TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 959
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

20 Stars, 20 Room Renovations: Home to Win debuts April 24 on HGTV

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From a media release:

This April, HGTV Canada launches Home to Win – its biggest, most interactive, multiplatform series yet. For the first time in the network’s history, 20 HGTV Canada stars including Mike Holmes, Bryan Baeumler, Scott McGillivray and Sarah Richardson come together under one roof to buy an average home and renovate it from top to bottom for one lucky Canadian. Starting today, Canadians can visit HomeToWin.ca to audition to be one of three Canadians who will compete to win this ultimate property. Throughout the series the house is revealed on-air and online, with HomeToWin.ca hosting a closer look after every episode. Hosted by ET Canada’s Sangita Patel, Home to Win premieres April 24 at 10pm ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

In the series premiere, HGTV Canada stars hunt for the ideal property to buy and renovate for one Canadian to call their own. In each episode, fan-favourite builders and designers work together to renovate and revamp the home room-by-room. With 20 major renovations to complete, there’s no shortage of work for this powerhouse cast and the results are extraordinary. Once the house is complete, three Canadians compete in heart-pounding challenges to see who will be victorious and claim the keys to the house.

By visiting HomeToWin.ca, Canadians can now submit an audition video for the chance to compete for the ultimate home, which will be awarded during the Home to Win finale on June 26. To participate in casting, Canadians must enter their email address on the site by June 5 at 11:59pm ET and follow the directions emailed to their inbox. The application is as easy as submitting a video, up to one minute in length, introducing themselves and answering the question, “what makes a house a home?”

Leading up to series launch, HomeToWin.ca transforms into a fully immersive digital experience where fans can explore design content, photo galleries and the interactive Design a Room feature. The Design a Room tool puts the audience in the driver’s seat as they design six different rooms inspired by the Home to Win house. Throughout the series, as the house is renovated on-air, Canadians get an in-depth look at every stunning detail through a captivating virtual tour with hotspots allowing them to shop the look. Canadians also get a taste of life on set through behind-the-scenes videos and can watch full episodes after they air.

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Mr. D, Rick Mercer Report, Schitt's Creek, This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Mr. D, Schitt’s Creek, Rick Mercer Report and 22 Minutes renewed by CBC

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From a media release:

CBC‘s hit comedies have been renewed for 2016-17, with brand new seasons of SCHITT’S CREEK, MR. D and THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES. Also returning for its 14th season is Canada’s RICK MERCER REPORT. The four original productions currently air back-to-back on Tuesday nights.

CBC recently led the way with 164 nominations for the 2016 Canadian Screen Awards, receiving 15 nods for SCHITT’S CREEK, the most nominated TV series of 2016, 12 for MR. D, six for THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES and four for RICK MERCER REPORT.

SCHITT’S CREEK – Season 3 premieres winter 2017 on CBC Television
SCHITT’S CREEK centres around a wealthy family that suddenly finds itself broke and forced to live in Schitt’s Creek, a small, depressing town they once bought as a joke. The half-hour single-camera comedy is co-created by Eugene and Daniel Levy, who also star in the show alongside celebrated actress Catherine O’Hara, rising star Annie Murphy and funnyman Chris Elliott.

MR. D – Season 6 premieres fall 2016 on CBC Television
MR. D follows an under-qualified teacher trying to fake his way through a teaching job, just as he fakes his way through life. The show stars stand-up comedian Gerry Dee as the inexperienced and overconfident Mr. Duncan (Mr. D) and an all-star ensemble cast including Jonathan Torrens, Bette MacDonald, Wes Williams, Lauren Hammersley, Naomi Snieckus, Mark Little, Suresh John, Darrin Rose, Bill Wood and Kathleen Phillips.

THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES – Season 24 premieres fall 2016 on CBC Television
An award-winning and record-breaking Canadian comedy institution, THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES features cast members Mark Critch, Cathy Jones, Shaun Majumder and Susan Kent as they savagely satirize Canadian politics and world events. It was recently announced that the sketch/variety show will be honoured with the Academy Icon Award, to be presented during the Canadian Screen Awards in March.

