From Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter:
Link: ‘Letterkenny’ is the Canadian comedy you didn’t know you needed
The first time I ran into the Canadian comedy Letterkenny, which will make its U.S. debut Friday on Hulu (the first two seasons, of five so far), it was hearing both of my teenagers laughing about something on YouTube. Like, for a long time. It was the cold open from Letterkenny‘s first season. Continue reading.Â
From a media release:
− New original comedy JANN and Season 3 of THE BEAVERTONjoin CTV’s winning schedule, as acclaimed event series CARDINAL is renewed for Season 4 in advance of Season 3 premiere −
− CANADA’S WALK OF FAME AWARDS returns to CTV –
− Bell Media Studios renewals include ETALK, THE MARILYN DENIS SHOW, THE SOCIAL, and YOUR MORNING –
− Three new titles join Discovery’s 10 returning original series for 2018/19 −
− New six-pack of LETTERKENNY slated for Crave TV –
− The Comedy Network renews CORNER GAS ANIMATED for Season 2 and returns to Montréal for new Just For Laughs projects –
−MASTERCHEF CANADA winner and celebrity chef Mary Berg stars in new lifestyle series MARY MAKES IT EASY for Gusto –
− Animated shorts series LITTLEKENNY joins interactive stand-up series JOKEOFF on Snackable TV −
In advance of today’s #CTVUpfront, Bell Media confirmed today its first wave of new and returning, English-language, original entertainment programming for 2018/19. A total of 13 new and 29 returning original series and specials are confirmed to- date, produced in partnership with independent producers and international content companies, as well as Bell Media Studios, the company’s in-house production arm.
Bell Media once again plans to spend nearly $900 million overall on French and English programming in 2018/19, all promoted by the Bell Media megaphone, including Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV.
More Canadians make Bell Media’s original programs their choice for homegrown viewing than any other media company. As Canada’s most-watched network in primetime for 17 years in a row, CTV is home to:
NEW Bell Media Original Series and Specials for 2018/19 (by channel):
CTV
JANN
JANN is an original comedy series starring Jann Arden. Arden plays a fictionalized version of herself: a singer-songwriter of a “certain ageâ€; dealing with the harsh reality that her former music career is now on a slow, relentless slide into obscurity. But it’s not just Jann’s career that’s on life support – she’s newly single, her sister may disown her, and her mother is clearly suffering from the early stages of dementia. Although Jann’s personal life is in shambles, she’s convinced that the cure-all is to rebrand her image in order to reclaim her celebrity status, so she embarks on a quest to return to greatness but gets tangled in the pressures of her ‘real’ life. Jann is at the crossroads between who she was, and who she wants to be, if she can just figure out what’s really important. (Project 10 Productions; 6 x :30)
CANADA’S WALK OF FAME AWARDS
CTV announced this morning a multi-year partnership with Canada’s Walk of Fame to become the official and exclusive broadcaster of the CANADA’S WALK OF FAME AWARDS in time for the awards’ 20th anniversary this December. CTV’s broadcast of THE 2018 CANADA’S WALK OF FAME AWARDS is a celebration of Canadians who have excelled on the national and international stage in their respective fields, including music, sports, film and television, literary, visual and performing arts, science, innovation, philanthropy, and social justice. The star-studded 2018 CANADA’S WALK OF FAME AWARDS broadcast will feature must-see performances and inspiring stories from previous and new inductees. (Insight Productions)
The Comedy Network
Just For Laughs
The Comedy Network returns to Montréal for the Just for Laughs Festival this summer, shooting a new stand-up series and specials for the 2018-19 broadcast year. (Just For Laughs Television)
CraveTV
NEW EDEN
CraveTV’s latest original production is NEW EDEN. Going into production this fall, the darkly funny mockumentary is a “true crime†anthology from two of Canada’s hottest comedic voices, Evany Rosen (PICNICFACE, BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW) and Kayla Lorette (THE BEAVERTON, SPACE RIDERS). (Peacock Alley Entertainment; 8 x :30)
Discovery
VINTAGE TECH HUNTERS
VINTAGE TECH HUNTERS follows a fascinating journey across North America in search of amazing pop culture and tech memorabilia. (Crooked Horse Productions/Boat Rocker Studios; 14 x :30)
DISASTERS AT SEA
New docudrama series DISASTERS AT SEA highlights the most mysterious and unexpected marine disasters in recent history. (Exploration Production Inc.)
