Paramount+ and CBC announce start of production for the second season of Skymed

March 2, 2023 Greg David 1 Comment

From a media release:

Paramount+, CBC and Piazza Entertainment today announced that production has begun on the sophomore season of the high-stakes medical drama series SKYMED. Filming in Ontario and Manitoba, Canada, the young medics and pilots flying air ambulances return for more life, death and drama in the skies of remote Northern Canada.

The original series will be available in Canada on CBC TV and CBC Gem, and streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and internationally in the UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, and Germany.

Produced by Piazza Entertainment in association with CBC and CBS Studios, SKYMED’S second season promises new hookups, break ups and heartbreaks as the medevac service expands into new territory, throwing the flight crew into intense new emergencies at work and in their personal lives.

The series is created by Julie Puckrin and inspired by her sister and brother-in-law who met flying air ambulances. Returning to SKYMED is Natasha Calis as ‘Nurse Hayley Roberts,’ Aason (Ace) Nadjiwon as Golden boy pilot ‘Captain Austen Bodie,’ Morgan Holmstrom as no-nonsense ‘Nurse Crystal Highway,’ Praneet Akilla as ‘First Officer Chopper,’ Thomas Elms as icy-cool pilot ‘Captain Nowak,’ Mercedes Morris as ‘First Officer Lexi Martine,’ and Kheon Clarke as ‘Nurse Tristan Green’. Braeden Clarke reprises his recurring role as Crystal’s charming on-again-off-again love interest, ‘Jeremy Wood,’ and Aaron Ashmore returns as ‘Wheezer,’ the wise-cracking big brother that everyone looks up to.

Cast joining the second season includes Sydney Kuhne (“Ginny & Georgia”) as fiery new flight medic ‘Stef,’ Ryan Ali (“The Hummingbird Project”) as handsome young pilot ‘Reese,’ and Nadine Whiteman-Roden (“Faith Heist”) as Dr. Yana Noah.

SKYMED is produced by Piazza Entertainment in association with CBC, Canada’s national public broadcaster, and CBS Studios. The series is created by Julie Puckrin, who also serves as Executive Producer along with Gillian Hormel and Vanessa Piazza. Outside of Canada, SKYMED will be distributed internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Sullivan's Crossing

New CTV original drama Sullivan’s Crossing premieres March 19

March 1, 2023 Greg David 1 Comment

From a media release:

The longest road travelled is from the head to the heart. CTV announced today that all-new original drama series SULLIVAN’S CROSSING joins the network’s midseason schedule Sundays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app beginning March 19. From the team behind the hit series VIRGIN RIVER, and adapted by executive producer and showrunner Roma Roth from the New York Times bestselling novels by beloved author and Virgin River scribe Robyn Carr, SULLIVAN’S CROSSING stars Morgan Kohan (TRANSPLANT), alongside Chad Michael Murray (ONE TREE HILL), and Scott Patterson (GILMORE GIRLS).

Filmed in Nova Scotia, the 10-episode one-hour drama follows the journey of neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan (Kohan), whose perfectly planned life is turned upside down after finding herself in unexpected legal troubles. Needing time to reflect, she temporarily leaves her life in Boston taking refuge in her childhood home of Sullivan’s Crossing, a campground in picturesque Nova Scotia that is run by her estranged father, Sully Sullivan (Patterson). There, Maggie must deal with her complicated present while she also navigates her painful past. Further complicating matters is the irritating mysterious newcomer, Cal Jones (Murray), whose presence in Sullivan’s Crossing ultimately will lead Maggie to question her carefully laid plans.

Rounding out the SULLIVAN’S CROSSING cast are actor, singer, and a Companion of the Order of Canada, Tom Jackson (CARDINAL) as Frank Cranebear; actor, singer, songwriter, Andrea Menard (THE VELVET DEVIL) as Edna Cranebear; Lindura (GHOSTS) as Sydney Shandon; Amalia Williamson (NORTHERN RESCUE) as Lola Gunderson; Reid Price (THE SINNER) as Rob Shandon; Allan Hawco (JACK RYAN) as Andrew Mathews; Lynda Boyd (VIRGIN RIVER) as Phoebe Lancaster; Peter Outerbridge (DESIGNATED SURVIVOR) as Walter Lancaster; and Lauren Hammersley (VIRGIN RIVER) as Connie Boyle.

On the series premiere, “Coming Home” (Sunday, March 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app), when neurosurgeon Maggie Sullivan’s (Kohan) seemingly perfect life in Boston is turned upside down, she leaves the city and her boyfriend Andrew (Hawco) to return to her childhood home of Sullivan’s Crossing, a picturesque Nova Scotia campground owned by her estranged father, Sully Sullivan (Patterson), whom she hasn’t seen in years. While there, Maggie attempts to reunite with her father as well as her old friends as she butts heads with Cal Jones (Murray), the irritating, yet handsome mysterious stranger who has been helping her father around the campground. But coming home isn’t easy and it brings up memories and feelings Maggie is not ready to face.

Exclusive videos are available throughout the season on @CTV’s social channels and on CTV.ca and the CTV app, providing viewers with an extension of the series with bonus digital content.

Adapted by Showrunner Roma Roth from the New York Times bestselling novels by author Robyn Carr, SULLIVAN’S CROSSING is executive produced by Reel World Management in association with CTV and Fremantle and is an interprovincial co-production with Nova Scotia-based producer Mike Volpe and Ontario based producer Mark Gingras with the participation of Canadian Media Fund, Bell Fund, Cogeco Fund, Screen Nova Scotia, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit. SULLIVAN’S CROSSING is distributed internationally by Fremantle.

