From Bill Harris of Postmedia Network:
Dale Curd probes for non-flighty emotion in airport-set series ‘Hello Goodbye’
Imagine you’re standing at the airport and this guy wanders up and wants to know intimate details of your life. You might call security, right?
Well, it probably says something about me psychologically that my reaction to the new CBC series Hello Goodbye changed somewhat when I learned more about the host. Continue reading.
Turns out Torontonians really do like to talk. Despite the belief they are a reserved folk, Dale Curd found them to be downright chatty when he spoke to them during Season 1 of CBC’s newest series, Hello Goodbye.
Adapted from the international series devised by BlazHoffski, CBC’s take on the 10-parter—debuting Friday, Jan. 8, at 8:30 p.m.—finds psychotherapist Curd traipsing around Toronto Pearson International Airport, getting the stories behind the folks in the departures and arrivals lounge. As expected, there is plenty of emotion, whether it be from those saying goodbye, or tearfully welcoming someone home. What struck me as I watched the first instalment is how readily complete strangers are willing to tell Curd their personal stories, whether it be that of a boyfriend seeing his gal pal after eight months apart or a man describing how much his arriving wife helped him get over the death of his father. It’s pretty engaging and emotional stuff.
“I just let the conversation unfold,” Curd says. “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. Those two men got to a point in the conversations where they felt it was important for me to know about them.” Rather than steer the conversation as most reality hosts do through talking, Curd mostly listens intently, letting his subjects speak and tell their tales. The former host of OWN Canada’s Life Story Project says by the time he’d been speaking to someone for nine to 10 minutes, they began to relax and open up; in some cases interviewer and interviewee both lost track of time, something truly remarkable in an international airport where schedules rule over all.
Curd has made a career out of listening to people, but even he was surprised during production of Hello Goodbye. He conducted a personal experiment: when cameras weren’t rolling, he’d wander into the crowd and strike up off-the-cuff conversations away from the series. What did he learn? People are generally open to discussion whether on-camera or not. He also discovered that—though Pearson is located in Toronto—the folks within in represent the nation.
“There are people from all over Canada who are coming to this hub,” he says. “[Domestic arrivals] really opened up my eyes to how many people from how many different places in Canada actually come through Pearson airport.” These are their stories.
Hello Goodbye airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on CBC.
From a media release:
Accessible Media Inc. (AMI) announced today that its cooking show with an accessibility twist, Four Senses, will kick off season three on Thursday, January 14 at 7:30 p.m. on AMI-tv. For the first time, fans are invited to visit AMI’s Facebook page during the broadcast to stream the episode andparticipate in a live question and answer session hosted by Four Senses’ very own celebrity Christine Ha.
Four Senses is a unique cooking show produced by AMI in partnership with Varner Productions Limited that unites blind and sighted chefs in the kitchen. Chef Carl Heinrich is back alongside Christine to share new recipes and experiences with a fresh group of celebrity guests. Each 30-minute episode will also include nutrition guidelines for optimal eye health and accessibility tips and tools for independence in the kitchen.
Season three begins with Chef Corbin Tomaszeski from Restaurant Makeover joining Carl and Christine in the Four Senses kitchen. Additional chef and celebrity guests this season include: CHFI morning show host, Erin Davis, Laura Calder of French Chef at Home, Claire Tansey of Chatelaine and the return of Frank Ferragine (aka Frankie Flowers).
The show also highlights culinary wonders across the country with stops in Prince Edward Island, rural Ontario and Kelowna, British Columbia. Along the way, Christine and Carl will have the opportunity to catch lobsters and harvest oyster beds in PEI, visit with renowned Canadian Chef Michael Smith at the Inn at Bay Fortune, travel the Butter Tart Trail in Wellington North, and visit an accessible goat milk farm in the Okanagan.
In keeping with AMI’s mandate of making accessible media for all Canadians, Four Senses features embedded description, where hosts and guests describe their surroundings and actions for audience members who are blind or partially sighted, as well as closed captioning for those with hearing loss.
Much of television is the equivalent of comfort food: you sit down, tune in and know what you’re going to get. Such is the case with Say Yes to the Dress Canada, returning for Season 2 on Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT with back-to-back episodes on W Network.
The franchise once again spotlights Canadian ladies from different backgrounds and personal stories with the same goal: to find the perfect dress for her wedding day. As it was in the debut season, Rachelle Pollari of Amanda-Lina’s Sposa Boutique in Toronto and her team of experts aid the gals and their families and friends in finding the perfect frock. The only change from Season 1 is that fashion director Joseph Spencer is out in favour of Tyrel, who helps put the finishing touches on each sale.
Say Yes to the Dress Canada has always been a tear-filled affair and Wednesday’s return is no different; the second episode spotlights bride-to-be Heather, who lost her mother at 17; and Ashley, whose mom skipped out when she was young, leaving John a single father. Several misses threaten to throw everything into disarray.
The genius of Say Yes to the Dress Canada continues to be the ability to tell meaningful stories about these brides and their families while seeking out the perfect frock within the constraints of a 22-minute runtime. By the end of each segment you feel like you know these ladies and wish you’d gotten an invite to their big day.
Coming up later this season: the stories surrounding a wedding officiant, a divorce lawyer, athletes and a lesbian couple. And the franchise features one of its own tying the knot, as consultant Dimitra comes in for a fitting and has the wedding of her dreams with her coworkers cheering her on.
Say Yes to the Dress Canada airs Wednesdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on W Network.
I’ve always enjoyed Dominic Monaghan’s animal hunt-travel show. The aptly named Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan finds the spunky, energetic Lost actor as he hopscotches the planet seeking out dangerous, unique and odd-looking beasties from the animal world. Among the items on his checklist this season are the Indian Cobra, the flying lizard, giant whale sharks and the rare Aye-aye lemur of Madagascar.
Monaghan’s enthusiasm and dry sense of humour is what keeps me coming back to the series and the information he includes in each episode is just as entertaining as the subject matter. In Tuesday’s Season 3 return on OLN, Monaghan and his long-suffering Toronto-based cameraman Frank Vilaca trek to Belize in search of the Fer-de-Lance or Bothrops asper, an aggressive, six foot long reptile capable of leaping a third of its length to deliver a bite on prey.
As with the first two seasons, Monaghan’s enthusiasm is addictive: you really want him to succeed in his hunt for the snake. Padding out each episode is the story of the region, in this case the pair offer a triptych of wildlife and the people who live in Belize, including a stop at a pyramid and some background on the Mayan culture.
While searching for the Fer-de-Lance, Monaghan discovers a “small” tarantula the size of his hand and describes how long the species lives (and how it would bite him if so inclined), shops in a market and instructs Vilaca on successfully injecting anti-venom in case a snake makes its mark on either of them. The duo also discover an inquisitive member of the raccoon family and the strongest animal in the jungle.
As for finding the Fer-de-Lance … well … I’ll let you watch and find out for yourselves, but following Monaghan and Vilaca on their journey is worth tuning to.
Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on OLN.
