Tag Archives: The Beaverton

The Beaverton skewers Canada’s federal election in a new CTV special

The politicians are on the campaign trail, struggling mightily to win your vote. That means long days and nights, crisscrossing the country. It’s an ambitious and deeply tiring schedule. Equally exhausting? Covering it.

That’s what the folks at The Beaverton aim to do. Airing Friday at 8 p.m. ET on CTV, the one-hour special The Beaverton Mocks the Vote puts the federal political leaders in their crosshairs as co-anchors Emma Hunter and Miguel Rivas skewer every step the political parties have taken since the election was called.

We spoke to the pair about what viewers can expect when they tune in to The Beaverton Mocks the Vote.

How much planning has been going into this? Is this a typical writer’s room where you are getting together on the week and figuring stuff out as you work towards the 18th?
Emma Hunter: We are preparing the skeletal outlines for what things could be with a couple of variations, depending on if it goes right or left. We always think we prepare ourselves to have a full, calm day on set and it is always a madhouse. [Co-creator] Luke Gordon Field hasn’t showered, [co-creator] Jeff Detsky is sweaty, somebody’s throwing a muffin and there are a hundred coffees. It’s just chaos in the best way. So I think it will be that. I anticipate that the two days before the taping will just be absolute chaos, but it’s sort of a sick, pleasurable chaos.

Miguel Rivas: We can only write the most relevant stuff as the election is approaching. We’ve already been together for weeks, full time just starting to write other pieces and stuff because it’s going to be a full hour. We’re going to explore lots of elements of the election. So it’s not all necessarily timely related to news that breaks. There are bigger stories that we can dive into in the timeframe.

Anything that you can talk about? 
MR: We’re really excited about what’s going to frame the election and that we’ve already had something big break. The brownface scandal is obviously ongoing, unfortunately, due to Trudeau’s comments and the nature of the fact that it’s time to discuss the harmfulness of brownface and blackface again. That’s the nature of race and immigration and obviously all the candidates mainly from the Conservatives, but also from the Liberals and NDP who’ve been exposed for having said other racist stuff in the past on Twitter. So, we’re taking a huge look at how we identify as Canadians and how it relates to race and stuff.

This election campaign has seemed to be a lot more mean-spirited than in the past. Do you attribute that to what’s going on in the States? 
MR: Yeah, for sure. I think everything we do is affected by the U.S., but the global climate, in general, is one of harshness, shall we say. And yeah, I do think that there’s a tenor that comes with that and I think elections are kind of being redefined in people’s minds what they mean. And personal figures have always been important, but they seem to become so much more important. The symbolic member of the party, Justin Trudeau, Scheer, Trump, whoever, and the cult of personality that builds up around them … I think the nature of that starts to lean into personal attacks rather than discussions of policy. I think many people, if not most people, would consider the biggest issue facing Canada in the world is climate change. And every party has now sort of waded into the waters of talking about climate change, but it still feels like secondary or even third or fourth or fifth in line to issues of is this guy a racist or is that person nice to me?

EH: It’s exhausting and it’s disappointing and I think this brownface thing just left everybody with just this sort of exhalation of like, ‘Really? Really?‘ And I think the way everybody handled it was to be expected, trying to capitalize on it and use it and it was such an easy thing to do. Of course, they would. So it’s just cutthroat out there. It is such a specific thing to want to do with your life, to put every moment that’s potentially vulnerable out there for the rest of the parties to feed on. I have no idea why they do it. I hope the motivation is to make change for a better world, but something inside tells me it’s usually more than that.

The Beaverton Mocks the Vote airs Friday at 8 p.m. ET on CTV.

Image courtesy of Bell Media.

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On CTV and around the world, Season 3 of The Beaverton to premiere July 23

From a media release:

With world politics heating up, and federal election only three months away, CTV announced today that Season 3 of its most *important original satirical series, THE BEAVERTON, will premiere exclusively in Canada on CTV and simultaneously, around the world on CTV’s YouTube channel for the first time ever.

Beginning Tuesday, July 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, exclusively in Canada on CTV, co-anchors Emma Hunter and Miguel Rivas are primed to deliver the critical blows to a seemingly unrelenting news cycle. Rolling out weekly, all eight episodes of the half-hour series can be viewed:

  • In Canada, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app
  • Around the world on CTV’s YouTube channel, day and date with Canadian viewers
  • On demand, on Crave, CTV Digital platforms and TheBeaverton.com the day after its broadcast premiere

Seasons 1 – 2 of THE BEAVERTON are currently streaming on Crave.

Then, on Friday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, the Canadian Screen Award-nominated series turns its sharp focus to the Canadian federal election with a one-hour special, as the country prepares to elect its next government.

THE BEAVERTON is the brainchild of co-creators Luke Gordon Field and Jeff Detsky (CALL ME FITZ, SEED) of TheBeaverton.com, as well as website senior editors Jacob Duarte Spiel and Alexander Saxton. Henry Sarwer-Foner (THE RICK MERCER REPORT) returns as Director, and Pier 21 Film’s Laszlo Barna and Melissa Williamson serve as Executive Producers. Nicole Butler serves as Producer.

Fueled by the no-holds-barred wit of a writing room led by series co-creator and showrunner Jeff Detsky, THE BEAVERTON continues to hit above, below, and to the right and left of the belt, casting a Canadian lens on global issues with timely and topical viral-ready segments. Luke Gordon Field also returns as showrunner with co-anchors Emma Hunter and Miguel Rivas joining the writing room this season. Also returning as writers this season are Michael Balazo (SCHITT’S CREEK), Jocelyn Geddie (GO AWAY, UNICORN!), Nelu Handa (JANN), and Scott Montgomery (THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES).

Viewers interested in being part of THE BEAVERTON’s live studio audience in Toronto can click here or email beavertoninvites@gmail.com.

THE BEAVERTON is produced by Pier 21 Films in association with Bell Media, with the participation of Canadian Media Fund, and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.

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Emma Hunter and Jonny Harris to host 2018 Canadian Screen Awards

From a media release:

The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (the Canadian Academy) and CBC today announced that Jonny Harris of CBC’s Still Standing and Murdoch Mysteries and Emma Hunter of The Comedy Network’s The Beaverton and CBC’s Mr. D, will co-host the 2018 Canadian Screen Awards Broadcast Gala live on CBC on Sunday, March 11, 2018. The Canadian Academy also announced hosts for the three non-broadcast Canadian Screen Awards Galas and Family Fan Day.

The Canadian Academy and CBC also announced their new production partner for the Broadcast Gala: Insight Production Company. This year marks the inaugural year the Canadian Academy will work with the award-winning content producers to deliver one of the country’s biggest award shows. As part of the new partnership, Insight Productions is taking on the task of bringing the “Golden Era of Entertainment” to the Canadian Screen Awards stage.

Also taking on hosting duties during Canadian Screen Week this year are five very talented Canadian stars who will each bring their own flare and personality to the stage at the three non-broadcast Galas during Canadian Screen Week.

  • Canadian Screen Award nominee and co-anchor of The Comedy Network’s The Beaverton, Miguel Rivas, will host the Gala Honouring Excellence in Non-Fiction Programming Sponsored by Boat Rocker Media and Eagle Vision (March 6, 2018);
  • Award-winning actor and improv dynamo Andrew Phung, of CBC’s Kim Convenience, will host the Gala Honouring Excellence in Creative Fiction Storytelling Sponsored by Technicolor and Thunderbird Entertainment (March 7, 2018); and
  • Mind Fudge’s Jon Simonassi and Justine Nelson will serve as “virtual hosts” through the creation of content for the Gala Honouring Excellence in Digital and Immersive Storytelling Supported by the Independent Production Fund (March 8, 2018).

The three off-air Galas will be produced by e=mc2 events who are working with the Canadian Academy for the first time this year.

Additionally, ET Canada’s Carlos Bustamante will host Family Fan Day, presented by the Canadian Academy and the Shaw Rocket Fund, and supported by City of Toronto at the Sony Centre of Performing Arts on March 10, 2018, which coincides with the beginning of March Break in Toronto.

 

 

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Poll results: Your three favourite new Canadian TV series of the fall

The results are in and Canada’s newest satire series, The Beaverton, is your No. 1 favourite television series of the fall. With just over 6,500 votes cast, The Comedy Network series captured 37 per cent of the vote.

In second place is HGTV’s Bryan Inc., starring Bryan and Sarah Baeumler, followed by Holmes + Holmes and Moving the McGillivrays. Rounding out the Top 5 was CBC’s Kim’s Convenience.

The Bachelorette Canada, Frontier, Airport: Below Zero, Shoot the Messenger and Travelers fill out the Top 10.

You can find out how your favourites placed in the poll here; thanks to everyone who participated.

poll

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Nearly 400,000 tune in to debut of The Beaverton on The Comedy Network

From a media release:

This just in! Final Numeris data confirms that a combined audience of 379,000 viewers has tuned into the premiere episode of THE BEAVERTON since its November 9 debut on The Comedy Network. With an average audience of 189,000 viewers during its broadcast premiere timeslot, Comedy was the most-watched specialty channel in Canada for A25-54 (102,000 viewers), and the most-watched entertainment specialty channel for A18-49 (101,000 viewers). To date, the premiere episode has reached a total of 724,000 unique viewers across all airings.

During its Nov. 9 broadcast debut, #TheBeaverton was among the Top 10 trending topics on Twitter in Canada, alongside hashtags related to the American election. Worldwide #TheBeaverton has garnered an estimated 18.7 million impressions to date.

Across Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, the teaser clip for the debut episode “Obituary for America” has garnered nearly 900,000 views with nearly half a million views in just its first 12 hours of being published. To date, 19 various in-show and web exclusive clips of THE BEAVERTON have racked up more than 4 million views across Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Since its premiere, the Top 3 BEAVERTON clips on social media are:

3) Rachel Notley Caught in Yet Another Scandal with nearly 344,000 views
2) With 683,000 views, “The Donald Trump Apocalypse Begins” became the #11 trending video on YouTube, and also landed on the front pages of reddit.com and uproxx.com
1) The series’ most-watched clip to date, 5 War Atrocities Only 90s Kids Remember, has garnered nearly 708,000 views.

On tonight’s episode of THE BEAVERTON, (Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT), shocking new insights into the world of ISIS are revealed, Aisha Alfa looks at the Liberal sex-ed curriculum, and Canada ponders a new currency.

A so-called televised adaptation of the immensely popular online satirical site TheBeaverton.com, THE BEAVERTON files fake news stories of the utmost importance, informed by real events, the cultural zeitgeist, and national news media. With nearly 7.5 million views in 2016 and averaging more than half a million unique visitors a month, TheBeaverton.com has become a go-to source for Canadian satire. Viewers who need a daily-dose of biting Canadian satire can check in with TheBeaverton.com or follow @TheBeaverton for hourly updates.

THE BEAVERTON airs Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT exclusively on The Comedy Network.

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