With Greg away this week, Anthony and Diane discuss the upcoming CBC schedule, new CTV morning show, the Leo Awards, Private Eyes’ good premiere ratings and a slew of new series announcements.
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The media releases from Corus today make me fear for their advanced caffeination levels and I can’t bring myself to print them verbatim but among the Canadian series news are these tidbits with the superlative adjectives edited out:
Global
Ransom – As announced yesterday, Global, together with TF1 France, green lit new original suspense drama Ransom, starring Luke Roberts (Black Sails, Game of Thrones), with CBS joining as a broadcast partner for the series. Production on Ransom will begin later this summer.
Mary Kills People – Also in production this summer, Global’s new original drama Mary Kills People has cast Caroline Dhavernas(Hannibal) as the series lead. The six-episode series follows Dr. Mary Harris (Dhavernas), a single mother and emergency doctor, who also moonlights as an underground angel of death – helping terminally ill patients who want to die slip away on their own terms. So far Mary has managed to stay under the radar; but her double life gets complicated when the police start to close in, forcing Mary to fight dirty if she’s going to stay in the killing game.
Big Brother Canada – After its most successful season yet, with an average audience of almost 1.2 million viewers per episode (2+) – growing audiences with total viewers and key demos A18-49 and A25-54 versus Season 3, Big Brother Canada, returns for a fifth season of competing, scheming, and household chaos. Based on Endemol Shine Group’s worldwide franchise and commissioned by Corus Entertainment Inc., Season 5 of Big Brother Canada is produced by Insight Productions in association with Corus Entertainment Inc.
Specialty Top Chef Canada from Food Network Canada makes its return with an All-Stars edition slated for early 2017. Real Housewives of Toronto promises an intimate look at the luxurious lives of the city’s wealthiest women, from their extravagant day-to-day escapades in Toronto to grandiose getaways at their exclusive colossal cottages in Muskoka, Canada’s playground for the rich and famous. A different kind of haute couture continues in the new Slice™ original Style Factory with a behind-the-scenes look at how fashion and beauty products are made. W Network is set to launch the first ever version of The Bachelorette Canada this fall. Bryan Baeumler, Scott McGillivray, and Mike Holmes all return to HGTV Canadawith new series this fall. Bryan Inc., Moving the McGillivrays, and Holmes and Holmes each give a deeper look into the personal and professional lives of the network’s biggest stars.
HISTORY treks north to Edmonton International Airport in the new, original series Airport: Below Zero. The series takes Canadians behind-the-scenes at North America’s most northerly big city airport. Joining HISTORY in Spring 2017, a team of crack investigators search for billions of dollars worth of treasures stolen by the Nazis in Nazi Treasure Hunters. Finally, CMT (Canada) brings host Billy Bretherton north of the 49th parallel in the original series Billy Goes North. The series chronicles Billy’s adventure with Canadian pests, critters, and gnarly animals other exterminators can’t handle alone.
Last night the Leo Awards presented their gala awards ceremony — the final of three nights celebrating British Columbia’s film and television industry — and the television winners  were dispersed among several shows.
CTV’s whydunnit Motive won best dramatic series, beating out 19-2, Blackstone, Continuum and The Romeo Section.
In performances, Jared Keeso was named best lead performance by a male for 19-2, and Carmen Moore of Blackstone won best lead performance by a female. Lauren Lee Smith of This Life was named best supporting performance by a female, with Osric Chau  best supporting male for Blood and Water.
Jesse McKeown picked up a screenwriting award for 19-2’s “Orphans” episode, while David Frazee won best direction in a dramatic series for The Romeo Section’s “Elephant Faces East.”
For a complete list of winners, see the Leo Awards website.
From our mailbag:
All these media releases keep saying Cardinal is CTV’s first ever serialized drama – huh?
