Canada, along with primary broadcast partners TSN, RDS as well as Sportsnet, will provide the most innovative and accessible Olympic Games coverage ever made available to Canadians. With more than 1275 combined hours of television coverage and more than 4000 hours of live streaming and innovative virtual reality experiences, Canadians will enjoy Rio 2016 like no Olympic Games before. Details of CBC/Radio-Canada’s programming plans for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games from September 7–18, 2016 will be announced in the coming months.

STILL STANDING –  Season 2 — New Season

Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) beginning June 14

13×30 (Frantic Films)

Follow Canadian comedian Jonny Harris (Murdoch Mysteries) as he sets off yet again, veering off the main highway to discover the hidden comedy in Canada’s far-flung small towns. Each week, Jonny takes a hilarious and heart-warming journey to find humour in the unlikeliest of places — small towns on the ropes. After immersing himself in the lives of local characters and unearthing the tall tales in these tiny towns, Jonny delivers a rousing original stand-up comedy routine — a toast, not a roast — for the whole community. From coast to coast to coast, Still Standing showcases Canada’s vast beauty and highlights the country’s unique and diverse characters. Viewers ride shotgun with Jonny at the wheel on the ultimate cross-country road trip. In season 2, Jonny makes doughnuts in the Haida community of Skidegate B.C., trades stories with Neil Young’s childhood friend Goof in Omemee, Ontario, visits the world’s most northerly mosque in Inuvik, N.W.T., joins a seniors’ ukulele group in Georgetown, P.E.I., — and much more.

THE SPECIAL NEEDS HOTEL — New Factual Series

Thursdays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) beginning August 25

3×60 (Acquired from Sky Vision)

The Special Needs Hotel follows Foxes Academy, a remarkable organization that gives young people with learning difficulties the opportunity to train to work in the hospitality industry. In this charming and light-hearted series from the U.K., viewers meet extraordinary young people as they progress through the unique academy, which includes working in the academy’s Foxes Hotel. The hotel is open to the public and competes for customers, and must be at the top of its game while staffed by this eclectic group of students. This inspiring documentary series follows both the missteps and triumphs of this extraordinary group and the staff who help them every step of the way.

UNDERCOVER — New Drama Series

Mondays at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) beginning August 22

6×60 (Acquired from BBCWW)

Undercover is a six-part political thriller from BBC/BBC America created by Peter Moffat. The series follows Maya (Sophie Okonedo), a barrister in London, who is at the very top of her profession and about to become the first black director of public prosecutions. But just as her life comes under intense public scrutiny, Maya discovers that her husband, Nick (Adrian Lester), has been lying to her for 20 years. Their stable and loving home life is deeply under threat as a result. At the same time, a case that has dominated her career is about to reach its conclusion. Rudy Jones (Dennis Haysbert), a black man in America, is wrongly convicted of murdering a white politician and soon to be executed. As she fights to save Rudy and discovers more about her husband’s past, Maya begins to realize there are bigger forces at work. An intricate web of corruption involving members of the police, the press and politicians unfolds.

WHEN CALLS THE HEART – Season 2 — New Season

Sundays at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) beginning June 19

10×60 (Acquired from Mindset Television)

Based on the bestselling novel by Janette Oke, season 2 of When Calls The Heart follows the residents of Coal Valley as they navigate matters of the heart during uncertain times in the wake of the mine disaster investigation. Young school teacher Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) and Mountie Jack Thornton (Daniel Lissing) are just starting to build their relationship. But when Elizabeth gets bad news from home, she must return to the wealthy, high-society life she left behind, where her feelings for Jack will be put to the test.

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Blood and Water, Featured

Set visit: Cameras roll on new episodes of Blood and Water

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I’m constantly amazed when I visit the set of a television show. Take Blood and Water, for instance. It’s easy to walk by the nondescript building in Toronto’s Liberty Village, steps away from a GO Transit platform, and have absolutely no clue cameras are rolling.

Yet that’s where Omni’s police drama—as it did for Block 1—is camped out for 18 days of production on-set and some location before completing filming in Vancouver. The warren of hallways and open spaces in the former Inglis factory (Lost Girl filmed there too) serves as the Vancouver Police Department where Det. Jo Bradley (Steph Song) is working her latest case.

