Tag Archives: CTV

CTV original series The Spencer Sisters premieres Feb. 10 on CTV

From a media release:

A mother-and-daughter duo become budding crime investigators in the new CTV Original drama THE SPENCER SISTERS, airing Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app beginning February 10. Created by award-winning executive producer Alan McCullough (PRIVATE EYES, ROOKIE BLUE) and co-showrun with Jenn Engels (SORT OF), the female-led series is a light-hearted, one-hour procedural that follows mystery novelist Victoria Spencer (Lea Thompson, Back To The Future, CAROLINE IN THE CITY) and her daughter Darby Spencer (Stacey Farber, VIRGIN RIVER, SCHITT’S CREEK) who are mistaken as sisters as they tackle puzzling cases in the fictional town of Alder Bluffs, Ont. Filmed in Winnipeg, the first season consists of 10 one-hour episodes.

In THE SPENCER SISTERS, after a string of bad luck, Toronto police officer Darby Spencer (Farber) quits her job and is forced to return home to her estranged mother, internationally renowned mystery novelist Victoria Spencer (Thompson). After the duo are thrust into solving a crime together, Darby discovers a side to Victoria she never knew, and ultimately takes the plunge into the unlikeliest of ventures: becoming her partner in a private detective agency. Despite their opposing personalities, generational differences and complicated history, they discover they may have more in common than they thought. Each episode brings a new case to solve, and while the tightly-wound Darby and the carefree Victoria may never quite see eye to eye, they discover that maybe – just maybe – they need each other more than they realize.

Joining the cast in supporting roles are Thomas Antony Olajide (Learn To Swim) as Darby’s high school best friend and Alder Bluffs cop Zane Graham; Edward Ruttle (ARCTIC AIR) as Darby’s high school flame Doctor Lucas Collins; Husein Madhavji (SAVING HOPE) as Victoria’s “IT Consultant” (a.k.a. hacker) Alastair Dhumal; Ayesha Mansur Gonsalves (SORT OF) as Victoria’s feisty literary agent Sarita Stark; Rodrigo Massa (EL DRAGÓN: RETURN OF A WARRIOR) as Zane’s (Olajide) husband Antonio Pereira, who operates a Brazilian bistro in Alder Bluffs; Kaitlyn Leeb (SPINNING OUT) as Lindsay Yip – a hotshot lawyer who is Lucas’ fiancée; and Adam Hurtig (Cult of Chucky) as the lead detective of the Alder Bluff’s police force.

Season 1 also features guest appearances by Paul Popowich (MAYOR OF KINGSTOWN), Andrew Bushell (HUDSON & REX), Cindy Sampson (PRIVATE EYES), Seán Cullen (MURDOCH MYSTERIES), Matt Wells (Crown and Anchor), Alex Ozerov (CARDINAL), Jennifer Hui (STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS), Nancy Sorel (THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE), Mercedes Morris (AMERICAN GODS), Julius Cho (CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING), Mika Amonsen (EZRA), Daniel Kash (The Man From Toronto), Paul Essiembre (THE PORTER), Tova Epp (TITANS), Zarrin Darnell-Martin (GINNY & GEORGIA), and Hazel Venzon (BURDEN OF TRUTH).

On the series premiere of THE SPENCER SISTERS, “The Scholar’s Snafu” (Friday, Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app), after her life in the city falls apart, former cop Darby Spencer (Farber) is forced to return to her childhood home and her estranged, best-selling mystery novelist mother Victoria Spencer (Thompson). But when Darby’s friend Kaia (guest star Jennifer Hui, STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS) is wrongfully accused of plagiarism, Darby and Victoria must put aside their differences and investigate, uncovering a wide-ranging scandal. A special preview of the debut episode airs Sunday, Jan. 29 at 10 p.m. ET/7p.m. PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, immediately following the conclusion of the NFL Conference Championship.

Exclusive videos are available throughout the season on @CTV’s social channels and on CTV.ca and the CTV app, providing viewers with an extension of the series with bonus digital content that includes behind-the-scenes videos and more.

A CTV Original series, THE SPENCER SISTERS is produced by Entertainment One (eOne) and Buffalo Gal Pictures. The series is created by Alan McCullough and executive produced and co-showrun by McCullough and Jenn Engels .

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Jann Arden on Jann: Alone For The Holidays, Christmas Traditions, and the Future of the Series

While the holidays are tied to traditions, the way we celebrate is malleable. Relocating, work, friendships, romances, children, breakups and the loss of loved ones can all change what we do—and how we feel—each December. 

