TV, eh? | What's up in Canadian television | Page 139
TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Workin' Moms

Links: Workin’ Moms, Season 5

From Norman Wilner of NOW Toronto:

Link: Video: The stars of Workin’ Moms on season 5, Calgary and COVID
“Our writers room opened in February of 2020 when the virus was very much alive, but we didn’t really know about it. We broke to draft scripts in March, when the world shut down. The writers broke the same day that the world shut down.” Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Catherine Reitman and Dani Kind preview Season 5
“Season 5 definitely had its new challenges because of COVID. I joke that as producers you think the biggest challenge is ‘Wow, how am I going to make a season of a television show?’ You never think you’ll have the responsibility of people’s lives like we did this season. That was a new, complicated layer to add.” Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Workin’ Moms: What’s behind Anne’s new life in Cochrane
It came as a shock to all Workin’ Moms viewers when Anne (Dani Kind) told Kate (Catherine Reitman) at the end of last season she was going to go with Lionel (Ryan Belleville) as he pursued new career opportunities in Calgary. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Workin’ Moms stars preview big changes for Frankie and Jenny
“Being on a show for 5 years, I’ve never experienced that before so the amount of growth and learning — personally and professionally — has been massive.” Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Children Ruin Everything

Meaghan Rath joins CTV original comedy Children Ruin Everything

From a media release:

CTV, Canada’s most-watched network, together with award-winning independent production company New Metric Media, announced today Canadian actress Meaghan Rath (BEING HUMAN, HAWAII 5-0) has been cast in a starring role in the new eight-episode, half-hour CTV Original comedy CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING.

A dynamic and versatile performer, Rath, who also serves as Executive Producer, is quickly emerging as one of the entertainment industry’s brightest young talents. Best known for her award-winning work on BEING HUMAN and her role on HAWAII 5-0, she has also appeared in recurring roles on several popular series including SUPERGIRL and NEW GIRL.

Created by Emmy® Award-winner and Golden Globe® Award-nominee Kurt Smeaton (SCHITT’S CREEK, KIM’S CONVENIENCE), CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING is an original comedy about living with the worst roommates of all: young children. Astrid (Rath) and James struggle to find a balance between being ‘Mom and Dad’ to two kids, and being who they were before offspring. CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING explores the hilarious and varied ways kids can tear down your life and, if you’re lucky, replace it with something you have to admit is pretty okay, too.

Rath stars as “Astrid”, who’s smart, funny, and caring. She’s a great mother who is feeling the pull between returning to work and stay-at-home motherhood. Although she’s more than ready to leave the stained sweatpants and kid scheduling behind to focus more on her career, she also wonders what life would be like with a third child.

Alongside Smeaton, one of television’s premier comedy writers, Chuck Tatham (MODERN FAMILY, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) joins multiple Canadian Screen Award-winner Mark Montefiore (LETTERKENNY, WHAT WOULD SAL DO?) as executive producer, with Beth Iley (KILLJOYS) serving as producer.

Bell Media Distribution is the international rights holder for CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING, and New Metric Media is the series’ exclusive Sales Agent. The series is produced by New Metric Media in association with CTV, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Preview: HGTV’s Rock Solid Builds is a party on The Rock

15 Comments

I’ve written a lot about home renovation shows over the years.

As such, I can get bored with the usual “take an old house, be surprised by shocking electrical or plumbing behind the walls, wonder if the job will come in on time and budget, and marvel at the final results” formula. It can get as tired as peeling wallpaper.

But Rock Solid Builds is like nothing I’ve seen before.

Debuting Thursday at 10 p.m. Eastern on HGTV Canada, Rock Solid Builds is as quirky as the location it’s set in: Brigus, Newfoundland. It’s there we meet up with Randy Spracklin of Newfound Builders and his team of equally entertaining folks renovating and building homes on The Rock. This third-generation builder—dad Scott is also part of the crew—takes on projects in one of the most beautiful places in the world. But also one of the most rugged and hard to get to; delayed shipments of supplies from the mainland are regularly faced by Newfound Builders.

Yes, the jaunty fiddle-heavy music and accents are the first thing to set Rock Solid Builds apart from, say, Backyard Builds or Save My Reno, but it adds to the charm exuded by Randy Spracklin, who tackles weather, design and construction issues with a crooked smile and quip.

In Thursday’s debut, Randy, Scott, Nikki and Paul document putting the finishing touches on one home, adding two additions to another, and beginning work on a 200-year-old home. It’s that last home, dubbed Earle House, that intrigued me. After all, adding another foot to ceilings isn’t something you see every day. The first three layers of flooring are peeled back to reveal the original, 200-year-old beams, which Randy explains were probably cut close by and squared off. Floorboards were attached with square nails forged locally.

It’s a heck of a history lesson not only in home building but building in a fabulous, unique part of the country. I can’t wait to see more.

Rock Solid Builds airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. Eastern on HGTV.

Image courtesy of Cineflix.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Awards

ACTRA Toronto announces 19th annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto on-camera and Series Ensemble nominees

From a media release:

ACTRA Toronto is pleased to announce the nominees for the Outstanding Performance – Female and Male awards and the Members’ Choice Series Ensemble nominees. The ACTRA Awards in Toronto will be broadcast on YouTube on Sunday, February 21, 2021, at 8 p.m. EST.

Nominees for Outstanding Performance – Female:
Clark Backo as Samira in Happy Place (Sienna Films)

Jayne Eastwood as Lady in Hey Lady!, “Episode 1.1” (CBC Gem Original)

Nicole Law as May in Tales from the Loop, “Stasis” (6th & Idaho Productions)

Kari Matchett as Ruby Howard in Fortunate Son, “Eve of Destruction” (Lark Productions/Seven24 Films)

Tamara Podemski as Alison Trent in Coroner, “One Drum” (Back Alley Film Productions/Muse Entertainment Enterprises)

Nominees for Outstanding Performance – Male:
Amir Bageria as Siddhartha Pakam in Grand Army, “Making Moves” (Westward Productions)

Jesse LaVercombe as Dylan in Violation (DM Films)

Brandon Oakes as Aluk in Anne with an E, “A Dense and Frightful Darkness” (Northwood Entertainment)

Rick Roberts as Ted Howard in Fortunate Son, “Chimes of Freedom” (Lark Productions/Seven24 Films)

Adrian Walters as Cassius Ewing in Nurses, “What Size Are Your Feet?” (ICF Films Inc./Entertainment One/Corus Entertainment Inc.)

Nominees for Members’ Choice Series Ensemble Award:
Band Ladies (Highball TV, Moon Astronaut Studios, Dei Gratia Pictures)

Baroness Von Sketch Show (Frantic Films)

Kim’s Convenience (Thunderbird Entertainment)

Murdoch Mysteries (Shaftesbury)

Schitt’s Creek (Not a Real Company)

ACTRA Toronto is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing over 15,000 of Canada’s 27,000 professional performers working in recorded media in Canada. An advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven union that continues to secure rights and respect for the work of professional performers.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Frankie Drake Mysteries

Link: Sharron Matthews and Thom Allison preview Frankie Drake Mysteries’ “Life is a Cabaret”

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Sharron Matthews and Thom Allison preview Frankie Drake Mysteries’ “Life is a Cabaret”
“I also thought it was appropriate, in our first scene together, this monumental moment in a show that Sharron wrote with a part for me in it, that we were in jail and in evening gowns. It just seemed perfect.” Continue reading.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail