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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

W Network launches latest in Love It or List It franchise: Love It or List It Vacation Homes

From a media release:

W Network puts a new twist on the internationally popular Love It or List It franchise with an all-new spin-off series, Love It or List It Vacation Homes premiering Monday, May 9 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Produced by Big Coat Productions, in association with W Network, Love It or List It Vacation Homes showcases vacation properties with unique architectural designs in Ontario and British Columbia. The series introduces designer, Dan Vickery (HGTV’s Design Star) and realtor, Elisa Goldhawke as hosts who face off against each other in an attempt to persuade vacation homeowners’ to either keep their renovated property or move to a new vacation home.

In Love It or List It Vacation Homes, the homeowners’ love affair with their vacation property has fizzled and they are faced with the dilemma of whether they should love it or list it. And so begins the rivalry between designer and realtor. It’s up to creative designer Dan, to renovate and re-design the homeowners’ current vacation property so that they will “love it” and stay. Whereas fearless realtor Elisa must pull out all the stops to find the homeowners a beautiful new vacation property that checks all the boxes on their wish list, persuading them  to “list it” and put their current property on the market.

Each episode takes viewers on an emotional roller-coaster ride, as Dan and Elisa battle it out for the homeowners’ allegiance. Dan will have to overcome the hidden surprises that come with every reno, and deliver a breathtaking transformation. Meanwhile, Elisa will have to do everything in her power to find a beautiful vacation home for clients with high expectations and zero tolerance for failure. Whether Dan has to deal with a septic tank calamity or Elisa has to track down that perfect waterfront location, each episode ends with that all important question – will they love it or list it?

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Shaw Media greenlights Season 4 of Chopped Canada

From a media release:

Shaw Media has green lit a super special fourth season of Food Network Canada’s hit series Chopped Canada. A country-wide casting call for the high-stakes culinary competition series is underway, searching for amateur chefs to compete in the prestigious Chopped Canada kitchen. Produced by Paperny Entertainment, in association with Shaw Media, Chopped Canada Season 4 includes six Juniors episodes (ages 9-13), five Teens episodes (ages 14-17), and four themed specials featuring grandmothers, firefighters, celebrities, and Chopped Canada judges. Broadcast details for the new season will be announced at a later date.

Chopped Canada is looking for grandmothers who rule their families’ kitchens, firefighters with a fiery passion for cooking, and young chefs between the ages of 9 and 17 who cook like pros. The series will be filmed in Toronto this Spring and all Canadians or permanent residents are welcome to apply. Online applications for Chopped Canada can be filled out by visiting choppedcanadacasting.ca. Deadline for applications is April 11, 2016.

Chopped Canada Season 4 sees Brad Smith return as host alongside the series’ esteemed panel of rotating judges – Mark McEwan (Top Chef Canada), Lynn Crawford (The Great Canadian Cookbook), Michael Smith (Chef Michael’s Kitchen), Susur Lee (Top Chef Masters), Roger Mooking (Man Fire Food), John Higgins (George Brown College), Anne Yarymowich (George Brown College), Antonio Park (Park Restaurant in Montreal), Massimo Capra (Restaurant Makeover), and Eden Grinshpan (Eden Eats).

Winners of the celebrity and Chopped Canada judges specials will each receive $10,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Winners from each of the themed and teens episodes will each be awarded $10,000, and the winners of junior episodes will each receive $5,000. Celebrities and Chopped Canadajudges competing in the new season will be announced at a later date.

In each episode of Chopped Canada, four chefs compete before an all-star rotating panel of three expert judges. Armed with skill and ingenuity, the chef competitors race against the clock to turn the mystery ingredients from their iconic baskets into an extraordinary three-course meal. Course-by-course, the judges decide which competitor host Brad Smith will “chop” from the competition until only the winner remains.

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Production Underway on Discovery’s New Series Heavy Rescue: 401 from Highway Thru Hell producers

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From a media release:

Discovery announced today that production is underway on HEAVY RESCUE: 401, a new original Canadian series set to debut in 2017 based on the network’s hit series HIGHWAY THRU HELL. With the support of the OPP, Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, York Regional police, maintenance contractors, and several other organizations, the new documentary series follows the men and women who keep Ontario’s 400-series highways operating at any cost.

