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.
Orphan Black

Space announces fifth and final season of original thriller Orphan Black

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From a media release:

– Space confirms 10 additional one-hour episodes of ORPHAN BLACK Season 5 to premiere in 2017 –
– Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Media, produces ORPHAN BLACK in partnership with Space and BBC America –
– Season 4 finale airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET on Space, followed by an all-new episode of AFTER THE BLACK –

Space announced today the renewal of the fifth and final season of critically-acclaimed original series, ORPHAN BLACK. The clone conspiracy thriller sees the return of the award-winning Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany in her multiple versatile roles as the clone sisters. An additional 10, one-hour episodes are set to air in 2017 on Space. The Season 4 finale of the Peabody-winning series airs tonight at 10 p.m. ET on Space, followed by the finale of fan-favourite insider series, AFTER THE BLACK. The first three seasons of ORPHAN BLACK are streaming now on CraveTVTM.

In the Season 4 finale of ORPHAN BLACK “From Dancing Mice to Psychopaths” (June 16 at 10 p.m. ET), when communication with Cosima is cut off and Neolution appears to be within striking distance, Sarah’s alliance with Rachel goes out the window. Sarah lures a high-level Neolutionist into a trap, and sets out to bring down Neolution once and for all. For new episode images, click here.

After a hair-raising season of emotional flashbacks (Beth’s back-story), shocking reveals (Delphine is alive) and of course, new, game-changing clones, (M.K., Ira), Space’s original insider series AFTER THE BLACKprovides closure for Season 4 of ORPHAN BLACK tonight, Thursday, June 16 at 11 p.m. ET, following the season finale of ORPHAN BLACK. In this star-studded episode, hosts Ajay Fry and Morgan Hoffman sit with the inimitable Tatiana Maslany, Kevin Hanchard, and Kristian Bruun, for their take on the season’s shocking reveals, memorable moments, and behind-the-scenes secrets.

ORPHAN BLACK is produced by Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios, in association with Space and BBC America. Executive producers are Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier and Kerry Appleyard of Temple Street, Graeme Manson and John Fawcett. “Orphan Black” is distributed by BBC Worldwide.

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Industry News

Link: Derek Miller challenges the Canadian entertainment industry with TV show

From Lindsay Monture of Two Row Times:

Link: Derek Miller challenges the Canadian entertainment industry with TV show
Derek Miller is no stranger to the challenges of establishing freedom of expression in the face of the Canadian government. Derek’s performance variety TV series The Guilt Free Zone had been in conflict with some Canadian entertainment industry policies and had fought to bring it into its second season. Continue reading.

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19-2, Featured

Maxim Roy teases 19-2’s “huge betrayals” in Season 3

Maxim Roy may only appear in two episodes of 19-2 this season, but she makes the most of it. The Quebec native says Monday’s return episode is full of backstabbing and huge betrayals, and viewers will be shocked by the actions of some squad members.

We spoke to Roy about what’s next for Isabelle Latendresse following the death of Sgt. Julien Houle, and the relationship she has with Commander Gendron.

I’m so glad 19-2 is back, especially after Season 2’s finale with Sgt. Houle’s storyline. We needed to come back and have some closure.
Maxim Roy: I think everybody is. It was such a dramatic ending and every character on the show is so affected by that storyline. You didn’t see it coming and I think the audience was pretty shocked.

I thought Season 2 was pedal-to-the-metal and there wasn’t really any time to let up and take a breath.
Oh, really? I thought Season 2 was lighter than the first season. There were a lot more dramatic scenes that were cut out, so maybe that’s why I see it as being light. There were a lot of scenes that didn’t make the cut and they kept lighter moments. I think they were afraid of being too dramatic … that’s my opinion on it, but it was supposed to be even more dramatic. [Laughs.]

Well, there was the rookie cop having sex in the restaurant bathroom and the paintball fight had its moments of levity.
These are pretty dark characters. That’s what’s great about the show; everybody has their secrets, their own demons that they deal with and they try to put them aside on the job, but it doesn’t always happen. The show is more about the human drama of these people than the police work. They become intertwined, of course, but it’s more about them.

Masks are going to come off. You think somebody is good and realize they’re awful. It’s going to keep people on their toes.

Now, the press release for Season 3 says you return to ‘guest-star’ as Isabelle. Is this a case of the producers deciding to soft-pedal Isabelle’s story a bit, or did you have other commitments and couldn’t play a full-time role?
That was their decision. What happens to Isabelle is pretty shocking in the first episode, and then I can’t say anything … until the 10th episode people are going to be shocked.

Oh no…
But in a good way! Well, I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but people are going to be shocked. This season is intertwined with the fourth season … we need a fourth season to see what happens because there is a big climax.

How many episodes is Isabelle in this season?
Two.

I better not end up having to talk to you again because Isabelle has been killed off.
I don’t die.

What can you tell me about Isabelle and the characters she interacts with? It looked like Commander Gendron was moving in on her, which was creepy and gross.
[Laughs.] I love that you describe it as creepy, because that’s what I think too. Bruce [Ramsay] is such an adorable guy. When we shot the pilot, I didn’t like him. I thought, ‘He’s gross, I don’t even want to stand beside him.’ I didn’t know Bruce at all, but he was so good in his character that I thought, ‘Who is this creepy dude that they’ve hired?!’ But that’s Gendron. Then I got to know Bruce and I fell in love with him. He is the funniest guy and he created this odd, surprising, slimy guy.

People are going to hate him even more in Season 3, I can say that. Especially in the first episode. There is a lot of backstabbing, and huge betrayals all over the place. Masks are going to come off. You think somebody is good and realize they’re awful. It’s going to keep people on their toes.

19-2 airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Bravo.

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Industry News

CRTC improves support for local news

From a media release:

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today took measures to ensure Canadians continue to have access to local programming that reflects their needs and interests.

Local News
New minimum thresholds for local news will be imposed on all local private television broadcasters. Also, through a rebalancing of resources, the large private broadcasters will now have the necessary flexibility to keep local stations open and fund the production of local news programming. This represents up to $67 million that could be available for local news.

In addition, the CRTC is creating the Independent Local News Fund to give independent stations access to approximately $23 million dollars in resources to produce high-quality local news programming.

The Independent Local News Fund will support independent operators in the following localities: Victoria, Prince George, Kamloops, Medicine Hat, Lloydminster, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Rouyn-Noranda, Val d’Or, Gatineau, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Québec, Saguenay, Rivière-du-Loup, Carleton and St-John’s.

Canadians value local news and they watch it on a regular basis. Local news and information is also a key part of a democratic society. However, new technologies are making it harder to monetize viewership on traditional platforms.

Community television
The thorough public record shows that, overall, the framework for community television continues to be valid and relevant, ensuring that citizens have access to content production across Canada.

Cable companies will continue to have the stewardship of the community channel on behalf of their subscribers as they have for decades. The CRTC was not persuaded that this successful model should be changed.

Nevertheless, the CRTC is taking steps to ensure that this programming continues to reflect local citizens and events, and that more of the overall funding is directed to on-screen results rather than overhead.

Quick Facts

  • The CRTC has issued its new regulatory framework for local and community programming, following a process that began in September 2015.
  • During this process, Canadians reiterated that they place great importance on local news to stay informed.
  • Average weekly viewing hours for Canadian news and actualities broadcast by Canadian television services is over 23% of total hours viewed in the English market and over 28% in the French market.
  • The emergence of new technologies allowed Canadians to easily have access to local and international news. However, new digital media do not yet have adequate funding and the expertise necessary to replace traditional local news.
  • There are currently sufficient sources of funding within the system to fund the creation of locally produced, locally reflective programming.
  • Canada’s television system provides a strong foundation on which to build for the future. It employs nearly 60,000 people and invests more than $4 billion in public funds alone each year in the creation of content made by Canadians.
  • The allocation of some of the funding sources has been reviewed to ensure that local programming continues to be of high quality and receive adequate funding.
  • The CRTC expects broadcasters to fulfill their social responsibility to produce programming that informs and reflects local communities.
  • English-language stations will be required to broadcast at least seven hours of locally relevant programming (especially news) per week in non-metropolitan markets, and 14 hours per week in metropolitan markets (namely Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary).
  • French-language stations will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, using a benchmark of five hours of local programming per week.
  • Canadians still value community television programming, especially in smaller communities.
  • In the digital era, it is increasingly easy to create and share content online at lower cost. Community channels are encouraged to make content available on multiple platforms to all Canadians.
  • The CRTC today also published a notice of consultation that launched the renewal process for television licences owned by large ownership groups.
  • The public hearing to review the applications from the French-language ownership groups, namely Bell, Corus, Québecor and Groupe V, will begin on November 22, 2016, in Laval, Quebec.
  • The public hearing to review the applications from the English-language ownership groups, namely Bell, Corus and Rogers, will begin on November 28, 2016, at our headquarters in the National Capital Region.
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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Bone-chilling new series Haunted Case Files to air on T+E this Saturday

From a media release:

Things are about to get even creepier on T+E. June 18 will mark the highly-anticipated premiere of Haunted Case Files at 9 p.m. ET/PT. T+E’s newest original production will chronicle the paranormal encounters of North America’s leading ghost hunters and mediums. Riding on the coattails of fan-favourite series Paranormal Survivor, this brand new spinoff, co-produced by Our House Media, will bring even more hair-raising, supernatural tales to resonate with fans this summer.

Haunted Case Files zeroes in on the personal stories of Paranormal Survivor stars and real-life ghostbusters, including Michelle Desrochers. In this series, the experts take a look back at their investigations over the years and recount their most terrifying encounters with spirits, demons and unexplained entities. Each episode features three different stories from different paranormal investigators and weaves gripping interviews, powerful recreations and, in many cases, actual recordings – both audio and visual – to create an edge-of-the-seat rollercoaster ride of thrills and chills.

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