From CBC:
What an amazing run This Hour Has 22 Minutes has had on CBC Television. Check out highlights from 22 years of political satire featuring some of Canada’s most beloved characters.
Video: This Hour Has 22 Years
Link: Anna Silk: Final season of ‘Lost Girl’ does not tread lightly
From Bill Harris:
Time flies when you’re having Fae.
With Lost Girl entering its fifth and final season, debuting Sunday, Dec. 7 on Showcase, I had a chat with Anna Silk about the past, present and future of her lead character Bo. Continue reading.Â
Tonight: Rick Mercer Report, 22 Minutes, Just for Laughs
Rick Mercer Report, CBC
Rick visits the set of Republic of Doyle and takes a cameo role as the Mayor of St John’s and also visits a Special Olympics training camp to try bowling and swimming with the athletes.
22 Minutes, CBC
A new song parody fusing Meghan Trainor’s mega hit “All About The Bass” with Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier, Kathleen Wynne makes her comedy debut with Mark Critch.
Just for Laughs: Lewis Black & Mega Stars Volume 1, CBC
From Montreal’s famed Just For Laughs Festival comes a larger-than-life showcase of today’s biggest and brightest comedic talent. A show so big it had to be split in two. Volume 1 features performances from Shaun Majumder, Marc Maron, Kathleen Madigan, and Lewis Black.
Bell Media Reveals Canadian First-Look Strategy for “Project Latteâ€
From a media release:
Bell Media announced today a first-look strategy for its subscription on demand video streaming service that will see episodes of original Canadian series premiere on “Project Latte†24 hours in advance of their network television premieres. The announcement was made as Bell Media revealed the premium Canadian scripted content that will be available on the service, representing the most-acclaimed and most-watched original primetime programming in Canada. It was also confirmed today that CORNER GAS: THE MOVIE will be the first Canadian program to receive a first-look screening on “Project Latte†ahead of its linear television premiere.
The first-look strategy is designed to provide crucial samplings of episodes ahead of their regular network airings, while providing an additional platform to proudly showcase Canada’s independent productions. Series that receive first-look screenings will stack on “Project Latte†for their entire current-season run, which will be immediately complementary to the past-season episodes also on the service.
In 2015, Bell Media original productions SAVING HOPE, MOTIVE, SPUN OUT, and more will receive a first-look premiere on “Project Latte,†becoming the only titles on the service with past and in-season episodes available. The announcement comes as additional drama titles were announced for “Project Latte,†and on the eve of a major announcement tomorrow confirming final details for the service.
With more than 40 titles comprising nearly 1,000 assets at launch, “Project Latte†will feature more primetime original Canadian television programming than any other similar service. At launch, premium, non-kids Canadian programming on “Project Latte†will total more than 12% of the service’s entire catalogue, with more original content to be added regularly.
Curated to reflect “Project Latte’s†commitment to premium TV programming, Canadian titles announced today represent more than 200 Canadian Screen Award nominations.
Canadian Scripted Programming on “Project Latteâ€
Drama
Recently renewed for a fourth season, SAVING HOPE is currently Canada’s most-watched original drama series, with an average audience of 1.5 million viewers on CTV. SAVING HOPE will be featured in “Project Latte’s†first-look strategy, where new episodes will appear on the service 24 hours in advance of their linear TV debut. At launch, 41 episodes will be available.
DEGRASSI is simply one of the most successful original dramas in Canadian television history. Seen around the world and the recipient of a Peabody Award, the Emmy-nominated series will live in “Project Latte’s†Teen Drama category.
All three seasons and 29 episodes of the Golden Globe Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning historical drama and international co-production THE BORGIAS (2011-2013) will be featured.
Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Bell Media previously announced its Sci-Fi & Fantasy collection would exclusively feature some of its most successful original productions:
· ORPHAN BLACK, the conspiracy clone thriller and smash hit international success starring Tatiana Maslany.
· BITTEN, Space’s most-watched original series of all time about the world’s only female werewolf.
· And the upcoming KILLJOYS, the interplanetary space drama from ORPHAN BLACK producers Temple Street Productions.
Comedy
Bell Media announced today that the unedited theatrical cut of the upcoming feature film CORNER GAS: THE MOVIE, to be released in cinemas nationwide tomorrow, will have a special first-look, advance screening window on “Project Latte†before making its linear television debut.
One of the most successful original comedy series in Canadian history, all 107 episodes and six seasons of the CTV hit CORNER GAS (2004-2009) will also live on “Project Latte.â€
Both the complete first season and the upcoming second season of Dave Foley’s current original comedy SPUN OUT, returning in early 2015 on CTV, will be available.
Crime & Mystery
“Project Latte’s†previously announced Crime & Mystery Collection will also feature hit original programming from Bell Media:
With an average audience of 1.3 million viewers, the CTV crime procedural MOTIVE is one of Canada’s most-watched original dramas. All 26 episodes of the first and second seasons, along with weekly first-look episodes from the upcoming third season, will be featured.
One of the most successful original drama series of all time, FLASHPOINT (2008-2012) has been credited with advancing the renaissance in Canadian TV drama. All five seasons and 75 episodes will be available on “Project Latte.â€
Licensed in over 120 markets and seen in 33 languages, CTV’s THE LISTENER is one of Canada’s most successful drama series. “Project Latte†will feature all 65 episodes from the series’ five seasons (2009-2014).
Returning for its second season in early 2015, “Project Latte†proudly features the critically acclaimed police drama 19-2, Bravo’s #1 new series of 2014, and a Top 3 program overall.
Corner Gas jumps to the big (and small) screen
For six seasons on CTV, the tagline for Corner Gas was always that there “wasn’t a lot going on,” but the making of Corner Gas: The Movie couldn’t have been further from the truth.
It consumed the lives of creator/executive producer Brent Butt, executive producer Virginia Thompson, writers Andrew Carr and Andrew Wreggitt and executive producer/director David Storey for a couple of years as they tried to fashion a script that, unlike a television episode, had to have big stakes for the citizens of Dog River, Sask. Something had to be going on.
“If we couldn’t come up with a script that turned a 30-minute show into a 90-minute movie without wrecking it, then let’s not do it,” Butt says during a press day in Toronto. “We wrote this script for probably two years.”
“We wrote the script once, and it was really funny and the core was there, but what was really missing was the stakes,” Thompson explains. “We brought in Andrew Wreggitt, who is a wonderful long-form writer, and he sat down with us all. We all said, ‘We have a really funny beginning to the film, but it’s not deep enough.’ We all recognized that.”
The result? Dog River is bankrupt and everyone is desperate to make ends meet. In typical off-beat fashion, the townsfolk come up with several outlandish ideas, including entering a contest that to win the town the money it needs to keep going. And while the main storyline may be a little more dramatic and bigger in scope, Dog River’s characters have remained the same, though there have been a few minor tweaks. Oscar (Eric Peterson) goes into survival mode, Â Emma (Janet Wright) pines for grandchildren, Davis (Lorne Cardinal) dips his toe into private investigating, Wanda (Nancy Robertson) looks for a way to make a quick buck, Lacey (Gabrielle Miller) heads up the plan to bring Dog River back from bankruptcy, Karen (Tara Spencer-Nairn) is pregnant and Hank (Fred Ewanuick) is, well … Hank.
There have been hurdles along the way, including the aforementioned rewrite, a fast turnaround time with regard to post-production and acquiring funding from Telefilm Canada. Add to that the unprecedented move of having the movie in Cineplex theatres for one week before jumping to TVs for the rest of the month and Corner Gas: The Movie is a rare beast in this country.
Those going to the theatre to see Corner Gas: The Movie are in for a special treat. Not only will members of the cast pop up unannounced in several cities this week, but Butt shot a special 20-minute pre-movie show especially for Cineplex that involves Corner Gas trivia, quizzes and a sing-along. And stick around for the end credits: not only are fans featured singing the show’s iconic theme song, but everyone who contributed to the Kickstarter campaign–that hit its goal in just 24 hours on the way to over $285,000 pledged–has their name listed.
“I was worried whether people would care about the movie,” Robertson admits. “I didn’t want it to have that sad tone, so when the Kickstarter campaign came in I said, ‘All right, this is reassuring and a nice shot in the arm.’ People still love it, but you don’t know whether they’re done with it.”
“And I was relieved it just wasn’t one rich dude in the Kickstarter!”
Corner Gas: The Movie is in Cineplex movie theatres from Dec. 3 to 7 before debuting Sunday, Dec. 8, at 9 p.m. ET on The Movie Network; Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and CTV Two; and Monday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The Comedy Network.
