All posts by Greg David

Prior to becoming a television critic and owner of TV, Eh?, Greg David was a critic for TV Guide Canada, the country's most trusted source for TV news. He has interviewed television actors, actresses and behind-the-scenes folks from hundreds of television series from Canada, the U.S. and internationally. He is a podcaster, public speaker, weekly radio guest and educator, and past member of the Television Critics Association.
Awards, Featured

Spiral, Anne, Letterkenny and Cardinal top 22nd Annual WGC Screenwriting Awards

Writers for Spiral, Anne, Letterkenny and Cardinal were among the winners at the 22nd Annual Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Awards in Toronto on Monday night.

The event, held at the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning’s Koerner Hall, celebrated the country’s screenwriting talent in television, web series and film. Spiral writer Karen McClellan (pictured above) won in the Shorts & Webseries category for her script “The Girl in the Dream.”

“Writers don’t get here on their own,” McClellan said. “I want to say a special shout-out to some writers who have taken a chance on me in the past: Susin Nielsen, Shelley Eriksen, Bruce Smith and a dear friend who is not here tonight but always in my heart, Denis McGrath.”

Letterkenny‘s Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney won the TV Comedy category for their Season 2 script, “Relationships,” while Cardinal‘s Aubrey Nealon took home the TV Drama trophy for the Season 1 episode, “John Cardinal.”

Gavin Crawford, comedian, writer and host of CBC Radio’s Because News hosted, starting the night off with a surprise appearance by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne a.k.a. Crawford. As Wynne, Crawford extolled the virtues of Canadian television and film writers while taking a jab at recent adaptations of Anne of Green Gables and Alias Grace.

“I’m particularly excited about Kale & Prune, a six-hour CBC miniseries adapted from a Margaret Atwood’s Whole Foods receipt,” he joked.

Alison Lea Bingeman, Marsha Greene, Rachel Langer, Joseph Kay, Cynthia Knight, Adriana Maggs, Elize Morgan, Jiro Okada and Sugith Varughese presented the night’s categories.

Mark Ellis was the recipient of The Denis McGrath Award for his service to the Writers Guild of Canada, Michael MacLennan was given The WGC Showrunner Award, Sarah Dodd the Sondra Kelly Award and Sherry White the Alex Barris Mentorship Award. WGC president Jill Golick, whose term has ended after eight years, had the final say of the night with an impassioned plea to the group’s members.

“Stories are the best way to change hearts and minds,” Golick said. “Keep writing my friends. Keep finding ways to bring truth to light. ”

The category winners are:

Shorts & Webseries
Spiral, Episode 101 “The Girl in the Dream,” written by Karen McClellan

Children’s
Mysticons, Season 1 “Sisters in Arms,” written by Sean Jara

Movie of the Week & Miniseries
Alias Grace, written by Sarah Polley

Best Script from Season 1
Anne, Season 1 “I Am No Bird, And No Net Ensnares Me,” written by Moira Walley-Beckett

TV Comedy
Letterkenny, Season 2 “Relationships,” written by Jared Keeso and Jacob Tierney

TV Drama
Cardinal, Season 1 “John Cardinal,” written by Aubrey Nealon

Tweens & Teens
The Stanley Dynamic, Season 2 “The Stanley Cheer,” written by Matt Kippen

Feature Film
Entanglement, written by Jason Filiatrault

Documentary
The Hundred-Year-Old Whale, written by Mark Leiren-Young

 

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Dogs find their forever homes in Bell Media Studios’ Dog Tales Rescue, May 31 on Gusto

From a media release:

Hot on the paws of today’s National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, Gusto announces the premiere of new docu-series DOG TALES RESCUE, Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT beginning May 31.

Following the day-to-day operation of King City, Ont.’s Dog Tales Rescue and Horse Sanctuary, the 10-episode, half-hour series features sanctuary co-founders and animal lovers Danielle Eden-Scheinberg and Rob Scheinberg as they care and rehabilitate sick, elderly, and abused animals. Along with a dedicated team of 50 passionate staff, the sanctuary accepts local surrenders and works with shelters both domestically and abroad searching for animals in need of help. DOG TALES RESCUE also debuts this fall in Québec on Canal Vie.

Furthering its commitment to delivering diverse quality lifestyle content, Bell Media Studios and partner Motion Content Group also confirm today that DOG TALES RESCUE has been renewed for a second season, joining the recently announced multi-season commitment of series WHERE TO I DO?.

In the series premiere of DOG TALES RESCUE, Thursday, May 31 at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT, Rob and Danielle introduce the Dog Tales Rescue and Horse Sanctuary. The team puts together a creative photo shoot to help boost adoption rates, and Lead Horse Handler Ilana tries to integrate a new horse with the herd. Potential new adoptive parents Shelley and Emmanuel come to meet dog Samuel after seeing a social media post in which he was featured. Before they can adopt Samuel, they must bring their dog Phoebe to Dog Tales to see if the two dogs will hit it off.

Founded in 2004, the Dog Tales Rescue and Horse Sanctuary is a world-renowned dog rescue and horse sanctuary set on 50 acres in King City, Ont. The Dog Tales property includes kilometers of walking trails, a therapy pool, a grooming spa, a pig mud bath, a horse paddock, a fenced play area, and a splash pad for the dogs. Dog Tales provides rescue animals with medical care, training, and, of course, lots of love!

