Personally, I'm unfamiliar with The Ron James Show, because it airs only in Canada. Living in the culturally secluded Alabama, I have no way to watch Canadian television. However, after looking at the most recent press release for CBC's The Ron James Show, I have to say I wish I could watch the show. Why? Because it has a mash-up so absurd that it's hilarious: Nazis and Glee. Need I say more?

Canadians, check out The Ron James Show when it airs on Friday at 8pm (8:30 NT) on CBC-TV. In the meantime, take a look at this press release for the upcoming episode:

In this week’s episode of The Ron James Show, comedian Ron James is joined by a chorus of special guests to help offer his unique take on history, tolerance and harmonizing: Glee clubs in Nazi Germany? Meanwhile, the Mayor is feeling disoriented, L’il Ronnie takes a camping trip and Larry Garibaldi fantasizes about getting his revenge on all those corporate fat cats. All that plus Ron’s ode to the rocky jewel from the great big sea: St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Guest Cast: Colin Mochrie (Whose Line Is It Anyways), Patrick McKenna (The Red Green Show), Art Hindle (ENG) and Kathryn Greenwood (Whose Line Is It Anyways).

Nazi Glee Clubs on the Ron James Show

It seems that Canadian television seems to be pushing the boundaries for programming. CBC is planning on putting out a documentary about Queen Elizabeth later this month, and strangely enough, it's going to be in 3D. Queen Elizabeth in 3D is slated to air on Monday, September 20, at 7 p.m. (7:30 p.m. NT). To help viewers prepare for the special broadcast, CBC is giving out two million pairs of 3D glasses.

"Two million pairs of free 3D glasses to watch CBC Television’s Queen Elizabeth in 3D documentary special are now available at more than 3,100 Canada Post outlets across the country. The CBC 3D glasses, which will enhance the experience of watching the historic milestone broadcast, are available on a first-come, first-served basis," the CBC said in a press release.

Of course, as with any major change, the CBC is doing its best to see that viewers are getting prepared for the rather dramatic change. "Viewers can watch the broadcast without glasses or in 3D if they use 3D glasses that have amber and blue lenses. Old-style red and blue 3D glasses and clear polarized 3D glasses will not work with this production," the press release went on to say. "Special equipment is not needed to watch Queen Elizabeth in 3D, although the experience will be enhanced by watching the documentary on an HD television set up for widescreen or 16:9 presentations. The picture on standard-definition television sets will be letterboxed, meaning a horizontal bar will appear on top and below the picture.

"Queen Elizabeth in 3D is the first 3D television program to be Canadian-shot, produced and transmitted nationally on this scale. The documentary includes 3D footage of the Queen’s most recent trip to Canada, including her reviewing the Canadian naval fleet in Halifax, and attending Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa and the Queen’s Plate in Toronto, as well as archival colour 3D footage from 1953 and new material shot at Buckingham Palace."

You can learn more about the documentary at the CBC's website.

Two Million Glasses Given Away for CBC's 'Queen Elizabeth in 3D'

The Gemini Awards, Canada's equivalent to the Emmys, were broadcast last night and the hit drama "Flashpoint", with its record-setting 19 nominations, walked away with three major wins: Best Dramatic Series, Best Direction and Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for Enrico Colantoni.   In the non-broadcast ceremonies, it scored another three awards for Best Achievement in Main Title Design, Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series (Henry Czerny) and Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series (Tatiana Maslany).

East Coast funny man Ron James, who has his new "The Ron James Show" airing on CBC in the old "Air Farce" slot, hosted the award show from Calgary, AB and kept the audience well entertained.  Among the presenters was Calgary native Cory Monteith, who is enjoying his role as Finn on the hit musical comedy Glee.

First year drama "Being Erica" scooped a Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for Erin Karpluk. 

Epic historical drama "The Tudors" did not score on any of its major category nominations but did receive 4 Geminis during the non-broadcast ceremonies that were held in October, including Best Photography in a Dramatic Series, Best Picture Editing in a Dramatic Series, Best Production Design and Best Sound.

The comedy award nominations were surprising with "Corner Gas", which ended its six year run this year,  not even being nominated despite back to back wins in 2005, 2006 and 2007.   Winner "The Rick Mercer Report" took home the Best Comedy Series and the cancelled "Three Chords from Truth" the Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy. 

 Best Comedy Writing went to "Billable Hours" while Best Dramatic Writing went to the now defunct "Stargate: Atlantis."

The ground-breaking, mostly green screen, sci-fi drama Sanctuary won for Best Visual Effects but did not take home any awards for its three acting nominations.

In the reality corner, Dragon's Den won for Best Reality Program or Series.  In an odd turn, Dragon's Den is holding onto its popularity and ratings while the American Version "Shark Tank" is struggling.

The full list of Gemini nominees and winners can be found here.

"Flashpoint", "The Tudors" multiple winners at 2009 Gemini Awards

This weekend marked the return of Sanctuary when the second season premiere aired.   I took a leap of faith and sat down to watch "End of Nights - Pt. 1" although I had not seen any of Season One.  I knew it was out there.  Fortunately, I was still able to grasp it.

