Everything about Featured, eh?

Featured

Kevin Frankish leaving Breakfast Television Toronto

5 Comments

It’s the end of an era at Breakfast Television Toronto as co-host Kevin Frankish announced he is leaving City’s flagship morning show. His last day will be Friday, June 1.

Frankish made the announcement on-air on Tuesday morning and on social media with fellow co-host Dina Pugliese by his side.

“We have shared so much together for so many years,” he read from a statement, his voice quavering. “Many of you who started watching me as kids come up to me now as parents with kids of your own. Some of you may remember when I proposed to my wife on air. I have shared with you the birth of all four of my children. When I had a panic attack on air, I shared that with you and we have since gone on a journey of battle with depression together. In fact, many of you, in turn, have shared so many of your stories. We are truly family. It is this fact that makes what I have to say so difficult.

“All good things must come to an end eventually, and so sadly has my time here on Breakfast Television,” he continued. “Friday will be my last day on this program. I am not disappearing, though, from the CityTV airwaves. I will be working on documentaries for CityTV.” You can read the full statement here. Frankish’s wife, Beth, was in-studio and came to sit next to Frankish and Pugliese before the segment headed to a commercial.

Frankish has been the host of Breakfast Television on City since 1994, when he replaced David Onley. Prior to that, Frankish was the host of Barrie’s The New VR for nine years.

It’s not clear whether Frankish is departing Breakfast Television under his own terms or because changes to the show itself are imminent. Back in 2016, Jennifer Valentyne departed the program due to a programming change, followed by Tanya Kim last year.

 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Carter, Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Carter: How Kristian Bruun’s unemployment beard landed him the role of Dave

We’re loving Carter.

The light tone, humour and chemistry between the three main characters—actor Harley Carter (Jerry O’Connell), cop Sam Shaw (Sydney Poitier-Heartsong) and coffee truck owner Dave Leigh (Kristian Bruun)—is a big part of that. The trio is the heart and soul of the mystery series, airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo, and we couldn’t imagine anyone else in those roles.

Ironically, if it hadn’t been for his Murdoch Mysteries character, Constable “Slugger” Jackson being killed off, Bruun likely never would have scored Dave. We spoke to Bruun, who will also be seen in the excellent space web series Deep Six in the coming months, about landing the role.

What was it like working on Carter?
Kristian Bruun: It’s funny how this world works because I wouldn’t have gotten that job if I was back on Murdoch Mysteries, I think. And, like Peter Mitchell said back then about not being worried about me, he was kind of right. When I didn’t get to come back to Murdoch for Season 11, I was like, ‘Well, I guess I don’t have to be clean-shaven anymore.’ So I grew this hipster beard to fit in in my neighbourhood in L.A. I called it my unemployment beard. [Laughs.] I was looking a little more rugged and then an audition came along for this role, playing a dude from up north. I thought the beard could work and I booked the role.

Tell me about Dave.
He’s a very different character that I’m very lucky to play. We had a blast shooting it. Jerry O’Connell, Sydney Poitier and I are up north solving crimes. I kind of describe it as Magnum, P.I. meets Murder, She Wrote. It’s a small town, there are too many murders and we’re running around solving capers and getting into too much trouble. It’s a really fun role. We had a blast shooting it. It was like summer vacation. We were there from July to October in North Bay, Ont., a beautiful place to be shooting and every week friends of mine were coming up to film guest-starring roles on this. It was like, ‘Hey, come up and hang out with us for a week on this crazy TV show.’ It has a lot of humour, a lot of heart.

Carter airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Image courtesy of Bell Media. 

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Private Eyes

Preview: George Chuvalo delivers knockout punch in Private Eyes’ return

When we last left Shade and Angie, things had gotten a little weird with their personal relationship. As a matter of fact, Angie realized she had feelings for her partner and drove over to Shade’s house to tell him that. Unfortunately, just before she knocked on his front door, she spotted Mel and Shade getting intimate. Angie turned to Ken for solace.

After waiting close to a year for Private Eyes to return with new episodes on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global, where are Shade and Angie? Solving crimes of course! Here’s what Global’s episode synopsis says regarding “Kissing the Canvas.”

After being hired by a boxer to prove a fight was fixed, Shade’s sucker-punched when he meets the boxer’s manager: none other than his ex-manager who made off with all of Shade’s money! Angie brings in her mother Nora as a gambling advisor to help crack the case, hopefully before their client gets the knockout of her life.

And we’ve got more tidbits after watching a screener, written by James Thorpe and directed by James Genn:

Who is back for the second half of Season 2?
Zoe (Samantha Wan) and Detective Mazhari (Ennis Esmer) return, along with Jules (Jordyn Negri), Don (Barry Flatman), Becca (Nicole DeBoer), Mel (Bree Williamson) and Dr. Ken (Mark Ghanimé).

George Chuvalo guest-stars in Sunday’s instalment
The five-time Canadian heavyweight boxing champ who took Muhammad Ali the distance twice in the ring appears as himself.

A former Call Me Fitz co-star stops by
Peter MacNeill, a.k.a. Ken Fitzpatrick, shows up to play Shade’s old manager Murray Clavin. And Shade isn’t happy to see him. Also appearing in guest roles this week are Conrad Coates and Tony Nappo. Workin’ Moms Mimi Kuzyk reprises her gig as Angie’s mom, Nora.

Zoe and Maz are back at it …
… and quickly threatening for cutest/most awkward couple on primetime TV.

Private Eyes airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global.

Images courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Cavendish, Coroner, Diggstown, Featured, Northern Rescue, Street Legal, Unspeakable

Reaction: CBC’s slate of new programs for the 2018-19 broadcast season

4 Comments

I spent a couple of days in Ottawa this week, which meant I missed attending CBC’s presentation for its 2018-19 broadcast season. You can check out the full announcement here, which includes a list of the shows returning to the schedule, programs that are moving and even better news for Kim’s Convenience fans. (Not so for 21 Thunder and Hello Goodbye; the former has been cancelled and the latter is on hiatus.)

In no particular order, here are my thoughts on (almost) everything that CBC revealed on Thursday morning.

— A lot of folks, myself included, were scratching their heads over the decision to bring back Street Legal for another go-round. What more could be said about those characters over 20 years later? That all changed once I saw Bruce Smith named as showrunner. He’s the guy behind two of my favourite TV series in recent memory, Cracked and 19-2. Both were gritty, realistic portrayals of life, so I expect the same from Street Legal as well as catching up on what Olivia Novak is up to. And I can’t wait to have Cynthia Dale back on my TV screen.

— CBC does family drama, really, really, well. Just look at the success of Heartland for crying out loud. I’m expecting big things from Northern Rescue and all it offers: tragedy, redemption, starting a new life in an unfamiliar place and Kathleen Robertson.

— I was unaware of Floyd Kane until this week, though he’s been involved in several projects I’ve watched or admired, including writing for Continuum and Backstage and producing That’s So Weird and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. He’s a bona fide lawyer, so it makes sense he’d create a series about being one in Diggstown. I’m into this, especially after learning Diggstown marks the first original Canadian drama series to feature a black Canadian female in the lead role.

— I’m excited to see Back Alley Films—the folks behind the excellent Bellevue—working with the CBC on Coroner. Based on the best-selling book series by M.R. Hall and created for TV by Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope), it’s about former ER doctor Jenny Cooper who now investigates suspicious deaths.

— I’m over the moon that Kim’s Convenience, which just began production on Season 3, has been greenlit for Season 4. I’m equally jazzed that Paul Sun-Hyung Lee has been tagged to host Canada’s Smartest Person Junior.

— Banger Films are the folks behind must-see music documentaries like Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Super Duper Alice Cooper and Rock Icons. I’m intrigued and excited by From the Vaults, which takes a look at Canadian history and music by utilizing the CBC’s archives.

— High Arctic Haulers. Remote northern communities relying on ships to bring them supplies? Right in my wheelhouse.

— Baroness Von Sketch Show and Still Standing both moving to the fall on CBC is a curious move, as is bumping Kim’s Convenience to the winter. Regardless, it gives the CBC a solid night of comedy on Tuesdays all year long.

— Heartland is back, but for only 11 episodes. That’s a little concerning and I can’t help but wonder if this might be the last season for the long-running Canadian drama. I have no evidence to back this up—it may be because some castmembers want to do other things—it’s just a gut feeling.

— Murdoch Mysteries is currently listed at 18 episodes, which would indicate to me there will be no holiday special this year. Again, I have nothing to go on other than the number.

What are you most looking forward to or excited about from CBC’s announcement? Let me know in the comments below.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured

Comments and queries for the week of May 25

Really annoyed that Kaegen is back. I hate when the shows do this! I feel like it’s a fake way of getting a certain demographic back on the scene. Yeah, sure he cooked his way back into the competition. It also always seems to be the contestants that I am happy to have seen leave! —Nicole

Such a disappointment to have Alvin go into the Red Team’s kitchen and start telling them to hurry up and offering advice as to put it in the pan NOW, etc., etc., etc. He should not have “aided” them in any way at all! —Julie

Reaction to Daily Planet‘s cancellation

One of the few shows that had some substance. Shame on you. No more stupid reality shows. —Steven

It is a disappointment to lose one of the few educational shows on TV these days. I would happily say goodbye to those mind-numbing reality shows that have taken over the networks. I don’t think it is life altering if some bride picks a particular dress, or if someone makes a better sword, or cooks a better meal. —Kathy

The reality is most of this information is available from YouTube channels which have become way more polished and professional in the past five years. It’s been at least four years since I watched Daily Planet and I was regular viewer back when Jay was the host. The No. 1 science host today in Canada is Linus Sebastian who has a series of YouTube channels. His focus is primarily on computers and tech devices but that overlaps with a lot of what Daily Planet was covering. —Ron

Reaction to InnerSpace‘s cancellation

I’m turning off Space Channel. —Ken

I guess it’s going to hit Fan Expo hard this fall. Why will they support that without the presence of the faces of Space, Teddy, Ajay, Morgan and the crew? —Sean

Innerspace has lost its appeal the last couple years, bashing older versions of movies, promoting movies that turned into rotten tomatoes; whatever happened to personal opinions, it has felt like a 30-minute commercial at times. They still had some good content, Teddy Wilson was always entertaining, of the three hosts him I’ll miss the most. I’m sure a new show will fill the void, maybe with Teddy Wilson hosting it? —Denis

If Bell Media were smart, they’d add Morgan Hoffman to Your Morning or eTalk on CTV as soon as humanly possible. She is my absolute fave. Fun, fashionable and a pleasure to watch onscreen. The InnerSpace crew did some great work, especially with their Orphan Black, post-episode specials, “After The Black” that were must-see for fans. Sad, sad news. —Kevin

 

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

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail