TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 1300
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television

TVO sets Hard Rock Medical Season 2 debut

From a media release:

This winter, TVO’s critically acclaimed medical series, Hard Rock Medical, returns for a second season. The first commissioned drama series for TVO, Hard Rock Medical, follows the lives of eight medical students as they adapt to practicing medicine and living in Northern Ontario; Season 2 dives deeper into the character development of the North, and demonstrates the challenging realities of providing medical care in remote rural communities. From providing aid to residents of a ‘tent city’, to a patient being struck by lightning, and a fishing trip ending with a fisherman caught on the line, the students at Hard Rock U become well-versed in the medical realities of the North.

Hard Rock Medical, loosely inspired by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), sees its ensemble cast return including Canadian talents, Patrick McKenna, Angela Asher, and Stéphane Paquette. This season, both students and teachers alike are pushed to their limits as they struggle to meet the medical and personal challenges life throws their way.

Dr. Healy’s (McKenna) struggles with mental health issues, specifically addiction, lead him down a dark path, resulting in neglect and isolation; Nancy (Asher) is forced to confront a challenging relationship with her soon-to-be ex-husband when she finally comes face-to-face with his new fiancée; and Charlie (Paquette) struggles to find financial support for school and family, with a fourth child on the way.

Hard Rock Medical Season 2 premieres on Sunday, February 15 at 8 pm in a 1-hour special broadcast with two back-to-back episodes. The remaining six 30-minute episodes air from Sunday, February 22 to Sunday, March 29at 8 pm. Season 2 episodes will be available online at tvo.org/hardrockmed following the broadcast. Leading up to the premiere, viewers can catch up on Hard Rock Medical Season 1 Sundays at 8 pm and 8:30 pm on TVO beginning January 4 – with a special 3-episode broadcast, starting at 8 pm – and the remaining episodes airing until February 8, and available at tvo.org/hardrockmed.

Hard Rock Medical is a medical drama shot entirely in Northern Ontario and is a joint venture of Distinct Features Inc. and Carte Blanche Films Inc. Hard Rock Medical received funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation to support the regional production of the series.

[Season 2 of Hard Rock Medical previously aired on APTN.]

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Link: Say Yes to the Dress and the glory of frock opera

From John Doyle:

Now me, I haven’t been to a wedding in years. But I do enjoy the bridal shopping experience every week.

It is totally true. On a regular evening when I’ve done the dishes and finished the ironing, I’ll relax with an episode of Say Yes to the Dress. (Sometimes it’s Four Weddings Canada, which is outrageous, simmering with snark, but that’s another story.) The SYTTD franchise is one of reality television’s great triumphs. There’s a genius to it. Continue reading.

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Tonight: Love it or List it Vancouver, Property Brothers

Love it or List it Vancouver, W Network
It’s up to Jillian Harris (formerly of The Bachelorette Season V, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) to revive that love and put a stop to the wandering eyes of our homeowners by delivering a show-stopping renovation. Meanwhile, West Coast realtor Todd Talbot is determined to get homeowners to relocate by dangling temptation right in front of them with dreamy homes on the market. Every episode takes viewers on an emotional rollercoaster as Jillian and Todd implement their plans to battle it out for the homeowners’ allegiance. The stakes are high as guests weigh the financial and emotional decisions of buying a new home or staying in the renovated one—will they love it enough to stay or is it time to list?

Property Brothers, W Network
Real estate agent Drew Scott and his twin brother, contractor Jonathan Scott star in the popular series Property Brothers. This one-hour real estate/home renovation series gets buyers into their dream homes without busting their budget. The series follows Drew and Jonathan as they help couples find, buy and transform extreme fixer-uppers into the ultimate dream home. Each week, with the help of CGI technology, the brothers show buyers the underlying potential in two rundown properties. Once the clients choose the property they like best, Drew begins negotiating the purchase price while Jonathan starts planning the transformation.

