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Push Season 2 to premiere on CBC and CBC Gem

From a media release:

Produced by Fenix Film & Television and Small Army Entertainment in association with CBC and Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), PUSH Season 2 will premiere on Sunday, January 14th at 7:30 PM on CBC and the free-streaming service CBC Gem. PUSH Season 2 features eight, 30-minute episodes.

The ground-breaking CBC original docu-series, PUSH, is back for a second season. Pulling back the veil on life as a wheelchair user, PUSH once again takes audiences into the inner world of the ‘Wheelie Peeps’, an unlikely group of friends bonded by their shared experience of life on wheels. Season 2 features returning favourites including the group’s fearless and unfiltered leader, Bean Gill; Canada’s favourite potty-mouthed and self-proclaimed redneck, Brian McPherson; concert pianist, entrepreneur and adventure-seeker, Riccardo Baldini; and more! Nothing is off the table as this bold group of friends tackle everything life throws their way. From the logistics and stigmas of sex with a fellow wheelchair user, to navigating new motherhood as a “quad mom”, to facing the people and places who knew them pre-injury, Season 2 has The Peeps confronting their past, facing their demons and supporting new members of the group through the early days of wheelchair life.

Benveet “Bean” Gill is the “mother hen” and unofficial ringleader of the Wheelie Peeps. Bean shares, “After I was paralyzed, I made it my mission to go find my homies, my fellow friends in wheelchairs. After a while, there was a big group of us and we called ourselves the Wheelie Peeps. I believe in having a strong support system around you, and I’m grateful to have one. I went through so many dark days alone and after seeing the power of community, I vowed to never let anyone have a dark day alone again. The Wheelie Peeps have lifted each other up. We help each other when equipment breaks. We laugh with each other, and we have cried many tears together. We learn so much from each other.”

PUSH Season 2 premieres on Sunday, January 14th at 7:30 PM on CBC and the free-streaming service CBC Gem. AMI-tv will additionally air PUSH Season 1 on Monday, January 15th, and Season 2 on Monday, March 18th.

Shot from May to October 2023 in Edmonton, Alberta, Fano, Italy, and Salt Lake City Utah, PUSH Season 2 is executive produced by Sean De Vries and Kaitlan Stewart and produced by Kaitlan Stewart with Benveet “Bean” Gill acting as consulting producer. Dylan Wertz is series showrunner, Frederick Kroetsch and Rebecca Campbell are at the helm as directors and Daniel Ennett as story producer and co-director. 

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

HGTV Canada and MEM greenlight Renovation Resort for Season 2

From a media release:

HGTV Canada and MEM announce today the Season 2 greenlight of Renovation Resort. Following the success of Season 1 as the #1 Canadian original series on Specialty in Spring 2023*, the new season will feature four all-new renovation and design duos competing to create the ultimate vacation rental. Season 2 of Renovation Resort will air on HGTV Canada and be available to stream live and on-demand on STACKTV.

HGTV Canada’s Scott McGillivray and Bryan Baeumler return as co-hosts and judges in the eight-episode season distributed by Corus Studios. Scott and Bryan will decide which team takes home the title of Renovation Resort Champion and a game-changing prize of $100,000.

Casting is currently underway for four new pairs of renovation pros to compete in a battle to transform empty shells into one-of-a-kind vacation properties. The pairs will be put to the test, each renovating and redesigning one of the resort’s four cabins; as well as creating unique, multi-season outdoor backyard spaces. Interested applicants can apply here.

Viewers can also watch Scott McGillivray this Spring in Season 5 of Scott’s Vacation House Rules, where he and design partner Debra Salmoni show homeowners how to transform their vacation properties into profitable pieces of paradise. Production on Season 6 of the Corus Studios series is currently underway by MEM and is expected to premiere in 2025.

Renovation Resort and Scott’s Vacation House Rules are produced by MEM, Scott McGillivray is CEO, Angela Jennings is President, Nanci MacLean is COO, and Kelly Wray is Executive Producer.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

CBC competition series Best in Miniature returns for Season 3 on December 26

From a media release:

BEST IN MINIATURE (8×60) is back with 10 exceptionally talented miniaturists from Canada and abroad, promising a season of unrivaled creativity and innovation. Season 3 premieres Tuesday, December 26, with all episodes available to stream at 9 am ET on CBC Gem, followed by daily back-to-back episodes on CBC TV beginning Tuesday, December 26 through Friday, December 29 at 8 pm (8:30 NT) and 9 pm (9:30 NT).

This season, the 10 miniaturists will unleash their creative superpowers, crafting petite wonders in 1/12 scale, as time ticks away. In each episode, the judges will decide whose delicate dreams have come to an end, and who’s got what it takes to move forward for the chance to claim a prestigious residency and $10,000. The miniaturists better not get worked up over the minor details because if they survive the chopping block, they’ll score the ultimate prize.

Actor and stand-up comedian Aba Amuquandoh returns as host, alongside judges, UK miniature expert Emma Waddell, and esteemed Canadian interior designer and entrepreneur Micheal Lambie.