ALBERTA FLOODS: ROGUE EARTH
Marking the fifth anniversary of the catastrophic “flood of floods,†ALBERTA FLOODS: ROGUE EARTH joins Discovery’s ROGUE EARTH documentary series. (Pixcom Productions; :60)
Gusto
MARY MAKES IT EASY
Mary Berg has a gift for making irresistibly delicious food. Her signature style is beautiful, but approachable; impressive, but never pretentious. For Mary, cooking is about fun and family and a strategic lack of fuss. When it comes to cooking science, Mary is an unapologetic food nerd who loves to demystify the process and break down techniques. Whether it’s an elegant party or an everyday dinner, Mary shows viewers how to dial down their stress with time-saving tips and easy-to-follow advice. (Proper Television; 30 x :30)
SnackableTV
LITTLEKENNY
There are 500 kids at Letterkenny Central School, and these are their problems. Based on CraveTV’s smash-hit LETTERKENNY, LITTLEKENNY is a series of animated, short-form extensions of the award-winning Canadian comedy program, and marks SnackableTV’s first foray into original content. Written and created by Jared Keeso, LITTLEKENNY includes the Hick’s origin story: how standing up for each other on the schoolyard resulted in their friendship. (New Metric Media/ DHX Media/ Playfun Games; Animation services provided by Little Blackstone Inc.; 6 episodes)
JOKEOFF
SnackableTV has commissioned its first interactive content. JOKEOFF is a new series that pits some of the world’s top comedians against each other in the ultimate stand-up competition. The short-form, bracket-style elimination series features a renowned mix of incredible comedic talent – from Kevin Hart, Joan Rivers, and Debra DiGiovanni, to Gilbert Gottfried, Jay Pharaoh, and Kevin James – as they go head-to-head in daily match-ups with some of their best material curated from the unparalleled Just For Laughs stand-up archives. The audience votes on the best jokes from each matchup and the winner from each round moves forward. The JokeOffs continue until there’s just on comedian standing! (Just For Laughs; 32 match-ups)
2018/19 Original Bell Media Studios Productions
Producing some of Canada’s most-watched daily programs, Bell Media Studios continues to offer a robust and unrivaled lineup of flagship series and national specials, along with factual and lifestyle series, including:
Returning Bell Media Original Series Confirmed to Date for 2018/19 (by genre):
Drama
Sci-Fi
Reality
Factual
Lifestyle
From a media release:
CraveTV and New Metric Media confirmed today that U.S. streaming platform Hulu has acquired the exclusive U.S. streaming rights to the first two seasons of the award-winning Canadian comedy series, LETTERKENNY, in a deal executed by series distributor DHX Media. Created by and starring Jared Keeso, the half-hour, small-town comedy is produced by New Metric Media in partnership with DHX Media and Playfun Games. Seasons 1 and 2 of the small-town comedy series will make their debut in the U.S. on Friday, July 13, only on Hulu.
As announced in October, CraveTV entered into a 40-plus episode production commitment and comprehensive multi-year deal with LETTERKENNY producers New Metric Media, the recipient of the 2018 Innovative Producer Award for entrepreneurial achievement at the upcoming Banff World Media Festival’s Rockie Awards.
As announced last week, all-new LETTERKENNY returns to Canadian screens Canada Day weekend, with a fresh six-pack launching Friday, June 29 exclusively on CraveTV. Jay Baruchel guest stars as Hard Right Jay, a Tiki Torch-carrying out-of-towner, who stirs things up in Letterkenny.
Based on the internet sensation Letterkenny Problems, the half-hour comedy is a top performer and marquee program for CraveTV since its memorable launch on Super Bowl Sunday in 2016.  LETTERKENNY took home two 2018 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Writing in a Comedy Program or Series, and Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series. The series has also spawned brand extensions including sought after LETTERKENNY merchandise and the highly successful Puppers Premium Lager, in partnership with Stack Brewery in Sudbury, available now at LCBO stores in Ontario. LETTERKENNY LIVE!, a packed 26-city tour featuring a 90-minute comedy experience starring Keeso, and LETTERKENNY cast Nathan Dales, K. Trevor Wilson, and Mark Forward kicked off in Halifax on February 28 and wrapped in Surrey on April 6.
