Like with everything else, there’s been a lot of uncertainty surrounding network television, from when a series is premiering or returning, if at all.
Well, Private Eyes fans, fear not. Matt (Jason Priestley) and Angie (Cindy Sampson) are back and in fine form—Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global—so much so that if you close your eyes, things almost seem normal again.
Fresh off its Golden Screen Award win for Canada’s most-watched comedy or drama, your favourite detective duo is on the case for a fourth season. Also fresh? Angie’s new haircut. Just saying.
Back to that distraction, though. Sabrina (Katie Boland) simply wants to connect with her newfound dad—until things take a turn when guest star Erica Durance (Saving Hope) turns up. And if her appearance wasn’t enough, it gets even more complicated as Shade and Angie continue to cast not-so-subtle longing glances at one another—especially since Tex (Brett Donahue) is still in the picture.
But it’s the seventh episode that’ll have you reaching for the popcorn, thanks to appearances from Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, the prettiest star on HGTV Canada, Scott McGillivray, and golf pro Mike Weir. Priestley directs that star-studded hour, while Episode 3 marks Sampson’s directorial debut. It’s safe to say the rest of the season (and the upcoming fifth instalment) looks bright. Shade(s) optional.
Private Eyes airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
Shade and Angie are back on the case with the highly-anticipated Season 4 (12×60) premiere of Global Original Private Eyes debuting Monday, November 2 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. From global independent studio Entertainment One (eOne) in association with Corus Entertainment, the new season of Private Eyes joins Global’s previously announced lineup of hit fall series including #1 new show I Can See Your Voice, #1 late night show Saturday Night Live, Global Original event series Departure, and much more. All of Global’s hit shows, including seasons one through three of Private Eyes, are streaming now on STACK TV and the Global TV App.
Season 4 picks up following a paternity bombshell dropped in Matt Shade’s (Jason Priestley) lap, presenting a sudden realization that family is far more complicated than he ever anticipated. Helping to keep him grounded is his partner, whip-smart PI Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson), whose concern for Shade’s well-being involves a secret DNA test and more than a few white lies. Luckily, a pressing case becomes a welcome distraction from personal conflicts as Shade and Angie delve into the mystery of a wealthy family whose Gatsby-themed party becomes a setting for battles over inheritance…and murder.
Among this season’s guest stars are acclaimed Canadian actors Erica Durance (Smallville), Katie Boland (Reign), Aaron Ashmore (Killjoys), and Eric Peterson (Corner Gas), along with renowned personalities Chris Candy, HGTV Canada’s Scott McGillivray, Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, and pro golfer Mike Weir.
As previously announced, production for Season 5 of Private Eyes is now underway. The series is produced by eOne in association with Corus Entertainment, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, IPF’s Cogeco TV Production Program, the Bell Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit. The series is produced by Alex Jordan. The series is executive produced by Jocelyn Hamilton and Tecca Crosby for eOne, Shawn Piller and Lloyd Segan for Piller/Segan, Jason Priestley, Alexandra Zarowny and James Thorpe. Piller, Zarowny and Thorpe are also showrunners.
In what has quickly become a spring tradition, Private Eyes—Global’s fun detective drama starring Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson—returns for a third season of 12 new instalments beginning this Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
When we last left the duo, things were looking grim. Conned into stealing sensitive government intelligence, Angie Everett (Sampson) ended up behind bars. Now it’s up to Matt Shade (Priestley) and their assistant, Zoe Chow (Samantha Wan), to prove Angie’s innocence.
Here is the official episode synopsis for “Catch Me If You Con,” written by Alan McCullough and directed by Shawn Piller:
In the aftermath of Angie’s incarceration, Shade and Angie must risk everything to recover the stolen hard drive and clear Angie’s name. Their hunt leads them to a lavish museum gala where a priceless ancient artefact is on display.
And here are a few more hints from me after watching a screener.
Jann Arden appears
The hottest commodity in Canadian television at the moment—guest-starring on Wynnona Earp and headlining her own series, Jann—Jann Arden plays Loretta. The cell block boss isn’t happy a high-profile inmate like Angie is on her turf. That causes, um, problems. As an aside, I love trying to locate where Toronto-set shows have filmed. When it comes to the exterior views of the prison Angie is in, the show chose the stately R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant.
Laura Vandervoort and Colin Ferguson return
The pair who set Angie up in the first place, Dana and Dominik, have skipped off leaving no trace of evidence to connect them with the hard drive. Saving Angie and getting the hard drive back is going to be tough.
Lucas Bryant drops by
Agent Ellis won’t drop his case until the hard drive has been handed to him, adding more pressure to Shade, Angie and Zoe’s task. Eagle-eyed Haven fans will, of course, recall Bryant, Priestley and Ferguson all appeared on that show together, which was executive-produced by Shawn Piller, Private Eyes‘ executive producer and sometime director. Also, Killjoys fans should look for Sean Baek; he plays a security expert who may have had his laptop stolen by Dana.
Zoe goes undercover
Samantha Wan always injects the perfect amount of hand-waving comic relief, especially when she’s in the field. Wednesday’s episode gives her the opportunity for more antics, especially when she goes undercover as Zoe Von Furstenberg … something … something.
Private Eyes airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.
Samantha Wan is a Toronto-based actor and filmmaker. Samantha found her passion for film and acting at a young age in high school. From there, she was accepted into the country’s top theatre school, the National Theatre School of Canada, which boasts a number of notable of alumni including award-winning actress Sandra Oh.
Samantha Wan recently received a 2019 Canadian Screen Award nomination in the category of Best Comedy Series for her sitcom Second Jen.
Second Jen is a buddy comedy about two second-generation millennials making it on their own in the big city. Season 1 aired on the major Canadian network Citytv and Season 2 was later picked up by OMNI Television. The show was produced by Don Ferguson Productions, the production company famously known for creating the Royal Canadian Air Farce. Samantha developed the series with actress and screenwriter Amanda Joy. The two became the youngest televisions creators in Canada.
Samantha is also known for her role as Zoe Chow in the comedy-drama television series Private Eyes starring alongside Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson.
It’s been almost two years, but Second Jen‘s second season is finally here.
The sitcom, co-created by Amanda Joy and Samantha Wan, returns Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Omni Television, once again telling the hilarious and heartfelt experiences of best friends Jennifer “Mo” Monteloyola (Joy) and Jennifer “Jen” Wu (Wan), two second-generation millennials who observe, reflect and react to the world around them.
Things have changed for Season 2 both in front of an behind the camera. There are new faces in Jen’s new friend, Marcus, played by Lovell Adams-Grey (Slasher); Mo’s new potential love interest, Diego (Oscar Moreno); and a whack of guest stars from Canada’s comedy elite in Mark Andrada, Jim Annan, Craig Lauzon, Patrice Goodman, Pat Thornton and Gary Rideout Jr. Second Jen‘s creative engine is run by showrunner and head writer Carly Heffernan, writer and story editor Joy and story editor and co-director Wan.
We spoke to Heffernan, Joy and Wan during a break in filming earlier this year.
How did this second season come together?
Amanda Joy: We work pretty quickly, but from the [Season 2 renewal] announcement to when we were shooting we had already done most of the writing. It just came down to polishing it, and Carly and I, we were working with the network and Sam and just trying to bring out the best elements of the scripts, and choose the best stories, and just make sure that the ones we were making were the most solid and strongest ones.
(l-r) Samantha Wan, Carly Heffernan and Amanda Joy
Carly, how did you end up being involved with the show this season?
Carly Heffernan: I was involved with the first season in a writing capacity as well as an acting capacity, so then I was brought back on for Season 2 in just a bit of an elevated writing capacity as head writer, which was great. I had a really nice time working with Sam and Amanda before, and I love getting into a writer’s room with them and hearing the stories that they want to share, and just being a part of figuring out how we’re going to tell those stories.
AJ: It’s actually amazing because Carly had worked with us in different capacities before, and then it just, there was an opening and she really felt like the right person to do the job, and everyone was in agreement with that.
Samantha Wan: Yeah, it’s exciting. It’s a full female writing room, and full female heads right now.
Does that make a difference?
CH: I think absolutely when you’re telling a female-centric story. It definitely helps to come from a female P.O.V. Not saying that someone of a different gender couldn’t tell the story, but it’s definitely made it easier. There are a lot of situations that Sam and Amanda shared that I could just relate to from my own past experiences as a woman.
The girls have moved into a new apartment, you’ve got new stuff going on in their lives.Â
AJ: When we were deciding which stories would make it into the second season and which ones we were really going to work, we decided that we wanted to bring it back to the girls, and make sure that that central relationship was key, and strong in every single story, even when they are separate from each other. It needed to really be about them and how they grow, and how they grow together. The boys who were in the original first season are not in this particular season, but in doing that we have the opportunity to show Jen and Mo outside of their relationships with these two men, and to really make a female-centric story and a friendship-centric story.
SW: In Season 1 I’d say there was a lot of focus on the girls and how they related to their family, and moving away from them. And in Season 2 it’s actually a lot more like ‘OK, now we’ve moved away from our family, how do we figure out our life on our own?’ Also, a huge thing I think this season, too, is seeing when you have a best friend, how you both start changing and you don’t change the same way. So Mo’s getting a lot of success right now, and Jen’s doing a lot of introspection right now, and that puts them in a very different place. In almost opposite places where they used to be this season.
AJ: There’s a lot of irony in that, too, because when you look at the two girls and you sort of predict who is going to be having more success, who is going to really be moving forward with their life, you think it is going to be Jen. And here we see that maybe life’s not as cut and dry as they made it seem in school.
What can you say about your cast?
AJ: In adding new characters and changing up the group a little bit, I’ve found that the dynamic from the ensemble is really speaking to the second generation experience. I believe every single lead now, in our show, is a person of colour.
Let’s talk about some of these adult storylines. Wall squirrels.
CH: Oh, man. If you’ve ever had an animal in your house, it’s the worst. I once had a pigeon in my loft in St. Lawrence Market, I was just freaking right out. We love the notion of the girls sort of dealing with maybe their first break-in, which is always scary. It’s always coming down to firsts for these girls. What is it when you go on your first double date with your best friend?
You’re tackling some serious subjects like sexism and racism.
SW: We have a whole episode on sexual harassment in the workplace, which Amanda wrote and I’m actually directing, well, co-directing with Romeo [Candido], which I think is a very exciting thing.
Second Jen airs Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on Omni Television.
Images courtesy of Second Jen and Omni Television.
Back to that distraction, though. Sabrina (Katie Boland) simply wants to connect with her newfound dad—until things take a turn when guest star Erica Durance (Saving Hope) turns up. And if her appearance wasn’t enough, it gets even more complicated as Shade and Angie continue to cast not-so-subtle longing glances at one another—especially since Tex (Brett Donahue) is still in the picture.
