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TV,eh? What's up in Canadian television
Industry News

CBC greenlights Tallboyz a new comedy from sketch troupe Tallboyz II Men

From a media release:

 CBC today announced it has greenlit new half-hour sketch comedy series TALLBOYZ (8×30) from Accent Entertainment and executive producers Bruce McCulloch (The Kids in the Hall, Young Drunk Punk) and Susan Cavan (The Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town, Young Drunk Punk). Starring the four members of acclaimed Toronto-based sketch comedy troupe TallBoyz II Men – Vance Banzo, Guled Abdi, Franco Nguyen, and Tim Blair – and creatively nurtured and developed by Bruce McCulloch, the series will start production in Toronto in April for broadcast on CBC and the CBC Gem streaming service in fall 2019.

TallBoyz II Men is a group of diverse comedians who explore themes of friendship, race, nostalgia, toxic masculinity and more in their sketches. In 2018, the Boyz won Outstanding Comedy Short at Toronto Sketchfest, Best of the Fest at Montreal SketchFest and Best Comedy at the Toronto Fringe Festival.

McCulloch and his fellow The Kids in the Hall troupe members will receive the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s Academy Icon Award at the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards this Sunday, March 31, broadcast on CBC and CBC Gem at 8 p.m. (9 p.m. AT/ 9:30 p.m. NT).

Produced by Accent Entertainment, TALLBOYZ is created by Guled Abdi, Vance Banzo, Tim Blair, and Franco Nguyen with Adam Bovoletis and Luc Mandl. Bruce McCulloch is Executive Producer and Director, and Susan Cavan is Executive Producer. Paula Smith is Supervising Producer, Caitlin Brown is Co-Producer and Jen Goodhue is Consulting Producer. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Programming; Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content, Michelle Daly is Senior Director, Comedy, Scripted Content; and Karen Tsang is Executive in Charge of Production.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Backyard Builds returns to HGTV with more impressive and attainable renovations

When I last spoke to Sarah Keenleyside and Brian McCourt, their fledgling series, Backyard Builds, was set to debut. They had joined their fellow HGTV Canada designers and builders on Home to Win but that hadn’t been broadcast yet either. They were nervous, and excited, for both projects. Now the duo is back for the sophomore go-around on their renovation series.

“To call this a family is an understatement,” Keenleyside says over the phone alongside McCourt. “The whole HGTV crew takes you under their wing. Brian and I still pinch ourselves sometimes. We’re like, ‘Dude, we’re working with Scott McGillivray and Sarah Richardson!’ These are the people we used to watch and now we’re their peers.”

Backyard Builds returns Thursday with back-to-back episodes at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT with Keenleyside and McCourt once again blowing up bad-looking backyards and turning them into something amazing. And while the transformations are truly impressive—a family full of energetic boys sees their yard turned into a basketball court—the projects add value to the home and aren’t outrageously expensive for the homeowners. Last year, I wrote that the pair are almost criminally good-looking but know their stuff, are articulate, don’t talk down to viewers and have fun. That continues in Season 2, but McCourt says the projects have changed this time around.

“The projects were fun and whimsical [in Season 1] but didn’t relate to the viewer on a practical sense,” McCourt says. “This season we’ve done a lot more practical backyards and really dove into low-maintenance ideas for homeowners.” That’s a tall order when your episode clients vary from big and small families to single guys, but they relished the challenge. In Thursday’s second episode, the pair and their renovation team descend on a small bungalow owned by a dude looking to have space in the yard to entertain. The desert-like landscape and stubborn tree stump provided a challenge for McCourt but he triumphed and, with Keenleyside’s keen design flair, the homeowner ended up with a sweet outdoor pub-themed oasis.

“We have some really strong backyards this season,” McCourt says. “We did an outdoor kitchen with an outdoor pizza oven with two structures—one is a lounge and one is a secondary prep space—and in between we actually suspended a pergola. It’s really something special.”

Backyard Builds airs Thursdays at 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on HGTV Canada.

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

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Awards

Still Standing and The Amazing Race Canada among the winners at Night 1 of the Canadian Screen Awards

From a media release:

This evening, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television kicked off 2019 Canadian Screen Week with the Canadian Screen Awards: The CTV Gala Honouring Non-Fiction Programming. Comedian Aisha Alfa (CTV’s THE BEAVERTON) hosted the Gala, which was held at Heritage Court, Exhibition Place in Toronto and streamed on CTV.ca.

The television and film industry’s finest left tonight’s Gala with several accolades, including James Duthie (Best Sports Host, sponsored by MLSE); TSN’s Reborn – Basketball & Reconciliation in Rwanda (Best Sports Program or Series); CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme (Best National Newscast); Dawna Friesen (Best News Anchor, National); Adrienne Arsenault (Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Information Program or Series); HGTV’s Property Brothers (Best Lifestyle Program or Series, sponsored by Corus Entertainment); The JUNO Awards (Best Live Entertainment Special); and TVOKids’ Science Max: Experiments at Large (Best Children’s or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series).

Niobe Thompson and Caroline Underwood won the Rob Stewart Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program or Series for Equus: Story of the Horse, receiving $25,000 in addition to being honoured with the Canadian Screen Award.

Producer and visual researcher Elizabeth Klinck received the Academy Board of Directors’ Tribute.

The CTV Gala Honouring Non-Fiction Programming was supported by event partners Crave, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), and VICE Studios.

2019 Canadian Screen Awards: The CTV Gala Honouring Non-Fiction Programming Winners

Best Host or Interviewer in a News or Information Program or Series
CBC News: The Royal Wedding: Harry & Meghan

Best News Anchor, Local
CTV News Toronto at 6, Michelle Dubé

Best News or Information Segment
CBC News: The National – The Ruins of Raqqa

Best News or Information Program
CBC News: Marketplace – Fake Degrees

Best Local Reporter
CBC Winnipeg News at Six – Minister Tickles, Katie Nicholson

Best Local Newscast
CTV News Toronto at 6

Best Sports Analyst
Raptors Basketball on TSN, Jack Armstrong

Best Sports Host
Free Agent Frenzy, James Duthie

Best Sports Play-by-Play Announcer
2017 Grey Cup, Chris Cuthbert

Best Writing, Factual
Still Standing – Carcross, Jonny Harris, Fraser Young, Graham Chittenden, Steve Dylan

Best Writing, Lifestyle or Reality/Competition
The Great Canadian Baking Show – Bread Week, Elvira Kurt

Best Writing, Documentary
the fifth estate: The Truth Smugglers, Gillian Findlay

Rob Stewart Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program or Series
Equus: Story of the Horse, Niobe Thompson, Caroline Underwood

Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program
Quiet Killing, APTN, Michèle Rouleau

Best Biography or Arts Documentary Program or Series
Jumbo: The Life of an Elephant Superstar

Best Factual Series
The Detectives, CBC

Best History Documentary Program or Series
The Nature of Things: Ice Bridge, CBC

Best Documentary Program
You Are Here, HBO Canada

Best Children’s or Youth Non-Fiction Program or Series
Science Max: Experiments at Large, TVO

Best Variety or Entertainment Special
Gord Downie’s Secret Path in Concert, CBC

Golden Screen Award for TV Reality Show
The Amazing Race Canada, CTV

Best Lifestyle Program or Series
Property Brothers, HGTV

Best News or Information Series
the fifth estate, CBC

Best Host in a Program or Series
Still Standing, CBC, Jonny Harris

Best News Anchor, National
Global National, Global, Dawna Friesen

Best National Newscast
CTV National News With Lisa LaFlamme, CTV News

Visit www.academy.ca to view a full list of winners.

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Industry News

Link: Vera Good, creator of TVO’s Polka Dot Door, was a master educator

From Valerie Hill of the Waterloo Region Record:

Link: Vera Good, creator of TVO’s Polka Dot Door, was a master educator
In the 1970s, Vera was asked to design a preschool series for the newly launched TVO. One of her most successful programs was Polka Dot Door with its beloved character Polkaroo. She was the show’s original producer. Continue reading.

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Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Danielle Bryk renovates her family’s getaway in The Bryk Cottage

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When Danielle Bryk agreed to renovate her family cottage, she had no clue that—partway through the project—cameras would arrive on the scene to capture everything for a television show. She’d been consulting on the renovation of sister Terry and brother-in-law Norman’s dilapidated, outdated Georgian Bay property but Norman had been running the project. Then a television producing job came calling and Norman had to leave.

“He said, ‘Oh god, you need to take over. You need to help Terry out,” Bryk (Home to Win) says over the phone. “I’m the resident renovator in the family, so I couldn’t really refuse.” Then, totally by coincidence, Cottage Life came calling and asked if Bryk had any projects on the go. She mentioned the cottage reno and they jumped on board.

The Bryk Cottage, debuting Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cottage Life, isn’t your typical renovation series. This is a true documentary that, over the course of six episodes, shows Bryk organizing and executing the project under the watchful eye of Terry. Episode 1 introduces the folks involved and expectations; Terry and Norman bought the property years ago and it’s served as a homey getaway for the burgeoning family. Now it’s time for an upgrade. Terry has high-end plans for the home and it’s up to Bryk to keep costs down and the project on schedule.

“My sister is such a great sport,” Bryk says. “She has no filter. We finished filming one bit and she said, ‘Great, I’m probably going to come off as a total b-word!’ I said, ‘Dude, you knew they were rolling!’ She is a great sport and she knows it does make for great TV.” It certainly does.

But aside from the siblings butting heads over materials and budgets, The Bryk Cottage is educational. Constructing a passive building is explored for Terry and Norman. Bryk first heard of the concept about 20 years ago in a book by Sir Terence Conran. The idea of keeping a home heated or cooled passively stuck with her and she jumped at the chance to capture and utilize the sun’s heat to its full advantage through the use of windows and insulation. She recalls filming The Bryk Cottage through the winter and the building being nice and toasty thanks to just a small space heater the drywall guy was using. The Bryk Cottage is educational and entertaining, but it’s also telling a story many can relate to.

“The crux of all this is family and of connection,” Bryk says. “It’s so important these days to carve out spaces and time to do that kind of thing. To me, it’s the only thing that matters.”

The Bryk Cottage airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Cottage Life.

Image courtesy of Blue Ant Media.

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