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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Corus Entertainment announces 35 greenlights and renewals for its iconic portfolio of specialty networks

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From a media release:

Today, Corus Entertainment announced its slate of premium original content for 2021/22 with 35 impressive greenlights and renewals across its powerful portfolio of specialty networks and streaming platforms.

With over 500 hours of content sold this year, Corus Studios, a leading hit-maker in lifestyle and unscripted series in Canada, broadens its worldwide reach and scale with eight new series and 13 returning shows that will debut across Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, and HISTORY®.

Celebrating 50 years as a world-leading international producer and distributor of children’s animated and live-action content, Nelvana has greenlit four brand new animated series and one returning fan-favourite with more to be announced soon. Nelvana-produced content is distributed in over 180 countries around the world with fresh new series and seasons landing in Canada on Corus’ leading kids’ networks, YTV and Treehouse, later this year.

Beyond Corus Studios and Nelvana, Corus also proudly announces its first-ever original series for Adult Swim with Psi Cops (26×11), while kid-favourite cartoon Toopy and Binoo has been greenlit to return in 2022 as an animated feature film of the same name (1×80).

Stay tuned for more Corus content announcements in the coming weeks including updates across scripted and new pickups for the 2021/22 season. For the latest updates, visit www.corusent.com.

HGTV Canada

The nation’s destination for home renovation and design, real estate and DIY projects, HGTV Canada introduces four new eye-catching Corus Studios series and six returning favourites.

Vibrant, fresh and fun, Styled (Working Title) (8×60), follows the staging and renovation adventures of dynamic design super-duo and BFF’s Nicole Babb and Caffery VanHorne. Then in Trading Up (10×60), Mandy Rennehan, celebrated builder, motivational speaker, blue-collar hero and proud founder and CEO of the women-owned LGBTQ+ business Freshco.ca, focuses on the trades as she mentors deserving apprentices while renovating three extraordinary properties in her hometown of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

HGTV Canada’s trusted coach and contractor, Sebastian Clovis, returns to the network in Gut Job (8×60) with his biggest mission to date – guiding homeowners through the biggest renovations of their lives. In a new spin-off, Scott McGillivray turns the tables and puts his rules to the test on his waterfront cottage in Scott’s Own Vacation House Rules (4×60). The stunt-series will debut alongside with the renewal of his Top 5* HGTV Canada Original series, Scott’s Vacation House Rules, Season 3 (12×60) set to debut in 2022.

The show that keeps on breaking records, Island of Bryan is back for a fourth season. HGTV Canada’s most-watched series in a decade continues to drive audiences beating its own records season after season, and currently primed to be the #1 specialty program this spring as Season 3 continues its run. Season 4 will play out in two parts in F22 (8×60) and F23 (8×60) with the Baeumler family continuing their tumultuous journey in Bahamas as they build and run their resort, plus add-on a whole new property in Florida to renovate.

This fall, the network sees the return of gorgeous transformations in Making it Home with Kortney & Kenny (10×60). Kortney Wilson brings her extensive flipping and real estate expertise to help desperate homeowners renovate their spaces. With keys and budget in hand, she and contractor Kenny Brain (Big Brother Canada), will transform each unloved house into a show-stopper. The #1 new Canadian show on specialty this spring, Rock Solid Builds (10×60) returns for a second season with the charming Randy Spracklin and his dedicated fun-loving team, as they take on historic renos and jaw-dropping builds in the heart of Newfoundland. Breathing new life into spectacular vintage spaces, siblings Carolyn and Billy come back for another season of Farmhouse Facelift (8×60). Canadian original series with fan-favourite brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott return, transforming houses into lifetime treasures in Property Brothers: Forever Home, Season 2 (17×60).

Food Network Canada

Top 10 specialty network this spring, Food Network Canada welcomes seven new and returning mouth-watering Corus Studios Originals as part of its 2021-2022 schedule.

‘The Wall’ has spoken! The exhilarating competition series, Wall of Chefs (10×60), hosted by Noah Cappe, that sees home cooks face off in front of a group of 12 intimidating and well-respected Canadian chefs, returns for a second season. Continuing the competition fever, Corus Studios introduces a deliciously divine spin-off of the series with Wall of Bakers (10×60). A fresh batch of baking series continue with the renewal of Top 10 program on Food Network Canada last spring, Great Chocolate Showdown (8×60), new episodes of The Big Bake (11×60) continue with spectacular, over-sized Halloween and Holiday-themed cakes, and Project Bakeover (10×60), the series that keeps on giving, as renowned pastry chef and entrepreneur Steve Hodge, alongside designer Tiffany Pratt, transforms struggling bakeries across North America into successful businesses.

Host Dylan Benoit invites pit masters and chefs into the arena for a third season of the fiery competition series Fire Masters (Set A 10×60 – F22, Set B 10×60 – F23). The search for the best eats across North America continues with John Catucci’s Big Food Bucket List (14×30) and out-of-bounds amusement park treats return with Noah Cappe on Carnival Eats (13×30).

HISTORY

HISTORY, the #2 specialty entertainment network this spring, sees four invigorating new and returning Corus Studios Originals added to its schedule. Attracting a massive fan-base for its unique approach to restoration, Rust Valley Restorers (6×60), a Top 10 program amongst Men 25-54, comes back for a fourth season. Previously announced, the logging and sawmill team out of Vancouver Island dig in with more high-stake jobs in Big Timber (8×60). New to the schedule is Lost Cars (Working Title) (6×60), where an ambitious team of classic car hunters scour the remote North to recover rare classics fabled to be hiding in the wilderness, before the cars are lost forever to history. Then in Deadman’s Curse (Working Title) (8×60), former MMA fighter Kru Pitt, and young Indigenous explorer Taylor Starr seek out the help of seasoned treasure hunter and mountaineer, Adam Palmer, to finally solve the mystery of Slumach’s lost gold mine. Hidden somewhere in the rugged terrain of the Pacific Northwest, its mysterious location has eluded prospectors for generations — and many have lost their lives searching for it. The treasure hunting threesome may have ancestral connections to the legend and the gold, but extreme weather, unforgiving terrain and a curse all stand in their way.

The network brings Canadian Black History to the forefront with two Canadian originals. This November, Black Liberators WWII (1×90) will shed light on the heroic stories and amazing acts of bravery of Black Canadian soldiers during World War II, who risked their lives for their country while facing racism at home and on the battlefield. Then in a four part series, BLK: An Origin Story (4×60) explores untold stories of Black Canadians, from the early settlers of Ontario to the gold rush era of BC; from the Maroons of Nova Scotia to Montreal’s vibrant Little Burgundy neighbourhood. The series aims to show that Black History is Canadian History.

ADULT SWIM

Hot on the heels of Adult Swim’s second anniversary, Corus has commissioned and greenlit its first original for the popular network. The animated Psi Cops (26×11) sees “out of the box thinkers” Agent Kyd and Agent Felix investigate spiritual phenomena, extraterrestrial life, and paranormal activity.

YTV

YTV is the place to be for non-stop Fam Fun, delivering another year of The Zone, The Zone Weekend and Big Fun Movies with beloved hosts Spencer, Tyra, Alex and Duhin. Plus, Spencer and Tyra are back for Season 2 of Kid Food Nation: The Show (8×11), where they embark on culinary missions with Canadian kid food nation heroes and answer questions like, “should I eat crickets?” or “are dandelions edible?.”

Nelvana continues to foster its partnerships with the best in kids entertainment, with the recently announced Best & Bester (52×11), a co-production between Nelvana, Eye Present and Gigglebug Entertainment, about two siblings and best friends obsessed with comparing the best things of all time while enjoying the power to transform themselves into anything they want, once a day – if only they can figure out what the best thing to be actually is!

ZJ Sparkleton (Working Title) (26×22) is an original creator-driven 2D-animated series produced by Nelvana in partnership with Nickelodeon that follows quirky 10-year-old vlogger Ruby and her tail-zapping space alien best friend as they film their daily mishaps and adventures around town.

Audiences will discover the magic of birthdays through the fantastical adventures in Super Wish (52×11), produced by Nelvana and Discovery’s joint venture, redknot, and created by Nelvana’s own Vanessa Esteves and Daytime Emmy® Award winning art director, Adrian Thatcher.

Treehouse

A new addition to Treehouse, the #1 overall kids specialty network**, is The Hamster Show (Working Title) (26×22) produced by Nelvana in partnership with Nickelodeon, where a crew of furry friends keep an eye on their owner, “King” Harry, saving him from daily doom, granting his wishes and keeping his life running smoothly. The pet-ventures continue as everyone’s favourite P.U.R.S.T. agents get ready for action in the second season of Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe (52×11), produced by Nelvana and Discovery’s joint venture, redknot, and based on the best-selling books by Ashley Spires, published by Corus Entertainment’s Kids Can Press.

Coming 2022 is the animated feature film Toopy and Binoo (1×80), based on the series of the same name that aired on Treehouse in the early aughts. Following the theatrical release, the movie will have its broadcast premiere on Treehouse.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

John Catucci checks more food locations off his Big Food Bucket List

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John Catucci vividly recalls the moment COVID-19 threw production of the second season of Big Food Bucket List into disarray. They were filming in Georgia, and things got serious really fast.

