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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Cottage Life is all set for spring with new, original Canadian series

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From a media release:

Just in time for the spring thaw, Cottage Life is giving more than nine million viewers across Canada an eight-week free preview, jam-packed with brand new original Canadian series that showcase weekend and lakefront living. Headlining the new lineup is Brojects: Built for the Weekend, the highly anticipated new installment in the Brojects franchise starring Andrew and Kevin Buckles, in which the brothers bring their playful construction projects to a different family’s cottage or cabin in each episode. The channel will also roll out two brand new original series, including Lake Docks & Decks, in which Canadian contractors Marshall Black and Simon Hirsh take viewers through the step-by-step process of designing and building truly impressive lakeside projects and Lakefront Luxury, a series that showcases a breathtaking crop of captivating waterfront properties that will air during the channel’s popular weekend real estate block.

As an added springtime bonus, Cottage Life fans in Toronto, Ottawa and Edmonton will have the chance to meet the Brojects themselves as well as the hosts of Lake Docks & Decks at upcoming Cottage Life consumer shows. Kevin and Andrew Buckles will be on hand for meet and greets at both the Spring Cottage Life Show in Toronto from March 22 to 25 and the Edmonton Cottage Life & Cabin Show, which runs from April 20 to 22. Marshall Black and Simon Hirsh will give main stage presentations on their dock building triumphs and challenges at the Spring Cottage Life Show in Toronto as well as the Ottawa Cottage Life & Backyard Show taking place from April 13 to 15. For meet and greet times and additional information on the Cottage Life consumer shows, please visit shows.cottagelife.com.

Free Preview Premieres on Cottage Life

Vet on the Hill (Canadian Premiere, Season 3) premieres Wednesday, March 7 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Back by popular demand, Australian vet Dr. Scott Miller gives viewers genuine insight into the highs and lows of life at a small town veterinary practice. Besides a steady stream of dogs and cats, Dr. Miller takes on everything from performing life saving surgery on a tiny hedgehog to diagnosing and treating a full-size cow.

ER Vets (Season 1) premieres Wednesday, March 7 at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT.
Narrated by renowned Canadian singer/songwriter Jann Arden, ER Vets combines the interpersonal stories of veterinarians who cope with life and death animal situations on a daily basis with compelling medical procedural footage.

Lake Docks & Decks (Cottage Life Original Series, World Premiere, Season 1) premieres Thursday, March 8 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
Veteran dock builders Marshall Black and Simon Hirsh elevate dilapidated waterfronts to the next level. From families looking to spend time at the lake to couples aspiring for a resort vibe, Marshall and Simon work with their clients to design their dream waterfronts. Each episode follows the step-by-step process from conception to construction to the final reveal of the waterfront oases.

Lakefront Luxury (Cottage Life Original Series, World Premiere, Season 1) premieres Saturday, March 10 at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT.
The ultimate escape from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind is stunning views, gorgeous waterfronts and serene sunsets. With unlimited budgets and endless wish lists, each episode takes you on a tour of three opulent properties along with potential buyers, as they weigh their options and ultimately decide which home is the one for them.

World’s Wildest Weather (Canadian Premiere, Season 1) premieres Monday, March 12 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
From freak tornadoes to hailstones the size of footballs, this fast-paced, adrenaline-filled documentary series will chart some of the most extreme weather from around the world with first-hand, witness statements and personal footage, bringing viewers right into the panic and drama of being caught up in a storm. The series also uses jaw-dropping CGI to illustrate the science behind the storms.

The Supervet (Canadian Premiere, Season 4) premieres Wednesday, March 14 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
Hard-to-cure pets receive cutting-edge care from Professor Noel Fitzpatrick, aka the Bionic Vet, and his crack veterinary team. Each hour-long episode features some of the most complex veterinary challenges ever seen and captures the raw emotion, drama and joyfulness of Dr. Fitzpatrick and his staff as they find extraordinary and innovative solutions to save pets in dire conditions.

