Mike's Bloggity Blog

If a Canadian show premieres on network television in the States and no one watches, how bad is it?  Actually, the show’s not bad, but the ratings definitely were.

The CTV/Much co-production of The L.A Complex made it’s debut on The CW last night to record ratings, unfortunately, it got the record that no one wants.   With only 650,000 viewers, the Toronto/LA shot show now has the dubious distinction of being the lowest-rated in-season broadcast drama debut…on record.  That’s fancy talk for: No show has debuted on the network television to lower ratings since they started tracking records.  That is bad, bad sign.

The ratings disaster is quite a surprise, given the fact the American media were actually very positive about the show and it was given the slot of the very similar 90210, so I would have thought the audiences would have stuck around to see the show, that “looks” anything but Canadian. The TV Addict was quick to suggest that the “ratings aren’t a reflection on the show’s quality, but rather the CW’s lack of willingness to spend money on marketing.”

This is the second Canadian show that has been picked up by The CW only to not find viewers down south.  CBC’s 18-to-Life lasted only two episodes on The CW before it was canceled due to low ratings.

Fans of ratings will remember that the show didn’t garner great ratings here in Canada, but when the CW announced that they would air the first season, Muchmusic announced an additional thirteen episodes for the series.  Now that the CW is likely to dump the show pretty quickly, the decision to add more episodes to the first season, might be an expensive one.

Raise your hand if you thought the name of this blog post was Canadian TV Timbits.  It’s okay if you did, I mean you’re likely a Canadian after all.

Did you watch the premiere of The Real Housewives of Vancouver last Wednesday?  Well, if you didn’t because you were hoping to avoid the ladies, it is likely going to become very difficult to do so, especially if the show’s premiere ratings hold throughout the rest of the season.  RHOV premiered to a HUGE number of fans, actually breaking network ratings for SLICE. More than 1.2 million people tuned into to see what happens when bad plastic surgery happens to bad people, a number that would be staggering on networks like CTV or Global, making it essentially mind-blowing to see ratings that high on a cable network.

A second season hasn’t been announced yet, but with numbers like that, it is all but guaranteed.

With the 10 episode first season of Undercover Boss Canada wrapping up last Thursday to fantastic ratings for the W network (the definition of relative), the network has gone ahead and ordered 30 more episodes of the docu-series.  Nope, that’s not a typo.  Thirty more episodes of the show will be developed over the next year, that features Canadian CEOs working down in the trenches with their so called “normal employees.”  This past season, companies like FedEx, Cineplex Odeon, The Toronto Zoo and the TTC.  If you can think of 30 more Canadian businesses, you’re a better person than me.   Still this is fantastic news for Canadian production companies and their employees, who will get to work on many more episodes in the coming year or two.

More good news for MUCH’s The L.A Complex, which is about to make it’s American debut on The CW.  The nation’s music station has ordered an additional 13 episodes of its original series which stars Cassie Steele, and was developed by the creative team at Degrassi.  The first season contained only six episodes, so a double order is definitely a vote of confidence.  I’m anxious to see how the series does on The CW when it premieres on April 24th.  The last Canadian series to debut on the network, 18 to Life, lasted only two episodes.  Although, the ads for The LA Complex are considerably sexier.

It’s been an amazing winter season for Canadian television and it just seems to be getting better.

Global, by way of Shaw, has announced the series Bomb Girls has been picked up for a second season. The six episode first season is wrapping up tomorrow, but the show’s cast and crew will be happy to know that they’ll be coming back, which isn’t really a surprise given the ratings.

The series premiere drew 1.6 million viewers on Global, making it the #1 new Canadian original drama premiere for the Fall 2011/2012 lineup. Bomb Girls has seen continued success with more than 1.2 million viewers tuning in on average during the five-week period since its launch, becoming the #1 new Canadian program average this season.

I actually haven’t seen much beyond the first episode, are you stoked?

The second season of Bomb Girls will start production, but an air date has not been announced yet.

Wow, did this show ever sneak up on me, I don’t know how I’m just finding about it now, but yes, Undercover Boss Canada is happening and it starts next week!
Actually, upon reflection, I guess they couldn’t really announce the show, because that would essentially ruin the surprise premise of the series, so I guess it sorta makes sense.

The show will launch on the W Network on February 2nd at 9pm.

