Tag Archives: CTV

Children Ruin Everything, Industry News

CTV announces new half-hour original comedy Children Ruin Everything

From a media release:

Canada’s leading television network, CTV, announced today from Prime Time in Ottawa its newest original series CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING. The new, half-hour MADE®-in-Canada comedy showcases one couple’s efforts to reclaim a piece of their old lives which are continually thwarted by their young children in surprising and absurd ways. But somewhere in the toy-filled, pee-stained wreckage of what they once had, they find a new life that’s pretty good, too.

The series has been in development at CTV since 2016 and is now set to begin production in Spring 2020 in and around Toronto. Casting is underway.

From award-winning L.A.- and Toronto-based producer New Metric Media, CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING is created by veteran comedy writer and producer Kurt Smeaton (SCHITT’S CREEK, KIM’S CONVENIENCE). Alongside Smeaton, one of television’s premier comedy writers, Chuck Tatham (MODERN FAMILY, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) joins multiple Canadian Screen Award-winner Mark Montefiore (LETTERKENNY, WHAT WOULD SAL DO?) as executive producer, with Beth Iley (KILLJOYS) serving as producer.

“This is a hilarious series with broad, universal comedy at its heart, from an amazing creative team in Kurt and Chuck together with our talented partners at New Metric Media,” said Mike Cosentino, President, Content and Programming, Bell Media. “Commissioning this new series also provides the opportunity to deliver a hit series for CTV while simultaneously expanding the roster of titles for our Bell Media Distribution catalogue.”

Cosentino also confirmed that Bell Media Distribution has stepped up to become the series’ International Distributor, and has subsequently named New Metric Media as its exclusive Sales Agent for the program. CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING joins LETTERKENNY in New Metric Media’s growing comedy catalogue.

CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING is produced by New Metric Media in association with CTV and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund.

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Transplant

Timely and emotionally charged new CTV original drama Transplant premieres Feb. 26

From a media release:

CTV announced today that new MADE®-in-Canada series TRANSPLANT is set to air Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT beginning Feb. 26 exclusively on CTV and everywhere CTV content can be found. The CTV Original drama comes from Sphère Média Plus, the producers behind Bell Media’s multiple award-winning and International Emmy-nominated drama series 19-2, in association with NBCUniversal International Studios. NBCUniversal is also handling global distribution.

TRANSPLANT is about Dr. Bashir “Bash” Hamed (Hamza Haq, THE INDIAN DETECTIVE), a Syrian doctor with battle-tested skills in emergency medicine who makes the difficult decision to flee his country with his younger sister Amira. Together they struggle to build a new life in Canada, as Bash strives to rebuild his career in medicine.

Shot in Montréal and set in Toronto, the first season of TRANSPLANT consists of 13 one-hour episodes and stars an ensemble cast anchored by Haq and also starring Laurence Leboeuf (19-2) as Dr. Magalie “Mags” Leblanc, an empathetic ER resident seeking perfection, along with John Hannah (MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Dr. Jed Bishop, the hospital’s Chief of Emergency Medicine.

TRANSPLANT also features Jim Watson (MARY KILLS PEOPLE) as Dr. Theo Hunter, a pediatric fellow in the emergency department; Ayisha Issa (Polar, Immortals) as Dr. June Curtis, an ambitious surgical resident; Sirena Gulamgaus (ORPHAN BLACK) as Bash’s sister Amira; Torri Higginson (DARK MATTER, THIS LIFE) as head ER nurse Claire Malone; Linda E. Smith (19-2) as Dr. Wendy Atwater; Grace Lynn Kung (THE INBETWEEN, FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES) as social worker Vivian Barnes; and Sugith Varughese (KIM’S CONVENIENCE) as senior surgeon Dr. Aajay Singh.

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Featured, Transplant

Exclusive photo gallery: First-look photos at CTV’s Transplant

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Clearly, we here at TV, Eh? were good boys and girls last year because Bell Media has given us one heck of a cool belated Christmas gift: an exclusive first-look at CTV’s newest original series, Transplant.

As previously announced, Transplant stars Hamza Haq, John Hannah, Laurence Laboeuf, Jim Watson and Ayisha Issa.

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Here is the official synopsis for Transplant direct from Bell Media:

Dr. Bashir “Bash” Hamed (Hamza Haq), a Syrian doctor with battle-tested skills in emergency medicine, makes the difficult decision to flee his country with his younger sister Amira. With the hope of returning to his career in medicine, together Bash and Amira strive to build a new life in Canada while managing the struggles that come with a new country. With life experiences and a medical background unlike his Canadian counterparts, Bash works to navigate a new environment and forge new relationships after earning a coveted residency in the Emergency Department of one of the best hospitals in Toronto, York Memorial.

Transplant debuts this spring on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Industry News

Ken Shaw announces his retirement from CTV News Toronto

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From a media release:

Veteran news anchor Ken Shaw announced this evening during CTV NEWS AT SIX that he will be retiring from the anchor chair following his final newscast on Monday, Jan. 6, 2020. With a career spanning six decades – from the 1970s and into 2020 – Shaw has been a welcomed guest in millions of homes each week throughout the GTA.

Co-Anchor of Toronto’s #1 newscasts CTV NEWS AT NOON and CTV NEWS AT SIX since April 2001, Shaw first joined the CTV News Toronto team in 1979 as a breaking news reporter. He later moved to the national beat as National Editor for the station, and then as Weekday Anchor for CTV News Channel, before returning to CTV News Toronto to become its anchor.

“There have been so many changes over the decades and I’ve been privileged to have a front-row seat for all of them. I’m so thankful for the trust viewers put in our team to document the stories of their lives,” said Shaw. “Although I’m leaving the day-to-day duties of the anchor desk, I’m excited to work on a number of special projects at CTV News.”

Following Shaw’s last broadcast from the anchor desk on Jan. 6, he will assume a new role with CTV News Channel where he will provide special reports on a number of key issues of importance to him, including the environment. The reports and accompanying podcasts and digital stories will be available on CTV News properties across Canada.

A look back on highlights from Shaw’s career is now featured at CTVNewsToronto.ca. Viewers wanting to send their best wishes can also post messages to the site.

The multiple award-winning Shaw has guided Torontonians through some of the most memorable and momentous local and international news headlines, earning CTV News Toronto its distinction as the most-watched local newscast in the GTA. From coverage of the G20 Summit in 2010, the ice storm that left thousands of Torontonians without power in December 2013, the deadly Toronto van attack in April 2018, the closing of GM Oshawa in November of 2018, and countless provincial and municipal elections, to breaking key revelations in the Toronto mayoral scandal, viewers consistently turn to Ken Shaw and Co-Anchor Michelle Dubé for the headlines that matter most.

An announcement about a new co-anchor for CTV News Toronto will be made on Monday, Dec. 9.

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Transplant

Link: On location in Montreal with upcoming CTV drama Transplant

From Bill Brioux of Brioux.tv:

Link: On location in Montreal with upcoming CTV drama Transplant
Here’s the great irony of Canadian TV: I was in Montreal earlier this week on the set of Transplant, a medical drama set to premiere early next year on CTV. It’s about a Syrian refugee played by Hamza Haq (The Indian Detective) returning to his medical training roots as a resident in the emergency ward of a downtown Toronto hospital. Continue reading.

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