Brojects: Built for the Weekend (Cottage Life Original Series, Canadian Premiere) premieres Thursday, March 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. From a double-decker party boat to a floating playground to even a dock with a built-in swimming pool, Brojects brothers Kevin and Andrew are dreaming up and building everything needed for an epic weekend of fun. After years of designing one-of-a-kind projects at their own getaway retreat, they’re turning it up a notch by hitting the road and taking their cool and creative ideas to families in need of vacation property upgrades.

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Canadian Premiere, Season 7) premieres Saturday, April 14 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. Back by popular demand, the beloved series follows architect and TV personality George Clarke as he shows how the most surprising and unexpected places can be transformed into tranquil spaces to escape from our hectic lives. This season also includes unique spaces George visited in Japan.

Cottage Life, a Blue Ant Media multi-platform brand, celebrating the people, activities and places that make leisure time special. Exclusive content covers real estate, food, DIY projects and much more.

 

 

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Cottage Life dives into summer with sensational lineup of new programming

From a media release:

Cottage Life, a Blue Ant Media multi-platform brand that celebrates weekend living, is heading into summer with a lineup of new series that showcase fascinating animal stories and breathtaking retreats, as well as exclusive new online videos and its first-ever virtual reality shorts, featuring the Brojects.

Beginning Monday, July 4, the channel will premiere What on Earth? that gives viewers unique viewpoints of the natural world. Wednesday, July 6 will see the debut of the highly anticipated Season 7 of Hope For Wildlife, which follows the day-to-day operations of a non-profit wildlife refuge in Nova Scotia. Continuing the wildlife theme on Wednesdays, the series will be followed by Vet on the Hill and David Attenborough’s Natural Curiousities. Rounding out the schedule, viewers will get their weekend fix of stunning vacation homes beginning July 9, with new installments of series starring fan-favourite hosts like Charlie Luxton and George Clarke, as well as a new real estate series, Home of the Year. Additionally, audiences will be able to watch full episodes and webisodes of fan-favourite Cottage Life series, including Cabin Pressure and Brojects: In The House on CottageLife.com.

Hope For Wildlife (New Season, Canadian Premiere) begins its highly anticipated Season 7 on Wednesday, July 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. In this new season, the harshest Atlantic winter in a century challenges the staff at the Hope for Wildlife rehabilitation centre as they’ve never been tested. Construction on an expanded care facility for the centres resumes, but the melting snow reveals more orphaned and injured animals than the staff has ever encountered. Watch as Hope Swinimer, maintaining her signature optimism, inspires her crew to care for more than 3,000 animals — including more white-tailed deer than the sanctuary can hold — in a truly remarkable year of contrast and change.

New Online Videos
CottageLife.com is debuting its first-ever virtual reality videos, in which Brojects fans will be treated to new videos with 360-degree footage that complement the exclusive Brojects: In The House mini-build webisodes. Each video features a one- to three-minute scene related to key moments in the zany webisodes that gives viewers a 360-degree vantage point. The 360 videos can be found at CottageLife.com/video and can be viewed on desktop or smartphone. For a truly immersive virtual reality experience that puts viewers in the house with the brojects themselves, fans can visit brojects.tv for information on downloading the Brojects VR app and obtaining a Brojects Google cardboard viewer.

Over the summer, Cottagelife.com will also roll out five new short videos a week as part of its popular original web series that feature helpful bite-size tips, essential how-to tutorials, useful advice from Cottage Life Editor, Michelle Kelly and beautiful lakeside moments. Some of the videos set to debut this summer will include the basics for cooking a great steak, a DIY ice cream treat to impress guests and a look at unique locations in Canada. The site will also allow audiences to catch up on full episodes of new series such as Hope For Wildlife, which will join full episodes of fan favourites including Colin & Justin’s Cabin Pressure and Brojects: In The House. Audiences will find Cottage Life’s complete library of new and pre-existing online videos and webisodes at cottagelife.com/video.

