Tag Archives: Kim’s Convenience

Award-winning Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee joins the cast of Murdoch Mysteries

From a media release:

Shaftesbury and CBC announced today that award-winning, Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Mandalorian) will join the cast of the CBC original hit series MURDOCH MYSTERIES as the series commences production on its 18th season in Toronto. Lee enters the “Murdoch-verse” as Inspector Albert Choi, who brings a whole new perspective to Station House #4. Best known for his portrayal as Appa on Kim’s Convenience, as well as Uncle Iroh on Netflix’s live-action remake of Avatar: The Last Airbender, this new role marks Lee’s first foray into the world of period drama. 

CBC’s most-watched show and Canada’s top-rated long-running drama, MURDOCH MYSTERIES is set in Toronto in the early 1900s during the age of invention, where Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) enlists innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city’s most perplexing murders. Notable guest stars on the series have included William Shatner, Margaret Atwood, Geddy Lee, Chris Hadfield, Ed Asner and Nick Nurse, adding star-studded intrigue to its compelling tales. The 18th season, consisting of 22 episodes and celebrating the series’ 300th episode, will broadcast on CBC and CBC Gem in Canada this fall, Acorn TV and Ovation TV in the U.S. and on Alibi in the UK.

Ahead of the Season 18 premiere of MURDOCH MYSTERIES this fall, a special ‘Beginner’s Guide to Murdoch Mysteries’ collection is now available to stream for free on CBC Gem. The 10 iconic episodes are the perfect Murdoch primer pulled from across the series and highlight the show’s trademark mystery, murder and Detective Murdoch’s unflappable resolve. 

“We are delighted that Paul has joined us in the world of Murdoch,” says Executive Producer Peter Mitchell. “Paul brings a wealth of experience to his role as Inspector Albert Choi and we think the fans will really enjoy seeing him on the team at Station House 4.”

Season 18 is full of ‘Murdochian’ delights: a murder at a Charles Dickens convention; Murdoch acting as a bodyguard for a silent film star (Siobhan Murphy) and thrown into a cinematic adventure himself; foiling a theft of the world’s largest ruby; proving the veracity of a ‘Missing Link’ skull found in Milton, Ontario; and a holiday episode celebrating the ‘misfits’ and singletons.  Episodes that root mysteries in the social issues of the time are also explored: a worker’s strike at a factory; an early instance of low-income housing; competing public hydro projects; and immigrants trying to purchase land in the ‘paradise’ of the wilds of Canada. 

MURDOCH MYSTERIES was born out Maureen Jennings’ 1997 novel Except the Dying. Key characters in Murdoch’s world include Chief Constable Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), Constables George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch), Detective Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany), Chief Coroner Violet Hart (Shanice Banton), Margaret Brackenreid (Arwen Humphreys) and Effie Newsome-Crabtree (Clare McConnell) as Canada’s first female Crown Attorney. In addition, the milestone 300th episode will see Detective Murdoch visit the UK to see his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy), as they celebrate their wedding anniversary. This season will also introduce several fresh, new faces, as well as combining the history, humour, romance, and adventure that makes MURDOCH MYSTERIES so popular and unique for viewers around the world. 

MURDOCH MYSTERIES is developed and produced by Shaftesbury, in association with CBC, ITV Studios, and UKTV, and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the IPF’s COGECO Television Production Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and Ontario Creates. Shaftesbury Sales Company and ITV Studios hold worldwide distribution rights for the series. 

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Links: Run the Burbs, Season 2

From Aisling Murphy of the Toronto Star:

Link: ‘We laugh a lot on set’: Andrew Phung and Rakhee Morzaria on running the ’burbs for a second season
“One thing we noticed right away was that our audience was much younger, was often families and often families of colour. That’s something I’m really proud of. In order for us to make those changes in our media landscape, we have to engage audiences who haven’t always been engaged by mainstream broadcasters.” Continue reading.

From Eric Volmers of the Calgary Herald:

Link: What about Bob? Albertans Andrew Phung and Gavin Crawford face off in Season 2 of Run the Burbs
In the three years that Andrew Phung worked at Calgary’s Village Square Leisure Centre co-ordinating youth programs, he got a good look at bureaucracy. Continue reading.

From Courtney Shea of Toronto Life:

Link: “King Street nightlife is fun, but then you turn 30 and just want to be in bed by 11”: A Q&A with Run the Burbs creator Andrew Phung
“If Full House was about the Tanners, you could say Run the Burbs is about their neighbours—the people whose stories never got told. But our show is unique in other ways: a lot of family comedies are about bickering, whereas my show is about two adults who love their kids. It’s funny that such a basic premise feels fresh.” Continue reading.

From Noel Ransome of The Canadian Press:

Link: ‘Run the Burbs’ has a new showrunner and renewed focus on authenticity for Season 2
Newly minted “Run the Burbs” showrunner Anthony Q. Farrell firmly believes that authenticity is a central part of diverse storytelling — from the script to diverging perspectives on set that express what is real versus “what doesn’t feel true.” Continue reading.

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Ins Choi to lead story room for first-ever comedy cohort of CFC’s Bell Media Prime Time TV Program

From a media release:

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and Bell Media are pleased to welcome award-winning playwright, actor and Kim’s Convenience co-creator, writer and executive producer Ins Choi as Executive Producer in Residence of the first-ever comedy cohort of The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program.

The comedy cohort, which will run from October 2022 to the end of March 2023, has been designed for writers specifically looking to gain experience in comedy writing and engage in a collaborative comedy series story room. The comedy cohort is an offering for Black, Indigenous and/or racialized creators in Canada, to celebrate and amplify a diversity of underrepresented voices and stories so they can ultimately be seen and heard on screens in Canada and around the world. Throughout the first half of the program, the writer residents will work as a team with Choi to develop an original new series. The selection process for the six writers who will be invited to participate in this cohort is currently underway; their names will be announced in early August.

Ins Choi is best known for his debut play, Kim’s Convenience, which was a nominee for the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, won the Best New Play Award and the Patron’s Pick at the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival, and toured across Canada with Soulpepper. Choi adapted Kim’s Convenience into a TV series of the same name with Thunderbird Entertainment, where he served as a writer, executive producer and co-creator. The fan-favourite series ran for five seasons on CBC, was picked up by Netflix, and won multiple awards, including the Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series in 2018.

Choi’s select theatre acting credits include Banana Boys, lady in the red dress (fu-GEN); Hamlet, The Odyssey (Stratford Festival); and Death of a Salesman, Alligator Pie (Soulpepper). He is currently developing many other creative projects, including his play, Bad Parent, which is being produced for fall 2022 by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and Soulpepper.

The Bell Media Prime Time TV Program is recognized industry-wide for training emerging and mid-level TV writers and has played a vital role in the development of new and diverse television series. The program has attracted some of Canada’s most prolific and successful showrunners to lead the story room as Executive Producer in Residence, including Bruce Smith, Michael MacLennan, Brad Wright, Dennis Heaton and Shelley Eriksen. Learn more about the program here.

About the CFC
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable cultural organization that drives the future of Canadian storytelling. Our intensive, hands-on programs in film, television, and entertainment technologies empower, shape and advance opportunities for Canadian creators and entrepreneurs working in screen-based industries. Learn more at cfccreates.com.

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Transplant, Kim’s Convenience leads, Sort Of and Scarborough win at the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards gala

Transplant and its lead actors, Laurence Leboeuf and Hamza Haq, Kim’s Convenience leads Jean Yoon and Paul Sun-Hyung Kim, Sort Of and Scarborough were given trophies during the Canadian Screen Awards gala.

Sunday’s online gala was hosted by Tallboyz, who captured four Canadian Screen Awards earlier in the week.

Wynonna Earp received the Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award which was voted on by fans.

Here are the winners in Sunday’s television and film categories:

Best Lead Actor, Comedy
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Kim’s Convenience

Best Lead Actress, Comedy
Jean Yoon, Kim’s Convenience

Best Comedy Series
Sort Of, CBC

Radius Award
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Liam Diaz, Scarborough

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Night Raiders

Lifetime Achievement Award
Bob Cole

Ted Rogers Best Feature-Length Documentary
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy

Changemaker Award
Kayla Grey, Kathleen Newman-Bremang, Amanda Parris

Best Host or Presenter, Factual or Reality/Competition
Brooke Lynn Hytes, Traci Melchor, Amanda Brugel, Brad Goreski, Canada’s Drag Race

Best Lead Actress, Drama Series
Laurence Leboeuf, Transplant

Best Lead Actor, Drama Series
Hamza Haq, Transplant

Best Drama Series
Transplant

Achievement in Direction
Shasha Nakhai, Rich Williamson, Scarborough

Gordon Sinclair Award for Broadcast Journalism
Rassi Nashalik

Cogeco Fund Audience Choice Award
Wynonna Earp

Best Motion Picture
Scarborough

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Simu Liu to host The 2022 JUNO Awards in Toronto, live on CBC

From a media release:

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and CBC announced today that Simu Liu, Marvel Studios star of Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings, is returning to his hometown to take on a new role: host of The 2022 JUNO Awards Broadcast. The first in-person iteration of the show since 2019, this year’s event will be held at Budweiser Stage in Toronto, on Sunday, May 15 and broadcast and streamed live across Canada at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio One, CBC Music, CBC Listen, globally at CBCMusic.ca/junos and CBC Music’s Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages.

“It’s an absolute honour to be hosting The 51st Annual JUNO Awards,” said  Simu Liu. “Canadian entertainment and culture hold a very important place in my heart and getting the chance to experience the festivities in my hometown makes the experience even more special to me.”

This past year, Liu made history as the star of the first Asian-fronted movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings (2021), which earned him The People’s Choice Award for Favourite Action Movie Star. He also made headlines last December after a widely-applauded hosting debut on Saturday Night Live. Prior to that, Liu starred for five seasons in the CBC original comedy series Kim’s Convenience, which won the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in 2017. The show later went on to win the award for Best Comedy Series at the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards. Liu’s other film and television credits include ABC’s Fresh Off the BoatAwkwafina Is Nora from Queens and NBC’s Taken. His memoir, “We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story,” will be released by HarperCollins in May 2022.

Tickets for The 2022 JUNO Awards start at $39.95 and go on sale Friday, March 4.

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