From Bill Brioux of Canadian Press:
CBC-TV bets on arts and culture prime-time programming
Just as the private Canadian networks launch schedules full of Muppets, superheroes and other new American series, CBC is wading in with arts and culture. Have they painted themselves into a corner? Continue reading.
From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:
CBC drama on Canada’s health-care system is scary and uplifting
Keeping Canada Alive (Sunday, CBC 9 p.m.) is a new six-part factual series that is breathtaking in its scope – 60 camera crews shooting in 24 cities across 10 provinces and one territory in a single 24-hour period last May to capture how our hospitals and other medical facilities work. One day only, but the show points out that on an average day in Canada, 700 people die and another 1,000 are born. Continue reading.
From a media release:
Corus Entertainment announced today the renewal of W Network’s #1-rated new reality series, Masters of Flip. The hit series follows husband-and-wife team and house-flipping experts Kortney and Dave Wilson as they breathe new life into old, rundown homes. The series is an exciting journey through the mess and stress of renovation, the magic of transformation and the anticipation of enormous profits hinging on the hopes of a final sale. Produced by Rhino Content and developed in association with W Network, Masters of Flip is part of W Network’s slate of Canadian original series including Property Brothers, Game of Homes, the Love It of List It franchise, and Hockey Wives.
In every episode of Masters of Flip, Kortney and Dave house-hunt for properties that have seen better days and gamble on which one to flip to make the most profit. With limited timelines and even tighter budgets, these masters of flip take on the massive challenge of transforming each real estate disaster into a stunning family dream home.
What began as two separate musical careers has become a lifelong partnership for Kortney and Dave Wilson. After a solid run as a country music duo, the Canadian-born Nashville couple traded in their microphones for tool belts and began flipping houses while raising their children. Since then, Kortney, an award-winning realtor and visionary, and Dave, a tireless flipper with a nose for profit, continued to build their real estate business through flips, vacation rentals and buy and hold properties.
With over 50 homes flipped to date, Kortney and Dave have become one of Nashville’s premiere house flipping forces, renowned as much for their acute knowledge of the local real estate market as for their artistic design in transforming run-down disasters into stunning one-of-a-kind family homes.
Masters of Flip is part of a growing slate of properties for international distribution from Corus Entertainment, which includes the real estate series Buying the View and Cheer Stars. Masters of Flip is produced by Rhino Content and developed in association with W Network.
One of the most interesting segments of CBC’s spring upfront announcement was the network’s return to spotlighting the arts. What began earlier this month with televised HD performances of The Stratford Festival’s King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra and King John continues in October with the high-intensity Crash Gallery, evocative Exhibitionists and, in November, the inventive Interrupt This Program.
The trio of televised entries—along with online series in The Collective, Canada in the Frame and The Re-Education of Eddy Rogo—represent a re-focussing on something the CBC was known for years ago, but had dropped from schedules because of eroding ratings. Viewers’ tastes were changing, and a one-shot aimed at a ballet dancer on-stage just wasn’t cutting it. Those cyclical tastes have evolved yet again, and CBC is jumping in with both feet.
“As niche broadcasting has grown and as more arts online have exploded, it’s a natural place for us to come back,” says Grazyna Krupa, executive in charge of programming, Arts, CBC Television. “It makes complete sense for us to say, ‘Let’s figure out what works on television and expand what we do online as well. Let’s experiment a little bit and explore how audiences celebrate art in a new way.'”
That all begins Friday with Crash Gallery, a unique twist on the competition reality series. Shot in Vancouver and hosted Sean O’Neill, the Art Gallery of Ontario’s associate director of adult programming and partnerships, Crash Gallery pits three homegrown artists from diverse backgrounds in 30-minute head-to-head competitions. Their task? Create fresh art based on a theme in front of a live audience who vote their favourite work onto the next round. Friday’s debut pits puppeteer Jeny, illustrator (and past Top Chef Canada finalist) Pierre and painter Leilani, who—in the first round—are tasked with creating the theme of love onto a large canvas using paint-filled toy water pistols. After one artist is eliminated, the final two battle for supremacy by crafting a sculpture constructed of glow sticks.
“Crash Gallery felt fresh and new, and it’s immersive,” Krupa says. “We found we enjoyed being drawn into it like our children with Art Attack. The Crash Gallery artists get this immediate good vibe from the crowd. It’s more like an experience than a reality show. You’re not going to walk away from this psychologically damaged.”
Exhibitionists—hosted by artist, educator, actor and playwright Amanda Parris—consists of segments that currently exist on CBC.ca and introduces viewers to emerging and established Canadian artists from across the country and what they’re up to. Grupa says anything is game, from GIFs to Stephen Dunn, whose Closet Monster won Best Canadian Feature Film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
World art is brought to Canada via Interrupt This Program, which Krupa describes as having an Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown feel in telling the stories of street, spoken word, writers and performance art in such cities as Beirut, Athens, Port-au-Prince and Kiev.
Krupa isn’t peering at this plan through rose-coloured glasses, acknowledging that—like anything else on television—ratings will be the final word on this programming stream. The Canadian arts community is excited for the opportunity to be showcased by the public broadcaster, especially less-celebrated works by costume designers, architects and set designers beyond the traditional art categories.
“I want viewers to feel odd, amazed, proud and engaged,” Krupa says. “I want them to get something out if each program, whether it’s knowledge of art or a sense of adventure, and a celebration. These are, for the most part, joyous programs that lift your spirit and that’s what the arts do.”
Crash Gallery airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m., Exhibitionists airs Sundays at 4:30 p.m., and Interrupt This Program airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. (beginning Nov. 6) on CBC.
From Nico Franks of C21 Media:
Warner Bros heats up food format
Warner Bros International Television Production (WBITVP) has picked up worldwide TV rights, excluding Asia, to a top-rating Food Network Canada show.
Chef In Your Ear is a 26-part primetime series in which two professional chefs must deliver a restaurant-quality dish by proxy. Continue reading.
