From Scott Anderson of U of T magazine:
Link: Family Guy
Actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, the star of CBC’s new comedy Kim’s Convenience, has never been as busy with work as he is now. He says this as if he can’t quite believe his good fortune, having stumbled across a role a decade ago – Appa, the Korean owner of a convenience store in Toronto’s Regent Park – that’s gone on to define his career. Continue reading.
From a media release:
CBC’s hit competition series CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON has narrowed down the field to 30 remarkable Canadians from coast to coast to coast who will put themselves to the test, squaring off each week for their latest chance to take home the title of “Canada’s Smartest Person.†From ages 16 to 62, and with diverse occupations including psychic medium, pro video gamer, neuroscientist, cancer researcher/fashion blogger, Paralympian, and law student/Miss Universe Canada, the competitors are ready to show the country what they’ve got as they tackle challenges that offer a new spin on what it truly means to be smart. CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON returns for Season 3 Sunday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT) on CBC.
Each week, host Jessi Cruickshank (The Goods), with special guest judges, guides the competitors and viewers through the hour-long competition series, which illuminates how Canadians are smart based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. In each of the first five episodes, six competitors go head-to-head in a series of fun and revealing challenges that test six areas of intelligence: linguistic, physical, musical, visual, social and logical, with one winner advancing to the championship finale. Then, in the climactic season finale, five finalists will battle it out to claim the title of CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON. New this season is CSP SmartPlay, where viewers can join in on the fun from home by playing along in real-time on the CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON Facebook page.
Introducing this season’s CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON competitors:
Episode 301 – airing Sunday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT)
â— Susan Forgues, 54, retired military helicopter pilot from Orleans, ON
â— Jonathan Gagnon, 31, engineer from Vancouver, BC
◠Stephanie Harvey, 30, pro video gamer from Québec City, QC
â— Vincent Law, 33, cancer researcher and fashion blogger from Calgary, AB
◠Rup Magon, 41, musician from Montréal, QC
â— Steve Norn, 40, insurance broker from Yellowknife, NT
Episode 302 – airing Sunday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT)
â— Christine Cho, 36, makeup artist from Toronto, ON
â— Donna Hartt, 46, psychic medium from Cranbrook, BC
◠Jennifer Martin, 33, copywriter from St. Phillip’s, NL
◠Chad “CJ†Studer, 38, physical education teacher from Miscouche, PE
â— Chris Williams, 54, innkeeper from Round Hill, NS
â— Joshua Williams, 25, youth worker from Edmonton, AB
Episode 303 – airing Sunday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT)
â— Rebecca Bromwich, 39, lawyer from Calgary, AB
â— Frankie Cena, 24, international speech and debate coach from Vancouver, BC
â— Ryan Coelho, 30, millennial consultant from Toronto, ON
â— Gwyneth Foster, 16, high school student from Uxbridge, ON
â— Maria Samson, 33, professional rugby player from Calgary, AB
â— Vanessa Vakharia, 35, math tutor and entrepreneur from Toronto, ON
Episode 304 – airing Sunday, Dec. 4 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT)
â— Brittain Bancroft, 30, mechanic from Minto, NB
â— Siera Bearchell, 23, law student and Miss Universe Canada 2016 from Moose Jaw, SK
â— Darryl Gidyk, 42, neuroscientist from Lethbridge, AB
â— Devon Jones, 37, personal trainer from Winnipeg, MB
â— Bruce Tsuji, 62, university professor from Ottawa, ON
â— Michelle Zakrison, 33, lawyer from Iqaluit, NU
Episode 305 – airing Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT)
â— Tristan Campus, registered nurse from Mississauga, ON
â— Melissa DeCiantis, 25, arborist from Mississauga, ON
â— Dustin Herbison, 29, high school shop teacher from Kelowna, BC
â— Michelle Salt, 31, Paralympian from Calmar, AB
â— Wali Shah, 21, rapper and spoken word poet from Mississauga, ON
â— Eric Yue, 39, commissioner recreational hockey league from Victoria, BC
Episode 306 – airing Sunday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. (8:30NT)
The five finalists will battle it out to claim the title of CANADA’S SMARTEST PERSON.
Anyone who has said goodbye to a loved one before they embark on a trip knows the emotions involved. It happened earlier this year to me when my youngest stepson left on a four-month backpacking adventure in Europe. There was a lump in my throat as I watched him go through security at Toronto Pearson International Airport, knowing he was going away and it wouldn’t be summer until he returned home.
Back for Season 2 on Friday at 8:30 p.m. on CBC, emotions as folks leave and arrive at Pearson are captured by cameras on Hello Goodbye. Host Dale Curd is back too, weaving his way up to people in the Arrivals and Departure areas and getting the personal stories surrounding why they’re there. I don’t recall Season 1 of Hello Goodbye theming its episodes, so apologies to the producers if they did. Friday’s instalment, “Lost & Found,” as Curd says, focuses on empty holes in lives being filled by those they hold dear to them.