The companies participating in the series include Goodlife Fitness, Skyline International Development, The Toronto Zoo, Pizza Pizza, 1- 800 -GOT-JUNK?, Cineplex Entertainment, Molson Coors Canada, Second Cup and FedEx Express Canada.

I think the one I’m most excited to see is Karen Stintz, who is a Toronto city councillor and Toronto Transit Commission.  The TTC always gets a ton of bad press for its employees, so it will be interesting to see how the transit system is portrayed for television.

If you’re surprised that the show was able to land such big companies for its first season, don’t be.  The series is a public relations dream for any of these companies, because the entire episode is loitered with the company’s logo, it showcases its best employees and in the end, the secret boss looks like an angel.

But don’t think about that.  The show is still immesley enjoyable and it will be great if the series does as well as it does in the States, where it originated.

One question:  If the employees don’t know they are on Undercover Boss, what do they think they are being filmed for?

Good news for those in work in the Alberta film industry!

AMC has officially renewed Hell on Wheels, which is filmed on the outskirts of Calgary, for a second season.

The show wrapped up it’s first season this past weekend with about 3.8 millions viewers, making it AMC’s second highest rated series behind The Walking Dead.  Yup, Hell on Wheels really does rake in the ratings, especially when compared to award favourite Mad Men. The ratings for the series were high from the start, thanks to being on after The Walking Dead, but for the second half of its season, Hell on Wheels was on its own, and for the show to only dip to the three million range is really impressive!

Truth be told, I was a little nervous about Hell on Wheels because there was hardly any buzz for the show, and we’ve all seen networks, with shows that have okay ratings, get canned because people simply weren’t talking about it.

Hell on Wheels tells the story of a Confederate soldier who works on the railroad while taking revenge on the Union Soldiers who raped and killed his wife. It stars Anson Mount, Common and Colm Meaney. Besides the film industry being excited, I know that a lot of Calgarians will be pumped to have the cast back in our city filming the show. Last year was fun because you just never knew when you were going to see Common or Mount strollin’ the aisles of the farmers market!

Fans of the show can likely expect new episodes later this year.

With only two weeks left of 2011, the Canadian television industry must be really looking forward to this year being over.

In the past 12 months, they’ve seen the cancellation of so many Canadian productions and now they can add one more to the list.  TV writer Bill Brioux has confirmed that Global’s Combat Hospital has officially been canceled.  Although it pulled in great numbers in Canada, especially for a summer series, it never picked up any steam on ABC in the States and when the American network opted not to pick the series up for a second season, production was shut down for good.

It’s too bad that Global has decided to not continue with the series, because the number were definitley good enough to remain a Canadian only production.  After all, CTV decided to keep producing The Listener after NBC aired it for only one season.

This year, the graveyard that is the Canadian Television industry already includes So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Dan For Mayor and Hiccups.  Murdoch Mysteries was also canceled by CityTV but CBC has since announced that it will now air the series.

Up next for Global is The Firm, which premieres in January.  With a huge push of support from NBC, this show should have more success than Combat Hospital.

GUYS!  It’s Friday.  So excited.  Here’s 2 things that are realllllllly putting me in a good mood right now!

Kiefer is back!

Okay, it’s not a a 24 movie, but CTV is bringing Kiefer Sutherland back to our screens, only this time it will be our computer screens.   The Confession starts the son of Donald as well as John Hurt and when it premieres on Monday, December 5th it will premiere on multiple digital platforms including online, mobile and tablets.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but is this the first time Canada has done something like this?  At least with someone cool, I mean.

The web-series will tell the story of a hit man played by Sutherland, and a priest played by John Hurt. The story begins on Christmas Eve, when the hit man enters a church to confess his sins to the priest. Through a series of flashbacks, the confessor’s journey is revealed – laying out what has brought him to this moment and leading the audience to the dramatic ending where the man’s chances at redemption hang in the balance.   Sounds a little heavier than I’m used to, but with so many shows on repeats this month, it might worth checking out.

The show will premiere exclusively in Canada at theconfession.ctv.ca on Monday, Dec. 5 with the first three episodes, followed by two new episodes rolling out on subsequent Mondays.