Showrunner, Roma Roth executive produces alongside Christopher. E. Perry with Mike Volpe and Mark Gingras producing.

Plan B

Links: Plan B, Season 1

February 27, 2023 Greg David

From Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette:

Link: Take 2 for Plan B: CBC time-travel series keeps original’s Montreal flavour
There’s a new drama series premièring next week on CBC, and in a most unusual twist for the English-Canadian national TV networks, the show is clearly set right here in Montreal. Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Previewing CBC’s Plan B
It’s a heady, often uncomfortable watch in the way marriage dramas often are. That said, Adams and Vanasse are always welcome on our TVs and they go deep on the material here. Continue reading.

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: Patrick J. Adams stars in CBC’s new drama ‘Plan B,’ a fitting followup to his ‘Suits’ stint
There are a couple of different types of time travel going on in new TV drama “Plan B”: the make-believe type that happens in a van that drives backwards, and the kind that stars Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse had to do in their heads on set. Continue reading.

From Ron Johnson of Streets of Toronto:

Link: Patrick J. Adams dishes on new anti-romance TV show
“I was really drawn to this concept of a perfectionist writ large — a guy who needs everything to just be just right — and on an almost obsessive scale.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse talk CBC’s Plan B
“I was a little worried at first because my instinct was, ‘Well, are we just remaking what you made in English?’ Because in my experience, that can often kind of be folly. It doesn’t always work.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse talk navigating relationships in Plan B
“There’d be a much simpler way to deal with this rather than going back in time. But I guess Phil’s not interested in simple. There’s so much presumption in that and you just end up going so far in a direction rather than just stopping and listening and connecting to your partner, which Philip just cannot do until it’s too late in this circumstance.” Continue reading.

Featured, Plan B

Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse explore the pitfalls of relationship choices and do-overs in Plan B

February 25, 2023 Greg David

Who, honestly, hasn’t wondered what it would be like to hop in a time machine for a life do-over? I certainly have. If only I could go back to high school and take things more seriously, tell that certain someone how I felt, or reverse a decision I made. But, would doing any of those things change how my life ultimately ended up?

That’s the premise of Plan B, debuting Monday on CBC.

Adapted from the original Quebecois French-language series Plan B that premiered on Ici Radio-Canada Télé n 2017, the English version stars Patrick J. Adams (Suits) and Karine Vanasse (Cardinal) as Philip Grimmer and Evelyn Landry, a couple whose lives are literally in disarray. Whether it’s the clutter of the home renovation going on around them, to the erosion of their relationship, things are not good for the pair.

So, when Philip—after an evening out drinking and commiserating about his lot in life with his brother-in-law and business partner Patrick (François Arnaud, X Company)—enters a bar bathroom and sees a flyer for a company named Plan B promising to allow you to go back in time and right wrongs, he jumps at the chance. Make no mistake though, Plan B is not a sci-fi drama.

“I’m not fascinated with time travel,” says co-creator and co-writer Jean-François Asselin. “I’m fascinated with human beings. What was interesting to me was, when co-creator Jacques Drolet and I started writing [the French version], we were questioning the choices we made in life. When I watch a TV show or movie, I’m involved as a human being and question what I would do in my personal life. I want people, when they watch Plan B, to reflect on their own lives.”

In Monday’s debut, Philip is trying desperately to keep his relationship with Evelyn intact. After annoying her during their daily commute to the office they work in—he’s a lawyer and she’s suffering in silence as a paralegal/secretary—and stuck in Montreal’s gridlock, Evelyn hops out of the car, opting to take public transit. Things only go down from there. As a viewer, those scenes of conflict are hard to watch. But they’re incredibly real.

“This is a couple that struggles,” Asselin says. “The challenge was, how are we going to root for them and follow them through six episodes?”

That all comes down to the performances by Adams and Vanasse.

“We can all connect to that fear of losing something when you thought that everything was going well,” Vanasse says. “Viewers really want Philip to find that solution so that he doesn’t fuck up this time, and that everything is going to be OK.”

But, in trying to make everything OK between him and Evelyn, or he and the team renovating his home, or the relationship he has with his brother, Andy (Josh Close), things just get worse. The result? Going further back in time.

“He clearly loves this woman,” Adams says. “He clearly wants this to work and has this idea of what the ‘right thing’ is and he wants everyone to be happy and goes to extreme lengths to ensure that’s the case. He’s just also deeply flawed because he doesn’t ask a question or take a minute to listen in the moment.

“Philip is such a doer,” Adams continues. “I can relate to that. What do I need to do? How do I fix this? How can I make this better? I’ve lived long enough to know that half the time when I do that in my own relationship the answer is, ‘How about you just listen to what I’m saying or how I’m feeling?'”

Plan B airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Images courtesy of CBC.

The Porter

Link: Acclaimed CBC/BET drama ‘The Porter’ will not receive a second season

February 25, 2023 Greg David

From Noel Ransome of the Canadian Press:

Link: Acclaimed CBC/BET drama ‘The Porter’ will not receive a second season
The creative team behind the CBC and BET Plus series “The Porter” says there’s not going to be a Season 2 of the acclaimed historical drama. Executive producer Jennifer Kawaja commented on the state of “The Porter” shortly after the series scored a leading 19 nominations for the Canadian Screen Awards on Wednesday. Continue reading.