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Danielle Graham Announced as New Co-Anchor of CTV’s ETALK

bell_media

From a media release:

New year, new ETALK! CTV announced today that Danielle Graham is the new Co-Anchor of ETALK, Canada’s most-watched entertainment news program. Formerly an ETALK senior reporter, Graham begins her new role alongside Anchor Ben Mulroney tonight, as they get ready to kick off ETALK’s exclusive awards season coverage. Graham will be front and centre for all the action with the biggest stars in the world, starting with THE 72nd ANNUAL GOLDEN GLOBE® AWARDS, airing live across the country Sunday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CTV (visit CTV.ca to confirm local listings). ETALK’s Graham will be positioned alongside Mulroney as the only Canadian outlet to have an exclusive platform on one of the biggest red carpets of the year.

With close to a decade of national TV experience, Danielle Graham’s charming personality has put her face- to-face with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, covering high-profile events both here at home, and around the world. In recent years, Graham has interviewed the likes of Ben Affleck, James Franco, Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Aniston, Beyoncé Knowles, and most recently Taylor Swift. Graham has also made her mark on red carpets around the world including the Toronto International Film Festival® (TIFF), Sundance Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, Elton John’s annual post-Oscar® bash, and THE 65th PRIMETIME EMMY®AWARDS. Graham was also the first ETALK reporter to go on the road with the CTV smash-hit THE AMAZING RACE CANADA during its inaugural season, and co-hosted THE AMAZING RACE CANADA after-show, INSIDE THE RACE.

Graham got her start in broadcasting in 2001 working at various broadcasters before making her on-camera debut on YTV’s weekly music countdown show THE HIT LIST prior to joining Bell Media in 2005 as an entertainment reporter for STAR! DAILY. She officially joined the ETALK team in 2007 as a reporter, and was promoted to Senior Reporter in 2013. Born and raised in Guelph, Ontario, Danielle Graham graduated from Seneca College with a diploma in Radio and Television Broadcasting.

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Harris and Talbot battle budgets and property costs on Love It Or List It Vancouver

Todd Talbot wants to go on the record with a pitch for a new series starring he and Jillian Harris for W Network. He even leans in close so my iPhone records it loud and clear.

“I think there is a better show out there with the stuff that hasn’t aired,” he says with a mischievous smile. “We have been gunning for it. For the record, whoever is listening, we’re game!”

In the meantime, the duo will stick with the formula that has made them household names with the W Network crowd, Love It Or List It Vancouver, returning tonight with a new season. Once again, Harris and Talbot descend on Vancouver homeowners who are looking for a major change. Will they heed Harris’ advice and renovate their family home or will they side with Talbot and sell the joint and find a new abode? While the structure of Love It Or List It Vancouver hasn’t changed, Harris says the flavour and tone certainly has.

“Now that we kind of have a grasp on things this is more organic and the camera style is looser. I think people are going to be able to relate to it even more,” she says. “The first two seasons we were trying to figure out the formula.”

“I’ve been having to deal with you,” Talbot counters to his co-star. “It’s taken me a year to do that!” The snappy back and forth between  the feisty Harris and acerbic Talbot is entertaining as heck, and serves as a balance to the stresses of watching homeowners agonize over staying put or moving somewhere new. Those stresses are shared by interior designer Harris and real estate agent Talbot, who must struggle within the confines of limited renovation budgets (she) or an exploding housing market driving more and more Vancouverites to the suburbs (he).

“It has gotten ridiculously expensive to live in Vancouver,” Talbot admits. “You almost become numb to the pricing. You don’t even bat an eye at a million dollars. The biggest challenge is faced by those families with young kids who are moving out of their condo and into a detached house because those homes have skyrocketed in price. They want to move out of the densified downtown and into a family neighbourhood and the cost barrier there is ridiculously high.”

The solution? Income suites in homes and laneway housing, the former of which aren’t always legal and the latter a mini-house built where a garage used to be on a century-home’s property. Or people are staying put and renovating. Enter Harris, who has her own challenges to face.

“I think a lot of people come on the show because they want to renovate,” she says. “But there is only so much that I can do with their limited existing space, so they move.”

“My biggest challenge this season are the fricking character homes,” she continues. “The homeowners want to have them renovated and sometimes it’s just cheaper to knock them down and start over again. We have so many off-camera conversations with the homeowners to tell them that, and they don’t care. They want us to renovate.”

Sounds like just the sort of stuff we’d love to see on the proposed show Talbot is hoping for.

Love It Or List It Vancouver returns Monday at 10 p.m. ET on W Network.

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