Monthly Archives: May 2013

Orphan Black

Orphan Black renewed for season 2

From a media release:

Seeing Double: Space Orders Second Season of Hit Original Drama ORPHAN BLACK

  • From Temple Street Productions, ORPHAN BLACK is produced in partnership with Space and BBC America
  • New episodes continue Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Space

Orphan

Space announced today that it has ordered a second season of its hit conspiracy clone thriller ORPHAN BLACK from Toronto-based Temple Street Productions. Just halfway through its first season, ORPHAN BLACK has been captivating viewers and keeping them on the edge of their seats as new twists and turns are revealed Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET on Space. With production set to begin on Season 2 later this year, the series will return in the spring of 2014 with 10 all-new, mind-bending episodes.

A record-breaker from the beginning, ORPHAN BLACK had the highest Original Series premiere ever for Space with an average of 513,000 viewers for its March 30 launch. After five episodes ORPHAN BLACK has been watched in part by 2.8 million Canadians. With a weekly average of 364,000 viewers, ORPHAN BLACK is the #2 series for Space this broadcast year behind only DOCTOR WHO.

Anchored by Tatiana Maslany (Picture Day) who, to date, portrays Sarah, Beth, Katja, Alison, Cosima, and Helena, at its core ORPHAN BLACK centres on English punk and streetwise hustler Sarah who returns home after being separated from her daughter. But her homecoming isn’t exactly what she expected. After witnessing the suicide of a woman who looks just like her, Sarah takes over Beth’s life, including her job as a cop as well as her boyfriend Paul (Dylan Bruce, NCIS). Sarah soon discovers that she and Beth are clones, and as she becomes embroiled in the mystery, she learns that there are more of them out there – all genetically identical individuals nurtured in completely different circumstances. Working with her fellow ‘orphans,’ soccer mom Alison and PHD student Cosima, Sarah begins to unravel the mystery surrounding their identities, while also fighting for her life when an assassin begins killing the clones one by one.

ORPHAN BLACK also stars Jordan Gavaris (UNNATURAL HISTORY) as Felix, Sarah’s foster brother; Gemini Award-winner Maria Doyle Kennedy (DOWNTON ABBEY) as Mrs. S, Sarah and Felix’s hard-nosed working class foster mother; Kevin Hanchard (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE) as Art, a veteran detective who works alongside Beth; Michael Mando (THE KILLING) as Vic, Sarah’s sporadically violent ex; and Skyler Wexler (ALPHAS) as Kira, Sarah’s seven-year-old daughter.

Episodes of ORPHAN BLACK are available online at Space.ca following their television broadcast.

ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with Space and BBC America. Executive producers are Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier (BEING ERICA) at Temple Street Productions, and co-creators Graeme Manson (Cube, FLASHPOINT), and John Fawcett (SPARTACUS, THE SECRET CIRCLE). Manson also serves as writer and Fawcett as director. Production Executives for Bell Media are Trish Williams and Gosia Kamela. Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. Catherine MacLeod is Vice-President, Specialty Channels, Bell Media. Rick Brace is President, Specialty Channels and CTV Production. Phil King is President, CTV Programming and Sports.

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Awards, Featured, Less Than Kind

Less Than Kind’s Kim Coghill on her WGC Award

Kim Coghill WGC pic 2013

Last week the Writers Guild of Canada handed out their screenwriting awards, including the TV Comedy award to Kim Coghill for the “Jerk Chicken” episode of Less Than Kind. TV, eh?‘s Rachel Langer quizzed her on the award, the episode and lessons learned.

What does the WGC Award win mean to you? 

I’m honoured that my fellow writers have judged me not only funny enough, but also strong enough to lift this award, which I believe weighs 175 pounds. Because a lighter award wouldn’t mean nearly as much. I mean, you could actually kill someone with this thing. I’m not saying anyone did. Or would. Or thought about it. I’m just saying you could. It’s just a fact. Facts aren’t illegal.

What was it like to be nominated alongside your then-fiance, now-husband Denis McGrath (Congrats!) and the showrunner of LTK, Mark McKinney? Did that change the experience of winning for you? 

I was thrilled to be nominated, but not really sure how they’d take it when I won. Denis seems fine so far – he cries, but mostly at night. Mark sends hate mail scrawled on old Slings & Arrows scripts, but that’s cool too, because it’s kinda like being threatened by Shakespeare, which is pretty flattering… So, um, I think they’re fine with it.

Tell us about your episode of Less Than Kind, and what the best and worst parts of writing it were? 

In this episode, Sheldon, the awkward teenaged son, tries to turn himself into one of the “jocks,” best friend Miriam tries being a coquette, and pal Danny wonders why everyone’s turning into someone else. It all spirals out of control when Sheldon throws a jock party, and Danny and Miriam crash with a vengeance.

Worst part: reliving my adolescence.

Best part: reliving my adolescence through these incredibly complex and funny characters, especially with a show set in my hometown of Winnipeg.

If you had to share the award with one other person, who would it be and why? 

Just one? All the other writers on LTK, rolled into one enormous aggregate individual containing tiny pieces of each person’s funniest bits. And if I couldn’t do that, I’d share it with my new husband, because he already has one, so now we have matching bookends.

If you could pick one lesson from working on LTK to bring with you to your next writing room, what would it be?

That “comedy” and “drama” aren’t opposites; a show doesn’t have to be one or the other. Good comedy is most powerful when it plays out against real emotions – anger, sadness, fear – because that’s how we experience humour in real life.

Also, when you need a cheap laugh, there’s nothing like the word “boogers.”

