Breaking News: Gemini 2010 Noms Announced!

Lots of Reasons for the Moon Chase Blog Network to Celebrate!

This morning, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television announced nominations for the 2010 Gemini Awards, and both of our blogs (Moon Chase and We Got The Solution) have stars that we follow nominated! Though this year, there are less stars from Sailor Moon nominated ( ☽:( ), once again Flashpoint is leading the pack with 15 nominations in 11 categories! Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated and we will keep you updated with the winners come November. The lone nominee from Sailor Moon this year is Catherine Disher (Mimet) for her work on the Canadian drama The Border. There are too many nominated from Flashpoint to name in one sentence, but there is a special case where a Flashpoint star guested in another TV show, and is against two other guest stars from Flashpoint!


So here come the nominees! The productions that they are nominated for are in bold, but if you see a gold star next to their name(★), it means they were also in Flashpoint or Sailor Moon).



Best Dramatic Series

Durham County
(Back Alley Film Productions Ltd. /Muse Entertainment Ent. Inc., Muse Entertainment Enterprise)
Adrienne Mitchell, Laurie Finstad Knizhnik, Janis Lundman, Michael Prupas
Flashpoint★
(Flashpoint Season 2, Pink Sky Inc., Avamar Ent)
Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos
Republic of Doyle
(Republic Season II Inc., Malachy Season 1, Inc.)
Allan Hawco, Rob Blackie, John Vatcher
Stargate Universe
(Stargate Universe I Inc.)
Brad Wright, Carl Binder, Robert Cooper, John Lenic, N. John Smith
The Tudors
(Peace Arch Entertainment, PA Tudors III Inc., TM Productions)
John Weber, Sheila Hockin, Morgan O'Sullivan

Best Achievement in Casting

Deirdre Bowen - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
John Buchan CSA, Jason Knight - The Summit
Stephanie Gorin - Guns
Andrea Kenyon, Wendy O'Brien, Marissa Richmond, Randi Wells - Durham County - "Little Lost Children"
Marissa Richmond - Flashpoint - "Perfect Storm"★

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series

Clé Bennett - The Line - "Episode 203", "Episode 206"
Sergio Di Zio - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move", "The Good Citizen"★
Genadijs Dolganovs - The Bridge - "Painted Ladies", "Chain of Fools"
Sebastian Pigott - Being Erica - "Yes We Can", "The Unkindest Cut"
Mark Taylor - Flashpoint - "Exit Wounds", "One Wrong Move"★

Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series

Enrico Colantoni - Cra$h & Burn - "Lawyers, Guns & Money"★
Christopher Heyerdahl - Sanctuary - "Haunted"
Michael Riley - Flashpoint - "Coming To You Live"★
Hugh Thompson - Flashpoint - "Business As Usual"★
Kristopher Turner - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Family Practice"


Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series

Catherine Disher - The Border - "The Dead", "Dark Ride"★
Eve Harlow - The Guard – "Boom", "Last Night"
Reagan Pasternak - Being Erica - "Shhh...Don't Tell", "Under My Thumb"
Jessica Steen - Flashpoint - "Clean Hands", "The Perfect Family"★
Rachel Wilson - Republic of Doyle - "Return of the Grievous Angel", "Blood is Thicker Than Blood"

Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series

Ona Grauer - Flashpoint - "The Fortress"★
Laurence Leboeuf - Flashpoint - "The Perfect Family"★
Tatiana Maslany - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
Debra Lynne McCabe - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "All Souls"
Anastasia Phillips - Murdoch Mysteries - "Me, Myself, & Murdoch"

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series

David Frazee - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Andy Mikita - Stargate Universe - "Air Part 1"
Adrienne Mitchell - Durham County - "Little Lost Children"
Jeremy Podeswa - The Tudors - "Episode 308"
Stephen Surjik - Flashpoint - "Aisle 13"★

Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series

Amin Bhatia, Ari Posner - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Robert Carli - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Isolation"
Robert Carli - Murdoch Mysteries - "Me, Myself, & Murdoch"
Joel Goldsmith - Stargate Universe - "Light"
James Jandrisch - The Guard - "At Sea"
Trevor Morris - The Tudors - "Episode 304"

Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series

James Jeffrey - Murdoch Mysteries - "The Murdoch Identity"
Glen MacPherson - Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story
Jim Menard - Stargate Universe - "Light"
Stephen Reizes - Flashpoint - "Behind The Blue Line"★
Michael Storey - Republic of Doyle - "The Fall of the Republic"

Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series

Rick Martin - Stargate Universe - "Human"
Lara Mazur, C.C.E. - Flashpoint - "One Wrong Move"★
Vesna Svilanović - Bloodletting And Miraculous Cures - "Unhappy Endings"
Arthur Tarnowski - The Phantom
Jeff Warren - Guns

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series

Philip Bedard, Larry Lalonde - Murdoch Mysteries - "Hangman"
Jeremy Boxen - Cra$h & Burn - "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Mark Haroun - Heartland - "The Haunting of Hanley Barn"
Alex Levine - The Border - "Missing In Action"
Ian Weir - Flashpoint - "The Fortress"★

To check out the rest of the nominees, click here! Congratulations to everyone nominated from Flashpoint and Sailor Moon once again, and best of luck in November!

