Canwest Broadcasting: New shows for specialty networks, 2008-09
(Days, times and descriptions where available)
BBC CANADA
George Gently is about a old fashioned cop who has gained respect but few friends. His old rival has murdered his wife, an infamous gangster named Webster, who Gently sent to jail but has since been released.
FOOD NETWORK:
Chef Abroad (13 half-hour eps, Friday’s at 9 pm and Saturdays at 7 pm this fall) follows chef and host Michael Smith around the world and to explore the fast-paced hidden world of chefs, cooks and cuisine.
Jamie’s Kitchen Australia (10 hour-long eps, Thursdays at 10 pm and Sundays at 7 pm this fall) features Jamie Oliver and his good mate, Tobie Puttock, as they open the first Fifteen restaurant in Australia to train a group of 16- to 24-year-old disadvantaged Australians to work as chefs in the kitchen of the new Fifteen Melbourne.
The F Word (nine hour-long eps, Tuesdays at 9 pm and Saturdays at 11 pm this fall) is legendary chef Gordon Ramsay’s new show, combining mischievous stunts and recipe-based challenges set in the fast paced world of
a bustling downtown eatery. Each episode finds a new team of cooks serving a three-course dinner with Ramsay’s rep on the line.
Other new shows include The Wild Chef with Martin Picard and Everyday Exotic with Roger Mooking.
HGTV:
Pure Design (13 half-hour eps, starting Sept. 30, Tuesdays at 8:30 pm) is hosted by Samantha Pynn, design editor for Style At Home, who transforms everyday rooms into sustainable living spaces.
Home to Flip (13 half-hour eps, starting Oct. 2, Thursdays at 10 pm) features HGTV personality Peter Fallico buying fixer-upper houses and flipping them. The show will teach viewers how to renovate on a budget, design on a dime and style for less to resell for a larger profit.
Other new HGTV series include: Income Property, Petal Pushers, Mansions, The Decorating Adventures of Ambrose Price and The Really Big Flip.
HISTORY TELEVISION:
Outlaw Bikers (five hour-long eps, Fridays at 9 pm this fall) delves into the structure, rituals, and criminal activities of each biker club. Undercover federal agents try to infiltrate some of the most infamous and dangerous bike gangs in the world.
Ax Men (13 hour-long eps, Tuesdays at 9 pm this fall) follows four logging crews through a harrowing season in the remote forests of northwest Oregon.
Blowdown (TBA, this fall) is a four-part series that follows a family of demolition experts as they travel the world blowing down structures built to withstand time, gravity and natural disasters. The series profiles the implosions of four cooling towers on an active nuclear site, the Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas strip, the Bal Harbor Hotel in Miami, and a mobile service tower used to launch Titan Missiles at Cape Canaveral.
Battlefield Mysteries (four hour-long eps, this fall) is shot on location in France, Britain, North Africa and Spain and investigates the real and often unknown stories behind history’s most significant battles. The show is hosted by historian Norm Christie (In Korea).
Other new History Television series include: Battle 360, Shockwave, and MASH.
IFC:
The Rawside Of … (eight hour-long eps this fall) is an uncensored and raw glimpse into the hearts, minds and lives of music stars and their conflicts. Featured bands will include The Cliks, Die Mannequin, Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene, Born Ruffians, Metric and more.
Vice Guide to Film (six half-hour eps this fall) is hosted by writer, filmmaker and co-founder of Vice magazine Shane Smith. It explores the unexplored film culture around the world. Smith meets with filmmakers such as Werner Herzog and Gaspar Noe and visits national cinemas in North Korea, Nollywood, Lollywood and the Narcocinema of Mexico.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL:
Long Way Down (10 hour-long eps in the fall) features actor Ewan McGregor and his best mate, Charley Boorman, journeying from the top of Scotland to the bottom tip of Africa on motorcycles.
Other new National Geographic Channel series include: Big, Bigger, Biggest and Engineering Connections.
SHOWCASE:
The Starter Wife (10 hour-long eps, Wednesdays at 10 pm, starting in October) is about Molly Kagan (Debra Messing), whose Hollywood Film mogul husband leaves her for a younger woman and has to acclimatize to life as a ‘starter wife,’ a step down in the Hollywood pecking order.
The Foundation (four half-hour eps, Winter 2009) follows the inner workings of a dysfunctional but well-funded non-profit charity and its less than scrupulous executive director.
Other new programming (aside from returning series) includes a one-hour Trailer Park Boys Special in the fall.
SLICE:
Beautiful People (13 half-hour eps, Mondays at 9 pm and midnight and Saturdays at 5 pm and 8 pm) is about Beautifulpeople.net, a site that lets its members judge new applicants based on physical appearance; those accepted then build an online community for dating and networking. European playboys Robert Hintze and Greg Hodge are set to invade Canada.
Real Housewives of New York (nine hour-long eps, Wednesdays at 10 pm and 1 am this fall) is a spin-off of The Real Housewives of Orange County. It follows an elite and powerful set of New York socialites as they balance motherhood, demanding careers and a fast-paced social calendar, showing what life is like in the most exclusive areas of the Big Apple.
TVTROPOLIS:
Planet Soap (13 half-hour eps, Mondays at 9 pm, Tuesdays at 6 pm and Sundays at 7 pm this fall) is an original series celebrating the world of soap operas. Each half-hour ep also feature soap star favourites, best and worst moments, and catfights.
Reality Obsessed (13 half-hour eps, Mondays at 9:30 pm, Wednesdays at 6 pm and 8 pm, Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 9 pm this fall) follows the adventures of Murtz Jaffer – Canada’s most dedicated and obsessed fan of reality TV. Jaffer takes his fandom to the extreme, tracking down celebrities, producers, studio executives and fellow reality-obsessed viewers to dig up the behind-the-scenes gossip and secrets.