DOG TALES RESCUE is a co-production between Motion Content Group and Bell Media Studios. Melanie Darlaston is Executive Producer for Motion Content Group. Jennifer Couke and Michelle Crespi are Executive Producers for Bell Media Studios.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Home to Win: Bryan and Sarah Baeumler and Sangita Patel preview Season 3

Bryan and Sarah Baeumler are no strangers to working together. The pair, in addition to being married and with a passel of kids, the home builder and interior designer are business partners too. Viewers have seen that both in House of Bryan and most recently in Bryan Inc. But the pair is still getting used to working with the massive group of HGTV Canada talent assembled for Season 3 of Home to Win.

Returning Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada, Home to Win once again reunites 26 of this country’s biggest names in builders and designers with host Sangita Patel to renovate one piece of property for one deserving Canadian. But unlike the last two seasons of Home to Win, the home is only up for grabs for a first-time homebuyer (get details on how to audition). And, in the bursting Southern Ontario real estate market, that’s huge.

“It was a great concept, a great idea,” Sarah Baeumler says alongside Bryan and Patel during a press junket at Corus Entertainment headquarters. “When we’re talking to people that want to buy a house and what to look for, the idea and cost right now is a very difficult thing to talk about because it’s out of most people’s realm. To be able to do this and have somebody win their first-time home is spectacular.”

As with last season, Sunday’s return follows Bryan Baeumler and Scott McGillivray as they walk through a trio of homes that are potential projects. The show’s producers hit a home run when they paired the veteran builders together for the task; as contributor Tanya writes in her preview, Baeumler and McGillivray share a similar sense of humour and get on like gangbusters.

“We show up, have fun and have a laugh,” Bryan Baeumler says. “I’ll be honest, nobody laughs at me as hard as I laugh at me. Scott’s the same. We don’t get a lot of time to hang out when we’re not [filming] because we’re both very busy with family, kids and work, so it’s nice to just hang out with the brother I never wanted and have some fun.”

We won’t give away which of the three homes Baeumler and McGillivray choose as the one to be made over (well, that, and we’re not allowed to say), but it’s a great choice. And one with plenty of challenges. Still, folks like Brian McCourt, Sarah Keenleyside, Kortney and Dave Wilson, Drew and Jonathan Scott, Sabrina Smelko, Jo Alcorn, Carson Arthur, Danielle Bryk, Kate Campbell, Sebastian Clovis, Mike Holmes, Mike Holmes Jr., Paul LaFrance, Tiffany Pratt and Samantha Pynn are up to the test. With Sarah Richardson and Tommy Smythe coming up with the overall design style of the home, the over two dozen-strong team gets to work.

“This is one of the most important things about this season and what we learned from [making] the last two seasons,” Sarah says. “We didn’t take the time to come up with a cohesive plan, we went off and were creating all of these things. Being able to stand together and say, ‘OK, what does everyone feel?’ You pick something that is sort of neutral ground. Somebody like me, who is into neutral colours and white, can wrap my head around it. We all came to a consensus on the overall feel and then go off on our own little tangents.”

Are you hoping to be one of the Canadians in the running to win the home? Patel has some advice when it comes to the audition process and making your video.

“Just be real,” she advises. “Be yourself in your audition tape. Don’t do anything crazy. Tell us why you need this house and why you want to get this house.”

Home to Win airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

Images courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

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Featured

Comments and queries for the week of April 27

1 Comment

Someone has to tell this new host she needs to stop interrupting her guests. This is off-putting in the extreme. I watch Power and Politics regularly, record it daily, however, I am considering stopping recording and watching as Vassy Kapelos’ constant interruptions makes her interviews more frustrating than the benefit of the political discussions. —Janet

I do wish Hollywood would go back to good stories, mysteries and subjects. They rely too much on scandalous sex, crude language and violence as well as fantasy and just weird content. Most of the U.S. detective shows are corny or dumb except for Law & Order: SVU. Or, they just do reality TV, which is getting old. Although the actors on Murdoch Mysteries are attractive, the show doesn’t just rely on over-plasticized, fake beauty like Hollywood does. It is about the characters, the plot and the excellent writing. I am so glad other countries like Canada, the UK and Australia to keep these kinds of mysteries coming. —Makeup Girl

I live in the U.S. and am a Murdoch addict. I don’t really like Julia. I wish Murdoch had stayed with Anna. So happy about Season 12 that I can hardly wait! —Patricia

I live in the U.S. (Mississippi) and I am really, really, really glad to hear that Murdoch will be back for Season 12. Words can not express how much I love this show and there is nothing on the air in the States, right now, that is as great as MM, in my opinion. While the show is set in Canada, the themes and societal issues it tackles are universal. Gender equality, abortion, civil rights, issues of racism, classism, religion, homophobia, etc. These are universal to people living around the world and MM examines these without judgment or taking sides, leaving the concluding analysis to the viewer. All of that, in addition to, a really great mystery. This is something that is rarely found in a lot of TV shows today. My hat’s off to the writers, producers, cast and crew for the blood, sweat, tears and HANDIWORK that you put into every episode. Believe me, it shows. Impatiently waiting for Season 12. Oh, Shaftesbury and AcornTV please don’t make me wait toooooo long. :-) —Daphne

Although we in the U.S. and are about two months behind with current airing via AcornTV, still happy to know Murdoch and team will be coming back for Season 12, just hope their holiday special is as good as their first in Season 9—didn’t really like holiday episodes for 10 & 11. Also, while I love Murdoch and Julia, there has been way too much focus on their relationship and not enough on the actual crimes, let’s go back to what worked in Season 1–9. —Lisa

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

 

 

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