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Comments and queries for the week of July 19

I actually like the concept of the One Way and am glad they didn’t render it useless by having this be a non-elimination episode. The picture of John Lennon, the John Cena figure and the picture of Jon was funny. And that little leaf! Amy shouldn’t have said that out loud though I knew they could probably win a foot race against Sean and Gilles. Dave and Irina are really soaking up the villain role. —DanAmazing

I really liked the first season [of Diggstown] and I was surprised but pleased (because the ratings weren’t stellar) that it got renewed. —Alicia

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

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Battle of the Blades

CBC announces complete lineup of figure skaters for Battle of the Blades

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From a media release:

CBC today announced the complete lineup of figure skaters confirmed to compete live in the new season of hit returning series BATTLE OF THE BLADES (Season 5, 1×120, 6×60), with additional skaters rounding out the team who will be paired with hockey players to vie for the Season 5 championship. BATTLE OF THE BLADES, the highest-rated original English-language Canadian format of all time* and produced by Insight Productions, launches with a special two-hour premiere on Thursday, September 19 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC and the free CBC Gem streaming service. The complete lineup of hockey players, as well as the pairings for the competition, will be announced in the coming weeks.

First-time competitors include three-time World Ice Dance medallists, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, and two-time World Pairs champion, and two-time Olympic Games medallist, Eric Radford. Season 2 winner and two-time Olympic Games gold medallist in pairs skating, Ekaterina Gordeeva, and Season 4 winner and Olympian in pairs skating, Amanda Evora, will return to the ice. They join previously announced figure skaters Vanessa James and Violetta Afanasieva.

Ice dancers Weaver and Poje have represented Canada internationally for 13 years. These beloved fan-favourites have won three World Ice Dance medals, two gold medals at the Grand Prix Final Championships and three Canadian Ice Dance titles. They have represented Canada in ice dancing twice at the Olympic Games, placing seventh at Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.

Radford is a two-time Olympic Games medallist with pairs partner Meagan Duhamel with whom he also won back-to-back World Championship titles in 2015 and 2016, including an undefeated season in 2015. The pair won their seventh consecutive Canadian pairs’ title in 2018, setting an all-time record. Radford and Duhamel were part of the Canadian figure skating team’s silver medal at Sochi 2014, and gold at PyeongChang 2018. Radford is the only openly gay male to have won an Olympic Games gold medal.

Gordeeva and late pairs partner and husband Sergei Grinkov are two-time Olympic Games gold medallists, four-time World champions, and two-time European champions. Icons of Russian pair skating, Gordeeva and Grinkov are still considered the greatest of all time. Since her tragic loss, Gordeeva has gone on as a soloist and continues to perform worldwide. Gordeeva and partner Valeri Bure won Season 2 of BATTLE OF THE BLADES, with $100,000 for both Cardiac Kids and Compassion Canada charities.

Evora is a five-time pairs medallist at the U.S. Championships with former partner Mark Ladwig, with whom she represented Team U.S.A. at multiple international competitions including two World Championships over the span of 10 years. Evora and Ladwig competed on the American figure skating team for the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010.  In 2013, Evora and partner Scott Thornton won the fourth season of BATTLE OF THE BLADES, winning $100,000 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Returning this fall, BATTLE OF THE BLADES combines athletes from two of Canada’s favourite sports — figure skating and hockey — as they pair up in a live, high-stakes figure skating competition for the charity of their choice. Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean will reprise his role as host, with four-time Canadian and four-time World champion figure skater Kurt Browning returning as head judge. Beloved Canadian Olympic Games ice dance champions, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, will be rink-side with him as guest judges for select episodes. Previously announced hockey players for the new iteration of the hugely popular format include hockey players Sheldon Kennedy and Natalie Spooner. First launched in 2009, BATTLE OF THE BLADES was broadcast on CBC from 2009—2013 (4 seasons, 57 episodes) and remains the highest-rated original English-language Canadian format of all time.*

A CBC original series, BATTLE OF THE BLADES is produced by Insight Productions. The series is executive produced by Insight’s John Brunton, Lindsay Cox, Erin Brock, and Mark Lysakowski and is co-created and executive produced by Olympian and World & Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Famer Sandra Bezic. 

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Killjoys

Links: Killjoys, Season 5

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Kelly McCormack Talks Killjoys Season 5
“It’s a playground of mess and I’m like Pigpen from Charlie Brown. I actually prefer being a messy character actor than being clean. Give me a pound of dirt and a disgusting [environment any day].” Continue reading.

From John Baker of Three If By Space:

Link: Killjoys: Season 5 Dawns With A Few Questions – Preview
Well, here we are, folks. The final season of Killjoys is about to break upon the shore of a our fandom like a wave. Are we ready for it to start? And are we ready for it to come to a finish? Forgive the questions as judging by the fandom’s reaction on social media, I think I already know the answers – but, today is going to be a day of questions. Continue reading.

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: How Killjoys went from a space procedural to a show about love and family
It’s a TV show that touches on real, human issues, things like the nature of family and how our memories shape who we are. It’s a show that promulgates a diverse and LGBTQ-friendly worldview. It’s also a show that revels in penis jokes. Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Killjoys: 9 Things to Know about Season 5
“So she has taken away from our team the very thing that they rely on, which is their knowledge of each other and what their relationships are.” Continue reading.

From Norm Wilner of Now Toronto:

Link: Killjoys gets back to kicking ass in its final season
“How do you find each other again, when you’re completely distant and completely alien to each other? What remains? What are the remnants from that past life, what is that connection? And how do you bring these characters back together?” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore, and Luke Macfarlane talk Killjoys Season 5
“The characters are still the characters, so those things still shine through, but there’s just an element of something a little different and a different dynamic.” Continue reading.

From Melissa Girimonte of The Televixen:

Link: Killjoys producers discuss the rules of family and memory in Season 5
“Family is the bedrock of the series. All the different ways it hurts us and heals us. How it shapes us. How is that driving us? When is it our guide? When is it our prisoner? All of our characters have felt lost at times and found their way together.” Continue reading.

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Killjoys: Adam Barken talks “Run, Yala, Run”
“From the first season to the last, the idea of memory, and how it relates to identity, has been a major theme of Killjoys. Dutch is a living memory. Aneela’s sanity suffers after Khlyen extracts her memories. D’av shows up in the pilot with the sense that something is wrong with his head, and over the course of the season, comes to realize that his own memories have been manipulated.” Continue reading. 

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Thom Allison and Gavin Fox talk Killjoys Season 5
One of the many joys of the Killjoys Season 5 premiere was that Pree and his Gare bear were still in each other’s orbit. Last summer, I got to sit down and chat with Thom Allison and Gavin Fox about the new season during the press day. Continue reading. 

From Charles Trapunski of Brief Take:

Link: Interview: Killjoys’ Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore and Luke Macfarlane
“It’s been an undergraduate degree, maybe a Masters degree. And when you think of friends and you think of people in your life, it’s like how long it is from which comes these lifelong relationships.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of TV Goodness:

Link: Director Peter Stebbings talks Killjoys Season 5
“You’re dealing with this really, at times, crazy, head-scratching mythology and trying to figure all that out and be part of the creative process and come up with solutions that make sense not just for your episode but for the broader arc. It’s a puzzle and I thoroughly enjoyed my time on that show.” Continue reading. 

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Link: Why Killjoys’ Kelly McCormack is so fond of “stinky” Zeph
“Stinky has my heart let me tell yah. Zeph was already a dream role to play, but a dirtier, scrappier, more strung out Zeph with a cool backpack? COME ON.” Continue reading. 

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The Beaverton

On CTV and around the world, Season 3 of The Beaverton to premiere July 23

From a media release:

With world politics heating up, and federal election only three months away, CTV announced today that Season 3 of its most *important original satirical series, THE BEAVERTON, will premiere exclusively in Canada on CTV and simultaneously, around the world on CTV’s YouTube ™ channel for the first time ever.

