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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Pretty Hard Cases

Cameras roll on Season 2 of Pretty Hard Cases

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From a media release:

Cameron Pictures, CBC, and NBCUniversal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, confirm that production is underway on the sophomore season of the highly buzzed-about buddy-cop drama PRETTY HARD CASES. Filmed in and around Toronto, this season features 12 one-hour episodes and new faces joining the all-star cast.

Following the series’ critically acclaimed broadcast and streaming debut on CBC and CBC Gem this year, season two of season two of PRETTY HARD CASES is set to premiere in winter 2022.

Starring Meredith MacNeill (Baroness von Sketch Show) as the optimistic, over-achieving Detective Sam Wazowski, and Adrienne C. Moore (Orange Is The New Black) as the tough and unapologetic Detective Kelly Duff, PRETTY HARD CASES is a fun and honest portrayal of two radically different Guns and Gangs detectives in their early 40s. This season finds the pair in brand new territory, both at work and in their personal lives. As official partners for the first time, they have never been better at blending their different skills to get the job done. In the spirit of moving forward, they’re also trying to leave their baggage behind. Sam is now an empty nester with a new love life, while Kelly is forging fresh bonds with her estranged sisters. When they find themselves up against a new age gang that doesn’t operate by the same old rules, Sam and Kelly are forced to put their lives on the line as they attempt the riskiest takedown of their careers.

Joining the cast is award-winning actress Sonja Smits (American Gods/Eleventh Hour) as Judy Wazowski, K.C. Collins (Clarice/The Strain) as Detective Len Grierson, and Ben Bass (Rookie Blue/Burden of Truth) as DS Brad Michaels.

Reprising their roles are Karen Robinson (Schitt’s Creek) as tough, sardonic, Unit Commander Edwina Shanks; Al Mukadam (Miss Sloan) as Detective Taai Nazeer, a paragon of non-toxic masculinity who doesn’t have a problem working with complicated women; Percy Hynes White (The Gifted) as Sam’s charming hustler son Elliot Wazowski; Katie Douglas (Ginny & Georgia) as Elliot’s streetwise girlfriend, Jackie Sullivan; and Daren A. Herbert (Kim’s Convenience) as Detective Nathan Greene, Kelly’s on-again-off-again friend with benefits.

PRETTY HARD CASES is co-created by Tassie Cameron (Mary Kills People, Ten Days in the Valley, Rookie Blue, The Robber Bride) and Sherry White (Little Dog, Frontier, Ten Days in the Valley, Rookie Blue).

A CBC original series, PRETTY HARD CASES is produced by Cameron Pictures in association with CBC and NBCUniversal International Studios. The series is created by Sherry White and Tassie Cameron, who also serve as Co-Showrunners. Sherry White, Tassie Cameron, Amy Cameron and Alex Patrick are Executive Producers. Wanda Chaffey is Producer and Caledonia Brown is Associate Producer. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports; Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content; and Sarah Adams is Director of Current Production, Drama. Kelsey Balance is SVP, Scripted Programming for NBCUniversal International Studios. NBCUniversal Global Distribution will distribute the series.

Writers include Sherry White, Jillian Locke, Tassie Cameron, Keavy Lynch, Carina Samuels, Chris Roberts, Seneca Aaron. Directors are Jordan Canning, Sherry White, Samir Rehem, Mars Horodyski, Cory Bowles, Grant Harvey, Madison Thomas, Weyni Mengesha, John Stead, John Fawcett, Gail Harvey, and Winnifred Jong.

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Family Law, Industry News, Transplant

Banff unveils lineup of high-profile Master Classes and exclusive screenings

From a media release:

The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) is proud to announce highly anticipated Master Classes featuring talent and creatives from hit series It’s a Sin, David Makes Man, Transplant, Moominvalley and Sort Of as well as exclusive screenings for Family Law and Blindspotting. The virtual Festival will take place June 14 – July 16, 2021, via an all-new bespoke online platform that will connect the global media industry to ignite new projects and support business development.

