It has been seven years since the release ofÂ Casino ConfidentialÂ on TVtropolis, and memories of the reality series set in Binionâ€™s Gambling Hall and Hotel in Las Vegas live long in the hearts of Canadian casino fans. The documentary series only ran for ten episodes, but its success in the North American country led TLC to pick it up and broadcast it to USA citizens. In the years since 2012, the gambling industry has boomed further. Indeed, revenues have surpassed $45 billion and are continuing to grow exponentially. Now could be the perfect time to revisit Binionâ€™s, or perhaps create a similar series. Canadians, who love gambling and reality TV, would be sure to be grateful for a sequel.

What Was Casino Confidential About?
Casino ConfidentialÂ was a fly-on-the-wall documentary centred on the players and staff at Binionâ€™s Gambling Hall and Hotel, a bustling Las Vegas hotspot. The aim of the series was to provide viewers with a number of different perspectives within the casino. In the early episodes, there was heavy focus on one of the blackjack dealers. These are key staff members, and they need to have specific knowledge and training in order to do their jobs. When playing online, players can refer to information pages such as the Betway online blackjack guide. It tells them what to do in certain situations, such as when to double and split and how. When you’re playing in a land-based casino though, it is down to the dealer to give advice to players on what to do. For this reason, blackjack dealers are fountains of knowledge about the game in addition to great people skills.

By putting an emphasis on the dealers and croupiers,Â Casino ConfidentialÂ was able to show a wide range of different customers sitting and playing the games at Binionâ€™s. The Nevada city is renowned for attracting an eclectic mix of clientele, who come from all over the world. Over 42 million people visit Las Vegas each year, and all these different visitors from far-flung corners of the Earth make for interesting viewing. Some of the other segments of the documentary followed the dining staff, security, and the famous cowgirls who operate some of the table games.

Casino ConfidentialÂ went down well in Canada, but it wasnâ€™t to everyoneâ€™s taste. It pulled no punches and showed both the good and bad sides of the day-to-day running of a casino. When it aired in the USA, it wasnâ€™t quite as popular. This is perhaps part of why the show wasnâ€™t renewed for another season.

Canada Has a Lot of Similar Programming
Casino ConfidentialÂ was always going to go down well in Canada, as Canadians love reality television. In fact, there have been 145 different reality TV shows on various networks throughout the 2010s.Â Big Brother CanadaÂ and Property BrothersÂ are both vastly popular among the population.

Property BrothersÂ from Cineflix has been running for 136 episodes since 2011 on W Network initially and then HGTV Canada from 2017. The series, which features Drew and Jonathan Scott as real estate and renovation experts, averages 2 million viewers per week and is one of the highest-rated shows on the network. It has sprouted a franchise which includes a web series, short films, an app and a radio show. Meanwhile, Big Brother CanadaÂ has been through seven editions since first airing in 2013. The series which is now hosted by Global has been consistently viewed by an average of over 1 million people per season since 2015.

These successful programs show how popular reality TV is in Canada and suggest that there is a market for more of the same. If another casino show was to come about, it could decide to take elements from these highly viewed shows.Â Big BrotherÂ has an element of competition to it, which could easily be replicated in the gaming scene.Â Property BrothersÂ is all about turning ramshackle residences into extravagant abodes. This could be done with rundown casinos as well. Perhaps thereâ€™s a gap in the market for an Apprentice-style competition to see who can create and run the best casino?

What Other Casino-Based TV Series Have Been Successful?
Despite being one of the most popular pastimes in the world, casinos havenâ€™t been represented well in television. There have been other documentaries such asÂ The Player: Secrets of a Vegas Whale, andÂ Bet Raise Fold, but none have been worldwide hits.

Las VegasÂ is one of the most notable series to have taken place in a casino. The series starred James Caan as head of operations at a fictional casino on The Strip. It was hugely popular, and lasted for five seasons before being cancelled by NBC. The series focused on the glitz and glamour of the casino world but also featured plenty of intrigue and action.

Casino ConfidentialÂ may not be getting resurrected, but it does seem as though the time is ripe for a similar series. There have been a lot of developments in the industry since the documentary aired, and it would be interesting to see advancements in technology, such as virtual reality games, depicted on television. There is always a market for reality television in Canada, and something that involves gambling is sure to be well received.