Enrico Colantoni on Cra$h & Burn

Enrico Colantoni recently appeared in an episode of Showcase's Cra$h & Burn as Danny DeRossi, a man who terrorizes the insurance agency because a settlement for his wife's spinal injury has been repeatedly delayed. Instead of playing the negotiator as he does on Flashpoint, this time Colantoni was on the other side as the desperate man with a story who takes extreme measures.

Here's the promo for the episode:

The full episode can be viewed on the Showcase website. Just select episode 08: Lawyers, Guns, and Money.

Flashpoint Wins at Gemini Awards!

From left to right: Hugh Dillon, Stephanie Morgenstern, Mark Ellis, Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos, Amy Jo Johnson, and Enrico Colantoni.

Tonight was the Broadcast Gala of the Gemini Awards, and this picture you are seeing are a few members of the cast and crew of Flashpoint celebrating their Best Dramatic Series win just hours ago! Other Flashpoint winners of the evening were Kelly Malkin for Best Direction in a Dramatic Series and Enrico Colantoni for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role.Hugh won an award for Best performance by an actor in a featured supporting role in a dramatic program or miniseries for his work in Of Murder and Memory. I will post full transcripts of the speeches during the broadcast and possibly some very crude video early next week. We all blushed a little when we heard Anne Marie La Traverse acknowledge the fans at the beginning of her speech - this is something we rarely ever hear at any awards shows! Before we get to our category listings, we have a few words we'd like to say...Thank you to Mark and Stephanie for creating such a wonderful show.When I first read about it, I knew that this had the potential to be something big, and even though so many fans got tired of our posts on Flashpoint from the pilot stages onwards, we trudged on. Not because it was some program that a voice actor from Sailor Moon took part in, but because it really was a good show that was more than just the quick sightings that we report. This is a unique cop drama and we wish it lots more continued success in the future! And thanks Anne Marie La Traverse - we Badgers and Doves will continue to be there until the very end!

(special thanks to TheMediaChick for finding these pictures!)


Awards

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series:

Chris Grismer
Being Erica
Leo

John Fawcett
The Border
Going Dark

Kelly Makin★
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Steven Adelson
Sanctuary
Instinct

Jeremy Podeswa
The Tudors
Episode 201

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Enrico Colantoni★
Flashpoint
Who's George?


Hugh Dillon
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Daniel Kash
The Line
Episode 102

Ron White
The Line
Episode 102

Robin Dunne
Sanctuary
Requiem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Erin Karpluk★
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Amy Jo Johnson
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Andrea Menard
Rabbit Fall
Hit and Run

Amanda Tapping
Sanctuary
Requiem

Flashpoint Brings Back Memories of Toronto for Italian Viewer

A few days ago, we came across this article in Italian. It was written by a blogger who used to live in Toronto, and is now living in Italy. Simona Giaccobi provided some neat insights on the show and Toronto! We have translate the entire post in English! I had some difficulty with a few things and those are enclosed in **.

You must know that I am a couch potato. At one stage I would say I was a fairly serious one. I didn't miss a television series in the winter. Thankfully, there's the summer break...All I watch are my CSI, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer (be patient), Law and Order SVU (I only like this version), Medium (...) and i can't forget to mention the Simpsons, Family Guy and Ellen DeGeneres talk show which is different from Oprah. Virtually all American shows. Usually those left me a lot to be desired, I remember that in Italy I only watched District of Police...

But here's a TV series that has attracted my attention enough. It is made entirely in Toronto, and it is called Flashpoint and it has a certain effect on me since I have lived there, when they say "send an ambulance / bus to Queen Street" or "there's an explosion at Nathan Philip Square. But it turned out to be quite good. And I discovered that the series was launched with the September programs in Italy , **airing just before Survivor which has been getting bad ratings.**

** this part was a little hard to translate - if any of our readers have a better idea of what this sentence is trying to say, please let us know!**

I have seen the hero of the series, Sergeant Parker, who by the way is played by an actor whose name is a little Italian-Canadian, Enrico Colantoni (born in Toronto in 1963 by Gina and Quintino Colantoni) - in a local Italian restaurant on College Street (Little Italy) sitting at a table with a girl. And then one of the first things they told me when I arrived is that many films are shot here in Toronto because New York is too expensive. Moreover, the Financial District (only one there) of Toronto is very similar to the Big Apple. They also say that once you've seen Toronto, NY City no longer has the same effect (**or New York no longer feels any different**). I take exception because I think there is a chasm (**difference**) between Toronto and NY . Throughout. I love New York.

I searched around a few websites and saw that the first episode of Flashpoint that was broadcast on RAI was a flop in Italy. The first set was sent here last summer from CTV and the United States by CBS and recounts the work of the SRU - Strategic Response Unit, a special body headed by Sergeant Parker. Note that Flashpoint is about a team ready to dismantle terrorist cells or to negotiate with kidnappers to identify their point of collapse.

The show is based on the real work of the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force and has the same style of uniforms, same use of technology, and even the same style of how to resolve more complex cases. Tonight, CTV begins the second seasons. (Editors Note: She wrote second, but it was in fact the 3rd season premiere). You too are couch potatoes like me??

There you have it, Flashpoint impressions from an Italian self-confessed couch potato!

BREAKING NEWS! Flashpoint Nominated for 19 Gemini Awards in Canada!

Nominations for the 24th Annual Gemini Awards in Canada (equivalent of the USA Emmy Awards) were announced this morning in Toronto. Flashpoint is nominated for a record 19 awards in 12 categories! Congratulations to Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern, and all of the writers, actors, and crew who were nominated. The list of awards is posted below by category, with Flashpoint nominees in bold. CTV also announced today that new episodes will begin to air in Canada on September 25th!

Best Dramatic Series:

Being Erica
p. David Fortier, Aaron Martin, Ivan Schneeberg, Jana Sinyor
(Temple Street Productions)

The Border
p. Peter Raymont, David Barlow, Brian Dennis, Janet MacLean
(White Pine Pictures)

Flashpoint
p. Anne Marie La Traverse, Bill Mustos
(Flashpoint Season 1 Inc., PINK SKY ENTERTAINMENT INC., AVAMAR ENTERTAINMENT INC.)

The Tudors
p. Sheila Hockin, Morgan O'Sullivan
(Peace Arch Television Ltd., PA Tudors II Inc., TM Productions)

ZOS: Zone of Separation
p. Paul Gross, Mario Azzopardi, Malcolm MacRury, Andrea Raffaghello, Frank Siracusa
(Whizbang Films, Sulari Productions Inc.)

Best Direction in a Dramatic Series:

Chris Grismer
Being Erica
Leo

John Fawcett
The Border
Going Dark

Kelly Makin
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Steven Adelson
Sanctuary
Instinct

Jeremy Podeswa
The Tudors
Episode 201

Best Writing in a Dramatic Series:


Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Lori Spring
Murdoch Mysteries
I, Murdoch

Floyd Kane
Soul
Fathers and Daughters

Brad Wright
Stargate Atlantis
The Shrine

Michael Hirst
The Tudors
Episode 205

Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Program or Series

Gareth C. Scales
Flashpoint
Element of Surprise

Teresa Hannigan, C.C.E.
Flashpoint
Scorpio

Jonathan Baltrusaitis
In a World Created By a Drunken God

Arthur Tarnowski
The Last Templar

Wendy Hallam Martin
The Tudors
Episode 207

Best Sound in a Dramatic Series:

Russell Walker, Eric Apps, Stefan Fraticelli, Herwig Gayer, Alastair Gray, Rich Harkness, Ian Rodness
The Border
Going Dark

David McCallum, Mike Baskerville, Sue Conley, Steve Hammond, Janice Ierulli, Mark Shnuriwsky, Paul Williamson
Flashpoint
Who's George?

Sid Lieberman, Richard Calistan, Steve Foster, Robert Hegedus, Kevin Howard, Ron Osiowy, Paul Shubat
Heartland
Sweetheart of the Rodeo

Jane Tattersall, Daniel Birch, Yuri Gorbachow, Martin Lee, Kirk Lynds, Andy Malcolm, David McCallum, Dale Sheldrake
The Tudors

Best Original Music Score for a Program or Series:

Jody Colero, Lily Frost, Trevor Yuile
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Mark Korven
The Border
Floral Tribute

James Gelfand
Crusoe
The Return

Ari Posner, Amin Bhatia
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Robert Carli
Murdoch Mysteries
Werewolves

Best Achievement in Main Title Design:

Alain Provost, Aileen McBride, Michel Mercier, Theresa Warburton
2008 Beijing Olympics

Boyne Stergulc
2009 National Aboriginal Achievement Awards

Kim Jackson, Ron Gervais, Mike McDougall
Flashpoint
Flashpoint Main Title Sequence

Kevin Micallef, Brant Forrest, Don Gauthier, Glen Wyand
Grossology
Grossology Main Title Sequence

Shane Kinnear, Kevin Chandoo, Brent Whitmore
Murdoch Mysteries
Murdoch Mysteries Main Title Sequence

Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Enrico Colantoni
Flashpoint
Who's George?

Hugh Dillon
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Daniel Kash
The Line
Episode 102

Ron White
The Line
Episode 102

Robin Dunne
Sanctuary
Requiem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role

Erin Karpluk
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Amy Jo Johnson
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Andrea Menard
Rabbit Fall
Hit and Run

Amanda Tapping
Sanctuary
Requiem

Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series:

Damir Andrei
Being Erica
The Secret of Now

Ron Lea
Flashpoint
Haunting the Barn

Nicholas Campbell
Flashpoint
Who's George?