RICK MERCER REPORT – Season 14 premieres fall 2016 on CBC Television
This fall, RICK MERCER REPORT returns to CBC-TV for a 14th season. Rick Mercer’s highly anticipated topical rants, funny takes on the week’s top stories and Canada-wide adventures have made him a longtime audience favourite.

 

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Bitten

Link: ‘Bitten’ Star Laura Vandervoort and Creator Daegan Fryklind Talk Season 3 Premiere, Series’ Future

From Laura Prudom of Variety:

‘Bitten’ Star Laura Vandervoort and Creator Daegan Fryklind Talk Season 3 Premiere, Series’ Future
“Season 3 I would say is a reckoning for the previous two seasons. We play a lot with identity, we play a lot with family relationships, so this is the culmination of Elena’s journey across three seasons, in terms of self-discovery and her place in the Pack, and ultimately where she fits in this family; in this world.” Continue reading. 

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Anne of Green Gables

Links: Anne of Green Gables on YTV

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From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:

He’s Martin of Green Gables
“This is an opportunity to become a part of a really great fictional character and to make a contribution to a new audience. Good things are worth repeating. That’s why you do Shakespeare or any of the great operas. It’s been done endlessly, but it awakens something in us that it awakened in earlier audiences.” Continue reading.

Anne of Green Gables ashtrays? Lucy Maud’s granddaughter has heard it all
“We had talked about it for some years and we started to talk about it again in 2008 and 2009. They hit the nail in the head with the casting. Martin Sheen and Sara Botsford are wonderful and so is Ella Ballentine. Ella is also younger than any other Annes that have been cast (14) and is closer to the age of Anne in the books. She is so smart and natural.” Continue reading.

From Melissa Girimonte of The Televixen:

Martin Sheen: Anne Reconnects us wth our humanity
“If Anne of Green Gables isn’t about humanity, I don’t know what it’s about. It’s about need. It’s about service. It’s reaching out and by doing so you help yourself. The only way I can get to know me is to know you. The only way I know I’m leading an honest or dishonest life is when it is reflected in you. And so we are called to remind each other how important it is to be human.” Continue reading. 

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Debbie Travis finds the sweet life in OWN’s La Dolce Debbie

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Debbie Travis wasn’t looking to get back into television. The DIY star of shows like Debbie Travis’ Painted House, two seasons of From the Ground Up and All For One was burnt out by the medium. But a flippant remark at a speaking engagement in Vancouver almost seven years ago changed all that … and her life.

“I made this stupid story up where I said, ‘I have a villa in Tuscany and I’m going to invite everybody out to stay with me,'” she recalls. “And I didn’t have one. But within a short time, I had women signing up to take part.” She rented a retreat and gave it a shot. It was such a success, Travis decided to buy a property and renovate it so she could offer the experience annually.

That multi-year journey from flippant remark to reality is documented in OWN Canada’s La Dolce Debbie, where she, husband Hans Rosenstein and an army of construction dudes turn a 13th century farmhouse and property into an idyll for themselves and—for part of the year—a week-long haven for women looking to be recharged and inspired. Debuting Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. ET, La Dolce Debbie revisits the exhaustive search to find the perfect property, a trek that took Travis and Rosenstein all over Italy. But discovering a tumbledown farmhouse was just the beginning. It took two years of paperwork and planning before a shovel turned the soil.

The six-episode program isn’t only about transforming a farmhouse into a 14-bedroom oasis. It’s as much a relationship tale about a young model who fell in love with a young man she met in France and the life they built in Canada. Travis commented on more than one occasion that Rosenstein wasn’t supposed to appear in La Dolce Debbie, but I’m glad he does, providing levity and patience when things go wrong and Travis becomes frustrated by bureaucracy and blips in construction.

It’s also, as Travis says, a series about next chapters. Upcoming episodes spotlight several of the women who attend the Tuscan getaways she offers where, as she says, you can “put your handbag under the bed” and everything is included. With responsibilities on hold, real contemplation begins via yoga, hikes, swimming, eating drinking, talking and laughing.

“I wanted to create a space where women can come and empty their minds,” she says. “Women today are looking for that next step in their lives and I want them to come and be spoiled with the best of everything, declutter their minds and think about what’s next.”

And, in the process, find their own dolce vita like Travis did.

La Dolce Debbie airs Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on OWN Canada.

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