Monthly Archives: November 2012

Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New tonight: Strip The City, Marketplace, The Fifth Estate, Match Game

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Strip the City, Discovery World – “Harbor City – Sydney”
 Sydney is home to a fifth Australia’s entire population and is trapped between the Blue Mountains and the ocean, sitting on the driest inhabited continent on Earth, and surrounding one the planet’s largest natural harbours. This episode uncovers what is inside Sydney’s buildings and beneath its streets that allow the city to function – from the concealed contours of the harbour that allow super-sized ships to sail into the heart of the city, to the underground caverns that store its water.

Marketplace, CBC – “The Dirt on Hotels, Part 2”
We test how well chains are maintaining their hotels. After revealing just how unsanitary Canadian hotels are, discover what the companies could be doing to clean up their act and protect their guests, and what you can do to protect yourself.

The Fifth Estate, CBC – “Left For Dead”
In Mark Kelley’s first episode with the fifth estate, one of the greatest survival stories never told. Two friends depart on the adventure of a lifetime—Ohio to Sweden, in a small plane. But that adventure would soon become a struggle between life and death. The engines quit, and the plane crashes into the icy waters of Canada’s North, just south of Baffin Island, on a cold, dark night. Rescue planes and a helicopter circle overhead, but find nothing, no trace of the two men clinging for life on drifting sea ice, deep in polar bear hunting grounds.

Match Game, Comedy
Join the party with special guests D. L. Hughley (D.L. HUGHLEY BREAKS THE NEWS), Steve Smith (THE RED GREEN SHOW), Sabrina Jalees (COMEDY NOW!), and Laura Cilevitz (VIDEO ON TRIAL).

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Burger Wars, Taco Wars and Pizza Wars coming to CMT

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From a media release:

PYRAMID PRODUCTIONS GETS COOKING ON NEW CULINARY SMACKDOWN SERIES FOR CMT (CANADA)

Who has the best fast food in your town? Time to find out. Working with Calgary’s Pyramid Productions, CMT (Canada) has commissioned three new partner series — Burger Wars, Taco Wars and Pizza Wars. Slated to air on the network in 2013, the series touches down in Vancouver, Toronto, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago, Calgary and Las Vegas and features five Burger Wars episodes, five Taco Wars episodes and four Pizza Wars episodes.

In each episode, host Cris Nannarone, a veteran road warrior and standup comedian, scours restaurants, diners, food trucks and everything in between, to find the best burger, pizza or taco. It’s a quest to find the top three contenders who will ultimately go to battle. Nannarone learns their trade secrets and discovers if their dish has what it takes to win the war.

“It’s a dream job,” says Cris Nannarone. “I mean, think about it. I get to eat my way across the continent.”

Filming of the series starts in Los Angeles this December, where Cris will begin with a search for the best burger in Hollywood.

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Flashpoint, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New tonight: Flashpoint, The Liquidator, The Nature of Things, Doc Zone, Match Game


Flashpoint, CTV – “Lawmen”
Parker’s (Enrico Colantoni) son Dean (Jack Knight, A Heartland Christmas), and Ed’s (Hugh Dillon) son Clark (Tyler Stentiford, DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION) join Team One in a ride along. But, when a shootout at a drug den reveals a conspiracy among local cops to clean up the neighbourhood, the boys are exposed to the brutal realities of their father’s jobs, and to the true cost of being a police officer.

The Liquidator, OLN – “Has the Master Lost his Mojo?”
Jeff purchases a massive load of dubious merchandise—including pallets of foam Easter eggs and Halloween pumpkins. Meanwhile, a planned auction of high-end goods teeters on the brink of disaster.

The Nature of Things, CBC – “Planet Hunters”
For millennia humans studying the stars had no idea if there were any other planets in the universe, let alone ones similar enough to ours to sustain life. We may be very close to finding out – and few people seem aware of it.

Doc Zone, CBC – “Faking The Grade”
We all piously talk about the importance of honesty in life, but a new one-hour TV documentary, FAKING THE GRADE: The Shocking Truth About Classroom Cheating, airing on CBC Television Doc Zone Thursday, November 15 at 9 pm (9:30 NT), reveals that, when it comes to school, we’re increasingly a nation of cheaters. As various universities mark Academic Integrity Week, FAKING THE GRADE asks why and how this epidemic of cheating has happened? Is it the fault of pressure to get a job in a hyper-competitive market? Are “boomer” parents with relaxed moral compasses to blame? Or is it the trickle-down effect of a world full of headlines about people in sports, business, and politics – the Lance Armstrongs, Bernie Madoffs, Conrad Blacks, Garth Drabinskys and many, many others – enriching themselves by cheating? Is the lesson they offer the rest of us that cheating is acceptable – just don’t get caught!