Mpho Koaho
Flashpoint
Never Kissed A Girl

Henry Czerny
Flashpoint
First In Line

Natalie Dormer
The Tudors
Episode 210

Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series:

Anna Silk
Being Erica
Everything She Wants

Daisy Beaumont
The Border
Floral Tribute

Kristin Booth
Flashpoint
Backwards Day

Tatiana Maslany
Flashpoint
Planets Aligned

Sarah Gadon
Flashpoint
Attention Shoppers

Best Achievement in Casting:

Stephanie Gorin
Being Erica
Dr. Tom

Stephanie Gorin
The Border
Going Dark

Marissa Richmond
Flashpoint
Scorpio

Susan Forrest, Sharon Forrest, Jim Heber
Less Than Kind
The Daters

Marsha Chesley
The Line
Episode 107


Congratulations to everyone on their nominations, and all of us on staff wish you the best of luck! We've been following this show since the pilot stages on Moon Chase and seeing how this show has grown to be a huge success here at home and around the world is truly inspiring! We'll be watching and we will announce the winners as soon as we find out!

Flashbits from August 2009!

Badgers and Doves, here come your Flashpoint tidbits for the month of August! P.S. Badgers and Doves is our new, Mark Ellis-approved, fan nickname. What do you all think?

Flashpoint Premieres in France and South Africa!

Flashpoint continues to conquer the world with two big premieres this month on two different continents. On August 6th, the show premiered in France on Canal+ and the first three episodes were shown that night in French! On August 20th, the show premiered for the first time in South Africa on Hallmark Channel(and was earlier named a pick of the week)! There are a couple interesting news articles coming out of France. One outlines reasons for the show's pickup, and remarks that while American dramas never cease to seduce both broadcasters and viewers, they are quite expensive for foreign countries to broadcast. Many similar kinds of shows have also either ended or been canceled. Many broadcasters choose to look to Canada for similar shows, because they are cheaper to produce. Since the Writer's Strike of 2007, ideas that were coming out of the US weren't as innovative as Flashpoint. The second reason the show was picked up was production quality. Even U.S. networks which were not warm to foreign imports, picked up Flashpoint because the Canadian standards were on par with Hollywood standards, and the format didn't stray too far away from similar US shows. The second article was just a short intro to the series and the first three episodes being broadcast on premiere night. 3 episodes back to back is overkill - two would have been just right! We're still waiting to hear on a premiere in an Asian country!

CBSC Deems Promo Not Violent

We're sure most Canadians have seen a Canadian Broadcast Standards Council commercial on TV at some point in their life. Usually when we see these commercials, it's because the watchdog NGO found something offensive on the network and the network needs to remind it's viewers that they strive to keep what they air within standards. A promotion for the episode Backwards Day disturbed the children of one very angry parent, and was aired during an NFL Football game, to the point where the commercial had to be censored by the parent. The CBSC recently announced its decision on how violent this promo was, and decided that it was not as violent as it seemed, and it was not in breach of broadcast standards. CTV just got a warning that promos for the show should air in a more appropriate timeslot. At least we don't have to see those CBSC spots during Flashpoint!

Flashpoint On Air in the Air?!

Mark Ellis informed his Twitter followers yesterday on the way to their much-needed family vacation in Florida that there are 5 episodes of Flashpoint available on Air Canada (writer Adam Barken later joked that he should watch it wearing full Flashpoint crew gear). Flashpoint Fan gcookie60 also shared that there were 6 episodes available on her flight! So for those of you who want something a little better to watch than their current movie selection, and you are flying on a longer Air Canada flight, why not make it a little more pleasant with the SRU?

Quickie Appearances in a Flash!

☄ Writer Tassie Cameron was listed by the Globe and Mail as one of Canada's Hottest Women Not On TV because she is "the girl who writes like a guy". Also featured are other writers on Flashpoint, Tracey Forbes (Planets Aligned, Attention Shoppers), and Esta Spalding who served as a consultant for the first season and wrote Backwards Day and Never Kissed a Girl. No mention of Stephanie Morgenstern?!

☄ Alchemy TV's co-founder and partner Simon Vaughan is set to be the keynote speaker at Strategic Partners, a very prestigious Canadian international co-production market in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This event will take place on September 19th. Alchemy TV is one of Flashpoint's key production partners, and is also the international distributor of the show.

☄ The_Nange pointed us to her pictures of a feature article with Enrico Colantoni (Page 1, Page 2)! He was interviewed in Autotrader's Newcar Magazine as part of their Stars in Cars section. He talks about his cars (past and current), how he drives, what his dream car is (you might be surprised!) , and who he'd like to have a car ride with. Thanks for sharing this with us, The_Nange!

☄ CBS just announced an official press release with the cover and details of the U.S. release of Season 1 (on standard DVD format), which was also posted on TVShowsonDVD. Confirmed extras include A commentary by director David Frazee on the first episode, Scorpio, and two featurettes: Flashpoint: Behind The Scenes - Season 1 and The Human Cost of Heroism.