That sense of flux is at the heart of Jann: Alone For The Holidays, a Yuletide special that proves there’s more than one way to enjoy Christmas. It’s a theme series star Jann Arden has experienced in her own life. 

“My parents are both gone,” says Arden. “So I think a lot of the traditions that were kind of wrapped around their legs, unfortunately, aren’t here anymore. I mean, I loved having dinner with my family.”

But this Christmas, the singer-songwriter-actor-author-animal rights advocate is packing her favourite vegan turkey cutlets—“Frozen in my suitcase; I’m not kidding you!”—and heading to England to spend time with friends. “I’ll be in Dorset, very close to Swanage, in a 250-year-old stone cottage, near castles,” she says. 

The series Jann is also doing things a bit differently this year. It’s been more than a year since the show’s third season ended, and while CTV hasn’t officially pulled the plug on the project, it also hasn’t greenlit another season. 

Arden says CTV has “been behind the show the whole way through,” but the broadcaster is “really trying to contemplate a cost-effective way to move forward” with the series in a TV era dominated by streaming networks and binge-watching, so “they gave us this opportunity to do the Christmas show.”

In the special, airing as back-to-back episodes on Saturday, December 9 at 9 p.m. on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app, Jann comes home for Christmas to discover her entire family is celebrating out of town. The only one still around is her assistant Trey (Tenaj Williams), who is trying to recharge his batteries with some alone time. 

Feeling abandoned, Jann declares it “the worst Christmas ever” until Trey starts pulling out boxes full of old decorations—and memories. This prompts a series of vignettes where Jann reminisces about good, bad and humiliating moments from holidays past featuring her niece Charley (Alexa Rose Steele), on-again, off-again girlfriend Cynthia (Sharon Taylor), former manager Todd (Jason Blicker), and mom Nora (Deborah Grover). Her manager Cale (Elena Juatco) also appears in the special’s opening Christmas concert sequence, which showcases both Arden’s cozy-sweater vocals and her laugh-out-loud physical comedy talents.

“I think flashbacks allowed me these fantastic opportunities to shine a light on one cast member at a time and to kind of unveil a little more depth into their relationship,” says Arden. “Like, I think the scene that I have with Cale starts off a little bit acerbic and tongue-in-cheek; Cale is just being Cale and running the business. But then when we have the opportunity to kind of say our goodbyes in the hallway, it’s like, ‘Wow, they’re being nice to each other. Where could that go, and what does that mean?’ So I think it was nice to be able to look at these relationships in a little different light.”

Jann’s flashback with Nora, which plays like a blooper reel from The Great Canadian Baking Show, was another highlight for Arden. “I had the best time,” she says. “Deborah is the heart of our show, and I think we hang so much of the heartfelt emotional payoff of Nora with [her], and she never fails to just really show people what her acting chops are. We all look up to her.”

Fans can also look forward to celebrity guest appearances by Bryan Adams and Michael Bublé, who is still as lovesick for Jann as he was in the Thanksgiving-themed Season 3 finale. 

“May I say that this was his story idea?” Arden says of Bublé’s storyline. “We’re like, ‘What do you want to do on the show?’ And this was last season, and he says, ‘I want to be the unrequited love. I want to love Jann, and she doesn’t love me.’ This was all his doing. So when we were doing the Christmas special, he literally phoned Leah [Gauthier], one of our co-creators, and he said, ‘Can I be in this thing? Like, I know I’m on tour right now, but I could do something online.’”

Meanwhile, Adams carved time out of his Canadian tour schedule to drop by the set. “He’s got a new Christmas song out this year called ‘Let’s Get Christmas Going,’” Arden explains. “I’ve heard it on the radio already, and he wrote it for his daughters. He showed up and said, ‘I don’t know the words, so you guys have to write these out for me, so we were scrambling writing them out on the back of wrapping paper, and there’s a lot of f—ing words in that song … but he was absolutely such a pro. He was kind to everybody, and he did the song, and we couldn’t believe it.”

The special isn’t just about music and memories. Modelled after UK Christmas specials that offer holiday cheer while moving plotlines forward between seasons, there are some major storyline resolutions—such as revealing whether Jann chose to stay with Nate or to get back together with Cynthia and help raise her baby. There’s also a life-changing surprise at the end that lifts Jann’s holiday spirits. In short, it’s the sort of show that could serve as a bookend for the series or provide the impetus for a fourth season. 

“We were very purposeful about that,” Arden says. “We’re kind of in a holding pattern, and we’re all kind of holding our breaths and crossing our fingers and we’ll see what happens. But, for now, we were able to do some problem-solving and put out a few fires that we left hanging after Season 3.”