“We were in Savannah just before the lockdown happened,” Catucci recalls. “Savannah has one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parties in the country. We got there just the week before that was going to happen. And then everything changed. When it changed, it changed fast.” And, rather than fly back to Canada, he and the crew piled into a car and hit the road for an 11-hour-plus drive back to Canada via Pittsburgh.

Returning Saturday at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada, Big Food Bucket List once again finds Catucci travelling North America—pre- and during the pandemic—making and tasting dishes in joints you just have to check out.

You’re still filming now. I guess you’re not walking into a restaurant with a restaurant full of people.
John Catucci: We’re following the production protocols. The hand sanitizers are just pumping nonstop all day, making sure masks are on until the last second, until we start shooting and stuff like that. The crew is wearing masks all day. People are getting tested. They’re trying to stay as safe as possible.

Has there ever been anything that you’ve tasted that you didn’t like and had to fake it?
JC: I think I had clam poutine once, years back. And it just didn’t work for me.

For you, yeah.
JC: And that’s a good point. For me, right? I think it was something that I had to learn on this show is that you’re not going to love everything on the menu. Sometimes you as a customer, you ordered wrong, and that’s not on the restaurant. That’s on you. I remember going out to dinner one night and everybody got steaks. I was like, ‘You know what, I’m going to do the fish. I’m going to do the halibut. It looks good.’ It just didn’t hit. And again, it’s not their fault.

For Season 2, you went to places like Portland, Winnipeg, you were down in Florida, Seattle, Brooklyn, a wide variety of places you’ve been to. You must be really pinching yourself to get the chance to have gone to some of these cities.
JC: Portland’s got a great food scene, Seattle’s got a great food scene. San Diego’s got great food, that was great too. I love Manhattan. I love going to New York. I love going to Brooklyn, that vibe that happens in that city is unlike any other city in the world. It’s got grit, and it’s got this edge and it’s got this energy that, there’s a rush, there’s a bustle that you don’t find anywhere else. And I’ve never had a bad meal in New York. Never once. Restaurants can’t afford to have bad meals there because there are so many restaurants in there that if you have a bad meal and somebody hears about it, you’re done.

This industry has been hit hard by COVID-19. Do you think it can come back?
JC: I think it can come back. I think it might come back in a different way. Can we go back to sitting down in a restaurant full of other people? I hope so. I really miss that. I miss that energy that happens in there. I miss sitting down at a table and looking over and seeing what is that person having? Oh, that’s coming by, what’s that? I miss that. That was one of the things that I loved about going out to restaurants.

It’s not just a place where you eat. It’s the connection that it has with the people around them. And it’s the connection that it has to the community. And it’s the neighbourhood that sometimes grows around a restaurant. People come in to your restaurant, but then they go to this store and they go to that store, and they go to the paper store, and they were the card store, and they go to the park. That’s how important a restaurant is.

You’re very active on Instagram. Your garden this year has been incredible.
JC: The company is called The Good Seed. Melissa Cameron helps design and create gardens for small spaces, whatever space you have. But my backyard is a small Toronto backyard and she was able to help me design the garden space, what I could grow, and what grows together with what. And even though I’ve got a limited space of two raised beds in a little side garden, the amount of stuff I was able to grow this year was incredible. And again, it comes a lot with her knowledge and this spring, summer, I was able to be home and tend it.

For the past years, I’ve been on the road every spring, summer because that’s when we shoot our show, but I’ve been able to slow everything down and watch this garden just create food for my family to eat. And every morning, I’d go out there with my espresso and I’d water the garden, and I’d see how the tomatoes were doing and how the beans were doing, and my zucchini and my carrots. The garden this year was just spectacular. It was one of the places where I found solace. It was one of those places that helped with my mental health, was able to ground me. There’s nothing like putting your fingers in soil to connect you with the earth. It was a beautiful thing. And I was so, so happy.

Big Food Bucket List airs Saturdays at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

John Catucci returns to Food Network Canada with Big Food Bucket List

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In June 2017, Food Network Canada made it official: they had cancelled You Gotta Eat Here! after five seasons. I, like many, was upset. It seemed like the series, with host John Catucci, could go on much, much longer.

But all is forgiven. This is 2019, and Catucci is back on Food Network Canada with a new series. Big Food Bucket List, from the same production company as YGEH, finds Catucci gamely travelling around sampling food and interacting with the folks who make and taste them. What sets Big Food Bucket List—bowing Friday with back-to-back episodes at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT—apart from his previous project? We asked Catucci.