Flashpoint Stars at CBS Press Tour Party

Bill Mustos, Enrico Colantoni, Hugh Dillon, Amy Jo Johnson, and David Paetkau all made an appearance earlier this week at CBS's Press Tour Summer 2009 in an effort to prove that the show still had value to the network. This might have been in response to CBS holding away 9 episodes of the show from the upcoming Fall season. The stars were also all interviewed for Entertainment Tonight - so keep your eyes peeled for them on upcoming episodes!

Flashpoint is in a bit of a bind - CTV has ordered 13 episodes, of which 9 have been funded for in part by CBS. CBS has until October 1st to decide if they want any more episodes past those 9 - now this could be extended past then. But as of this writing, no one knows what is going to happen. In any case, these 13 episodes will air on CTV in entirety. We're hoping to have an answer soon - we don't think it's fair that Flashpoint isn't getting an episode order as large as those of other series! For pictures of the event, check out CBS Press Express.

Flashbits from July 2009!

Flashpoint has had a couple bits in the news in recent days!

New Episodes' Delay a Relief For Producers

Hot on the heels of CBS's sudden announcement that new episodes of Flashpoint were not going to air last week, we uncovered a few comments from Producer Bill Mustos on Playback Magazine. And they suggest that this delay is not necessarily a bad thing! Bill says:

"We've been able to slow down post-production, which is a bit of a relief to us because we've been on a very fast schedule"

Which we can understand - the show began shooting this year in January and is scheduled to continue until August. Mustos also said that CTV has ordered 13 episodes for a third season, and depending on CBS's return this may be extended to 18. He also noted that there is a lot of confusion in keeping track of Flashpoint's episodes since Season 2 in North America began with four episodes held back from the first season! This is one of the first acknowledgments we've heard from anyone involved with the show about this confusion! He also confirmed that the show is coming back to CBS as a midseason replacement. CTV has still not confirmed when the remaining Season 2 episodes will be broadcast.

New Interview With Flashpoint Creators:

Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis were featured guests at last month's Banff Worldwide Television Festival, and one lucky, blogging, screenwriter, got to interview them through email, and sit in on their sessions! Alex Epstein, best known for his work on Canadian hits 15/Love, Bon Cop, Bad Cop, and Naked Josh posted a compilation of notes from their Master Class session, and questions which the two answered via e-mail. This is well worth the read for you budding screenwriters, and behind-the-scenes aficionados. There are also a few comments included from Christina Davis, Senior Vice President for Drama Series Development at CBS. There's a lot of detail about their inspiration for turning this into a series from a proposed movie-of-the-week, and bonus detail about a cop they met during the development of the series.

Tassie Cameron Moves on to Motherhood, and Copper

Tassie Cameron was not a star of Flashpoint, but she was the spark that led the writing table from the beginning until just recently. Last month, she flew to Los Angeles with her writing partner Ilana Frank to pitch a new cop show to network execs called Copper. This one's about rookie cops fresh out of the academy making their ways through their careers. ABC picked up 13 episodes, and this happened shortly after the series was greenlit by Canwest Global. As we speak, the show is being shot, as Tassie is expecting her first child! The cast includes Canadian favorites such as Missy Peregrym, and Greg Smith. Eric Johnson of Smallville and Melanie Nicholls King of Law and Order are also joining the cast! Congrats to Tassie - we will miss seeing your words on Flashpoint, but we wish you the best of luck on your new show and a happy, healthy and safe journey into motherhood!

New Enrico Colantoni Interview with German Newspaper!

The German portal dedicated to American Entertainment, Serienjunkies, just posted a phone interview with Enrico Colantoni promoting the series, which is about to make its debut on German TV network RTL2. Für eine deutsche Übersetzung, klicken Sie bitte hier. He talks about the show and it's Canadian identity, how it has opened the door for other Canadian shows on American networks, and his character. One of the coolest parts in the interview is on the second page where he suggests that the show's peaceful nature of negotiation is something that fits into the current US political zeitgeist. We also have to wonder if President Obama watches the show! The interviewer Christian Junklewitz also suggests that he sing a song for the show, but Enrico laughs away from it. And, Enrico talks about another role which is a little too hot for this blog. We still think a musical episode would make for great filler just once!

Hugh Dillon Working Double Duty!

When not working as a sniper and leader on Flashpoint, Hugh Dillon plays a detective on Durham County. There have been a few articles lately talking about Hugh's involvement with both series. He is also due to release his debut solo album later this fall through Warner Music Canada! We wonder if his song from the show, Lost at Sea will be included. The album will be called "Works Well With Others" and he describes it as "a little more Leonard Cohen and a little less Lemmy from Motorhead." Hugh's success on both sides of the border continues to grow in new directions!

Flashpoint Fan Panel at Polaris

Polaris was this past weekend, this year hosted in Richmond Hill, Ontario (just north of Toronto). I attended the con and, since I announced the We Got the Solution blog at the Flashpoint panel, I'm providing a summary for those of you who couldn't make it.

For those that did make it, welcome to our blog! It was great chatting with some of you in person.