Match Game, Comedy
Guest panellists Caroline Rhea (SABRINA, THE TEENAGE WITCH), Scott Thompson (KIDS IN THE HALL), Paul Lemieux (MTV LIVE), and Emily Hampshire (Cosmopolis) keep the crowd laughing.

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Transporter, Uncategorized

Transporter: The Series premieres January 4 on HBO Canada

On Friday, January 4, HBO Canada presents the premiere of Transporter: The Series, the action-packed Canada/France co-production starring Chris Vance. The high-octane series follows the adventures of professional transporter Frank Martin, who can always be counted on to get the job done and deliver his package. Transporter: The Series will debut at 9 p.m. ET/MT with a special two-hour premiere, with subsequent episodes premiering Friday nights at 9 p.m. ET/MT on HBO Canada.

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Uncategorized

The Horses Of McBride airs December 16 on CTV

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From a media release:

A CTV Holiday Television Event: New Original Movie THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE Premieres Sunday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV

Saddle up this holiday season with THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE, a new, heart-warming CTV original television movie about the hope, spirit, and conviction of the residents of McBride, B.C., who sacrificed their Christmas to pull together and miraculously rescue two starving horses trapped deep within the Canadian Rockies. A major CTV holiday television event, filmed outside of Calgary and inspired by real-life events, THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE premieres Sunday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times). Written and directed by Gemini Award-winning director Anne Wheeler (BOMB GIRLS, Better Than Chocolate), and executive produced by Gemini award-winning actor/director Paul Gross (ZOS: ZONE OF SEPERATION, THE TROJAN HORSE) and Daytime EMMY® Award-winning producer Frank Siracusa (THE YARD, Hobo with a Shotgun, Passchendaele), the two-hour television movie stars EMMY®-nominated actor Aidan Quinn (ELEMENTARY, Unknown), Kari Matchett (COVERT AFFAIRS, 24) and up-and-comer MacKenzie Porter (R.L. Stine’s THE HAUNTING HOUR, WILD ROSES).

Encore presentations of THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE air Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo and Friday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV Two. THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE will also be available across CTV’s digital platforms following its television broadcast on CTV.ca, the CTV App, and the CTV Mobile channel.

“THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE brings to television one Canadian community’s Christmas story that inspired a country,” said Phil King, President, CTV Programming and Sports. “A perfect fit for the holiday season, the story of McBride is a wonderful re-telling of how one family, and eventually an entire community, rallied together to save the lives of two helpless horses.”

”We’re very proud and fortunate to be part of this beautiful story,” said Executive Producer Frank Siracusa, Whizbang Films. “It’s a story about real people with real courage and true spirit.”

Inspired by real-life events, in THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE (Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV), cowboy-outfitter Matt Davidson (Aidan Quinn) has decided to sell his family ranch and find work in the city. His wife Avril (Kari Matchett) and son Kenny (Edward Ruttle, THREE WEEKS, THREE KIDS, HELLCATS) have embraced the move, but his daughter Nicki (MacKenzie Porter), who dreams of being an outfitter and mountain guide like her dad, is shocked and angry. It’s late December 2008, when two starving horses are discovered high up on the Rockies, trapped in a six foot-deep prison of snow more than 30 miles from any road. After seeing the spirit in their eyes, Nicki commits to getting them off the mountain – somehow. With no other options, she picks up a shovel and starts to dig out the mile-long path in deep snow, inspiring her father, family, and an entire community to pitch in.

The story came to Whizbang Films’ attention on Boxing Day nearly four years ago when the horses’ story appeared on the front page of newspapers and newscasts across the country. Anne Wheeler agreed to write and direct the project, and in researching the story, she spent considerable time with the Jeck family in B.C, who were instrumental in the horses’ rescue.

In casting the equine “stars” of the film, the producers found two emaciated horses with the support of the SPCA, and nurtured them back to health under the watchful eye of legendary wrangler John Scott. The mare’s name is “Lady”, rescued near Cochrane, Alberta. The gelding, “Slim”, was found near Penticton, B.C.

THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE is produced by Whizbang Films in association with Bell Media, and distributed internationally by Entertainment One (eOne). THE HORSES OF MCBRIDE is written and directed by Anne Wheeler and executive produced by Frank Siracusa (THE YARD, Hobo with a Shotgun, Passchendaele) and Paul Gross (ZOS: ZONE OF SEPERATION, THE TROJAN HORSE). Gosia Kamela is the Bell Media Production Executive working with the movie. Trish Williams is Director, Drama, Independent Production, Bell Media. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks. Phil King is President, CTV Programming and Sports.

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