Tag Archives: Gisele’s Big Backyard

Children's Programming, Featured

Comments and queries for the week of July 15

Gisèle in Ottawa?

I was just wondering if by any chance that TVOKids’ Gisèle will be visiting my town of Ottawa this summer? Please let me know; my two girls are big fans. —Pauze

Unfortunately, Gisèle Corinthios, host of Gisèle’s Big Backyard, was one of those affected by cuts at TVO back in April. TVO confirmed she is no longer with the company.

Hello! I just read the news about Gisèle. I have a nine-month old boy who is very much developed in every aspect. Each time he is in his chair having his meal and tea he is also enjoying the kids program. But there is one time when everything stops, and that is when Gisèle is on: he stops eating and a big, bright smile stays on his face until the next show begins. —Florentina

Any more Chef in My Ear on the way?

Are we going to see another season of Chef in My Ear? —HarmonyBell

Here’s the official word from Food Network Canada: “No solid plans as of yet, but keep an eye out here for updates!”

HGTV Canada greenlights two new original series

I used to watch HGTV quite a bit but something that annoyed me was that a few of their shows, such as Property Virgins and House Hunters, featured Canadian locales then switched over to principally American locales and the Canadian versions of those shows eventually disappeared. Also, the channel’s reno shows stayed Southern Ontario-centric. I would have liked to see more Western projects. My husband really enjoys Timber Kings, but that’s about all we watch on HGTV now. I like the show Love It or List It though, especially the Vancouver one but that’s on W Network. I will have to check out the Backyard Builds show, though, because I was a counsellor at a summer camp with Sarah Keenleyside many years ago. —Alicia

 

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

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Children's Programming, Featured

Gisèle Corinthios exits TVO’s Big Backyard

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Sad news for fans of Gisèle Corinthios: the host of Gisèle’s Big Backyard is no longer with TVO. As reported back in April, the publicly funded provincial channel had cancelled production of program block, impacting six employees.

TVO confirmed on Friday that Corinthios was one of those impacted.

“TVO receives a fixed transfer from the province. Every year, our $40 million transfer gets relatively smaller as inflation allows it to buy less and less. With limited resources that effectively decline each year, TVO has to reduce costs regularly,” the channel said in a statement.

“With 14 years of production and 800 segments of Gisèle’s Big Backyard in our archive, the two-to-four year old pre-school audience will continue to enjoy GBB’s interstitial content for years to come. Since the pre-school audience turns over every two years, there is a large enough catalogue to maintain high quality service without producing new episodes. Older children require a more interactive experience to engage them, which is why TVO offers a live call-in experience with The Space weekday afternoons.”

The network is touting new original content, including mPower, a new math online in-class resource for kindergarten to Grade 6 and Climate Watch, a look at how climate change is becoming an increasing local issue.

Corinthios had been with TVO since 1998, when she became host of The Nook, which evolved into Gisèle’s Big Backyard.

 

 

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Children's Programming

TVO to End Production of Gisèle’s Big Backyard

From a media release:

Today TVO announced that while it will continue to air the daily Gisèle’s Big Backyard program block, in-house production of the short interstitial segments will end in May. With an inventory of over 800 interstitial segments for Gisèle’s Big Backyard, there is sufficient content to provide a quality educational experience to pre-school viewers during the 6am to 3pm program block.

“I would like to thank the cast, puppeteers, production team and crew of Gisèle’s Big Backyard, especially host and namesake Gisèle Corinthios, for unwavering dedication in inspiring our youngest minds to be successful in school and in life,” said Marney Malabar, Director, Kids TV.

“With limited resources, TVO must make difficult choices. Regrettably, in-house production of the short interstitial segments will cease, but we will be able to continue to serve our two to four year old pre-school audience with our inventory of Gisèle’s Big Backyard for years to come,” added Malabar.

This announcement impacts approximately six employees and seven hours of in-house production per year.

There will be no visible changes to viewers, with children still able to enjoy favourites like Paw Patrol, Hi Opie!, Doozers and Alphabet Goop each day, introduced by learning lessons from Gisèle and the team.

This announcement does not affect The Space, TVO’s afternoon programming block designed for school-age children.

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