Here's the panel description from the program:

Flashpoint, where Toronto is itself

Description: If you haven't caught an episode of it yet, drop by and learn a bit about the characters in the series as well as the inspirations behind this Toronto-made police drama.
Panelists*: Deanna Toxopeus, Robin Marwick
*Unfortunately, programming is missing the name of one of the panelists. If anyone can supply her name, please list it in the comments and I'll add it.

Discussing the Primary Characters and the Show

This included snippets about the primary cast, some secondary characters, and some temporary characters. The fact that Donna (Jessica Steen) was made likable and felt like she could easily become a permanent addition to the cast was noted. As fans, we appreciate that even temporary characters are made to be likable and memorable.

In discussing elements that make the show unique, the focus was on the way that good versus evil is not black and white. We're often given reason to sympathize with or understand the motivations behind the supposed villain(s).

Everyone wanted to see more of Spike (Sergio Di Zio) and Lewis (Mark Taylor), so that we can learn more about their characters. We also discussed how the members of the SRU are normal people, not superheroes. This was made very clear when Greg's mentor, Sergeant Daniel Rangford, appeared in "Haunting the Barn."

The "I got the solution" catchphrase was mentioned as being more open to interpretation than saying outright that they have a kill shot, when the solution could be something else (or they could be using non-lethal ammo). There was speculation about whether or not Toronto's Emergency Task Force actually says something similar.

There was mention of Colantoni's former role as Keith Mars on Veronica Mars (If you're a fan of his character on Flashpoint, I definitely recommend checking out Veronica Mars). One of the panelists mentioned that Colantoni was initially unsure of taking the role of Sergeant Greg Parker when he heard about it, but was convinced by his brother to accept. Colantoni's character is very likable on the show and the panelists remarked that they really liked his gentle approach for negotiating as well as the technique to realistically relate to the subject to help calm them down.

Mentioning Amy Jo Johnson's previous role as the Pink Ranger was inevitable. An audience member said he thought it would be funny if they slipped and called her "Kimberly" in Flashpoint once, instead of Jules. The panelists found it refreshing that the character of Jules set the boundaries for her relationship with Sam, refusing to leave her position on the team.

The panelists also mentioned that Hugh Dillon has been pretty busy recently, working on Durham County and a new music album.

Filming in Toronto

The panelists and audience were in agreement that it's nice to see a show filmed as well as set in Toronto. Comments were made about recognizable locations as well as some edits made to directions in some of the on-the-road shots. Also, the amusement park in "The Perfect Family" was noted in the panel as being Canada's Wonderland.

Some comments were made about movies and series that are filmed in Toronto but supposedly set elsewhere. There were some chuckles about the CN tower appearing in the skyline of some "filmed in Toronto but set in a U.S. city" films.

Quite a few people indicated that they'd be interested in a set tour of some of the filming locations for Flashpoint, and it was suggested that perhaps next year a tour be organized of various film and television sets for shows filmed in Toronto. I'm sure a comparison of the sets for Flashpoint and Murdoch Mysteries would be interesting!

Auction Items

A set of Flashpoint items was a part of the charity auction at Polaris, with the proceeds going to Gilda's Club. The Flashpoint items up for auction included a copy of the pilot script signed by the cast and writers, a Flashpoint promotional poster signed by the four main cast members, and two Strategic Response Unit hats.

I've heard that the auction set went for $200 to the SRU cosplayer who attended the Flashpoint panel, but this is unconfirmed. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the cosplayer, but he had a great costume.

BREAKING NEWS: Flashpoint Set Plays Host to Important Government Announcement, and Other News Tidbits!

Hey Moonies! I have to post a quickie Flashpoint update since something major was announced today.

Canadian Government to Attempt to Fix Canadian Television Fund

Most TV production in Canada receives funding from the Canadian Television Fund , which is supported by contributions from the Canadian Government (through the Department of Canadian Heritage) and many Canadian Cable and Satellite providers. In the last few years, the fund has undergone many changes in how it is supported by its supporters, especially since many supporters pulled out or reduced their funds by a significant amount. This compounded with the rise of "new media" over the internet and mobile devices, has sent the distribution of these funds into a tizzy, leaving many in the TV industry frustrated. The Canadian New Media Fund, which was created for this purpose, also suffered from lack of Governmental support. Today, Heritage Minister James Moore held a press conference from the set of Flashpoint announcing the merger of the two funds to create the Canadian Media Fund which will come to fruition in 2010 (Image Credit: CTV). Applicants will be required to make their content available on two platforms. While we are happy to read that the Government is attempting to reorganize their TV industry funding , we were a little confused about what developers who only work on either conventional programming or new media would have to do to get funding under these new requirements. Brian Anthony of the Director's Guild of Canada also shared his sentiments on the same thoughts exactly. And the Canadian Actor's Union, ACTRA, has a few words to say too, since 5 of the 7 members of this new board are comprised of representatives from the "Big Cable" industries. In recent years, we've noticed there has been a rise of many independent productions in Canada, especially animated ones which are almost web-exclusive. It would be a sad day to see these productions struggle to get funding, as well as having to really fight to get funding from a board more balanced towards bigger companies. While we were happy to read that they chose to make this announcement from the set of one of Canada's biggest TV successes of recent years, we can't help but worry about how exactly this consolidated fund is going to work. Readers who want to check out videos from the press conference (and take a guess exactly where in Toronto the set is!) can go to CTV and watch them on their media player.