References to that six-part murder mystery as “CTV’s first-ever original serialized drama” popped up in CTV’s announcement this week about The Disappearance, which they were billing as their second-ever serialized drama. People with long memories cited 1973’s Starlost as likely the first serialized original drama on the network, with later contenders including Would Be Kings, Associates, Whistler, The City (aka Flesh and Blood) and Power Play. After my inquiry, CTV adjusted the media release on their website to say that Cardinal and The Disappearance are the first- and second-ever limited run original serialized dramas. Would Be Kings was a two-part miniseries they’re not including in the definition of “limited run”, but I’ve simply deleted the reference in the media release as published on this site.
Just realized CBC didn’t mention “Caught” in their latest press release about the new season. I wonder what’s up?
As our questioner saw immediately after tweeting us, Allan Hawco, the star and producer, tweeted that the show will be delayed from the winter 2017 time period originally announced. The Council is another show missing from CBC’s recent season media release, and was originally announced as a fall 2016 newcomer. CBC’s Sally Catto explained that Caught was caught in a financing issue, while The Council has been delayed because of climate and location issues — it was being filmed in Iqaluit and Manitoba.
I think the climate excuse is a crock. The north is the north and the show needs to adapt to what they are given.
Sure, but a few points to consider …
We may never know if there were other issues involved as well, but I don’t have any problem believing climate and location was a big one. I also think it’s admirable they want to shoot in the place the series is set rather than faking the Arctic around Vancouver.
Who plays David (silver-haired man) in tonight’s episode of Sensitive Skin (season 2 episode 2, May 29, 2016)? Thanks.
Guest starring in that Kim Cattrall series is Hamilton-born, Edmonton-raised Rick Roberts (pictured above), who also has a starring role in CBC’s This Life (which returns for a second season Sundays this fall). He’s had a long and varied career in Canada and the US so he might look familiar from Republic of Doyle, Traders, Jack (the Jack Layton TV movie), Pontypool or a number of other roles — not always with that distinctive silver hair, of course.
This seems good, but it just reminds me a bit too much of Republic of Doyle, don’t you think? I didn’t know it was inspired by a book though, so it might be just a coincidence, but I don’t know …
I think if you watch the show you’ll see it has a similar tone to Republic of Doyle but it’s far from a carbon copy. Given the CBC series isn’t coming back, its fans might find this one scratching a similar itch, though. It’s worth noting that wisecracking detective/cop shows are not rare, especially in Canada — no reason to think there’s a copycat situation going on here.
Just curious how to become an applicant for the show Wipeout Canada.
The show had its first and only season in 2011 on the now-defunct TVropolis channel, so the short answer is you can’t. Actually that’s the long answer too, since even the longer-running U.S. version is now off the air.
Absent from CBC’s recently announced 2016/17 season were two previously announced series, The Council and Caught.
Playback quoted Sally Catto, general manager of programming at CBC, as saying The Council has been pushed back to fall of 2017 for “location and climate-related reasons” (the series was to be shot in Iqaluit and Manitoba), while Caught is delayed because of a financing issue. While it is still going ahead, she can’t provide a new air date yet.
The Council was originally announced for fall 2016. From showrunner René Balcer (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), the series “is set against the unfolding drama of our changing planet and draws inspiration from the true-to-life fight over the vast and valuable resources of the Arctic. The series traces the journey of two cops who uncover a small-town murder that is at the heart of a global conspiracy.”
Caught is the adaptation of a Lisa Moore novel originally announced for winter 2017, to be co-produced by Republic of Doyle’s Allan Hawco, who will also star. Caught “is set in 1978 and follows a young man who was caught smuggling drugs to Newfoundland. After spending five years in prison, he breaks out in order to do one last drug run in a futile attempt to shake off his past and set himself up for life. Slaney embarks on a cross-country adventure filled with fascinating characters and close calls. ”
In response to fan reaction on Twitter, Hawco responded:
Sorry no!
Caught has been delayed so we’re not premiering atthis rpund of upfronts!
I’m at home writing away!
— Allan Hawco (@allanhawco) May 30, 2016
