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Featured, Masterchef Canada

MasterChef Canada pump(kin)s up the competition

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After a week off because of the Juno Awards, MasterChef Canada was back with the Top 10 cooking on Sunday. Doctor Shawn clearly should cook outside of his comfort zone more often: despite no knowledge of baking or working with pumpkin, he wowed the judges and had the best Elimination Challenge plate of the night.

But the biggest shock wasn’t what Shawn was able to do, but what Michelle wasn’t. One of the strongest home cooks going into this season was eliminated after her pumpkin soup was deemed unsatisfactory by the judges. Her elimination led to plenty of tears by the remaining competitors and a little head-scratching on my part. Yes, I know every judgment is made solely on your latest dish, but Michelle has, overall, been pretty impressive. Alas, she’s gone and we’re left to wonder what could have been. Meanwhile, April Lee and Jennifer got a massive wake-up call and need to improve if they want to continue.

At the other end were Mary (pumpkin gnocchi), Shawn (pumpkin soup) and Terry (pumpkin risotto)—Jeremy and Matthew’s absence from Elimination Challenge judging meant they were safe—whose pumpkin plates won raves from the judges and landed them all captain status in next week’s team challenge. Shawn and Mary have been obviously strong out of the gate, but Terry is quickly closing in on them. He’s also got a great story; you can’t help but cheer for him to win.

And then there’s Veronica. She appeared to be the villain of the season early on—being a confident lawyer will do that—and she seemed cold and detached. Clearly she’s anything but; she and the likable Michelle are best friends and she spent a lot of time sharing personal stories regarding her father. She’s also one hell of a cook; her Japanese Matcha Roll Cake was outstanding and claimed her not only the Mystery Box challenge win but a spot in a Becel margarine ad. After Michelle was eliminated, Veronica pointed out that the other home cooks are merely competitors and she’ll take them down one by one. The remaining Top 8 better watch out.

MasterChef Canada airs Sundays at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.

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Wynonna Earp

Link: Wynonna Earp: Emily Andras talks “Keep the Home Fires Burning”

From Bridget Liszewski of The TV Junkies:

Wynonna Earp: Emily Andras talks “Keep the Home Fires Burning”
“ The truth is pilots are really, really hard. I’m incredibly proud of the Wynonna Earp pilot. I think it establishes the world pretty quickly, and you understand what’s happening with the demon revenants, and you really get a sense of Wynonna, her sister and the players in our world. I really think when you watch 102 you just see the fun, as the characters settle into their roles the performances really pop, and it’s indicative of the tone of our show overall. It’s fun and it’s fast and there’s lots of surprises. I hope people love it as much as they seem to love the pilot.” Continue reading. 

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Wynonna Earp

Link: ‘Wynonna Earp’ star Tim Rozon resurrects Doc Holliday

From A.R. Wilson of Digital Journal:

‘Wynonna Earp’ star Tim Rozon resurrects Doc Holliday
“These last three years have been the years of facial hair,” Tim Rozon laughs. Not only does the Montreal actor rock a full beard on the hit CBC comedy Schitt’s Creek, now airing its second season on Pop TV in the U.S., he grew an epic moustache for his role as legendary gunslinger Doc Holliday on the new supernatural western Wynonna Earp, which airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on Syfy in the U.S. and Mondays at 9 p.m. on CHCH in Canada. Continue reading. 

 

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Featured

Comments and queries for the week of April 8

4 Comments

Jennifer Valentyne exits Breakfast Television Toronto

Such a loss. So much energy and a truly good person. What is the matter with the people at Rogers? —Eleanor

You have made one big mistake. I for one will never again watch City TV. How do people like you sleep at night? —Bernadette

We can all say Jenn is better off, but I am pretty sure she doesn’t feel that way. The truth is that it’s a crappy situation all around. Same thing happened at CHCH and it sucks. I won’t say I am not going to watch BT anymore because there still are great people on, however it’s so annoying when these big corporate companies come in, take over and put people out of jobs. I personally wish you all the best Jenn, and look forward to hearing about your new adventures. Keep smiling even through the hard days. We love you, xoxo. —Andrea