Featured, Slasher

Slasher: Solstice’s Paula Brancati reflects on playing Violet

June 25, 2019 Greg David 3 Comments

When I last spoke to Paula Brancati, it was at the end of a bug-infested day near Orangeville, Ont., on the set of Slasher: Guilty Party, where she played a character named Dawn.

Now Brancati is backâ€”along with several of her Guilty Party co-starsâ€”in Slasher: Solstice, the third season in the franchise created by Aaron Martin. Slasher: SolsticeÂ keeps the franchiseâ€™s cast intact by reuniting several actors from past seasons in Dean McDermott, Joanna Vannicola, Brancati, Erin Karpluk, Jim Watson, Jefferson Brown and Paulino Nunes with new faces in Baraka Rahmani, Lisa Berry, Mercedes Morris and Salvatore Antonio.

And, like the franchise,Â SolsticeÂ meets up with these characters as awful things happen in present-day to match a truly terrible occurrence in the past. We spoke to Brancati about playing Violet.

It’s exciting times for everybody, thanks to Netflix. The reach for a Canadian series like Slasher is worldwide instantly.
Paula Brancati: It’s really exciting, I think, especially with something like Slasher where it’s an anthology, and so each season really has its own identity, and they feel like they can have their very unique stamp on them, each shot by a different director. I feel like we’re doing something new every year with the show.Â I’m overwhelmed in the best way with how big the reach is, and I always forget how many people can actually access the show and watch it in perpetuity, all over the world. It’s mind-blowing, and the response has been super-positive.

What I like about the Slasher franchise and what Aaron started is that, yes, it’s a horror anthology. Yes, there are gory deaths, but the deaths mean something, and there’s emotion attached to these characters.
PB: I completely agree with you. I think the reason I was so delighted when Aaron came to me with this in Season 2 with that character was that I’d never worked in horror before. I think I had certain ideas about what the genre was like. I was pretty thrilled to see that in Season 2, and then in Season 3 as well, that the characters don’t fulfil these horror movie tropes in the same way.

I would be delighted to watch a show with any one of these characters leading it. To get to have so many complex characters, to see such an incredible, diverse cast that looks like the city we’re actually in, that has female characters that are so complicated and so exciting, I think that that’s what the show does really well, and then horror is just another element to it. It makes me very proud to be a part of this particular horror franchise.

Violet thinks she’s helping. She’s a lonely character, and there’s definitely some sadness to her because the only real connection that she feels is with this anonymous group of people that watch her videos.
PB: I ingested a lot of YouTuber footage before bed, and I would leave the Kardashians on in the background because I think they aesthetically for her are a huge influence, as they are for a lot of millennials. I think she wishes she was Nancy Grace, too. She’s listened to Serial over and over again. She watches and listens to, I think, current things, and probably would also be very dated in some of her references. It was a lot of fun to build her from the outside in as well, and play with her voice.

She’s so much fun. There are so many directions you can take it in. [Director] Adam [MacDonald] was very clear about wanting to make sure it felt very much like a real person. I think that’s the danger with someone like that, with a character like that is I was worried that maybe people wouldn’t believe that she exists on this planet. I think from the response we’ve been getting, people seem to know her well. I don’t know if that’s frightening or not, but it’s what they’re saying.

The other thing that struck me was this relationship between Joe and Angel, obviously, but also Angel, Joe, and Violet. It was a complicated relationship between the three of them. I thought it was really well written, really well done, and didn’t feel forced in the middle of a show where people are being killed off every episode either.
PB: Thanks for saying that. I agree with you. I think it was so well written, and it’s a real testament to the writers. Somehow amidst this 24-hour crazy killing spree, it felt so honest. I think that’s also a testament to Ilan Muallem and to Salvatore Antonio, who played Joe and Angel, respectively, because you really feel right away when you meet them, you feel like you’re right in something.

I think Ilan does such a nice job. I really feel like he absolutely had a real love for Violet and that they probably did have so much fun for a very long time. She’s in a whole other planet really, really far away from him. Those scenes behind, you know that door? There’s a scene where he’s locked her into the bathroom. That stuff was really exciting and very challenging to shoot. I found that stuff really very like it pushed us in directions with each other. I really think Adam, again, treads a really great line of keeping everything energetic but also feeling really real.

I think those things can go off the rails if you don’t have a director who’s really tasteful. I felt really in very, very good hands.

What are you working on now? Do you and Michael Seater still have your production company?
PB: Yeah. We do. We’re developing a couple of TV things. I went off to Italy and shot a feature that I produced and was in, called From the Vine. Wendy Crewson played my mom in it. Joe Pantoliano is the lead and it was directed by Sean Cisterna. We’re just finishing post-production on that right now. There’s a sci-fi feature that’s doing a festival run that I was a lead in with Erin Berry, who was one of our producers on Slasher, called Majic. Paulino Nunes is in it. That’s doing a festival run right now.

Slasher: Solstice is on Netflix now.

Images courtesy of Shaftesbury.

Letterkenny, Littlekenny

Good things come in small packages: Littlekenny debuts June 28 on Crave

June 21, 2019 Greg David

From a media release:

There are 500 kids at Letterkenny Central School, and audiences will soon learn about all of their pint-sized problems. The new Crave Original Series LITTLEKENNY, an irreverent, short-form animated extension of Craveâ€™s smash-hit comedy LETTERKENNY, premieres on Friday, June 28 with all six episodes, just in time for the Canada Day long weekend.

Created, written, and directed by Jared Keeso, LITTLEKENNY tells the origin story of The Hicks, and how standing up for each other in the schoolyard resulted in their friendship. Featuring the voices of LETTERKENNY stars Nathan Dales as young Daryl; K. Trevor Wilson as young Dan; Keeso as young Wayne; and Canadian actress Kandyse McClure as the voice of Ms. Tricia, these wee-hicks may seem adorable, but as with their original incarnations, their quick wit packs a Texas-sized punch.

LITTLEKENNY will also be available on other Bell Media platforms including:

SnackableTV (all six episodes drop on June 28)
On CTV.ca as part of the SnackableTV collection (all six episodes drop on June 28)
The Crave YouTube channel (sampling)
TheComedyNetwork.ca (sampling)
MUCH.com (sampling)
MTV.ca (sampling)

Additionally, Episodes 1 and 2 will be available as a sneak peek on the Letterkenny Problems YouTube channel on June 27.

As LITTLEKENNY gets introduced to the world, its big brother LETTERKENNY is also in the spotlight over the Canada long weekend with:

A LETTERKENNY Season 5 marathon on Crave on Sunday, June 30 beginning at 9 p.m. ET, followed by a Season 6 marathon on Monday, July 1, beginning at 9 p.m. ET
New LETTERKENNY-inspired collections on Crave including â€œLETTERKENNY Castâ€™s Favourite Comediesâ€ chosen by cast including Mark Forward and Nathan Dales, â€œThe Best of Squirrely Dan,â€ and â€œThe Best of Darylâ€
A â€œBest of LETTERKENNYâ€ five-episode marathon airs on Much on Saturday, June 29 at midnight following THE SIMPSONS. Select LITTLEKENNY episodes will also air on Much on Friday, June 28 during the Much Friday Night movie.

Another six-pack of LETTERKENNY is set to debut on Crave on October 11, as production gets set to begin on Season 8 this summer.

LITTLEKENNY is produced by New Metric Media in association with Playfun Games and Bell Media, with the participation of Canadian Media Fund, OMDC Tax Credits and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and distributed by DHX Media with New Metric Media as sales agent. Animation services for LITTLEKENNY were provided by Little Blackstone Inc.

For LETTERKENNY, Jared Keeso is executive producer, co-writer, star, and creator, Jacob Tierney is executive producer, director, and co-writer and Mark Montefiore is executive producer for New Metric Media.

Featured

Comments and queries for the week of June 21

June 21, 2019 Greg David

Sorry, but must admit I canâ€™t stand [Mary’s Kitchen Crush], or rather the chef. I am not doubting Maryâ€™s talents and ability, but her personality is a definite turn-off. Also, what young mother or dad can arrive home after a difficult day at work and try to prepare a nutritious several course supper for their family and look perfectly calm while trying to rush back out the door to take their children to their sporting activities? â€”Bev

All right! Family Feud Canada! I hope itâ€™ll be good. And I hope weâ€™ll have Celebrity Family Feud Canada, The Price is Right Canada, Wheel of Fortune Canada, Jeopardy Canada, The X Factor Canada, The Voice Canada, The Wall Canada, Name That Tune Canada, Survivor Canada, Dancing with the Stars Canada, Celebrity Big Brother Canada, The Dating Game Canada, Take Me Out Canada, The Chase Canada and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Canada. Bring back Supermarket Sweep Canada, Canadian Idol and Canadaâ€™s Got Talent. â€”David