Speaking of your next project, could you tell us a little bit about what you’re working on now? 

I’m writing a couple of new pilots that are in that ‘comedy-with-drama’ vein.

If you could step into the writers room on any past Canadian Comedy, what would it be, and why? 
My smart-ass side would pick Made in Canada, because it was so wonderfully snarky. But my playful side would pick SCTV – I adored those characters, ever since I was a kid. There’s nothing like watching a great character, written and performed with love.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Love It or List It hits 100 episodes

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loveit

From a media release:

W Network’s Love It or List It Hits 100 Episode Landmark

The 100th episode of the celebrated W Network hit show, Love It or List It, is scheduled to air Monday, June 3 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Marking the milestone for the popular Canadian series, the network, show producers, crew and hosts will celebrate with a red-carpet gala event in Toronto at the end of May.

Trailblazers in the factual entertainment genre, Gemini-award winning Big Coat Productions partnered with W Network to create Love It or List It as a reality hybrid show, blending the two genres that married the voyeuristic appeal of real estate and the dramatic and comedic reality of renovations. The unique, character-driven format sees homeowners embark on an emotional rollercoaster as hosts battle for their allegiance.

This collaborative dedication to entertaining the audience has yielded five successful seasons, a Vancouver spin-off and an overwhelming reception from both sides of the border (including a public nod from Hillary Rodham Clinton).

The 100th episode premieres Monday, June 3 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and features Hilary Farr and David Visentin taking on one of their toughest assignments yet. Ron and Mishelle purchased his family’s legacy farmhouse and became the fifth generation of his family to live in it. Mishelle feels they have too much unusable space as well as too much mortgage and she wants to move back to the city. Can Hilary keep this couple in Ron’s family home with enough modern changes to keep city-dweller Mishelle happy? Or will David find a home that will satisfy both the city mouse and country mouse?

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Be The Boss Canada premieres June 6

boss

From a media release:

W Network Launches Be The Boss Canada From the Production Team Behind Undercover Boss Canada

  • New series features Canadian employees in head-to-head challenges for a life-changing job opportunity
  • Companies include Pizza Pizza, Anytime Fitness and Pita Pit
  • Series premieres on Thursday, June 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT

This June, from Corus Entertainment’s W Network and the award-winning production team behind Undercover Boss Canada, comes a new competition series that offers a huge twist and life-changing opportunity for Canadian employees. Be The Boss Canada gives employees at leading national franchises a once-in-a-lifetime chance to take control of their future, rise through the ranks and become the boss, through exciting head-to-head challenges. Be The Boss Canada (6×60) premieres Thursday, June 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Viewers can follow Be The Boss Canada on Twitter @BeTheBossCanada, hashtag #BeTheBossCanada.

The pressure is on each week as the series follows two outstanding employees from companies including Pizza Pizza, Anytime Fitness and Pita Pit as they try to balance diplomacy and competitiveness in a series of challenges to win a huge promotion – but unbeknownst to them, one may actually walk away with the keys to their very own franchise. The participants take part in week-long job interview for what each believes is a chance for a promotion, with enticing pay and perks. Meanwhile, the bosses are hiding a closely-guarded secret as the two employees battle to be the best and out-perform each other. The employee who doesn’t win the promotion will be in for the surprise of their life when they are told that they have in fact won their very own franchise, instantly making the jump from employee to business owner. Will they rise to the occasion, or will they crack under the pressure?

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Rookie Blue

Rookie Blue returns May 23

small_ROOKIE_BLUE

From a media release:

NEW COPS, NEW CASES, NEW COUPLES­ – ROOKIE BLUE SEASON FOUR RETURNS MAY 23 ON GLOBAL

  • Plus New This Season Rookie Blue In Session ­– An Original Companion Web Series Launches On GlobalTV.com Thursday, May 16

Global is proud to announce the highly anticipated return of Canada’s favourite cop show Rookie Blue season four, in simulcast with ABC on Thursday, May 23 – 10pm ET/PT. Also new this season is Rookie Blue In Session, a dramatic short form web series on GlobalTV.com that will give fans an unprecedented look inside the minds of the police officers from 15 Division.

Faced with huge repercussions, 15 Division seemed on the edge of unraveling at the end of last season. The explosive season four premiere will answer fans’ burning questions and will also welcome two new characters, Marlo Cruz and Chloe Price, who have the power to turn 15 Division on its head.

New and old romantic ties come to light as new rookie recruits Chloe Price (Priscilla Faia – True Justice) and Senior Uniformed Officer Marlo Cruz (Rachael Ancheril – The Listener) join the team. Andy McNally (Missy Peregrym), Dov Epstein (Gregory Smith), Chris Diaz (Travis Milne), Traci Nash (Enuka Okuma), Gail Peck (Charlotte Sullivan) and Nick Collins (Peter Mooney) all return for season four.

Rookie Blue In Session, a 10-part short form original web series, follows the cops from 15 Division as they sit down with the staff psychologist to face their darkest demons, personal and professional struggles and major decisions, leaving them at their most vulnerable.

Fans can catch up now on the past three seasons of Rookie Blue for free on GlobalTV.com or the Global Video App.

Rookie Blue is executive produced by award-winning Tassie Cameron (Flashpoint), Ilana Frank (The Eleventh Hour, Would Be Kings), David Wellington (The Eleventh Hour, Would Be Kings), Russ Cochrane (The Listener) and John Morayniss (Klondike, Rogue). Rookie Blue is a production of ICF Film Inc. and leading indie studio and distributor Entertainment One.

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