Tag Archives: Featured

Featured, Private Eyes

Jason Priestley has fun solving crimes in Global’s Private Eyes

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Republic of Doyle fans rejoice! You’re got a new wise-cracking, sports car driving primetime private investigator to cheer for with Private Eyes, debuting Thursday on Global. Loosely based on the book The Code by Gare Joyce, Jason Priestley is Matt Shade, an ex-professional hockey player who swaps the rink for investigating high-stakes crimes when he teams with P.I. Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson).

“We’ve only sent one person to the hospital during filming,” Sampson says with a laugh during a break in filming. She is, of course referring to Priestley’s tumble off a horse that briefly shut down production last November. The fact he can laugh about the incident shows how comfortable he is with his co-star, something that comes across in the first episode. Private Eyes‘ theme sets the tone for the series; Vancouver’s Dear Rouge have updated the classic Hall & Oates tune for the opening credits, providing a funky, fun feel.

Private2

Tuesday’s debut episode of 10 introduces viewers to the main players, when Matt is stunned the minor hockey player he’s been scouting collapses on the ice. Suspicious a fellow player may have had a hand in the incident, Matt joins Angie and they delve into a handful of suspects. Both are headstrong and used to getting their own way, which results in a lot of sniping back and forth. There are, of course, the first hints at some sexual chemistry between the pair, adding another layer to their relationship. Rounding out the cast—and sanding Matt’s rough edges—are Matt’s legally blind daughter, Jules (Jordyn Negri) and father Don (Barry Flatman). Clé Bennett and Ennis Esmer play Det. Derek Nolan and Det. Kurtis Mazhari, who both have dim views of Matt.

“Matt’s plate is pretty full,” Priestley says. “He’s taken over primary custody of Jules, so he’s a guy who is struggling to figure out how his new situation is going to work out in his life. But he’s also trying to figure out this new situation in his life. He’s a guy who’s stuck between these two strong women and trying to figure out a balance.”

Will  there be romance between Angie and Shade? That’s not in the cards … yet.

“We’re not exploring that option at this point,” Sampson says. “There are so many other women and so many other men and the cases to be solved too.”

Private Eyes airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.

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Featured, Still Standing

Comments and queries for the week of May 20

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CBC unveils its 2016 summer schedule

It’s a good schedule, but I was hoping for a second run of This Life. Also, the upcoming drama Shoot the Messenger was previously announced as a summer show but it didn’t make the cut. I will watch Still Standing and When Calls the Heart, plus I will check out Four in the Morning and Baroness Von Sketch Show. —Alicia O

Murdoch Mysteries‘ Season 9 and what’s to come in Season 10

I LOVE, and repeatedly re-watch, every episode of all nine seasons! Great entertainment! Amazing cast! Extremely creative plots! (Except there was just too much of the James Gillies character for me.) There is SO much fun in this show, even in some of the seemingly minor details! (Like Brackenreid’s barber—who gets rich by investing—being played on the show by the author of the best-selling book The Wealthy Barber!) But I do have one question: what about Terrence Meyers? I guess we are to assume his rocket ride was fatal, but sometimes I wonder. —LAL

Canada AM‘s Jeff Hutcheson announces retirement

The only reason we watch the show is because of Jeff’s calm, personable, subtle humour. He is a great presenter, announcer, weatherman and the best interviewer on the show. How will you replace that? All the best to him in his retirement. Our mornings will not be the same. —Elaine

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

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Featured, Slasher

Slasher comes to a bloody end

This is it Canadian Slasher fans, the Season 1 finale, “Soon Your Own Eyes Will See,” is upon us. Friday’s last episode synopsis from Super Channel states, “Hurt and confused by Dylan’s betrayal, Sarah seeks solace with Cam while The Executioner works to exact a final vengeance.” Sure, that’s accurate, but clearly not enough information to satisfy die-hard fans.

Here’s a little more to tide you over until the episode airs.

Season 1 ends as it began, with Halloween
Kids are running around in costumes collecting candy, Robin is hosting a Halloween party in Justin’s honour and The Executioner isn’t quite done with his reign of terror. Yes, the seven sins have been addressed, but you can’t keep a good killer down, can you?

Slasher

The Executioner’s past is revealed
Who is The Executioner and what screwed-up childhood lead to a life of murder and mayhem? We get the backstory and insight into what happened via flashback.

Sarah is in grave danger
She may not have been on The Executioner’s naughty list, but she becomes a target with one well-placed offensive move. You’ll know it when you see it, and leads to an emotional, graphic final scene.

Final thoughts
I’ve really enjoyed Season 1 of Slasher. Every time the show seemed to be heading into a corner story-wise, creator Aaron Martin veered into another direction. I’m also thrilled he signed on actors like Dean McDermott, Steve Byers and Erin Karpluk and challenged them with roles unlike ones they’ve played before. Fingers crossed Martin gets to do it all again with a new cast for a second season.

Slasher‘s Season 1 finale airs Friday at 9 p.m. ET on Super Channel.

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Blood and Water, Featured

Set visit: Cameras roll on new episodes of Blood and Water

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I’m constantly amazed when I visit the set of a television show. Take Blood and Water, for instance. It’s easy to walk by the nondescript building in Toronto’s Liberty Village, steps away from a GO Transit platform, and have absolutely no clue cameras are rolling.

Yet that’s where Omni’s police drama—as it did for Block 1—is camped out for 18 days of production on-set and some location before completing filming in Vancouver. The warren of hallways and open spaces in the former Inglis factory (Lost Girl filmed there too) serves as the Vancouver Police Department where Det. Jo Bradley (Steph Song) is working her latest case.

