Tag Archives: Featured

Corner Gas, Corner Gas Animated, Featured, Masterchef Canada, The Detail

Bell Media announces MasterChef Canada return; The Detail and Corner Gas Animated debuts

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If you were watching the Super Bowl on NBC—or skipped watching the game altogether—you missed a trio of big announcements made during the game broadcast on CTV.

Bell Media revealed the return date of MasterChef Canada and the debut dates for cop drama The Detail and the animated version of Corner Gas called, simply, Corner Gas Animated.

MasterChef Canada
The fifth serving of MasterChef Canada kicks off on Tuesday, April 3 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. MT, with the return of stalwart judges Michael Bonacini, Claudio Aprile and Alvin Leung. Casting for Season 5 took place last summer followed by production on the top-secret 12 episodes. Edmonton’s Trevor Connie took home the Season 4 title, beating out Vancouver’s Thea VanHerwaarden in the finale.

The Detail
Cop drama The Detail (above) bows Sunday, March 25 at 9 p.m. ET/MT, on CTV. Starring Shenae Grimes, Wendy Crewson, Angela Griffin, Ben Bass, David Cubitt and Al Mukadam, the 10-episode project centres on three fiercely talented female homicide investigators who work tirelessly to solve crimes while navigating the complicated demands of their personal lives.

Produced by Ilana Frank (Burden of Truth), The Detail was developed by co-showrunner and co-executive producer Ley Lukins alongside Adam Pettle. Executive producers are Ilana Frank, John Morayniss, and Linda Pope, with co-executive producers Jocelyn Hamilton, Sonia Hosko and Gregory Smith. The writer’s room includes Naledi Jackson, Sarah Goodman, Graeme Stewart, Katrina Saville, Joe Pernice and Matt Doyle. Directors on The Detail include Gregory Smith, Jordan Canning, Kelly Makin, Sara St. Onge, Grant Harvey, John Fawcett and James Genn.

Corner Gas Animated
Finally, Corner Gas Animated debuts Monday, April 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, on The Comedy Network. The 13 half-hour episodes will return to Dog River for more adventures with all of the original cast—Brent Butt, Fred Ewanuik, Tara Spencer-Nairn, Gabrielle Miller, Lorne Cardinal, Nancy Robertson and Corrine Koslo replacing the late Janet Wright—voicing the beloved characters.

“Fans of Corner Gas are going to see a similarity to the series and movie that they love,” co-executive producer Virginia Thompson told us back in December of 2016. “But we can expand the fantasy sequences and get into the characters’ heads and see what’s going on in there.” (Or, perhaps in the case of Hank, what isn’t going on in there.)

Which of the three Bell Media series will you be watching? Which are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments below. Keep track of Canadian TV debuts, returns and finales with our handy calendars.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

 

 

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Featured, Frankie Drake Mysteries

Preview: Frankie Drake Mysteries closes out Season 1

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On Monday, Frankie Drake Mysteries rides into the sunset with its first season finale. And what a ride it’s been. It has been a personal pleasure to see all of the hard work co-creators Michelle Ricci and Carol Hay and showrunner Cal Coons pay off big-time. Launching a television series is difficult enough, but placing it in the timeslot after Murdoch Mysteries—a program it will always be compared to—is not easy.

It’s only been an 11-episode season, but a wonderful world has been established, full of engaging characters in Flo, Mary, Trudy, Wendy and, of course, Frankie Drake herself. CBC hasn’t made it official yet, but I’m pretty sure Frankie and her pals will be back for the second round of crime-solving in the fall of 2018.

As for Monday’s finale, the CBC has released the following information for “Once Burnt Twice Spied.”

When Frankie gets a mysterious call from a British spy, Mary discovers how she and Trudy met, and how Drake Private Detectives was formed.

And here are more details after watching a screener of the episode, written by Michelle Ricci and directed by Peter Stebbings.

Origin stories
Rather than reveal how Drake Private Detectives came to be in Episode 1, we’re getting it in the season finale. An odd move, but with a great payoff. It’s meant fans have fallen in love with the characters already and the mystery as to how it all came to be could be saved. Viewers are flashed back in time—you know, before 1920—to tell the tale. For Frankie, that means a return to Toronto for a very special assignment; for Trudy, a change in career.

