From Tony Wong of the Toronto Star:
Link: After 110 years, Avonlea has its first Black resident
“It puts a huge smile on my face and I’m absolutely honoured to see a role like this, where there is more and more inclusion and possibility for actors of different ethnicities,†says Abuzeid in an interview. “This story is such a part of Canadian culture and to be a part of that is something I can’t even begin to understand.†Continue reading.
From a media release:
CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, in association with Muse Entertainment and Back Alley Films, today announced that Vancouver-born actress Serinda Swan (Inhumans, Ballers) is set to star in the new CBC original drama CORONER (8×60), created by Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope). Inspired by the best-selling series of books by M. R. Hall, the one-hour series centres on a newly appointed coroner investigating suspicious deaths in Toronto. Production will begin in late summer 2018 in and around Toronto with the series set to premiere on CBC in winter 2019.
Swan will play the title role of ‘Jenny Cooper’, a brave, determined yet vulnerable coroner driven by an intense desire for the truth. A former ER doctor and recently widowed mother, the passing of her beloved husband has unlocked a primal connection to death, tied to a secret in her past that is only now coming to the surface. She loves her son more than life itself and strives to support him while also trying to take care of herself. With storylines based on real-life cases, Jenny is a coroner for our time, an advocate for the dead even when it’s inconvenient for the living, and defender of those who are powerless or in peril.
Swan most recently starred in the role of ‘Medusa’ in Marvel’s Inhumans, as well as playing the role of ‘Anne Bancroft’ in Ryan Murphy’s critically acclaimed Feud.  Other recent television credits include a season-long recurring arc opposite Dwayne Johnson on the third season of HBO’s hit comedy series, Ballers, as well as starring roles in Breakout Kings and Graceland. Feature credits include James Franco’s recently wrapped Blood On Wheels, Disney’s Tron, and Fox’s Percy Jackson franchise. She is repped by APA, Elevate Entertainment, Performers Management in Canada, and Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson.
A CBC original series, CORONER is produced by Muse Entertainment and Back Alley Films. Morwyn Brebner is creator, executive producer and showrunner, Adrienne Mitchell (Durham County, Bellevue) is lead director and executive producer for Back Alley Films, and Jonas Prupas is executive producer for Muse Entertainment. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Programming; Helen Asimakis is Senior Director, Scripted Content; and Sarah Adams is Executive in Charge of Production. Bonnie Brownlee is Executive Director, Marketing.
From a media release:
With production now underway in and around Parry Sound, Ontario, Don Carmody Television (DCTV) today revealed additional casting for new CBC and Netflix family adventure series NORTHERN RESCUE (10×60).
The series follows John West (William Baldwin), who uproots his three children from the big city to return to his hometown to take command of the local Search & Rescue service after the death of his wife. As the family comes to terms with their loss, the series explores the effects on their individual lives. The children’s Aunt Charlotte (Kathleen Robertson), struggles to help John and his children heal as she copes with the loss of her sister and her desire to have a family of her own. Along the way, John faces many situations that challenge him professionally and personally. As the family members work on rebuilding their lives, they will come to meet many colourful characters living in their northern community.
Joining the series are Amalia Williamson (Level 16) as Maddie West, John’s 16-year-old daughter; Spencer MacPherson (DeGrassi: Next Class) as Scout West, John’s 14-year-old son;, and Taylor Thorne (Odd Squad) as Taylor West, John’s 10-year-old daughter. Also joining the cast are Michelle Nolden (Saving Hope) as Sarah West, John’s wife, Michael Xavier (Bitten) as Paul Simmons, a volunteer member of the SAR team; and Peter MacNeill (Call Me Fitz) as Harry, John’s retired SAR commander.
Created by Mark Bacci (Between, Real Detectives), David Cormican (Tokyo Trial, Between) and Dwayne Hill (Peg + Cat, Billable Hours), NORTHERN RESCUE is produced by Don Carmody Television (DCTV) for CBC and Netflix with the financial participation of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and the Independent Production Fund. Executive Producers are Carmody (Goon, Polytechnique, Chicago), Cormican, Bradley Walsh (Flower Shop Mystery, Kaya), Bacci, Hill and Baldwin. Producers are Carmody and Cormican. Walsh will also direct four episodes. Gail Harvey (Lost Girl, Heartland), Eleanore Lindo (Ransom, Murdoch Mysteries) and Michael McGowan (Between, Reign), each direct two episodes. Cinematography is by Brett Van Dyke (Bitten, Dark Matter) and Production Design is by Tony Cowley (Dexter, Jigsaw). Casting is John Buchan and Jason Knight (Titans, American Gods). For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Programming; Helen Asimakis is Senior Director, Scripted Content; and Deborah Nathan is Executive in Charge of Production.