☽ And Zap2It has some really cool pictures of the cast of Flashpoint and Numb3rs on an on-set weapons training visit! Enrico Colantoni and Hugh Dillon traveled to Burbank to use a Firearms Training Simulator.

☽ And we have ratings to report: io9 posted an interesting article and poll asking the question "Is there too much to watch on Friday Nights?" I at least had that problem between three shows this week. Flashpoint, Dollhouse, and I also really wanted to catch 20/20 since they were going to feature the farewell performance of Siegfried and Roy. I'm still amazed at how Roy Horn has recovered from his injury, and also amazed at his strength. I ended up watching Flashpoint, and recording the other two shows. Did any of our readers also have this dilemma? In any case, I have lost all faith in Dollhouse. This time I really felt that the banter read right out of a script from Buffy, and that Sierra's part in the episode was just there for a token appearance. Most TV critics are predicting it won't last past these 13 episodes, and I am siding with them. I don't think it's a threat to Flashpoint anymore. Flashpoint had one of the most suspenseful and gripping episodes in its run last week, and I thought the lines of the nanny were brilliantly written and the child stars were superb (we bet they thought it was cool to see all the behind the scenes action and effects)! The other really cool thing about this episode is that the viewers who have been following this show now have a really good idea where each character comes from and they can almost feel their thoughts in their head when they don't have anything to say. You could feel Sam Braddock's heartbreak when Donna walked in, and you could feel Greg Parker remembering what it was like to be there for his son when he gave Daniel a reassuring hug after his captor had been shot. Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis in one of their beginning promotional interviews said that this wasn't your typical cop show - and every week they live up to it! Anyway, enough gushing about the episode, we were so happy to read this week Flashpoint creamed Dollhouse in the United States! Flashpoint scored 9.8 million viewers and a 2.0/6.0 score with the 18-49 demographic, whereas Dollhouse scored only 3.50 million viewers and a 1.5/5.0 with the same demographic. 20/20 had the same score in the demographic but only had 8.40 million viewers. Flashpoint definitely won the timeslot and CBS won the night! Next week's episode features Sam Braddock in a hostage situation - we can't wait!

Flashpoint News Roundup!

Who caught tonight's episode? What a twist and a sad ending :(. I quite enjoyed the banter between the SRU in the workout room in the beginning! Leave us your thoughts below!

Flashpoint Nominated for More Awards

Unfortunately, the show didn't win the award it was nominated for at the CFTPA Indie Awards (Season 2 of Intelligence won). Sarah Gadon, who played Tasha in the episode Attention Shoppers, was nominated for an ACTRA Toronto award, but unfortunately didn't win either (we really loved her performance in it too :(). On a side note, Robert Tinkler (Rubeus, Pupuran) was also nominated for his voice work on Cyberchase (and also didn't win). Flashpoint however it has other award noms on the horizon! Two episodes have been nominated for the Writers Guild of Canada's Screenwriters Awards! And they are: Tracey Forbes for Attention Shoppers and Adam Barken for Who's George?. The show is against episodes from ReGenesis and Murdoch Mysteries. The Awards will be held on Monday, April 20th - we wish Flashpoint the best of luck!

IGN Posts Interview with Enrico Colantoni

We're just going to link you to this one with a warning that Enrico Colantoni uses some nasty words in this interview that are censored. We recommend all our readers who are old enough to read this check it out - he gives out a lot of hints about the new season and also what it's like behind the scenes. He talks about how he feels a certain kinship to the show since his brother was a cop. At the end of the interview he makes special note about how the show is "allowed to be in Toronto" and how relieved the crew is to not have to hide certain things that are "Canadian", and how the show has been able to adapt and become a city that could be anywhere in the world. We especially like how there has been such a variety in the different cultures of the characters on the show.

And Finally, Last Week's Canadian Ratings...

We are so elated to read on BBM that Flashpoint has risen! The show went up from having 910K viewers the week before to having 1.339 viewers last week - rising from the 24th most watched program to the 12th most watched program in Canada! We can all breathe again and hopefully the show will rise even more! Keep watching the show, Canadian fans!

Flashpoint Reminder!

Hey Moonies! Just a reminder that Flashpoint is returning to both CTV and CBS this Friday, January 9th - please watch it and continue to give Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and her husband Mark Ellis your support! These episodes are really amazing, and we encourage all our readers to catch them on TV - we will be! The first of the four "lost episodes" from Season 1 begins this week, and the new episodes begin on February 6th. All we know is that there is a new female member named Donna who will present quite the challenge to the SRU. CBS has posted a new promotional interview with show star Enrico Colantoni (Sgt. Greg Parker) and this interview is playable (unlike some clips on CBS's site) in Canada! We have also uncovered an older interview of Enrico along with co-star David Paetkau (Sgt. Sam Braddock). And as always, our summaries will return shortly after the show airs!