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

Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Blue Ant Media unveils its 2019/2020 programming slate of new and returning original series

June 20, 2019 Greg David

From a media release:

Blue Ant Media unveils its 2019/2020 schedule of new and returning Canadian original productions for some of its most popular channels, T+E, Cottage Life, Smithsonian Channel, and Makeful. Haunting paranormal programming, cottage and outdoor lifestyle series, intriguing documentaries, and creative competition series dominate the schedule, with several programmes available for licensing globally by Blue Ant International. Overseen by Sam Linton, Head of Original Content, Blue Ant Media, the new and returning series start hitting airwaves in fall 2019, with the majority of programs being world broadcast premieres.

Popular paranormal programming dominates T+E’s new slate. New series include Hotel Paranormal (world broadcast premiere), a series that brings encounters with hotel-lurking paranormal entities to life. The previously announced series, The Witches of Salem (Canadian premiere), also joins the schedule as a four-part series about the mass hysteria surrounding Americaâ€™s 17th-century witch trials. Returning favourites include Haunted Hospitals (season two, Canadian premiere), and Paranormal 911 (season two, Canadian premiere).

The love of all things cottaging and the outdoors feature heavily on Cottage Lifeâ€™s new programming grid. New series include the previously announced series, Life Below Zero: Canada (world broadcast premiere), the Canadian version of the hit BBC Studios format. Additionally, a new short-form digital web series Cottage Coach (world premiere), sees DIY expert Adam Holman give useful how-to tips with a cottage lifestyle vibe. Returning series include viewer favourite Hope For Wildlife (world broadcast premiere) who is back for an impressive tenth season of rehabilitating animals. Meanwhile, even freakier weather gets the spotlight on season two of The Weather Files (world broadcast premiere).

The honourable way of the samurai leads Smithsonian Channelâ€™s new schedule with the premiere of Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan (Canadian premiere), a new docudrama series that highlights Japanâ€™s Golden Age of the Samurai. Also new is High Maintenance (Canadian premiere), a series that takes a look at the death-defying work of the crews who keep our roads, bridges, and highways safe.

The competition series Landscape Artist of the Year Canada (world broadcast premiere), showcasing the unique work of talented artists who vie for the coveted title, heats up Makefulâ€™s schedule. Handmade Hotels (world broadcast premiere) also returns for a second season of even more creative short-term rentals.

For a full list of programming highlights, please see below.

T+E

New Original SeriesÂ

Hotel Paranormal (8×60â€™; HD) (spring 2020) (world broadcast premiere)
Real-life accounts, dramatic recreations, and expert insight, bring encounters with ghosts to life in this new thrilling series. Every year, millions of people book hotel rooms. But most are unaware that some hotels hold dark secrets connected to a tragic past. Get shivers as guests and staff alike recall their spooky occurrences on camera. Produced by Saloon Media, part of Blue Ant Studios. Distributed by Blue Ant International.

The Witches of Salem (4×60â€™; HD) (October 2019) (Canadian broadcast premiere)
The Salem Witch Trials is one of the most gripping real-life dramas in history. It began in February 1692. A group of young girls in Salem Village, Massachusetts, claimed to be possessed by the devil. Then, they started accusing local women of witchcraft. In just 220 days, 200 were accused and 20 were executed. It was a period of mass hysteria that opens a window into the darkest side of human nature. This four-part documentary series draws on historical documents and court records to bring this gripping drama to life. Sociologists, psychologists, and cultural historians also illustrate how communities are susceptible to the same hysteria today. Produced by Saloon Media, part of Blue Ant Studios, in association with Talos Films, Travel Channel, and T+E. Distributed by Blue Ant International. (previously announced)

Returning SeriesÂ

Haunted Hospitals (season two; 13×60â€™; HD) (winter 2020) (Canadian broadcast premiere)
Hear the chilling stories of paranormal activity inside hospitals, nursing homes, and morgues. In each episode, doctors, nurses, and patients give first-hand accounts of the supernatural, such as deceased patients who come back from the grave. Dead doctors who insist on tending to their patients. Spirits who stalk corridors to warn of impending danger. As the personal stories unfold, the mysteries behind the troubled souls and hauntings become more alive than ever. Produced by Bristow Global Media.