“This year’s Master Classes and Screenings represent some of the world’s most original, impactful and exciting series,” said Jenn Kuzmyk, Executive Director of the Banff World Media Festival. “It is a privilege to host such accomplished talent and executives as they take us through the business and creative story behind the making of each project.”

It’s a Sin: A coming-of-age chronicle of four friends during the rise of the AIDS crisis from 1981 to 1991, the critically acclaimed mini-series drama It’s a Sin has been lauded by critics and audiences globally. Featuring an intimate conversation with the show’s Creator, Executive Producer and Showrunner Russell T. Davies, Director Peter Hoar and actor Nathaniel Curtis as they discuss the journey to bringing this change-making landmark show to the screen and its impact to date.
Featuring:
• Russell T. Davies, Creator
• Peter Hoar, Director
• Nathaniel Curtis, Actor

David Makes Man: The Peabody Award-winning series produced by Warner Bros. Television also received a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Drama, a prestigious Gotham Award nomination, and has been named to several critics’ 2019 year-end best-of-television lists. David Makes Man premiered to overwhelming critical acclaim in August 2019. The New York Times called the show “deeply beautiful and distinctive” while The Washington Post called it “one of the most original and riveting TV shows this year.” During its first season run, the series ranked No. 2 in its time period across all cable with African-American women and reached over 4.1 million unique viewers on OWN. Season two fast-forwards and finds David in his 30s, a rising businessman facing an opportunity that will change him and his community forever; the mounting pressure forces David to choose between the instincts that helped him survive or finding a new way to truly live.
Featuring:
• Tarell Alvin McCraney, Creator
• Tina Perry, President, OWN
• Dee Harris-Lawrence, Executive Producer
• Kiel Adrian Scott, Director
• Kwame Patterson, Actor
• Akili McDowell, Actor

Transplant: An in-depth conversation with the creative team behind the hit CTV Original drama series Transplant. The first season of the critically-acclaimed series, which is the 2021 Canadian Screen Award-winner for Best Drama Series, follows a Syrian doctor who tries to build a new life for himself and his sister. A ratings hit on CTV, Transplant became the most-watched Canadian series, and on NBC in the U.S.
Featuring:
• Joseph Kay, Creator and Showrunner
• Tara Woodbury, VP of Development, Sphère Média
• Carlyn Klebuc, General Manager, Original Programming, Bell Media
• Hamza Haq, Actor
• Ahmed Meree, Cultural Consultant and Actor

Moominvalley: A deep dive journey into the magic behind the internationally celebrated and positivity-themed animated series Moominvalley, based on the stories of beloved Finnish-Swedish author Tove Jansson. Produced by Gutsy Animations from the series Creator Marika Makaroff, Executive Producer Marion Edwards, Director Jay Grace and Actor Jack Rowan (Noughts + Crosses, Peaky Blinders) who voices “Moomintroll”, as well as Jarmo Lampela, Head of Drama, at the Finnish public broadcaster YLE who was first to board the series which has been sold to more than 50 countries.
Featuring:
• Marika Makaroff, Creative Director Moominvalley / Chief Creative Officer Gutsy Animations
• Marion Edwards, Executive Producer
• Jay Grace, Director
• Jarmo Lampela, Head of Drama, YLE
• Jack Rowan, Actor

Sort Of: A conversation with the creative team behind CBC’s new dramatic comedy, Sort Of, premiering this fall. Creators and Showrunners Bilal Baig (Acha Bacha) and Fab Filippo (Save Me) and Sienna Films’ Jennifer Kawaja will take BANFF delegates behind the scenes of this big-hearted, coming-of-age story about Sabi Mehboob (Baig), a gender-fluid millennial in transition in every aspect of their life, from gender to love to sexuality to family to career.
Featuring:
• Bilal Baig, Executive Producer, Writer, Lead Performer, Co-Creator
• Fab Filippo, Executive Producer, Director, Co-Creator
• Jennifer Kawaja, Executive Producer

As previously announced, the creative team and cast from FX’s new half-hour series Reservation Dogs will also be featured in the Master Class lineup.