The half hour begins with Curd stopping to chat with a man and woman named Linda. He’s her dad and she’s returning to the UK. The catch? Linda is concluding a visit to Canada where she’d met her father for the first time. At 15, the man who’d brought her up as his daughter revealed the truth. After keeping quiet about it for decades, Linda finally asked who her real father was, and sought him out. At Curd’s prompting, viewers learn dad was in the British army in Glasgow and returned to Canada, not knowing he was leaving a future daughter behind. The story gets even more interesting from there, but I’ll let viewers find that out for themselves.
I remain amazed that total strangers are willing to open up to Curd. But, as he told me in January when Season 1 launched, “I just let the conversation unfold. If I opened up the space just to allow them to share and let the conversation build naturally and ask natural questions, they wanted to tell me more.”
That’s certainly the case of the next person Curd speaks to, a young woman waiting for her fiancé to arrive from France. During their chat, she reveals how long she’s been in a wheelchair, the circumstances surrounding the incident and how the home she grew up feeling comfortable become a foreign space after her accident.
It’s an emotional episode, but then saying hello or goodbye to someone you care about it like that, isn’t it?
Hello Goodbye airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on CBC.
From Michael Martin of Out:
Link: The Canadian Trifecta: Eugene Levy, Daniel Levy, Catherine O’Hara
It started with a silly little pun, but the Pop network comedy Schitt’s Creek has quickly become one of the biggest, oddest pleasures on television. Co-created by father-and-son team Eugene (of American Pie fame) and Daniel Levy, the series concerns a formerly rich family cleaned out by tax authorities and forced to live in their only remaining asset: the small town of the show’s title, which they’d bought as a joke years ago. Continue reading.Â
From a media release:
Corus Entertainment, the leader in specialty entertainment with six of the top 10 specialty channels in Canada, announced today that it is introducing Cooking Channel, a 24-hour network that caters to avid food lovers, in Canada on December 12, 2016. From the creators of Food Network, Cooking Channel is the answer to a growing appetite for more content devoted to food and cooking in every dimension; from global cuisines to international travel, to food history and unconventional how-tos. A perfect pairing to Food Network Canada, Cooking Channel expands Corus’ dominance in the food and lifestyle genre and joins the company’s roster of lifestyle channels including: Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, W Network, Slice, DIY Network and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Canada.
The launch of Cooking Channel in Canada is an extension of Corus’ long-term partnership with Scripps Networks Interactive, leading developer of engaging lifestyle content whose media portfolio includes: Food Network, HGTV and DIY Network. Since Scripps Networks’ launch of Cooking Channel in the United States in 2010, ratings and impressions have grown exponentially for core demographics (A25-54 / W25-54), averaging gains of more than 50% to date while growing its distribution to US households by 20%. The network most recently wrapped Q3 2016 notching its highest-rated, most-watched quarter to date marking 15 consecutive quarters of quarter-to-quarter growth.
Cooking Channel in Canada is a rebrand of W Movies.
A few of the highly-anticipated series confirmed for launch include:
Man Fire Food
Man Fire Food stars Canadian chef Roger Mooking and features the inventive ways to cook with fire. From small campfires to creative custom-made grills and smokers, they visit home cooks, pitmasters and chefs who are fascinated by fire and food. The smoke signals take Roger Mooking across the country, including the American South for different styles of regional barbecue, the Pacific Northwest for a tribal salmon bake and New England for a unique seafood feast. Man Fire Food celebrates the passion for building and cooking with fire.
Dinner at Tiffani’s
Tiffani Thiessen invites her celebrity friends over for good company, great stories and delicious food. With guests like Jason Priestley, Seth Green, her White Collar co-stars and more, it’s a wonderful blend of dinner, drinks and fun. Come for the party, stay for the food.
Unwrapped 2.0
Unwrapped 2.0 is a fun and fascinating look at the amazing processes, great stories and interesting people behind the creation of some of the most popular snacks. Hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, Unwrapped 2.0 features everything from classic childhood treats to the latest candy crazes. Whether you like your snacks sweet or savoury, crispy or gooey, Unwrapped 2.0 offers behind-the-scenes access to get you a front row seat to see them made.
Cake Hunters
The perfect party needs the perfect cake, and that’s where Cake Hunters comes in! From weddings to family reunions and more, party hosts meet with three cake designers who present their jaw-dropping concepts to make the perfect complement to their big bashes. And once the winning design is picked, will the cake make it to the big day on time and in one piece?
Unique Sweets
Unique Sweets is an insider’s peek into innovative eateries that are creating the most unique and exciting desserts today. These sweet spots cover the gamut: restaurants with revolutionary pastry chefs; candy shops inventing eye-popping confections; chocolate boutiques with wild artisanal flavours and bakeries producing one-of-a-kind pastries, cakes and cookies in the middle of the night. Wherever there are gooey, crunchy, sticky and sweet treats that you won’t find anywhere else, Unique Sweets will take you there.