Paranormal 911 (season two; 13×60â€™; HD) (spring 2020) (Canadian broadcast premiere)
Each year, first responders rush to over 250 million 911 calls in North America. But what happens when these emergencies lead to paranormal encounters? Find out in season two of Paranormal 911. Hear the first-person accounts of first responders who came face-to-face with the supernatural. Produced by Bristow Global Media.

COTTAGE LIFE

New Original Series

Life Below Zero: Canada (8×60â€™; HD) (spring 2020) (world broadcast premiere)
Long, dark, frozen winters. Sweltering, bug infested summers. Canadians who live ‘off the grid’ grapple each day with limited means to find food, water, and shelter. Life Below Zero: Canada captures the rugged day-to-day trials of Canadians who live in the remote Canadian north. Find out how they survive in the most unforgiving environments using various means, from makeshift problem solving to traditional survival skills. This is the Canadian version of the hit BBC Studios format Life Below Zero. Life Below Zero: Canada is produced by Saloon Media, part of Blue Ant Studios. (previously announced.)

Cottage Coach (digital series; 6×7â€™) (fall 2019) (world premiere)
Cottagelife.com DIY expert Adam Holman coaches viewers on how to tackle cottage issues in this exclusive new short-form series. From fixing a broken pipe to replacing a rotten deck board, each episode offers essential tips. And in true cottage lifestyle form, Adam mixes in some fun in the process. Fishing anyone?

Returning Series

Hope For Wildlife (season 10; 10×60â€™; HD) (summer 2020) (world broadcast premiere)
Fan-favourite wildlife advocate Hope Swinimer and her team are back. This season, the team continues to rescue animals in need. They use her Halifax-based wildlife refuge to rehabilitate them. Once they are strong enough, the team releases the animals back into the wild. Produced by Arcadia Content. Distributed by Blue Ant International.

The Weather Files (season two; 8×60â€™; HD) (spring 2020) (world broadcast premiere)
This season of The Weather Files puts the most unusual and freakish weather on the planet in the spotlight. First-person testimony and actual footage combined with scientific insight give viewers an in-depth and up-close and personal look at the dangers of extreme and unusual weather. Produced by Saloon Media, part of Blue Ant Studios. Distributed by Blue Ant International.

SMITHSONIAN CHANNELÂ

New Original Series

Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan (6×60â€™; HD) (winter 2020) (Canadian broadcast premiere) This series follows the life of legendary samurai, Date Masamune, an iconic figure, known as the One-Eyed Dragon, who fought alongside the three founding fathers of Japan. Together, these warlords led fierce armies of samurai against each other to unite the nation. This series brings this extraordinary era to life. It shows how powerful warriors, master swordsman, and lethal ninjas came together in deadly battles to create Japan’s golden age of the Samurai, a period that still resonates today. Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan is produced by Cream Productions.

High Maintenance (8×60â€™; HD) (winter 2020) (Canadian broadcast premiere)
From subways to bridges to power dams, High Maintenance is about the hard-working crews who do the death-defying work to keep these structures safe. The series features engineering feats including the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Generating Stations in Niagara Falls, the Montreal Metro, and the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in California. Each episode profiles two such structures or systems – and the brave, behind-the-scenes workers who run them. Co-produced by Frantic Films and Kew Media Distribution.

MAKEFULÂ

New Original Series

Landscape Artist of the Year Canada (4×60â€™; HD) (winter 2020) (world broadcast premiere)
Professional and amateur Canadian artists vie to win the title of Landscape Artist of the Year in this new Makeful competition series. Each episode features a different landscape painting challenge. Expert judges determine the winner of each competition until the best landscape artist remains. Time-lapse segments ensure viewers don’t miss any of each artist’s progression from blank canvas to finished work. Based on the UK format distributed by Banijay Rights and originally produced by Storyvault Films. Landscape Artist of the Year Canada is produced by marblemedia. (Previously announced.)

Returning SeriesÂ

Handmade Hotels (season two; 6×30â€™; HD) (spring 2020) (world broadcast premiere)
Viewers get to peek inside even more unique and charming short-term rentals in season two of this series with host and professional house flipper, Katie Herbert. In each episode, Katie explores three unique spaces that showcase the creativity of homeowners and give viewers inspiration on how they can add artistic touches to their own homes. Produced by Architect Films. Distributed by Blue Ant International.