From Bill Brioux of the Canadian Press:
CBC-TV’s ‘X Company’ heads to Dieppe for season 2 filming
Stephanie Morgenstern stood on one of Dieppe’s steep, stony beaches in the north of France and — surprisingly for a TV screenwriter — found herself at a loss for words. Continue reading.Â
From a media release:
Award-winning mother-daughter team, filmmaker and producer Gail Harvey (Heartland, Murdoch Mysteries, Lost Girl), and actress, writer and producer Katie Boland (Gerontophilia, Reign) of Straight Shooters Productions are delighted to announce a development deal with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for their ground-breaking new comedic drama Gold Lamé.
Being developed through the comedy department at the CBC, Straight Shooters Productions will work with Sienna Films (Unless, Riftwood Chronicles, Combat Hospital) on this captivating production. Created and written by Boland and Katie Ford (Miss Congeniality, Prayers for Bobby), the 30-minute serial narrative is a compelling original series centred around an aimless but shrewd young woman who is plucked out of obscurity and hired to work for a genius entrepreneur at the helm of multi-billion dollar clothing empire.
From a media release:
Insight Productions has partnered with Steve Nash of Meathawk Productions to develop Hardwood at CBC, a one-hour, character-driven drama series set in the world of youth basketball, Shannon Farr, Vice President & Supervising Producer, Insight Production Company Ltd., announced today.
Hardwood (working title) follows a flashy, big-city entrepreneur who opens an elite youth basketball academy in a sleepy farming town in exurban Toronto. Skander Halim (Pretty Persuasion, 18 To Life) created the series and is writing the pilot.
Farr (Falcon Beach and The Jon Dore Television Show) recently opened Insight’s Los Angeles office – a move that is part of Insight’s strategy to increase its scripted development and production slate as it looks to grow the company and expand its global business.
Hardwood is executive produced by Insight Production’s John Brunton and Barbara Bowlby, alongside Steve Nash and Ezra Holland of Meathawk Productions and Skander Halim. Shannon Farr is Supervising Producer.
When the “Previously on Heartland” intro rolled before last night’s episode, I was pretty sure that darned grizzly bear was going to show up and cause trouble. I was wrong, but Sunday’s instalment wasn’t without danger.
Seeing Ty tumble off the cliff was certainly dramatic, and he’s lucky he escaped with just a large bump on his head. (Kudos to the producers for making sure they covered the whole concussion thing rather than assuming he was all right.) The male bald eagle rescue itself may have gone without a hitch—I did wonder how he or Amy would get to the top of the tree if the situation called for it—but getting back to the truck didn’t. Note to self: always carry a bag of trail mix with you. Also? Make sure you have a horse like Bear along. The newest equine member of Heartland seems destined for a future on the Calgary Police Force, and that’s a pretty cool gig if you ask me. (Those hoping Amy and Ty will have a baby soon had to make do with the two cradling a male bald eagle rather than a sprite of their own.)
Aside from the drama out on the trail with Amy, Ty and the horses, “Over and Out”—written by Pamela Pinch—had some heart-stopping moments at the ranch and the Reserve. After bonding during their own near-death experience—telling Bob they trashed the ATV—Adam and Georgie seem headed for romance. After all, why else would they be texting after-hours? And how will Stephen react when he returns from the summer? The fact Adam hinted his mother is exerting pressure on him to succeed will likely cause he and Georgie to bond and, perhaps, share a first kiss before the fall leaves fly.
I always enjoy it when Lisa is kicking around the ranch—her feisty attitude leads to some great moments—so I was glad to have plenty of scenes with she and Jack, Katie and Lou. With Lou struggling to keep her packed calendar in order, Lisa stepped in to try and help and a defensive Lou got her back up. The thing with Heartland is, grudges never last long; by episode’s end the ladies were on the same page and Lou even got some alone time with her daughters.
Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.
The Nature of Things explores obesity and our guts
Just doing a little fact checking, and the host of the show states there are more microbes in our gut, 100 trillion, than there are stars in the sky. Conservative estimates of the number of stars are around a billion trillion, and a new study from researchers at Harvard and Yale suggests there are a mind-blowing 300 sextillion of them, or three times as many as scientists previously calculated. That is a 3 followed by 23 zeros. Or 3 trillion times 100 billion. I wonder if this was just a slip, or is it an indication of a lack of understanding of very large numbers? —Dave
Will this show on obesity and the gut rerun? —Reta
All of the past The Nature of Things episodes can be re-watched on the show’s website.
Georgina Reilly: Why I left Murdoch Mysteries
Dear Miss Reilly: Excuse the pun but, thank-you for “Gracing†us with your performances on Murdoch Mysteries. The show has always been excellent right from the first season, but when your character made her first appearance a few years ago, the fans took notice and endeared you to their hearts both as Emily and Georgina Reilly. Thank you, and I hope you come back someday. Take care. —Rob
Well I can’t wait to see her back as a special guest star and I don’t care that they went off the books a bit … it is still a good show. —Brenden
It’s great that they didn’t choose to kill her off and left the door open for future guest appearances or perhaps a recurring role. As much as I would love for it to, MM won’t last forever. I am sure the entire cast ponders on what they will so when this show ends and how much further they would like to go. Emily can always return in the end. Perhaps for George. I am an avid fan of them as a couple after all. :) —Tibou
I m glad to see Miss Reilly leave Murdoch Mysteries as she was the weak link of the show; best of luck to her. I have watched all the episodes of Murdoch Mysteries and love all the Canadian content. Thanks to the writers and producers for such a good show; Murdoch is my favourite character along with Inspector Brackenreid. —Dee
Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? greg@tv-eh.com or via @tv_eh.