Cottage Life is a Blue Ant Media multi-platform brand, celebrating the people, activities and places that make leisure time special. Exclusive content covers real estate, food, DIY projects and much more. Both informative and entertaining, no one captures the essence of weekend living like this. tv.cottagelife.com

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Colin and Justin get down and dirty for Season 3 of Cabin Pressure

Anyone who’s done grand-scale home renovations knows that feeling of hopelessness. A “simple” job that grew to into a catastrophe, a project that morphed from costing a few thousand dollars into a massive bank black hole. Such is the case for Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, the Scottish design duo who return for a third go-round of Cabin Pressure this Sunday on Cottage Life.

The timing of the series couldn’t be better—Cottage Life is currently in an eight-week free preview—plenty of time to watch the lads’ cottage country exploits and commiserate when things go wrong. And do they ever. Episode 1 quickly sets up the premise—the pair have purchased a Haliburton, Ont., cottage to renovate and use as an income property—before plans go awry.

“We’re trying to redevelop one of the worst cabins on one of the loveliest lakes in Haliburton,” Ryan said. “It’s been a huge challenge from start to finish.” As in Season 2 with a reno of their own cottage, the pair wanted to lift this cabin off the ground and dig out a basement. But decades of moisture and a bad foundation threaten to shatter hopes and bank accounts. Ryan’s frustration at being over $80,000 in the hole just days into the work is plain. Thankfully, there is good news; sections of the fractured foundation could be saved and most of the floor joists escaped spreading mould, meaning a return to the hilarious (and sometimes very un-PC) comments Colin and Justin fans love. Well, that, and the ingenious design ideas they come up with, sometimes costing just pennies to do, like the coffee-stained walls utilized in Season 1.

McAllister and Ryan’s design inspiration for this project is a black-on-black European minimalism transported to cottage country, something not only reflected in the building itself but deck too. Ryan remembered how they were struggling to find someone to build the deck until a woman named Andrea contacted them via Twitter. Her boyfriend’s St. Catharine’s company, Boys with Big Decks could complete the 2,400 square-foot task.

“We’re now boys with big decks,” McAllister quipped.

“Actually, we’re boys with massive decks,” Ryan corrected.

Cabin Pressure airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cottage Life.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Cottage Life opens the spring season with Season 3 of Cabin Pressure

From a media release:

Cottage Life is celebrating the first signs of spring by inviting audiences to enjoy an eight-week free preview full of returning favourites and new episodes. Beginning Tuesday, March 15, the cottage season will be in full swing with fresh premieres including Colin & Justin’s Cabin Pressure Season 3, Cabin Truckers Season 2 and What’s for Sale? With a View Season 2. The channel will also premiere two new series including Brojects in the House, a spin off of the popular DIY series Brojects, and Burger Bar to Gourmet Star.

What’s For Sale? With a View (Season 2, Original Series, World Premiere) debuts on Tuesday, March 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. This popular spin off of What’s For Sale? has brand new episodes, in which potential buyers are presented with three dream homes with incredible views that include a private Muskoka lake, a beach on Georgian Bay, a Niagara vineyard, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the San Francisco Bay, Big Sur and more.

Burger Bar to Gourmet Star (New Series, Canadian Premiere) debuts on Wednesday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. In each episode a fast-food cook with kitchen experience, limited to burger joints and food trucks, gets one-on-one training with one of Britain’s most respected chefs. The newbies then pose as seasoned professionals in world-class kitchens in an attempt to get by as five-star gourmets.

Brojects in the House (New Original Series, World Premiere) launches on Thursday, March 17 at 9 p.m. ET/9 p.m. PT. A spin off of Cottage Life fan-favourite Brojects, Brojects in the House follows everyone’s favourite brothers, Andrew and Kevin, as they take their fun-loving, creative DIY cottage projects indoors. With their wives and children now involved in the fun, the brothers transform a century-old lodge into a clubhouse with the most unexpected interior builds, inventions and games they’ve ever created. In the first episode, the bros build a bar out of reclaimed materials that tips a cap to the past.