In other fantastic Flashpoint news, the show has finally been nominated for it's first of what we hope will be many awards! The Canadian Film and Television Association announced its nominations for the 2009 CFTPA Indie Awards, and Flashpoint is nominated for Best Prime Time Drama Series and faces competition from ReGenesis, Intelligence, and The Border. We wish the best of luck for Flashpoint and we really hope that it wins! Other productions which VAs have made appearances were nominated - The Border featured two VAs, Intelligence has featured Sabrina Grdevich in the past, Little Mosque on the Prairie which has featured not one, not two, but three VAs in its run, and Mayerthorpe which starred Wendy Lyon (Queen Serenity) in a supporting role.

Flashpoint Continues To Dominate!

Flashpoint's ratings for it's encore showing on Sunday pulled some good numbers! On CBS the show scored 2.6 out of 5, or for those of us who understand other numbers, 4 million viewers, which was 1 million more than a rerun of Desperate Housewives on ABC. In Canada, the show has been gaining lots of viewers in the 18-49 age group, and holding on to its numbers in the 25-54s. Both age groups are returning numbers in the 400,000s. Flashpoint's success in the United States has helped pave the way for other TV shows from Canada to cross the border. ABC is now collaborating with CBC on a pilot for a Montreal sitcom called 18 to Life. This one is about two 18-year-old neighbours who marry on a dare only to face criticism from their parents (YIKES!). Fox has also acquired the rights to produce a U.S. version of CBC's homegrown-now-international hit, Little Mosque on the Prairie. We're a little disappointed because a few VAs have appeared on the show with really good performances, and they probably won't be seen by any of their American fans. Maria Vacratsis' (Queen Metallia) performance as Mother Hamoudi was one to see!

In more random Flashpoint trivia news, Enrico Colantoni (Sgt. Gregory Parker, the negotiator) loves being back home in Toronto. He still has a lot of family there, and was recently quoted "I've always got somewhere to go on Sunday. There's always a warm place with pasta to eat at my uncle's house." Aww, isn't that nice to have somewhere to enjoy pasta with family and friends after a long week on the job! For all of you Pink Ranger fans, Amy Jo Johnson's song Dancing In-Between will be on this week's episode Asking For Flowers. We're really excited for this episode as the SRU has to face the tough choice of what to do with one of their own: an abusive cop's sister-in-law can't bear to see his battered wife in pain any longer. She takes matters into her own hands - with his gun. There is a short clip of the song on Amy's website, and CTV has also put up a page with all the music used in the series here. There's a mistake though, Episode 4 is not called Attention Shopper.

Breaking News: Flashpoint Numbers For Sunday Are In!

Hot on the heels of yesterday's breaking news about Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) and Mark Ellis' Flashpoint sailing to the top of the ratings for Friday night, we have learned the ratings for the Sunday encore. In the United States, 5.6 million viewers watched it, and in Canada, there were 625,000 viewers. For those of you keeping a running total, this brings the weekend's total to 13.7 million viewers for the United States and 1.7 million viewers for Canada. These are absolutely phenomenal numbers for the show's debut and we wish the cast and crew the best of luck for coming episodes! We hear this Sunday focuses on Ed Lane, the team's negotiator. Lane is played by Enrico Colantoni, which some of our readers may recognize from Veronica Mars. He played Keith Mars. This is also Enrico's second venture with a Sailor Moon VA - in 2001's AI: Artificial Intelligence, he played The Murderer. The film also featured Sabrina Grdevich (Sailor Pluto #1, Ann) as the cyborg in the film's beginning scene.

BREAKING NEWS: Stephanie Morgenstern Completes New Pilot!

For all our readers, we've dug up some very exciting Breaking News this weekend. A while ago on Moon Chase, we told you that Stephanie Morgenstern (Sailor Venus #1) was going to play the wife of the main character in Ice Planet - which we haven't heard too much news about lately, other than it has started to shoot (some preliminary animation is currently underway), a channel in Germany has picked it up, and some CG work has started. This will not be her only TV production, we have learned. Stephanie and her husband Mark Ellis got a green light from CTV earlier this year to film a pilot for Critical Incident. Critical Incident is an action drama that goes behind the scenes of Toronto's SWAT team (or rather Emergency Task Force). The pilot just completed filming in Toronto's Commerce Court business district July 25th, and will be handed to executives this Fall in the hopes that it will be picked up for the 2008 Fall Season. From what we have read, Stephanie will not be appearing in this series but will be writing for it with her husband. The cast of the pilot includes some major TV stars such as Enrico Colantoni of Veronica Mars, and Ona Grauer of the Canadian hit Intelligence. Congratulations and we wish Stephanie and the rest of her crew the best of luck with this show!