Beginning Tuesday, July 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, exclusively in Canada on CTV, co-anchors Emma Hunter and Miguel Rivas are primed to deliver the critical blows to a seemingly unrelenting news cycle. Rolling out weekly, all eight episodes of the half-hour series can be viewed:

  • In Canada, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app
  • Around the world on CTV’s YouTube ™ channel, day and date with Canadian viewers
  • On demand, on Crave, CTV Digital platforms and TheBeaverton.com the day after its broadcast premiere

Seasons 1 – 2 of THE BEAVERTON are currently streaming on Crave.

Then, on Friday, Oct. 18 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, the Canadian Screen Award-nominated series turns its sharp focus to the Canadian federal election with a one-hour special, as the country prepares to elect its next government.

THE BEAVERTON is the brainchild of co-creators Luke Gordon Field and Jeff Detsky (CALL ME FITZ, SEED) of TheBeaverton.com, as well as website senior editors Jacob Duarte Spiel and Alexander Saxton. Henry Sarwer-Foner (THE RICK MERCER REPORT) returns as Director, and Pier 21 Film’s Laszlo Barna and Melissa Williamson serve as Executive Producers. Nicole Butler serves as Producer.

Fueled by the no-holds-barred wit of a writing room led by series co-creator and showrunner Jeff Detsky, THE BEAVERTON continues to hit above, below, and to the right and left of the belt, casting a Canadian lens on global issues with timely and topical viral-ready segments. Luke Gordon Field also returns as showrunner with co-anchors Emma Hunter and Miguel Rivas joining the writing room this season. Also returning as writers this season are Michael Balazo (SCHITT’S CREEK), Jocelyn Geddie (GO AWAY, UNICORN!), Nelu Handa (JANN), and Scott Montgomery (THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES).

Viewers interested in being part of THE BEAVERTON’s live studio audience in Toronto can click here or email beavertoninvites@gmail.com.

THE BEAVERTON is produced by Pier 21 Films in association with Bell Media, with the participation of Canadian Media Fund, and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.

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Featured, Killjoys

Preview: Killjoys takes its final ride in Season 5

This is it, Killjoys fans. The end of the road for Team Awesome Force. It’s been one hells of a ride watching the journey Dutch (Hannah John-Kamen), John (Aaron Ashmore), D’Avin (Luke MacFarlane) have been on, hasn’t it? And with the group the trio has assembled, including Pree (Thom Allison), Fancy (Sean Baek), Turin (Patrick Garrow) and Zeph (Kelly McCormack), these final 10 episodes are going to be amazing.

Season 5, returning Friday at 10 p.m. ET on Space, catches up after the Killjoys, with Aneela’s help, succeeded in killing the Green, the repository of living memories through which the Hullen lived eternally. But instead of helping Aneela escape it, they lead The Lady (Alanna Bale) into their world. She harnesses her ability to control their memories in hopes of finding Jaq (Jaeden Noel), the Hullen heir.

Here’s what Bell Media has revealed as the synopsis for “Run, Yala, Run,” written by show creator Michelle Lovretta and directed by Peter Stebbings:

A woman looks up.Dutch wakes up and realizes that The Lady has put Westerley under a collective delusion. With no memory comes a new reality. Dutch struggles to find a way to wake up her gang before it’s too late. But before she can, a new Killjoy comes into town looking for Jaq.

And here are more tasty tidbits I gleaned after watching a screener.

We kick off Season 5 with … jazz?
After the shocking Season 4 finale, Season 5 begins with a toe-tapping, finger-snapping tune and Johnny wearing workman’s coveralls. What the heck is happening here? And why doesn’t Dutch recognize D’Avin?

The sarcastic tone is still there
Listen, I didn’t expect the witty banter to abate, it just gave me immense joy to hear “Putting the ass in sass,” and “You put the dick in cocky,” being uttered in prime time.

The search for Jaq continues
And the group trying to find him is growing. And to get to him they’ll have to go through Delle Seyah.

Killjoys airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on Space.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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