Cabin Truckers (Season 2, Original Series, World Premiere) debuts on Friday, March 18 at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The second season finds Wade and his crew of professional house movers up against even more challenging and exasperating situations as they relocate entire homes to remote locations on the back of a truck. New episodes see torrential storms, steep mountain tracks, stressful nighttime moves and narrow city streets threatening to bring the moves to a halt, all while the crew races against time and permit schedules. Viewers will find out if Wade has bitten off more than he can chew, with one of the biggest, most complicated and exhausting moves to date that tests everyone’s capabilities, emotions and patience.

Colin & Justin’s Cabin Pressure (Season 3, Original Series and Webisodes, World Premiere) debuts on Sunday, March 20 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The highly anticipated, new instalment of Cottage Life’s top-rated series returns with a brand new high-profile project. This time, the gregarious designers have taken on the task of transforming a dilapidated cottage into a welcoming income property. Infusing the lakeside estate with rustic charm and elegant modern comforts, the Scottish lads have a ball as they create the ultimate rental retreat.

Coinciding with the Season 3 television premiere, Colin & Justin’s Cabin Pressure webisodes will launch 13 new, exclusive short digital videos on Sunday, March 20, giving viewers an additional peek into the pair’s experience renovating their new rental property.

Cottage Life’s free preview will also include new episodes of several series including the third season of What’s For Sale?, Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, Escape to the Wild, Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT and Ultimate Homes, Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

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Backroad Bounty looks for more deals and Canadian history in Season 2

If his Backroad Bounty gig ever ends, Peter “Bam Bam” Bamford is plotting his next TV role: Big Brother Canada.

“I think I would stand out, to say the least,” says Bamford, sporting his trademark cowboy hat, bushy beard, green army jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. “I’m very old-school train of thought, very militant and punctual, and I’m very OCD. I don’t know if I would get along with everybody, but it would make for some interesting TV.”

We think Bamford would do pretty well. After all, he does interact with strangers—alongside Marty Gebel—as they crisscross Ontario in search of quality antiques and oddities for Season 2 of Backroad Bounty, returning to Cottage Life tonight at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. Earlier this year, I tracked down the duo in Ingersoll, Ont.—home to Gebel’s Modern Hipster Antiques—as they got dusty and dirty hunting around the top floor of E. W. McKim Quality Home Hardware, seeking hidden treasure and discovering Canadian history in the process.

Season 1 tracked the fellows as they dusted off items and dickered with owners over prices, and that formula is in place for Season 2 too, though a focus on those folks and the hosts has been amped up.

“This season is going to be funnier,” Gebel teases. “We’ll be talking a little bit more about values and selling this year, because the audience wants to know how much things are worth.”

“Because we have a season under our belt, people are opening up to us a lot more,” Bamford explains. “It’s more like a road trip with two guys and the incredible people they meet along the way.” That road trip includes provincial stops in Grand Bend, Quinte West, Harcourt, Port Dover, Walkerton, Wiarton and Owen Sound.

When the cameras aren’t rolling, Bamford is working to expand his business. Always a buyer at trade shows, he’s evolving his Bamtiques brand on social media and at shows, selling items and seeing if he can make a go of it as a full-time gig.

And if the Big Brother Canada thing doesn’t work out? Bamford has another idea in the works where he travels the world exposing silly local rules and regulations.

“It’s called Bam Bam Breaks the Law,” he says. “There’s a law in Pennsylvania where you can’t carry an ice cream sandwich in your back pocket. I want to break that law. There are laws in France about dolls with certain faces. If they’re willing to arrest me for putting an ice cream sandwich in my back pocket, I’m willing to accept that charge.”

Backroad Bounty airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Cottage Life.

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