Spanning the Greater Toronto Area and southern Ontario, HEAVY RESCUE: 401 follows multiple major tow operators, rescue, and maintenance crews day and night along North America’s most intense stretch of highway. From Sarnia eastbound to Toronto and north to Barrie, the cast of heroes work diligently to keep Canada’s most important and busiest series of highways open through any weather condition. From monster snow storms creating kilometers of mayhem to trucks spilling their loads, these efforts safeguard the country’s most important trade route with the U.S. from grinding to a crippling halt through the worst of the winter driving season.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Colin and Justin get down and dirty for Season 3 of Cabin Pressure

Anyone who’s done grand-scale home renovations knows that feeling of hopelessness. A “simple” job that grew to into a catastrophe, a project that morphed from costing a few thousand dollars into a massive bank black hole. Such is the case for Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan, the Scottish design duo who return for a third go-round of Cabin Pressure this Sunday on Cottage Life.

The timing of the series couldn’t be better—Cottage Life is currently in an eight-week free preview—plenty of time to watch the lads’ cottage country exploits and commiserate when things go wrong. And do they ever. Episode 1 quickly sets up the premise—the pair have purchased a Haliburton, Ont., cottage to renovate and use as an income property—before plans go awry.

“We’re trying to redevelop one of the worst cabins on one of the loveliest lakes in Haliburton,” Ryan said. “It’s been a huge challenge from start to finish.” As in Season 2 with a reno of their own cottage, the pair wanted to lift this cabin off the ground and dig out a basement. But decades of moisture and a bad foundation threaten to shatter hopes and bank accounts. Ryan’s frustration at being over $80,000 in the hole just days into the work is plain. Thankfully, there is good news; sections of the fractured foundation could be saved and most of the floor joists escaped spreading mould, meaning a return to the hilarious (and sometimes very un-PC) comments Colin and Justin fans love. Well, that, and the ingenious design ideas they come up with, sometimes costing just pennies to do, like the coffee-stained walls utilized in Season 1.

McAllister and Ryan’s design inspiration for this project is a black-on-black European minimalism transported to cottage country, something not only reflected in the building itself but deck too. Ryan remembered how they were struggling to find someone to build the deck until a woman named Andrea contacted them via Twitter. Her boyfriend’s St. Catharine’s company, Boys with Big Decks could complete the 2,400 square-foot task.

“We’re now boys with big decks,” McAllister quipped.

“Actually, we’re boys with massive decks,” Ryan corrected.

Cabin Pressure airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cottage Life.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Discovery’s original special on Sea Monsters debuts March 28

From a media release:

Sightings of ‘Caddy’ in Canada and ‘Nessie’ in Scotland continue to intrigue both skeptics and believers alike. Now scientists are on a quest to separate fact from fiction as they embark on a global search for the truth about mysterious monsters lurking in the deep. Premiering Monday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery, SEA MONSTERS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE explores the most (in)famous legends of the ocean using the latest scientific technology and deep sea submersibles. During the hour-long special, viewers join the world’s leading experts as they investigate the myths and the truths behind these extraordinary creatures.

SEA MONSTERS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE studies unimaginable monsters in the inky depths of the ocean.

Highlights from SEA MONSTERS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE include:

Giant Squid or Kraken?
Dr. Kat Bolstad from Auckland University of Technology dissects a Giant Squid washed up on a New Zealand beach. This animal is big and fearsome but does it have the strength or brain to live up to the legend of the mighty Kraken, feared by ancient Vikings?

‘Nessie’ and ‘Caddy’
Using the latest stealthy hydrophone technology, scientists are baffled by a recording of a mysterious ‘low growl’ while scanning the depths of Loch Ness. Could this be ‘Nessie’, the famous and elusive monster? And closer to home, an eye-witness recounts her sighting of the legendary Cadborosaurus – more affectionately known as ‘Caddy’ the Canadian sea serpent – as it swam by her waterfront home in British Columbia.

Megalodon vs. Livyatan
Two real and terrifying prehistoric creatures are brought to life using spectacular CGI. The 60-foot Megalodon shark and predatory Livyatan whale duke it out under the sea. But which beast will triumph in this ultimate battle of strength?

What are Globsters?
Viewers are presented with the truth behind the astonishing and mysterious fleshy creatures known to wash up on beaches around the world.

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