Exclusive screenings featured during the Festival will include the hot new comedy-drama series Blindspotting followed by a Q&A with the cast, as well as the highly-anticipated upcoming legal drama Family Law. Presented in partnership with Lionsgate Entertainment and STARZ, Blindspotting comes from co-creators and executive producers Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs which follows Ashley (Jasmine Cephas Jones), who is enjoying a peaceful life in Oakland until her partner of 12 years and father of their son is suddenly incarcerated, leaving her to navigate a chaotic and comedic existential crisis as she is forced to move in with his family. Presented in partnership with Corus Entertainment, Family Law stars Jewel Staite (Firefly) and Victor Garber (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow) in this one-hour drama that follows lawyer and recovering alcoholic Abigail ‘Abby’ Bianchi struggling to put her career and family back together after hitting rock bottom.

In continuing with creative discussions on more hit series, BANFF’s Rockie Awards Roundtables will feature creators, executive producers and producers behind this year’s nominees including Alone, Love on the Spectrum, Filthy Rich and Homeless, The Last Ice, Noughts + Crosses, I May Destroy You, About Sex, El Presidente and more.

The full 2021 Banff World Media Festival agenda is available HERE.

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Nurses, Private Eyes

Global announces a hot new summer lineup loaded with hit original series, fresh content, and big reality TV

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From a media release:

Today Global unveiled its 2021 scorching summer lineup packed with homegrown original scripted hits, an intriguing new drama, fresh summer game shows, and a returning reality juggernaut, that will have viewers entertained all summer long.

This summer kicks off with the Season 2 premiere of original medical drama Nurses, ready to scrub in for 10 new episodes beginning Monday, June 21 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. This season, the five nurses, Grace Knight (Tiera Skovbye), Ashley Collins (Natasha Calis), Keon Colby (Jordan Johnson-Hinds), Nazneen Khan (Sandy Sidhu), and Wolf Burke (Donald Maclean Jr.), return to St. Mary’s for another round of highly dramatic, emotionally charged episodes where they continue to put their patients first. New additions to the team include tough-as-nails nursing manager Kate Faulkner (Rachel Ancheril), who has been shipped in by a new regime to turn the hospital around in the wake of last season’s scandal. Broody and mysterious nurse Matteo Rey (Jordan Connor) struggles to find his place and questions whether he made the right decision to join St. Mary’s. Eternally sunny imaging tech Candy Kemper (Katie Uhlman) also joins, as does Dr. Ivy Turcotte (Humberly Gonzalez) who forms a romantic relationship with one of the nurses and harbours many secrets of her own. With all-new, high-stakes medical cases and romantic entanglements, the five nurses will heroically endeavour to help their patients, while still struggling mightily as they learn how to help themselves. Ahead of the Season 2 premiere, viewers can catch up on the first season of Nurses, now available on Global TV App.

Following the Big Brother premiere on July 7, Season 5 of Global original hit series Private Eyes premieres at a special time 9:30 P.M. ET/PT. Since debuting in 2016, Canada’s favourite detective duo are back on the case for one final season as Global bids a heartfelt farewell to the original hit series. Moving to its regular time slot at 9 p.m. ET/PT beginning Thursday, July 15 on Global, the final season will see Matt Shade (Jason Priestley) and Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson) doing some much needed soul searching after last season’s harrowing cliff-hanger forcing them to examine what – and who – is most important to them. While working on a series of cases helping others discover their truths, Shade and Everett are left to wonder if their truths are ultimately intertwined. New romances and a busy workload will keep them occupied for a while, but will they be able to admit to their growing chemistry?

Also returning for the final season is Shade and Everett’s quirky assistant Zoe Chow (Samantha Wan), along with Detective Danica Powers (Ruth Goodwin), the always entertaining Don Shade (Barry Flatman), as well as Jules Shade (Jordyn Negri), Becca D’Orsay (Nicole DeBoer), and Nora Everett (Mimi Kuzyk). Newcomers to the scene include Everett’s high school frenemy and Shade’s new love interest, Jada Berry (Kandyse McClure), while returning guest stars include the sexy P.I. Tex (Brett Donahue), and an old fan favourite, the hilarious Detective Maz (Ennis Esmer).