Picking up a year after the events of the first eight episodes, Jo has got a new partner in Det. Evan Ong (Byron Mann) and new boss in Lt. Barron (Aidan Devine). Song says things get interesting for Jo during the next set of stories—referred to as Block 2 rather than Season 2 due to the way funding was spread out—because of her history with one cop and thoughts about the other. What is obvious about Jo is she’s in a better place than we last saw her. Not that Jo is hopping on stage to perform standup anytime soon, but her personal life isn’t as dour.

A poster in the Vancouver Police Department set.
A poster in the Vancouver Police Department set.

There is, however, another crime to keep Jo and Evan busy in the Mandarin, Cantonese and English-speaking series.

“This block takes place in Ghost Month, and is tied to the first block because a ghost isn’t necessarily a physical manifestation of somebody who is dead,” creator, writer and executive producer Diane Boehme says. “We’re going to play with that. It’s also about what haunts you. It’s regret, it’s the thing you did that you shouldn’t have done or the thing that you should have and the things that remain unresolved. All of our characters are wrestling with that.” Ron Xie (Oscar Hsu) is also back and dealing not only with the loss of his sons, but a power struggle within his company.

Ghost Month isn’t the only thing haunting the cast: the challenge of learning Mandarin and Cantonese is a constant spectre hovering over many. Dialect coaches help the actors and actresses with pronunciation and to ensure the correct phrasing is used.

“I wish they just wrote everything from the first block, because I still have those lines locked away somewhere,” Loretta Yu says with a laugh. “It’s definitely a challenge because I’m working in three languages this year. It’s been stressful, but really good, and I’m up for the challenge.”

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Anne, Featured

Moira Walley-Beckett looks for Canada’s next Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables may have been set in the 1900s, but she’s as popular as ever today. Want proof? How about the hundreds of girls who devoted sunny Saturday, May 7, to audition for the lead role in CBC’s upcoming eight-part first season of Anne?

Some wore costumes to look like Anne Shirley, a few even had red hair, most had their tresses done up to look like the energetic star of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novels. Prepped with two scenes to perform, the girls—who convened in a multi-use building in east Toronto—were auditioning for Moira Walley-Beckett (Breaking Bad), Anne‘s writer and executive producer, who’d flown in from Nunavut for the first stop in the cross-Canada audition tour. (The remaining dates on the tour are Charlottetown on May 28th and Halifax on May 29 and May 30; go to theannesearch.com for more details.)

We spoke to Walley-Beckett about what she’s looking for in a leading lady, what Season 1 of Anne will be about, and returning to her native Canada to film a TV show.

This is an iconic character in Canada and around the world. Are you feeling pressure, especially since the 1985 miniseries is so beloved?
Moira Walley-Beckett: I hope to meet those expectations and exceed them. If there wasn’t more to explore, I wouldn’t be doing it. Anne is a story that I cherish—I grew up with Anne—and there is The Annotated Anne of Green Gables which is a tome, a hardback book where they go through, page by page with footnotes, what everything refers to. It’s my bible. I want to honour the material and I feel an enormous amount of responsibility and pressure to do it right and to serve it.

I’m also really excited to explore some uncharted territory within the story by opening up what’s between the lines and exploring what’s intimated at a lot of times but isn’t actually on the page. Lucy Maud is an interesting writer. She writes glorious prose and vivid characters that leap off the page, but a lot of the things that happen in television don’t happen in the book. For example: Anne’s first day of school. In the book, we don’t go there; she just comes home and tells Marilla about it. I want to go to school. I want to be there. I want to see how she deals with all of these children the very first time and what they think of this stranger in town. That’s the stuff that gets me jazzed.

It’s my plan to make it feel relatable and fresh and when somebody sits down to watch it they say, ‘Oh my God, that happened to me today at school.’

What’s the layout of the series if it’s renewed?
These are the high school years. The second season would still be within the first book because the first book moves really fast and I want to take my time with it.

What are you looking for from the girls auditioning for the role?
I’m asking a lot of this young actress. I’m asking her to have virtuosity. She has a lot to do, and Anne the character is so mercurial. Her highs are high, her lows are low … she has an inability to self-edit, and that requires a lot of facility. I hope these girls invest, I hope they don’t stay outside the material. The ones that will excite me the most and spark me are the ones who have a real understanding of the character and what they’re saying. Other than that, I’m wide open and want to see who’s here.

What are some modern-day story angles that you can explore in Anne?
A lot of the issues in the books are issues kids are dealing with today. The struggle to belong, bullying and just what it means to navigate these hormonal, pubescent years and try to fit in while trying to figure out who you are at the same time. It’s my plan to make it feel relatable and fresh and when somebody sits down to watch it they say, ‘Oh my God, that happened to me today at school.’

How is the writing going? Are you done all eight scripts?
I am not all done writing. [Laughs.] For some inexplicable reason I decided to write all eight episodes myself. No, I’m really loving it. It’s funny, because when I was up in the Arctic shooting The Grizzlies, I had a little moment to myself to whip back to my room and busted Anne out and wrote a little scene in Episode 6. It was such a relief to go to Avonlea again.

Are you able to write anywhere?
I can write anywhere, but I don’t like to. [Laughs.] I can write on a plane or anywhere, except for a coffee shop. I like to write at home, in my environment, in my pyjamas.

Are you excited to film Anne in Canada?
I’m thrilled to be back. I’ve missed Canada. I’m from Vancouver and it’s refreshing. The feeling of coming home is palpable and it’s really nice. There is a whole different vibe here that I’ve missed.

Anne goes into production this summer.

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