Arden is also chuffed CTV will be rebroadcasting the episodes on Christmas Eve at 10 p.m. “That’s pretty damn great to be in people’s homes, whether they’re with their families and sitting down having meals, the excitement of kids running around the house, and Santa’s coming,” she says. “We’re hoping it has legs. Like, year after year, for people to go, ‘Oh, god, that crazy special again.’”

Jann: Alone For The Holidays airs Friday, Dec. 9 at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app. Encore presentation Saturday, Dec. 24 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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All-new original competition series Cross Country Cake Off decorates CTV’s schedule beginning December 4

From a media release:

It’s cake time! CTV announced today that its all-new cake competition series, CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF, is set to make its debut December 4 with four holiday-themed episodes. Hosted by cookbook author and multiple Canadian Screen Award-winner Mary Berg and introducing celebrated pastry chef Andrew Han, the CTV Original series airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, and features the country’s best cake makers as they bake to claim the $50,000 prize, and the title of CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF Champion.

Throughout four holiday-themed episodes, hosts Berg and Han judge the homemade cakes of 24 bakers from across Canada. During three regional qualifying rounds, eight bakers in each of the host cities – Vancouver, Toronto, and Halifax – present their creations to the judges. Four cake makers from each qualifier then move forward to compete in the CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF kitchen in a festive cake challenge. The Top 2 bakers representing each region move on to compete in the finale.

In a special two-night event beginning Sunday, Dec. 18 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app, the third and final qualifying round concludes leaving six cake makers to face off in two holiday challenges. The winner takes home the top prize of $50,000 and the title of CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF Champion during the finale on Monday, Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app.

Following the four-episode holiday season, CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF returns to CTV in spring 2023 with six all-new episodes featuring a new crop of 40 Canadian bakers vying for the top prize.

Viewers can stream new episodes of CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF on CTV.ca and the CTV app, which is also home to bonus content including exclusive video content and behind-the-scenes extras. In addition, viewers can follow @CTV’s social channels all season long for highlights, bonus content, and more.

About Mary Berg
Mary Berg is a three-time Canadian Screen Award-winner for Best Host, Lifestyle for her shows MARY MAKES IT EASY (2022) and MARY’S KITCHEN CRUSH (2020-21). MARY MAKES IT EASY was also named Best Lifestyle Program or Series at this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, following back-to-back wins for MARY’S KITCHEN CRUSH in 2020 and 2021. Berg is the Season 3 winner of CTV’s MASTERCHEF CANADA, as well as a cooking expert on CTV YOUR MORNING, THE SOCIAL, and THE MARILYN DENIS SHOW. Berg is the best-selling author of Kitchen Party: Effortless Recipes for Every Occasion, and Berg’s newest book Well Seasoned: A Year’s Worth of Delicious Recipes.

About Andrew Han
Chef Andrew Han is the owner and executive chef of the award-winning Kouign Café, located in the heart of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown. Chef Han discovered a love of cooking early on in life and received training in classical French and Italian culinary and pastry arts at the Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. He began his career as executive pastry chef at several notable Vancouver restaurants and bakeries, merging his Korean-Vietnamese-Canadian upbringing with his passion for food to then create his whimsical and other-worldly creations at Kouign Café. While Chef Han is known for his masterful execution of combining sweet and savoury ingredients and his special selection of Kouign Amann, his most well-known menu item is the White Rabbit Cookie. This cookie went viral when he participated in a one-time Chinatown pop-up, drawing daily lineups of hungry foodies craving culinary nostalgia.

With just the right amount of authenticity, innovation, and imagination, Chef Han elevates the humble foods of his Chinatown upbringing and takes his guests to a magical place where he shares his childhood and heritage through unique and delectable bites.

CROSS COUNTRY CAKE OFF is developed and produced by Boat Rocker’s Proper Television, in association with Bell Media. Cathie James and Lesia Capone are Executive Producers and David Donohue and Meredith Veats are Series Producers.

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Lilly Singh to host Battle of the Generations, CTV’s new primetime quiz show

From a media release:

CTV announced today that acclaimed comedian and actress Lilly Singh is confirmed to host and executive produce the inaugural season of CTV’s previously announced primetime quiz show BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS. Each episode of the nostalgia-packed quiz show features four contestants representing a different generation (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z), as they battle through multiple rounds of nostalgia-packed pop culture trivia. Whoever triumphs in this unique game of time travelling trivia enters The Vault for a chance to win a cash prize of up to $25,000.