LETTERKENNY revolves around the dustups Wayne (Jared Keeso) and his buds get into with their small-town rivals. The Hicks, The Skids, and The Hockey Players get at each other about the most mundane things, often ending with someone getting their ass kicked. Key residents of LETTERKENNY are Daryl (Nathan Dales), Wayne’s free-spirited younger sister Katy (Michelle Mylett), and Wayne’s buddy, Dan (K Trevor Wilson) – all Hicks. CSA-nominated Daniel Petronijevic stars as Hick McMurray while Dylan Playfair and Andrew Herr are hotshot Hockey Players “Jonesy†and “Reillyâ€.Tyler Johnston and Evan Stern are Skids Stewart and Roald, Mark Forward is the temperamental Coach of the Letterkenny Irish, and Tiio Horn is the badass leader of The Natives, Tanis.
The first four six-packs of LETTERKENNY, along with special episodes “Ferda Editionâ€, “The Haunting of MoDean’s IIâ€, “St. Perfect’s Day,†“Super Hard Easter,†and the original web series Letterkenny Problems are currently streaming on CraveTV.LETTERKENNY is also available on iTunes and Google Play. Seasons 1 and 2 ofLETTERKENNY are currently available on DVD wherever DVDs are sold.
LETTERKENNY is produced by New Metric Media, in partnership with DHX Media and Playfun Games in association with Bell Media, with the participation of Canadian Media Fund, OMDC Tax Credits and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and distributed by DHX Media. Jared Keeso is executive producer, co-writer, star, and creator, Jacob Tierney is executive producer, director, and co-writer and Mark Montefiore is executive producer for New Metric Media.
From a media release:
The 39th annual Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is proud to announce Emmy and Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth* (Trial & Error, Hairspray Live!) will host this year’s Rockie Awards Gala Ceremony featuring a star-studded line-up of award recipients. The night of celebration will take place on Tuesday June 12th at 7:00 p.m. at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada.Awards to be bestowed include:
Awards to be bestowed include:
2018 COMPANY OF DISTINCTION AWARD: NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience.
The Company of Distinction Award recognizes a company demonstrating significant leadership in the world of screen-based entertainment. Past Honorees include: Disney | ABC, HBO, A&E, Lionsgate and CBS.
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: Jeremy Podeswa (Here and Now, Game of Thrones, Six Feet Under)
A three-time Primetime Emmy nominee for Best Direction (Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, The Pacific) and with over 40 award nominations and wins since 1985, Jeremy Podeswa is one of the hottest directors in the golden age of TV. His body of episodic TV work includes directing ground-breaking cable television series and mini-series for HBO, Showtime, STARZ, AMC, F/X, and TNT and award-winning films including Fugitive Pieces (opening night, TIFF), The Five Senses (Directors Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival) and Eclipse (Berlin and Sundance Festivals). Â
The Award of Excellence acknowledges exceptional achievement through a body of work over an extended period of time. Â Past Honorees include:Â Kenny Ortega, Diane English, Norman Jewison, David E. Kelly.
A+E INCLUSION AWARD: Â Elizabeth Vargas (ABC News, A&E Investigates)
Elizabeth Vargas is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, and the first U.S. network evening news anchor of Puerto Rican and Irish-American Heritage. She is a brave storyteller and a trusted expert at bringing audiences closer to the heart of stories that have never been told in order to reveal genuine moments of truth. Vargas recently inked an overall production and first-look development deal with A+E Networks; she will also be the face of A&E Network’s new nonfiction journalistic banner, A&E Investigates. The initial project under the A&E Investigates banner is the limited series “Cults and Extreme Belief.â€
The A+E Inclusion Award recognizes an individual whose efforts and vision in media champion and reflect the diversity of the world in which we live. Past Honorees include: LeVar Burton, Jonathan Murray.
CANADIAN AWARD OF DISTINCTION: Sheila Hockin (The Handmaid’s Tale, Vikings)
Primetime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Drama Series (The Handmaid’s Tale), Sheila Hockin is one of Canada’s foremost executive producers, helping bring to life global hits like  The Tudors, The Borgias, Vikings, Penny Dreadful and most recently, the global phenomenon that is The Handmaid’s Tale. Before striking out on her own, Hockin co-founded one of Canada’s highest-profile independent production companies, Temple Street Productions, where she spent a decade producing such hits as Queer as Folk, Canada’s Next Top Model, and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? This award is presented to a Canadian whose body of work exemplifies outstanding achievement in the entertainment industry. Past Honorees include:  Just For Laughs, Eric McCormack, Kim Cattrall.
INNOVATIVE PRODUCER AWARD: New Metric Media (Letterkenny, Bad Blood)
New Metric Media is a film, television, and new-media production company that works with top creative talent to produce outstanding content for domestic and international markets. Past and present projects include the CraveTV hit original comedy Letterkenny as well as the half-hour CraveTV comedy What Would Sal Do? and the six-episode, one-hour CityTV/FX Canada limited series Bad Blood. Not content to rest on traditional marketing alone, New Metric has successfully transformed its hit property Letterkenny into a robust consumer brand, complete with its own craft brew and touring live show. The innovative approach has made a discernible impact on Canadian culture, with Letterkenny phrases a part of regular lexicon and ironic “Hard No†tees a regular sight on the street.
The Innovative Producer Award recognizes the entrepreneurial excellence and achievements of an independent producer in TV/digital media. Past Honorees include: Â Wolf + Rabbit, Don Carmody, marblemedia.
Additional awards to be presented at the 2018 Rockies Gala include: The Hollywood Reporter Impact Award, The Grand Jury Prize, and Program of the Year.
Host Kristin Chenoweth can next be seen in the upcoming second season of NBC’s “Trial & Error,†which premieres on July 19.
The Rockies are BANFF’s flagship awards program, taking place over two days and two events. Celebrated annually on the second day of the festival is the Rockie Awards Program Competition followed by the hors-concours (out-of competition) Rockie Awards Gala Ceremony which takes place on the third night of the festival honouring outstanding talent and executives from the industry. Over the years, the prestigious gala event has attracted some of the industry’s biggest names including Sir Laurence Olivier, Gregory Peck, Dinah Shore, Ricky Gervais, Chuck Lorre, Martin Short, James Burrows, John Cleese, David E. Kelly, Dick Wolf, Will Arnett, Christine Baranski, David Attenborough, Larry King, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, John Ridley, Jill Soloway, and Anthony Anderson, to a name a few.
Writers for Spiral, Anne, Letterkenny and Cardinal were among the winners at the 22nd Annual Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Awards in Toronto on Monday night.
The event, held at the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning’s Koerner Hall, celebrated the country’s screenwriting talent in television, web series and film. Spiral writer Karen McClellan (pictured above) won in the Shorts & Webseries category for her script “The Girl in the Dream.”
“Writers don’t get here on their own,” McClellan said. “I want to say a special shout-out to some writers who have taken a chance on me in the past: Susin Nielsen, Shelley Eriksen, Bruce Smith and a dear friend who is not here tonight but always in my heart, Denis McGrath.”
Letterkenny‘s Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney won the TV Comedy category for their Season 2 script, “Relationships,” while Cardinal‘s Aubrey Nealon took home the TV Drama trophy for the Season 1 episode, “John Cardinal.”
Gavin Crawford, comedian, writer and host of CBC Radio’s Because News hosted, starting the night off with a surprise appearance by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne a.k.a. Crawford. As Wynne, Crawford extolled the virtues of Canadian television and film writers while taking a jab at recent adaptations of Anne of Green Gables and Alias Grace.
“I’m particularly excited about Kale & Prune, a six-hour CBC miniseries adapted from a Margaret Atwood’s Whole Foods receipt,” he joked.
Alison Lea Bingeman, Marsha Greene, Rachel Langer, Joseph Kay, Cynthia Knight, Adriana Maggs, Elize Morgan, Jiro Okada and Sugith Varughese presented the night’s categories.
Mark Ellis was the recipient of The Denis McGrath Award for his service to the Writers Guild of Canada, Michael MacLennan was given The WGC Showrunner Award, Sarah Dodd the Sondra Kelly Award and Sherry White the Alex Barris Mentorship Award. WGC president Jill Golick, whose term has ended after eight years, had the final say of the night with an impassioned plea to the group’s members.
“Stories are the best way to change hearts and minds,” Golick said. “Keep writing my friends. Keep finding ways to bring truth to light. ”
The category winners are:
Shorts & Webseries
Spiral, Episode 101 “The Girl in the Dream,” written by Karen McClellan
Children’s
Mysticons, Season 1 “Sisters in Arms,” written by Sean Jara
Movie of the Week & Miniseries
Alias Grace, written by Sarah Polley
Best Script from Season 1
Anne, Season 1 “I Am No Bird, And No Net Ensnares Me,” written by Moira Walley-Beckett
TV Comedy
Letterkenny, Season 2 “Relationships,” written by Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney
TV Drama
Cardinal, Season 1 “John Cardinal,” written by Aubrey Nealon
Tweens & Teens
The Stanley Dynamic, Season 2 “The Stanley Cheer,” written by Matt Kippen
Feature Film
Entanglement, written by Jason Filiatrault
Documentary
The Hundred-Year-Old Whale, written by Mark Leiren-Young