Picking up a year after the events of the first eight episodes, Jo has got a new partner in Det. Evan Ong (Byron Mann) and new boss in Lt. Barron (Aidan Devine). Song says things get interesting for Jo during the next set of stories—referred to as Block 2 rather than Season 2 due to the way funding was spread out—because of her history with one cop and thoughts about the other. What is obvious about Jo is she’s in a better place than we last saw her. Not that Jo is hopping on stage to perform standup anytime soon, but her personal life isn’t as dour.

A poster in the Vancouver Police Department set.
A poster in the Vancouver Police Department set.

There is, however, another crime to keep Jo and Evan busy in the Mandarin, Cantonese and English-speaking series.

“This block takes place in Ghost Month, and is tied to the first block because a ghost isn’t necessarily a physical manifestation of somebody who is dead,” creator, writer and executive producer Diane Boehme says. “We’re going to play with that. It’s also about what haunts you. It’s regret, it’s the thing you did that you shouldn’t have done or the thing that you should have and the things that remain unresolved. All of our characters are wrestling with that.” Ron Xie (Oscar Hsu) is also back and dealing not only with the loss of his sons, but a power struggle within his company.

Ghost Month isn’t the only thing haunting the cast: the challenge of learning Mandarin and Cantonese is a constant spectre hovering over many. Dialect coaches help the actors and actresses with pronunciation and to ensure the correct phrasing is used.

“I wish they just wrote everything from the first block, because I still have those lines locked away somewhere,” Loretta Yu says with a laugh. “It’s definitely a challenge because I’m working in three languages this year. It’s been stressful, but really good, and I’m up for the challenge.”

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Season 3 of Working It Out Together debuts May 31 on APTN

From a media release:

Working It Out Together returns to APTN for Season 3 with inspirational stories of Indigenous men and women who are at the forefront of a movement for positive change. Starting May 31, the half-hour show airs every Tuesday on APTN East and APTN HD at 10:30 p.m. ET, and on APTN w at 10:30 p.m. MT, and starting June 4, every Saturday on APTN n at 12:00 p.m. CT. It’s a 13-part documentary series, hosted by Olympian Waneek Horn-Miller, that goes deep into the colonial roots of the profound disparities facing Indigenous communities today; while celebrating a new face of Indigenous Canada – bold, confident and healthy, moving forward with the strength of tradition, family and community.

For Indigenous People, “Mino Bimaadziwin” – the “good life” – is embedded in traditional ways. Colonization tried to destroy this holistic approach to health, but strong family bonds and connections to tradition helped Indigenous communities to survive. Working It Out Together features stories of dance and art as healing practices, the revival of harvesting traditional food, the role of supportive communities in overcoming trauma and more.

Through engaging personal stories, sharp analysis and insightful commentary from honoured knowledge keepers, Working It Out Together, Season 3 goes beyond individual blame for health problems to celebrate strength and resilience. Inuit teachers educating their way and Mohawk midwives bringing birth back home are among the dynamic stories that highlight the “decolonization” of Indigenous bodies, minds and nations taking place beyond the headlines.

The series is accompanied by a digital magazine that celebrates remarkable Indigenous voices and talent. Acclaimed artists, filmmakers, scholars, athletes, activists, knowledge keepers and, of course, Waneek Horn-Miller, all join this virtual talking circle, shining the spotlight on what’s real and what’s next. WIOT Magazine is political, artful, poignant and funny. It’s a space to watch films by notable directors Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Shane Belcourt; explore works by award-winning visual artists Kent Monkman and Duane Linklater; read the words of renowned trailblazers Joseph Boyden and Pamela Palmater; and listen to inspiring audio accounts of residential school survivors and director of The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Ry Moran. WIOT Magazine is reconciliation in action. Most importantly, it shows the varied nuances of Indigenous People in Canada, past and present. And that’s something to celebrate.

Contributors to both the website and the television show include: James Jones, an Edmonton dancer from A Tribe Called Red who hosts powwow fit classes across Canada; Cindy Blackstock, President of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, in Ottawa; Wayne Rabbitskin, a healer and counsellor who focuses on addictions and violence against women from Oujé-Bougoumou, QC; and Rene Meshake, an Anishinaabe Elder based in Guelph, whose art preserves the traditions of his Native culture.

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Anne, Featured

Moira Walley-Beckett looks for Canada’s next Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables may have been set in the 1900s, but she’s as popular as ever today. Want proof? How about the hundreds of girls who devoted sunny Saturday, May 7, to audition for the lead role in CBC’s upcoming eight-part first season of Anne?