A special call out to Jenn and Gord. Not sure most of you know, but both of them have been huge supporters of The Children’s Breakfast Club, an Ontario charity that supports less fortunate kids in Ontario. The club receives all of its support through private donations, no government ties. Both Jenn and Gord were huge club supporters and showed us for many years to garner support for Rick and the team! You could say it was part of their job, and they did a heck of job doing it! Best of luck Jenn, and luck will have little to do with your success in the future! —Bill

Perfect example of the decision makers not really having their finger on the pulse. I’m sure this decision was made in a corporate boardroom by a suit that has no idea of her viewer loyalty. Often it’s a money decision disguised as a direction change, but a smart decision would’ve been to work her into whatever new direction they were taking and valuing 23 years of solid viewer loyalty. Another station WILL scoop her up and take her 23 years of viewers’ loyalty as well! —EZ

Another nail in the coffin of watching BT. I was a loyal viewer for years, but with more commercials than news content, less host interaction, boring talk segments and now Jennifer leaving. I am watching CP24 each morning. I’ve had it with Rogers TV! —Rita

Well! No reason to watch BT in the morning before going to work anymore. Best part of my day was watching happy-go-lucky Jennifer.
Jenn, you can do better than BT! Take some time off and relax … you deserve it! —Rod

Will Bryan Baeumler ever come to any state in U.S.? Love his show and his work. None better! Thank you. —Barbara

The best way to keep track of Bryan Baeumler’s upcoming events and appearances is by heading to his official website.

 

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

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Awards, Industry News

Toronto Screenwriting Conference announces recipients of the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award

From a media release:

The Toronto Screenwriting Conference (TSC) is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award. The emerging screenwriters were selected from over 30 Canada-wide applicants. Those receiving the honours this year are Marie Dame,  Ana De Lara,  Rebecca Hales,  Kim Izzo and John Ward.

About the winners:

Marie Dame: From Alberta/Ontario, Marie, is an actress, producer and writer. She is the recipient of the Writer’s Trust of Canada grant a BravoFACT writing grant. Her short film, Bar None, which she wrote and produced, premiered at the 2013 Montreal World Film Festival.

Ana De Lara: A Filipina-Canadian filmmaker and stand-up comic based in BC, Ana has written, directed and produced a number of award-winning short films which have been screened at Canadian and international festivals. She has turned her one-woman play into a feature-film script.

Rebecca Hales: Rebecca grew up in BC and recently completed the exclusive Bell Media Prime Time Television program a the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. She is currently working on developing both a dramatic and comedy series.

Kim Izzo: Kim is an Ontario-based journalist, author and screenwriter. She adapted her first novel The Jane Austen Manual into a screenplay which is being produced and her original feature-film project is being developed by Corus/Movie Central’s Script to Screen initiative. She is working on three original television pilot scripts and her third novel is being published in 2017.

John Ward: A Vancouver-based TV and comic-book writer, John is developing a on-hour episodic sci-fi pilot about a team of time-travelling mis-fits.

“The calibre of talent we are exposed to through this initiative every year is truly astounding,” said Kim Robinson, Toronto Screenwriting Conference producer. “It is an extraordinary challenge for us to single out just five individuals when the artistic breadth of these emerging writers is so strong.”

Carolle Brabant, Telefilm’s Executive Director, added: “We would like to congratulate the 2016 winners of the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award. The development and promotion of emerging talent is one of the best means of ensuring the continued viability of our industry. We’re also proud to partner again with the Toronto Screenwriting Conference. Screenwriters have a vital role to play in ensuring that Canadian films connect with their audiences.”

Each winner receives a pass to the TSC and a meeting with representatives from Telefilm Canada. The seventh annual Toronto Screenwriting Conference takes place on April 30 & May 1, 2016 at its new location, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

To qualify for the Telefilm Canada New Voices Award, candidates must have written at least two short films of which one has been produced, and have written one feature length screenplay, TV pilot or series treatment. They must not have previously produced a feature or TV series/pilot, nor received Telefilm Canada funding.

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