Meet the Season 3 competitors vying to be crowned Best in Miniature, including five Canadians:

Shelley Acker from Kentville, Nova Scotia has been making miniatures for almost 25 years and is the owner of Freedom Miniatures, a full-service miniatures and hobbies store. Shelley’s skills in miniatures were showcased as one of two Art Directors on the 2022 multi-award-winning documentary feature film Bernie Langille Wants to Know what Happened to Bernie Langille.

Jen Arnold from Winnipeg, Manitoba is a full-time social worker, who finds her strength in the time she spends building hand-held memories, and considers her art as her own form of self-care. Her work has been featured in The Winnipeg Free Press, Global News Morning Winnipeg, Winnipeg radio station 680 CJOB, CBC Radio Information Morning, as well as in the Lac Du Bonnet and Manitoba Clipper.

Lance Cardinal from Bigstone Cree Nation in Alberta is a First Nations 2-Spirit artist, designer and television personality, who has quickly become one of the province’s leading First Nation artists and entrepreneurs. His 30-year journey has allowed him to work with world-class organizations all over Canada, including The Edmonton Oilers, IKEA Edmonton, Kunitz Shoes, Rugby Canada, Unbelts, Telus World of Science, Rogers Place, Fort Edmonton Park, and Re/Max Field.

Tiffany Monk is originally from England and now lives in Sutton, Quebec. Tiffany is a versatile multidisciplinary artist with a background in prop making, sculpting and model making for film. She has worked on a number of diverse film and TV projects in both England and Canada including John Carter, The 100 and a number of independent stop-motion animation films and projects.

Arline Smith is from the UK and now lives in Port Hope, Ontario. She is a many-faceted artist and has spent the past fifty years creating everything from a pea to an elephant. After graduating from Liverpool College of Art, she joined The Royal Shakespeare Company as a costumier and worked alongside Sir Ben Kingsley and Dames Helen Mirren and Judy Dench.

In the lead up to the Season 3 premiere, Miniature enthusiasts can catch up on Seasons 1 & 2 on CBC Gem.

BEST IN MINIATURE is produced by marblemedia, a Blue Ant Media company, in association with CBC. Matt Hornburg, Mark Bishop, Diane Rankin and Donna Luke are executive producers; Erica Lenczner is series producer; the series is created by development producer Kelsey Espensen. 

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Crave orders a fifth season of its hit original series, Canada’s Drag Race

From a media release:

A week from the premiere of a new season of CANADA’S DRAG RACE, Crave today announced that it has ordered a fifth season of the wildly-popular series. CANADA’S DRAG RACE, the #1 most streamed Canadian Reality show on Crave this year, is available to audiences in Canada, in both English and French. The series is produced by Blue Ant Studios in association with Crave and World of Wonder.

Canadian drag artists looking to flaunt their distinct brand of Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent can submit their applications now at https://www.canadasdragracecasting.com/. Applicants must be 19 years of age as of Nov. 1, 2023, and a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.

CANADA’S DRAG RACE is set to premiere its fourth season on Crave on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 9 p.m. ET, and is also available on World of Wonder’s SVOD platform WOW Presents Plus in the U.S., and in more than 160 countries around the world, and coming soon to BBC Three and iPlayer in the U.K. Crave recently announced the new series and format, SLAYCATION, in partnership with Blue Ant Studios and World of Wonder, with CANADA’S DRAG RACE: CANADA VS: THE WORLD set to return for a second season next year.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New mysteries unfold in Discovery’s Canadian original series Forensic Factor: A New Era, beginning November 17

From a media release:

Discovery joins the quest for justice with the reveal of latest Canadian Original docuseries, FORENSIC FACTOR: A NEW ERA, premiering Friday, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The six-episode, one-hour docuseries explores how incredible innovations in forensic science, combined with the expertise of dedicated crime scene investigators work together to uncover the truth. Produced in partnership with Bell Media Studios and Attraction, the updated series traces its DNA to the classic Discovery Original Canadian docuseries FORENSIC FACTOR, which premiered in 2003, and ran for six seasons. New episodes will also be available on CTV.ca and the CTV app each week

Every crime scene tells a story, and woven through each one-hour episode of FORENSIC FACTOR: A NEW ERA are the unique perspectives of forensic experts, and the stories of the victims themselves. As investigators and families search for answers behind the most terrible crimes, forensic specialists hunt for the most crucial evidence and clues, often invisible to many.

Moving beyond the yellow tape, each episode of FORENSIC FACTOR: A NEW ERA explores a different crime scene and reveals how crime scene investigators and determined homicide detectives find, analyze, and interpret the smallest pieces of a new weekly crime scene puzzle, leading to the biggest breaks, all thanks to ground-breaking advances in forensic science.

In association with Discovery, FORENSIC FACTOR: A NEW ERA is produced by Bell Media Studios and Attraction. Bell Media distributes the series internationally. For Attraction Nicole Hamilton and Richard Speer are Executive Producers, Sylvia Wilson is Series Producer.

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