Canada Post has unveiled a special stamp to honour acclaimed Canadian jazz singer Eleanor Collins, the first female jazz artist in Canada to host a national television series. The Edmonton-born artist began performing in concert venues and on radio in the 1940s, featured on CBC Radio with the gospel group Swing Low Quartet and, later, with Ray Norris in the jazz series Serenade in Rhythm. In the early 1950s, Collins appeared with other musicians like Chris Gage, Phil Nimmons, Lance Harrison, Doug Parker, Fraser MacPherson, Don Thompson and Dave Robbins, earning her the informal title of Canada’s first lady of jazz. In 1955, she hosted her first television series, The Eleanor Show, later hosting follow-up series Eleanor, in 1964. Collins appeared on numerous other TV and radio shows through the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, and made her last concert appearance in Vancouver when she was in her mid-90s. Now at 102 years old, she has received several lifetime achievement awards and in 2014 became a Member of the Order of Canada.
BANFF World Media Festival’s Rockie Awards close to entries on Feb. 4. In addition to awards categories for Scripted, Kids, and Unscripted/Doc projects, you can now enter Podcasts, Music Videos or Video Games to be screened by 150+ international industry buyers & potential partners. New Rockie Awards categories include: Podcast: Non-Fiction; Podcast: Fiction; Music Videos (videos produced in association with a music label to accompany the promotion of a commercially-released song); and Video Games (accepted under Interactive with first public exhibition on one or more digital platforms: digital extensions of established broadcast or cinematic programs, including web content, games, mobile applications or bonus content).
Boat Rocker has confirmed its scripted drama series, American Rust, has not been renewed by Showtime for a second season. Boat Rocker CEO John Young says the prodco is “actively searching for a new home for it. This is a premium piece of content, based on an acclaimed novel, that was hitting its stride with viewers. We are working to find a way to continue to tell this story.” Boat Rocker says the company’s overall slate continues to gain traction with the recent renewal of Invasion for Apple TV+, the pick-up of a feature documentary by HBO Sports about the Bishop Sycamore football scandal, and pre-production on new sci-fi series Beacon 23, starring Lena Headey. Young anticipates announcing new greenlights later in Q1 across scripted, unscripted, and Kids & Family.
Crave Original docucomedy Pillow Talk, a fly-on-the-wall look at the daily dilemmas faced by couples, families, and friends in the confines of their home, debuts Feb. 10. Produced in association with KOTV Productions, all 10 episodes will drop simultaneously on Crave. An adaptation of Noovo’s popular French-language series Entre Deux Draps, Pillow Talk takes place entirely in bedrooms, featuring four real-life couples and one set of roommates, playing fictionalized versions of themselves. The cast includes Nicola Correia-Damude (Shadowhunters) and Carlos Gonzalez-Vio (The Expanse, Orphan Black) as a married couple enduring their precocious child; Adam DiMarco (The Order) and Sydney Scotia (Limited Edition) as a young couple who recently moved in together; Andrew Wheeler (Supernatural) and Sharon Crandall (The Kid Detective) as a newly dating couple with an age gap; and couple Paolo Santalucia (Kim’s Convenience) and Gregory Prest (Angels in America) as a couple navigating career challenges. Additional cast members Chris Robinson (Workin’ Moms) and Kwasi Thomas (Snowpiercer) portray new roommates.
MADE-in-Canada docu-series, Underground Railroad: The Secret History and Last of the Giants, debut on Discovery in February. Underground Railroad: The Secret History (Feb. 8) is narrated by actor-director Clark Johnson (The Wire, Your Honor, Percy). The four-part mini-series uses archaeology, cutting edge technology, and generations of insight to unlock some of the biggest mysteries surrounding the secret network that helped enslaved people escape to freedom. The eight-episode Last of the Giants (Feb. 14) follows acclaimed adventurer Cyril Chauquet (Chasing Monsters) and his crew on an action-packed mission from the Rocky Mountains of Northern B.C. to the Amazon jungle on a mission to save the last of the planet’s legendary goliath fish.
Uprooted: The Plantemic launches Friday, Jan. 28 on CBC Gem. The five-episode animated series is the brainchild of filmmaker Betty Xie that follows the daily challenges and triumphs of five houseplants confined with their human at home during the pandemic lockdown. The original series boasts an all-star cast who lend their voices to bring each of the plant characters to life, including Andrea Bang (Kim’s Convenience), Rosalina Lee (Netflix’s Seoul Searching), Franco Nguyen (TallBoyz), and Eric Bauza (The Ren and Stimpy Show, Bugs Bunny).
BNN Bloomberg has launched Taking Stock with Amanda Lang, a new weekly series spotlighting the most significant stories affecting the world of business and the economy. Airing Fridays at 6 p.m. ET on BNN Bloomberg, followed by encore broadcasts at 9 p.m. ET Fridays on CP24 and Saturdays on CTV News Channel at 2:30 p.m. ET, the 30-minute program provides a roundup of the trending stories from around the world of business, while breaking down key takeaways of the most important stories that week.
TSN’s coverage of the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts kicks off Friday, Jan. 28 and culminates with the final Sunday, Feb. 6. Eighteen teams compete for the Scotties title and the opportunity to represent Canada in the upcoming World Women’s Curling Championship, March 19-27. Play-by-play announcer Vic Rauter delivers the call from Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, ON, alongside analysts Cheryl Bernard, Cathy Gauthier, and Russ Howard. Hour-long special Curling Day in Canada airs Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. ET on TSN, immediately following the first page playoff at the Scotties. The complete curling broadcast schedule is available here, with French-language coverage available on RDS.
Ukraine24 has been approved by the CRTC for distribution in Canada. Canadian sponsor VMedia describes Ukraine24 as a third-language news and information service that covers Ukrainian news through impartial large-scale interviews and analytics, supplemented by global news, music and sport highlights. It broadcasts 100% of its programming in Ukrainian.