Pay attention to the props
In particular, a newspaper that is being read by many and frustratingly hard to decipher.

Forget 007
Frankie Drake predates James Bond when it comes to cool gadgets and weaponry.

Slasher stars, Take 3
Those actors from Slasher clearly can’t get enough of Frankie Drake Mysteries because, for the third week in a row, one appears. This time it’s Christopher Jacot as Clive Harper, a Toronto baker.

What are your thoughts on Season 1 of Frankie Drake Mysteries? Let me know in the comments below.

The season finale of Frankie Drake Mysteries airs Monday at 9 p.m. on CBC.

 

 

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Featured, Travelers

Comments and queries for the week of February 1

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The season finale [of Travelers] destroyed my good mood. I do not want to even watch anything else today on Netflix. I always laughed at people for whining about disappointing TV show finales, but now I understand. This was the worst TV experience of my life. WTF just happened? —Abrakadabra

This is what I don’t like in those series. You get so involved in it and then they just stop it. No fair at all. This is really a good show. I hope it will come back. —Lucimar

I am keen to find out the name of the actress portraying Mary’s sister on Mary Kills People and would love to know her past roles as I can’t place where I’ve seen her before. Love the show! —Sandi

Mary’s sister is played by Charlotte Sullivan, who most recently appeared on Rookie Blue as Gail Peck and Chicago Fire as Anna Turner.

I know they’ve said [Burden of Truth] is filmed in Winnipeg, but where exactly in Winnipeg is this filmed?! —Michael

Burden of Truth was filmed in Selkirk, Manitoba.

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

 

 

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries, Podcast

TV Eh B Cs podcast 75 — Uncovering Lachlan Murdoch’s Mysteries

Lachlan Murdoch was born in Vancouver, British Columbia into a family of performers. His first-ever job came when he was but two years old; cast in a commercial for “Fisher Price Baby Shampoo.”

He worked steadily as a child in many different productions including fan favourite episodes of The X Files, The Outer Limits and Stargate SG-1. Other notable appearances include Kids in the Hall’s Brain Candy and FX’s highly acclaimed movie Sins of the Father, where Lachlan would meet many future key crew members of Murdoch Mysteries.

Lachlan moved to Toronto permanently in 2002, where he finished school and went on to win his role as Henry Higgins on CBC’s massively popular Murdoch Mysteries.

Listen or download below, or subscribe via iTunes or any other podcast catcher with the TV, eh? podcast feed.

Want to support TV, eh?’s work? Become a Patreon!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Preview: Murdoch Mysteries goes hunting with Teddy Roosevelt

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My how time flies. It seems like it was just last week that I spoke to Murdoch Mysteries showrunner Peter Mitchell. Turns out it was last September when I caught up with him to tease Season 11. At the time, he was doing location scouting for the episode airing this coming Monday on CBC.

If you read that interview from last fall, you know “The Great White Moose” marks the return of Teddy Roosevelt—played by Marty Moreau—to Toronto in an episode CBC’s revealed the following storyline for:

When Theodore Roosevelt sneaks into Canada for a hunting trip, Murdoch discovers the American President is the quarry.

And, as usual, I’ve got more details after watching a screener for the episode written by Paul Aitken and Graham Clegg and directed by Leslie Hope.

Guess who?
Listen, any time a Murdoch Mysteries story revolves around a politician of some stripe, you can guarantee a certain someone will show up. He does. And he’s as fantastic and frustrating as always.

Guess who, too?
And wherever the above chap appears, you can bet this individual will follow.

Espionage aplenty
It’s been quite some time since we’ve laid eyes on the fellows in Monday’s episode of Murdoch Mysteries, and that’s a long time to go without a storyline ripe with spies, government deals, etc. It’s great fun to be plunged back into that world for 44 minutes and have that through line involve a murder, especially when it involves a trip out of the city.

Crabtree’s imagination runs wild
If you thought the “TV dinners” idea was funny, wait until you hear his input on how the murder victim was killed.

Ooooo, burn?
I’m going to have to check with Paul Aitken to confirm this, but I feel like he and Graham Clegg tease fellow Murdoch writer Simon McNabb via Brackenreid.

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC. The show is on a two-week hiatus during the Winter Olympics; new episodes resume on Feb. 26.

 

 

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