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: Smithsonian’s Searching for Secrets in the world’s iconic cities

When I travel to a new city, I always make sure I head a little off the beaten track and away from the more touristy areas to learn more about it. Now, thanks to a new Smithsonian Channel series, I’ve gleaned more about some of the world’s most iconic cities.

Searching for Secrets, debuting Sunday at 9 p.m. Eastern on the specialty channel, pulls back the curtain on some best-kept secrets and unappreciated history.

The first of six episodes is about New York City, a place I’ve been lucky enough to visit, explore and read some of the history of. But what’s unveiled on Sunday I’d heard nothing about.

Posed as a series of questions, the show reveals all. Visitors are allowed to enter the viewing area in Lady Liberty’s crown, but why not the torch? Timothy White, from New Jersey University, explains that the area—off-limits for more than 100 years—is part of a fascinating story of the First World War, terrorism and an island that no longer exists. By 1916, the U.S. was sending munitions to the Allies. The storage facility for waiting munitions was Black Tom Island, a fact that became known to the Germans and a plot was hatched to blow up the munitions and stop the flow of weapons overseas. Told through well-done recreations and CGI of the events that followed, the incredible story unfurls, the repercussions of which carry on today.

Next up, mixology historian Anthony Caporale visits the 21 Club. A place a who’s-who has visited during its storied past, Caporale heads to the basement to open a two-ton secret door hiding a tale of liquid treasure. The door is the product of Prohibition, that 1920s time when it was illegal to manufacture, sell or transport alcohol. To get around the rules, clubs like the 21 Club served booze illegally in spots advertised by word of mouth: the speakeasy. And, to make sure the police didn’t find the libations, cousins Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns built a basement storage area for alcohol behind a heavy, hidden door.

Also investigated in Sunday’s excellent debut: a blizzard and Thomas Edison are responsible for the steam that billows from New York City’s manholes, and how huge piles of rock are connected to the city’s grid system and its famous skyline.

Searching for Secrets airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern on Smithsonian Channel.

Image courtesy of Blue Ant Media.

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Industry News

Renowned entertainment personality, Teri Hart, joins Super Channel as entertainment producer and host

From a media release:

Super Channel is set to put the sizzle in summer with a nationwide free preview across all four of its channels (Fuse, Heart & Home, Vault and GINX Esports TV Canada) plus Super Channel On Demand beginning June 14. The free preview will be available on all major cable providers across the country for 10 days, ending on June 23 (start times may vary, some exceptions apply, check with local provider for details).

Adding even more sizzle to the free preview, renowned entertainment reporter/producer and on-air personality, Teri Hart, joins Super Channel as Entertainment Producer and Host. In this role, Teri will host and produce regular weekly IGTV video content outlining her hand-picked programming highlights from the network’s Fuse and Vault channels. “Teri Hart’s Super Channel Super Picks” will debut during the free preview both on-air and via social media platforms, providing Canadians with engaging insights into Super Channel’s exciting content.

Prior to joining Super Channel, Teri was Reporter and Senior Producer for the entertainment division of Rogers Television where she regularly conducted interviews with artists from movies, TV and music for Entertainment City and Your World This Week. She was also the face of The Movie Network for 18 years where she became a favourite with viewers and celebrities alike, connecting fans with all aspects of the world of movies. As one of Canada’s most renowned multi-platform entertainment personalities, Teri has become a fixture at press junkets and TV and film premieres around the world, interviewing Hollywood’s superstars including Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg, to name just a few. She is an ardent champion of the Canadian film and television industry and staunch supporter of many of Canada’s most important cultural institutions, from TIFF to the Canadian Film Centre and the Canadian Screen Awards. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for film and television is second to none, making her an in-demand host of high-profile industry events and a regular contributor to a host of radio shows, as well as entertainment news program etalk.

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