Spike is coming!
It was announced today that James Marsters, who played Spike on both Buffy The Vampire Slayer AND Angel will be coming to Calgary next April for Comic Entertainment Expo, our equivalent of Comic-Con.  As the world’s biggest Buffy fan, I was over the moon excited when I saw that Marsters was coming. Actually, funny story, I think the announcement came faster than the Comic Expo people wanted, because I still haven’t received a press release about him coming to Calgary, instead Marsters announced it on his Facebook page.  Woohoo! I’m not sure at what lengths I’ll have to go to speak to him, but you know that it is happening. IT. IS. HAPPENING.  #thesecret.

Also announced to come to the Expo from April 27-29th, Amanda Tapping (Stargate: SG-1, Sanctuary) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica, 24)!

Just like any good mystery, the foretold death of Murdoch Mysteries has seen a twist, and it’s a gooder!

CBC has just announced that it will save the show that was canceled by Citytv after five relatively successful seasons.

If you’ve never caught the show, Murdoch Mysteries explores the intriguing turn-of-the-century world of William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), a detective who pioneers radical forensic techniques for the time in his quest to solve the city’s crimes. Basically it’s like CSI without electricity. The series is shot in and around Toronto and Southern Ontario as well as additional locations across Canada including Dawson City and Ottawa,  and it’s also featured a lot of cool cameos and guest stars including Victor Garber, Peter Keleghan, Sebastian Pigott and of course, Stephen Harper.

I tried to think about other show’s that were saved by other Canadian networks, and none really came to mind.  I know that CTV brought back Degrassi, which initially aired on CBC.  But that’s really about it.  It would be nice if CTV, Global or Citytv took the steps necessary to save Being Erica, which is presumed to be currently airing its final season.

While I’ve never watched Murdoch Mysteries, it’s great to see that the Canadian production has been saved, because since it was developed in 2003, its created more than 5000 jobs for actors, writers, directors, producers, crew, extras and technical and production services.

With only a few hours left until the taping of the first episode kicks off, Canada’s Got Talent finally announced the names of its judges and host…and you know what?  I love it!

Joining previously announced judge Martin Short, will be Opera sensation (and fellow Fredericton native) Measha Brueggergosman and renowned songwriter Stephan Moccio will all be weighing in and finding the eventual winner of the show’s inaugral first season.

Canada’s Got Talent also announced that BT Toronto’s Dina Pugliese will host the show. Some will remember her as the host of the VJ search reality show that aired a few years ago when Tim Deegan won and became a Muchmusic VJ.

With the announcements now complete, I think I’m getting really excited for the show. What’s really great is that, like NBC’s The Voice, the judges are all still relevant and very succesful. They won’t be looking to get their share of the spotlight, because they already have it. That means the judges will instead spend their time looking for legitimately great talent, all that adds up to a really fanstastic show.

Now if only I could think of a talent.

Easily one of the most exciting announcements to come out of Canadian TV this year is that we’ll soon have an FX to call are very own.  FX Canada will launch on October 31st and with just a few weeks to go, we’re starting to get a better idea of what the channel will look like.

Of the shows I’m most excited about, American Horror Story already me tingling with goosebumps.  Even though it premiered in the States last week, I’m refusing to cheat and I will patiently wait for the show to premiere on October 31st, like a good Canadian entertainment writer.

Other shows that fans of FX can look forward to include Wilfred. It’s half-hour, live-action comedy about Ryan (Elijah Wood, The Lord of the Rings), a young man struggling unsuccessfully to make his way in the world until he forms a unique friendship with Wilfred (Jason Gann, The Wedge), his neighbour’s canine pet.

I’ve also heard a lot of good things about The League, which is another half-hour comedy about male friendship, marriage, parenting, suburbia and growing up – or refusing to grow up – through a circle of friends in a fantasy football league.

Older seasons of Sons of Anarchy, It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia and Louie will also be available.  Perhaps most interesting about the network’s line-up is the inclusion of Terriers, which is about a retired cop turned low-rent private investigator. It’s curious because the show has already been canceled south of the border.

The network is also promising a solid line-up of Canadian series, even though none have been announced yet.

So what show are you most excited about? If you can’t wait, Citytv will broadcast a special sneak preview of American Horror Story on Monday, Oct. 24 at 9pm ET/PT, along with c Wilfred at 10pm ET/PT and The League at 10:30pm ET/PT.