CTV also confirmed today that nationwide casting for BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS is currently underway, with production on the 20-episode, one-hour quiz show set to begin February 2023 in Toronto. Viewers who think they have what it takes to reign supreme in this epic battle of the ages now have a chance to represent their generation on CTV’s new game show. For casting details and updates, including instructions on how to apply, fans can visit CTV.ca/BOTGcasting.

BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS not only asks how well you know your own generation but how well you know your rivals’ generations – ultimately resolving the question of which generation has what it takes to win it all. Additional programming information to be announced in the coming months.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Blink49 Studios and Bell Media’s multi-year partnership with Singh and her company Unicorn Island Productions on a unique first-look global scripted and second-look unscripted deal. Singh and Unicorn Island also have a first-look unscripted deal with Universal Television Alternative Studio.

About Lilly Singh
Lilly Singh is a multi-faceted entertainer, actress, producer, writer, and creator. A leading force in popular culture, she has amassed a global audience of nearly 40 million followers across her social media channels. Earlier this year, Singh starred in the DreamWorks Animation action-comedy The Bad Guys, which premiered to a global box office of over $230 million. Singh is also a judge on CANADA’S GOT TALENT and will star in the upcoming Disney+ comedy series The Muppets Mayhem. Singh was the only woman to host a late-night show on a broadcast network television in nearly two decades for her show A LITTLE LATE WITH LILLY SINGH. As an author, she has published the #1 New York Times bestseller “How To Be A Bawse: A Guide to Surviving Conquering Life” and “Be a Triangle: How I Went from Being Lost to Getting My Life Into Shape”, which debuted as an instant best-seller in Canada and India.

As part of her Unicorn Island umbrella, Singh launched the Unicorn Island Fund – focusing on girls who continue to be systemically undervalued across cultures and geographies. She currently resides in Los Angeles and was born and raised in Scarborough, Ont.

BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS is an international format created for markets around the world and will be available for distribution globally. The series is executive produced by Jennifer Couke and Michelle Crespi for Bell Media Studios, Martin Oxley and Abigail Adams for Motion Content Group, and Lilly Singh and Polly Auritt for Unicorn Island Productions.

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Preview: CTV’s Transplant kicks off Season 3 in shocking style

When we last left Bash, his career and those around him were at a crossroads. He was offered a job in the new trauma OR, but his mentor, Jed, left the hospital. Mags, meanwhile, aimed to change her residency, June was about to get a new roommate in the almost stepsister she didn’t know she had and Theo’s life was on the line following a helicopter crash.

So, yeah, there is a lot to address when the award-winning Transplant returns this Friday on CTV. Here’s what the network released as the official synopsis for “Fracture,” written by creator Joseph Kay and directed by Stefan Pleszczynski.

Bash’s decisions lead to conflict with the new Chief of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Neeta Devi (Rekha Sharma). Mags (Laurence Leboeuf) struggles to save a patient who thinks the system gave up on her. June (Ayisha Issa) has trouble with her new roommate – who happens to be her almost-step-sister – and gets a work proposal from Novak (Gord Rand). Theo (Jim Watson) has trouble adapting.

And here are some non-spoilery tidbits I picked up while watching a preview:

Bash and Amira become Canadian citizens
A month after the events of the Season 2 finale, we meet up with Bash and Amira, who are nervously waiting in a government office to begin the citizenship process (no word on how long they’d been waiting for an appointment), when a woman has difficulty breathing and Bash leaps to action. As an aside, I’m very impressed with Sirena Gulamgaus’ acting chops. She wasn’t a newbie actress when she started on Transplant, but her growth as a performer has evolved over the past two seasons.

We’re introduced to Dr. Neeta Devi
Played by Rekha Sharma—who has been so great in Yellowjackets—Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Devi dramatically enters York Memorial on the heels of a shocking chain reaction accident.

Theo fights to survive
Spoiler alert! Jim survived the helicopter crash. But now the real test begins; can he make his way to safety in Ontario’s unforgiving North? And if he does, how will what happened affect him?

A memorable guest gig
Veteran actor Joe Cobden (This Life, Bellevue) turns in one heck of a performance as a man who confounds Bash with his post-op demeanour. First responder series like Transplant rely on killer casting to supply episodes with engaging characters dipping in and out of York Memorial and Cobden nails his gig.

Are Mags and Bash … a thing?
There are lots of longing looks between the two during the first half of Friday’s return, but nothing to suggest anything intimate might have occurred in the last month.

Transplant airs Fridays at 9 p.m. Eastern on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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