Some wore costumes to look like Anne Shirley, a few even had red hair, most had their tresses done up to look like the energetic star of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novels. Prepped with two scenes to perform, the girls—who convened in a multi-use building in east Toronto—were auditioning for Moira Walley-Beckett (Breaking Bad), Anne‘s writer and executive producer, who’d flown in from Nunavut for the first stop in the cross-Canada audition tour. (The remaining dates on the tour are Charlottetown on May 28th and Halifax on May 29 and May 30; go to theannesearch.com for more details.)

We spoke to Walley-Beckett about what she’s looking for in a leading lady, what Season 1 of Anne will be about, and returning to her native Canada to film a TV show.

This is an iconic character in Canada and around the world. Are you feeling pressure, especially since the 1985 miniseries is so beloved?
Moira Walley-Beckett: I hope to meet those expectations and exceed them. If there wasn’t more to explore, I wouldn’t be doing it. Anne is a story that I cherish—I grew up with Anne—and there is The Annotated Anne of Green Gables which is a tome, a hardback book where they go through, page by page with footnotes, what everything refers to. It’s my bible. I want to honour the material and I feel an enormous amount of responsibility and pressure to do it right and to serve it.

I’m also really excited to explore some uncharted territory within the story by opening up what’s between the lines and exploring what’s intimated at a lot of times but isn’t actually on the page. Lucy Maud is an interesting writer. She writes glorious prose and vivid characters that leap off the page, but a lot of the things that happen in television don’t happen in the book. For example: Anne’s first day of school. In the book, we don’t go there; she just comes home and tells Marilla about it. I want to go to school. I want to be there. I want to see how she deals with all of these children the very first time and what they think of this stranger in town. That’s the stuff that gets me jazzed.

It’s my plan to make it feel relatable and fresh and when somebody sits down to watch it they say, ‘Oh my God, that happened to me today at school.’

What’s the layout of the series if it’s renewed?
These are the high school years. The second season would still be within the first book because the first book moves really fast and I want to take my time with it.

What are you looking for from the girls auditioning for the role?
I’m asking a lot of this young actress. I’m asking her to have virtuosity. She has a lot to do, and Anne the character is so mercurial. Her highs are high, her lows are low … she has an inability to self-edit, and that requires a lot of facility. I hope these girls invest, I hope they don’t stay outside the material. The ones that will excite me the most and spark me are the ones who have a real understanding of the character and what they’re saying. Other than that, I’m wide open and want to see who’s here.

What are some modern-day story angles that you can explore in Anne?
A lot of the issues in the books are issues kids are dealing with today. The struggle to belong, bullying and just what it means to navigate these hormonal, pubescent years and try to fit in while trying to figure out who you are at the same time. It’s my plan to make it feel relatable and fresh and when somebody sits down to watch it they say, ‘Oh my God, that happened to me today at school.’

How is the writing going? Are you done all eight scripts?
I am not all done writing. [Laughs.] For some inexplicable reason I decided to write all eight episodes myself. No, I’m really loving it. It’s funny, because when I was up in the Arctic shooting The Grizzlies, I had a little moment to myself to whip back to my room and busted Anne out and wrote a little scene in Episode 6. It was such a relief to go to Avonlea again.

Are you able to write anywhere?
I can write anywhere, but I don’t like to. [Laughs.] I can write on a plane or anywhere, except for a coffee shop. I like to write at home, in my environment, in my pyjamas.

Are you excited to film Anne in Canada?
I’m thrilled to be back. I’ve missed Canada. I’m from Vancouver and it’s refreshing. The feeling of coming home is palpable and it’s really nice. There is a whole different vibe here that I’ve missed.

Anne goes into production this summer.

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Link: Remembering Canadian factual TV pioneer Ralph C. Ellis

From Barry Walsh of RealScreen:

Remembering Canadian factual TV pioneer Ralph C. Ellis
Ralph C. Ellis, a Canadian independent television production pioneer, has passed away at the age of 91.

The founder of Ellis Entertainment began his career with the National Film Board as a field rep in Halifax, and then in Toronto, Ottawa and New York. In 1955, he partnered with Paul Talbot and Saul Turell to open Fremantle of Canada, and then in 1964, set up a shop with partners Jerry Kedey and Dan Gibson, known as KEG Productions. Soon after, he established his own distribution business, Ralph C. Ellis Enterprises. Continue reading. 

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