Before we talk about Big Food Bucket List, let’s go back. I just want to get your reaction to You Gotta Eat Here’s cancellation.
John Catucci: You know what? It was mixed feelings. It was hard because I loved shooting the show, and I had an amazing crew, and the production company was fantastic. It was just nice to grow with everybody. So, that was definitely hard. There was part of me that was like, ‘OK, I could do with a little break. I could do with being home for a while.’ It had been five years of being on the road pretty steady. So, it was kind of like mixed emotions. I mean, definitely sad. I don’t think it hit me until a good maybe month after.

Big Food Bucket List is on Food Network. It’s starring you. It’s from Lone Eagle Entertainment. You’re eating food. What’s setting this apart from You Gotta Eat Here?
JC: The main thing is the style of restaurant that we’re hitting. On You Gotta Heat Here, we were doing a lot of diner stuff and Mom and Pop shops. We’re still doing the Mom and Pop stuff. That exists. But the restaurants are elevated a little bit. On You Gotta Eat Here, we never talked about the idea of having a farm-to-table kind of place. It’s just like, ‘No, no, no, we’re going to do burgers.’ We’re really celebrating that food, or celebrating a lot of farm-to-table restaurants, and celebrating restaurants that are doing really unique and interesting dishes. If the restaurant makes a sandwich that is completely out of this world, that’s the thing we’re going to go for. Is that dish something you want to knock off your bucket list.

We’re also travelling all across North America, so it opens up a different market for the show and for myself. It was pretty cool, man. It was pretty exciting. I forgot what it was like to start a new show because it happened such a long time ago. It was a lot of, ‘OK, what’s the show going to be? Do we like this? Do we not like this? We definitely don’t like this.’

The first two episodes are back-to-back, where you’re in Chicago and then Toronto. What are some of the cities that you go to?
JC: We’re going back to Vancouver and Calgary and Halifax. We’re bouncing all over the States, too. We’re going to Philadelphia, New Orleans, Austin, and we got to go to Lafayette. I went to Houston for the first time, St. Louis, San Diego. We got to go to San Diego and L.A., so that was pretty wild. San Diego was just like shooting right down the street from the ocean here. We’re like, ‘OK, we’re on a five-minute break, we’re just walking down to the ocean right now.’

Big Food Bucket List airs Fridays at 9 and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

John Catucci shares his Big Food Bucket List beginning May 24 on Food Network Canada

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From a media release:

This spring, Food Network Canada takes viewers on a one-of-a-kind food adventure across North America in the new Canadian original series from Corus Studios, Big Food Bucket List (14x30min). Fan-favourite host and comedian John Catucci (You Gotta Eat Here!) takes viewers along as he checks the most buzz-worthy, crazy, delicious food and must-see culinary stops off his bucket list. Big Food Bucket List premieres Friday, May 24 at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

Viewers know John Catucci from his five seasons as host of the Food Network Canada hit series, You Gotta Eat Here!. Now he’s back for another helping of over-the-top, delicious food, but this time around, he’s on mission to find highly-recommended favourites to check off his Big Food Bucket List. Each episode, John visits three restaurants across North America and tries their must-eat meals. Then he hits the kitchen to lend a hand and learn how the chefs make their mind-blowing creations.

In the premiere back-to-back episodes, “Rolling in the Deep Dish” and “More Than Meats the Eye”, airing May 24 at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, John dives into the original deep dish pizza in Chicago, Ill. and learns how to make a mile-high pizza pie. In Toronto, Ont., he’s off to feast on a burger with a sweet pineapple bun and jerk lobster fit for a king at a spectacular Jamaican-Chinese joint. Then John visits Louisville, Ky. to try out some truly authentic Kentucky fried chicken at a world-famous historic location before heading to Boston, Mass. to dig into the ultimate surf and turf burger topped with a juicy lobster tail, as well as mind-blowing fried lobster and waffles.

This season, John will try drool-worthy dishes that include an Instagram-famous, ooey-gooey spaghetti grilled cheese from Irvine, Calif., seared scallops straight from the sea in Halifax, N.S., hand-rolled pasta perfection in Vancouver, B.C., and authentic New Orleans, La. fried chicken said to be Beyoncé’s favourite. John also satisfies his sweet tooth with treats like authentic New Orleans Bananas Foster, sinfully delicious hazelnut chocolate French toast from Calgary, Atla., and fluffy blueberry pancakes from a Nova Scotian sugar shack. Along the way, John also takes part in some unforgettable food adventures including a decadent medieval feast where no forks are allowed, learning the tricks of the trade at an apple orchard, getting smoked meat lessons from a pit master, and venturing to an authentic Canadian sugar shack.

Tourism Nova Scotia joins as a sponsor for three episodes, providing John with restaurant recommendations for bucket list-worthy dishes that highlight the province’s rich culture and fresh and local way of life.

Big Food Bucket List is produced by Lone Eagle Entertainment in association with Corus Studios for Food Network Canada.Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail