Yearly Archives: 2012

Dramas and Comedies

CBC commissions biopics on Howe, Layton plus Still Life movie

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From a media release:

BIOPICS ON GORDIE HOWE AND JACK LAYTON PLUS AWARD-WINNING FICTION COMING TO CBC

The life stories of heroes of Canadian hockey and politics plus a tale of murder in small-town Quebec from the pen of an award-winning Canadian author are coming to CBC Television, with the commissioning of three new films announced today at the Banff World Media Festival.MR. HOCKEY: THE GORDIE HOWE STORY, SMILIN’ JACK: THE JACK LAYTON STORY and STILL LIFE, based on the novel by internationally best-selling author Louise Penny, have been green-lighted by the public broadcaster at the annual showcase event in Alberta, underscoring CBC’s commitment to Canadian film and TV production.

MR. HOCKEY: THE GORDIE HOWE STORY (Brightlight Pictures/Nutmeg Entertainment) is the story of the greatest comeback in sports history. At age 45, Gordie Howe, reluctantly retired from the NHL, comes back to play professional hockey with his two sons, 18- and 19-years old. Howe’s comeback was labelled the biggest publicity stunt in hockey history and critics doubted his skills, given his deteriorating health. But for a father, it was merely the opportunity to play hockey with his boys. Keeping them all together was Colleen Howe: wife, mother of four children and manager to Gordie and her sons—a role virtually unheard of for women at that time. Hockey fanatics across the continent will unite for this inspiring story of one man’s quest to prove he still had the skill to live up to the name “Mr. Hockey”.

Set against the backdrop of the 2011 federal election and the weeks that followed, SMILIN’ JACK: THE JACK LAYTON STORY (Pier 21 Films/Eagle Vision Inc.) is the inspiring story of Jack Layton, a man who came from privilege yet rejected his family’s politics in order to follow his own path. The movie will chronicle the journey of the guitar-playing, theory junkie who emerged as a student activist, eventually becoming one of this country’s most treasured federal politicians in his later years. “SMILIN’ JACK” is also the love story between Layton and Olivia Chow, a beloved political power couple. But above all, “SMILIN’ JACK” is the touching story of a man who reached the hearts of many Canadians, and fought for rights that would ultimately change the face of this country.

STILL LIFE (Three Pines Productions):  Based on the award-winning novels by international best-selling author Louise Penny, comes an event TV movie about murder in a small town.  The village of Three Pines, Quebec may seem tranquil, but all is not as it appears.  In this psychological thriller that combines Hitchcock with Christie, death comes to this peaceful Eden, and brings with it Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, the head of Homicide for the Surete du Quebec.  Here he discovers that nature, both human and otherwise, is capable of great beauty, and great cruelty.  Beneath the exterior of the pretty little village, dark secrets lie hidden.  Behind cheerful smiles, hurtful thoughts swirl. As he digs deeper, Chief Inspector Gamache finds old sins, buried alive. Rancid and stinking. And now, one of those secrets has surfaced, and created a corpse. C.I. Gamache must follow the trail of smiles and lies, of courtesy and cruelty. To the killer.  In a rare starred review, Kirkus Reviews in the US said, ‘If you don’t give your heart to Gamache, you may have no heart to give.’ Charming, urbane, intelligent and kind, Armand Gamache has been hailed internationally as a cop like no other.

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Featured

TV, eh? Rewind: Twitch City

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twitch

By Dexter Brown

For our first look back at TV, it only makes sense to look at a TV show about TV. So grab a box of Frooty O’s, turn off Rex Reilly and snuggle up with your favourite cat as we present Twitch City in the first of our Rewind series.

Twitch City (CBC 1998-2000) may have been off the air for just about 12 years now, but already it feels like a relic of television’s past. While the satirical sitcom’s sharp writing, quick wit and laugh track-free scenes are commonplace for most modern-day network sitcoms, Twitch City does feel ancient in some regards. The show’s numerous references to some long-forgotten television shows, along with the old-school graphics for the opening title sequence, do more than enough to prevent Twitch City from holding as much of a timeless quality as much of the other memorable shows from the same era.

Twitch City nearly instantly comes across to viewers as the anti-Friends, anti-Seinfeld and anti-Caroline in the City, a play off of the single young friends in the city type sitcoms that were popular throughout the 90s. Gone are the bright apartments in a sprawling metropolis and the carefree 20- or 30-somethings. They are replaced by a grungy, dark dwelling somewhere in Toronto and a television-obsessed slacker.

Choosing to make television a centrepiece of the show, it only seems fitting that it is portrayed as an insipid wasteland. Surprisingly, some real-life television personalities make cameos in the show. They seem to unwittingly allow Twitch City to poke fun at them as vapid and vacant, like noise lost among itself.

One of the more memorable episode of Twitch City, the particularly surreal “The Planet of the Cats” — a spoof of Planet of the Apes — consisted of making light of the sci-fi genre, choosing to satirize the over-the-top acting and dialog and the tense drama by merely replacing the invading life forms with cats.

Strangely enough some of the scenes in “The Planet of the Cats” are eerily reminiscent of ABC’s remake of NBC’s 80s sci-fi show V. So strange in fact, it almost felt as if Twitch City got ahold of the scripts of ABC’s V some ten years before it aired, replaced the alien overlords with cats and filmed it in a townhouse in downtown Toronto.

The show, and particularly “The Planet of the Cats,” could be argued to share the humour of the recently canceled surreal sketch show Picnicface from The Comedy Network. Both built their foundation on low-budget absurdist humour but being developed several years later, Picnicface was willing to take absurdist humour to a whole other level.

With only a dozen or so episodes aired, you can’t help but wonder if Twitch City was on the wrong network at the wrong time as the show’s dark, surreal and absurdist humour seems to fit much of what aired on The Comedy Network in the past decade. Perhaps it may have lived a longer life there in the 2000s, as opposed to sharing time on the same schedule with shows such as The Fifth Estate and The Nature of Things.

Today, the CBC has decided to move away from more niche programs such as Twitch City despite a recent shot at a cable-like program, Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays. While that show was critically acclaimed, it suffered greatly in the ratings. More mainstream shows such as Mr. D proved popular with the public and the network has since come off of one of its highest rated seasons ever.

Want to relive Twitch City or try it out for the first time yourself? Check out Twitch City episode “The Planet of the Cats” on YouTube right now.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Love It or List It expands to Vancouver

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From a media release:

W Network’s Top Rated Series Love It or List It Expands to Vancouver: Designer Jillian Harris to Co-Host

Corus Entertainment’s W Network announced today that interior designer and TV personality, Jillian Harris (The Bachelorette Season V, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) will co-host Love It or List It Vancouver. Harris’ co-host will be announced at a later date. Produced by Big Coat Productions in association with W Network, the west coast spin-off of W Network’s hit series Love It or List It starring Hilary Farr and David Visentin has been greenlit and is scheduled to launch in winter 2013.

Love It or List It Vancouver will showcase families in B.C.’s largest metropolitan city who are struggling with homes that no longer suit their needs. It’s up to Jillian to put a stop to the wandering eyes of our homeowners, armed with a list of “must-haves” and a design she hopes will persuade them to stay. Meanwhile, the realtor is determined to get homeowners to relocate by taking the homeowners list of “must-haves” and finding them new digs.
 
Set in one of Canada’s largest real estate markets, the beautiful Pacific west coast, every episode will take viewers on an emotional rollercoaster as Jillian and her soon–to-be announced co-host implement their plans to battle it out for the homeowners’ allegiance. With renovation there are always setbacks and sometimes it means the homeowners must lose one of their “must- haves” on their list to stay. On the realtor’s end, finding everything the homeowners want in their dream home can be more difficult than originally anticipated. The stakes are high as the homeowners weigh in on the financial and emotional decisions of buying a new home or staying in the renovated one.

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Murdoch Mysteries, The Listener

New tonight: Murdoch Mysteries, The Listener

Murdoch Mysteries, Citytv – “Back and to the Left”
Detective Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) must tread carefully when he investigates the murder of a Protestant Alderman – especially when the main suspect is a devout Catholic. Adding to the religious turmoil, the murder occurred during an assassination attempt on the city’s Protestant mayor.

The Listener, CTV – “Curtain Call”
When the life of a superstar performer (singer Fefe Dobson) is threatened, Toby (Craig Olejnik) poses as her assistant to watch her back and help the IIB special ops unit investigate. When enthusiastic fans move in too close to singer Jade during a nightclub performance, Toby calls an end to the show, much to the anger of her manager, J.C. (Wesley Williams, aka Maestro Fresh Wes).

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Dramas and Comedies

Teletoon announces 2 new series, 3 renewals

From a media release:

TELETOON REVEALS ITS LATEST CROP OF ORIGINAL ANIMATED SERIES

  • TELETOON Canada announces the development of two new series and the renewal of three others

The Canadian animation world is about to gain one pair of cosmic power pants and a trio of insane animals. TELETOON Canada Inc. today announced its latest original production slate featuring kids comedies Dr. Dimensionpants and Endangered Species as well as fresh seasons of Johnny Test, Detentionaire and Fugget About It.

TELETOON Canada Inc., a major supporter of the Canadian animation and kids television industries, has invested more than $265 million in the creation, development and production of Canadian content since its inception in 1997. As part of its commitment to the industry, TELETOON is proud to be sponsoring the Kids and Animation Program at the Banff World Media Festival for the third consecutive year.

New Series:

DR. DIMENSIONPANTS
Cookie Jar Entertainment • 26 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Winter 2014 on TELETOON
Mild-mannered 10-year-old Kyle Lipton was just a regular kid…until an inter-dimensional portal opened up and dropped a pair of Cosmic Power Pants onto his lap. Now Kyle is Dr. Dimensionpants, a superhero with a super intense attitude who, with the guidance of a talking unicorn named Philip, must deal with the constant threat of inter-dimensional villains bent on destroying his hometown.

ENDANGERED SPECIES
Nerd Corps Entertainment • 26 x 11 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2014 on TELETOON
What happens when a cantankerous squirrel, an overly optimistic bunny and a neurotic seagull live together in a tree stump? A whole lot of nuttiness, that’s what. Merl the Squirrel, Sunny Bunny and Gull are three weirdo wild animals who turn everyday activities into total insanity.

Renewed Series:

JOHNNY TEST (Season Six)
Cookie Jar Entertainment • 26 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2013 on TELETOON
An action-comedy extravaganza, the Gemini-award-nominated series Johnny Test chronicles the adventures of a fearless 11-year-old boy, his genetically engineered super-dog Dukey and his 13-year-old super-genius scientist sisters Susan and Mary. Using Johnny as their guinea pig, Susan and Mary strive to solve the trials and tribulations of adolescent angst with out-of-this-world scientific experiments.

DETENTIONAIRE (Season Three)
Nelvana Limited • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2013 on TELETOON
The first two seasons of Detentionare saw Lee Ping sentenced to a year of detention for a prank he didn’t commit. With this new season comes a new – far more epic – prank and Lee is getting blamed for it again. Once more, Lee and his friends will try to uncover the truth about the prank and figure out the reason for the strange behavior of many of the adults in town.

Fugget About It (Season Two)
9 Story Entertainment • 13 x 22 minutes
Scheduled for Fall 2013 on TELETOON at Night
Jimmy Falcone was once a feared capo in the Gambini crime family, but when his associates insisted he whack his good old Uncle Cheech, Jimmy had to draw the line. When Jimmy pleads for Cheech’s life to Don Gambini, their meeting ends with Jimmy hurling the crime boss out of a nineteen storey window. With the mob out to kill him, Jimmy has no choice but to turn to the dark side and become a witness for the Feds. Jimmy and his family are sent into witness protection in cold, snowy Regina, where it’s hard for a quick-tempered goodfella to live as a regular schnook among naïve, kind and friendly Canadians. Fugget About It is an animated comedy that was originally developed for the TELETOON At Night Pilot Project in 2007.

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