I grew up the 1970s, the era of strange casseroles and questionable ingredients suspended in Jello salads. Mine was a childhood filled with Cheez Whiz smeared on celery, macaroni loaf sandwiches and copious amounts of Cool Whip on things. I look back on all of that fondly, but I wouldn’t want any of it if offered to me today.
That’s not the case for the Campus family, who signed on to Back in Time for Dinner, CBC’s newest documentary series that transports one family back in time to eat, dress and live like Canadians of yesterday. Hosted by TV veteran and all-around nice guy Carlo Rota, Back in Time for Dinner is a social experiment that takes the Campuses—a middle-class suburban family of five from Mississauga, Ont.—and strips away their modern diets and lifestyle to go back in time.
Starting in the 1940s and landing in the 1990s, their home becomes a time machine as it’s stripped to the studs and transformed into a new decade each week. I’m a sucker for series like this—check out the excellent British series Victorian Farm, Edwardian Farm and Wartime Farm on YouTube if you haven’t already—so I was jazzed to see how the Campus family would adapt to old-timey living and the bumps in the road along the way.
Thursday’s first of six episodes at 8 p.m. on CBC begins in the 1940s with the five-person family arriving to see the interior of their house has been totally transformed to reflect that time period. Gone, of course, are modern trappings like big-screen TVs, central heat and—GASP!—the Internet in favour of a fridge-sized radio, an electric stove, icebox and laundry done by hand.
It was the time of the Second World War, and Canadians were enlisting to fight overseas. This country was also a major supplier of food to the Allied countries and that meant food rations at home. It was also a different time in snacking. No chips, cookies and gummy things for teens Valerie, Jessica and Robert. Instead, sardines and other canned meats are the rules of the day. So too were the societal guidelines. Mom Tristan and her daughters are in charge of keeping the house ship-shape inside and purchasing from a grocery list hemmed in by ration coupons. Rather than her usual overflowing grocery carts, Tristan is given a small basket containing her essentials.
As if being a teen wasn’t tough enough, the Campus kids have to attend school in their period-perfect clothing and eat 1940s lunches. Needless to say, Robert is not a fan of his yeast-based bread and “sauce.”
Back in Time for Dinner is certainly fun to watch, but it’s a fantastic history lesson too, thanks to Rota. In between Campus family footage, he narrates what life in Canada is like during those days, from footwear and clothing and hairstyles. As for Night One’s dinner? Pan-fried kidneys with celery sauce on toast and boiled potatoes. (“Every once in awhile you get a whiff of … urine,” Tristan observes as she pan-fries the morsels.)
The first instalment of Back in Time for Dinner is surprising and informative and made me appreciate everything I have today. I can’t wait to see more.
Back in Time for Dinner airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.
Image courtesy of CBC.
Workin’ Moms doesn’t shy away from showing the flaws of being a mother. Part of the show’s charm and popularity is because of Catherine Reitman’s decision to show the challenges of being a working mother in 2018. And while there are plenty of laughs to go with those relatable moments via Kate (Reitman), Anne (Dani Kind), Frankie (Juno Rinaldi) and Alicia (Kat Barrell), the creation of Workin’ Moms came at a dark time in her life.
“I gave birth a couple of years ago and went back to work too quickly,” Reitman, the series’ showrunner, director, writer and executive producer says. “I had some pretty lethal post-partum depression and was actually fantasizing about death and it kept making me laugh. It wasn’t this dark, scary thing. It was this release. It made me happy, it made me hopeful. If the world would go away and these responsibilities would go away, life would be so much easier.”
Reitman spoke alongside Kim’s Convenience boss Ins Choi at the Banff World Media Festival on Tuesday morning during the CBC’s Breakfast of Showrunner Champions event. The packed room laughed nervously as Reitman recalled how her own mommy group stared at her while she related those feelings and realized the content would make for a television show. She couldn’t be the only one feeling the way she did, she reasoned and her husband Philip Sternberg—he’s an executive producer, director and plays Kate’s husband Nathan on the show—urged her to write it.
Tired of auditioning for roles for women that didn’t look or sound like her, she penned the scripts and created a sizzle reel. Once Sally Catto, general manager of programming at CBC Television, saw the reel she greenlit the series.
“Thank god for Sally,” Reitman says. “I say that every day because I get to sit here in front of all of you and watch a clip and remain floored that I was fantasizing about death and now people are watching [Workin’ Moms] and hopefully connecting with it.
Workin’ Moms returns to CBC in winter 2019.
Image courtesy of CBC.