Sanctuary - What it it?

Run by Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping of Stargate SG-1 fame) and her daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup), Sanctuary is an institution which tries to provide a safe place for Abnormals - nature's mistakes, creatures of legend which are still hiding in modern.   The women are joined by Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne of Dawson’s Creek), a former FBI profiler whose shocking introduction into this surprising shadow world led him to join Magnus's team, and by Henry Foss (Ryan Robbins) the team's tech expert.    Together, with a couple of other Abnormals, like Bigfoot and  John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl, Stargate: Atlantis) they have collected along the way, they search the globe trying to rescue Abnormals in distress and find ways to help them thrive in the normal world.

Working against Sanctuary is the Cabal - a sinister organization whose goal is exterminate all Abnormals on the planet, by whatever means necessary.

At the end of season one, Ashley Magnus has been kidnapped by the Cabal and the team is desperate to find her.

Review:  End of Nights, pt 1

Magnus and Christopher search for leads on Ashley but are unsuccessful.  Meanwhile, Ashley has undergone DNA mutation in a Cabal lab, turning her into some kind of vampiric Abnormal.  The Cabal's reprogramming means she now works for them, and they send her on a mission to retrieve a file from English Intelligence about a genetics experiment Magnus work on several decades ago.  Several children had their DNA "scrubbed", removing all impurities and abnomalities.  And the Cabal wants them.

Sanctuary doesn't know why the Cabal is after these now-grown experimentees but they are determined to save them.  Unfortunately four of the six are missing.  John manages to save one, but are too late for the last.  Magnus and Will arrive at the home of the last experimentee too late.  A Cabal sub-contractor escapes and hands off her kidnap victim.  The Cabal doesn't like loose ends and later tries to kill the subcontractor.  With nowhere else to go, she arrives at Sanctuary looking for... sanctuary.  In exchange for protection, she reluctantly gives them the address of a Cabal drop-point. 

The team goes to investigate and are shocked to find missing Ashley there.  They are more shocked when she tries to kill them using her new Abnormal skills.  They barely escape but arrive home with the realization of what their enemy is up to.  The Cabal wants to convert the "blank slate" experimentees to the Abnormals of their choice.  Just as they did to Ashley.

***

This was a little weird to watch.  As I said, I was coming in cold.  But I was able to follow it and quickly caught on.  The scenes in the Cabal lab went on for a bit but the converging plot lines of the search for Ashley and the investigation into the old child-DNA experiments were really well done.  They also wisely limited the characters so I could keep track my first time out. 

This was good enough to bring me back next Friday night.  And in a happy twist of fate, Sanctuary airs just before Stargate: Universe on SPACE, so I don't even have to worry about the remote control.

Have you found "Sanctuary"?

CTV's "Flashpoint" returned for its third season with a bang. Technically, with a small bang, a disarmament, and then a very big bang and they did it all really, really well.

Unabashedly set in Toronto, "Flashpoint" is the story of the SRU - Strategic Response Unit, the high-risk team that get called in for the high-octane situations.  Led by Sgt. Greg Parker and his second in command Ed Lane,   these men and women respond to the threats that make the news.

Season three starts with a phone call to the SRU.  It is a recorded message stating that a bomb is on a construction site of a known non-green corporation.  They manage to get the site evacuated and begin their investigation into which eco-terrorist group is responsible.  (For international viewers, eco-terrorism in Canada hit a new high with the Encana pipeline bombings over the last year.)  Their initial investigation leads them to activists responsible for a bombing almost 30 years earlier, but the husband-and-wife team left that life after the birth of their daughter.  They do, however, give the name of a former associate.

A second bomb is called in at the offices of a known environmental polluter.  While demo-man Spike Scarlatti works to disarm the device, a third bomb threat is called in from university campus. 

With the team now split three ways - disarming the second bomb, finding the third bomb, and tracking the bomber - things get tense.  The bomber is found but kills himself before telling the team how to undo his handiwork.  Lewis Young steps up at the third bomb site to try to disarm the device. 

Spike successfully deactivates the office bomb at the same time the rest of the team identifies the bomber's accomplice - the original suspects grown daughter.  However, the third site has an added complication which is discovered when Young steps on a landmine.  Although he manages to disarm the big bomb, Young realizes that there is no way to safely get out of the situation; the best he can do is minimize the number of people hurt.  When Spike leaves him to look for materials to neutralize the landmine, Young makes the final, unavoidable decision.

Kudos to Taylor for his performance of a man making the ultimate sacrifice for his team and his uniform.   I was concerned that Hugh Dillon would have a lesser role after doing double duty - the second season of the noir-drama Durham County just aired - but he was fine.  In addition to the acting, which is always phenomenal, Flashpoint's amazing results have been recognized by receiving a record 19 Gemini Awards (the Geminis will be announced on November 14th) including Best Dramatic Series and Best Writing in a Dramatic Series among its technical nominations, and three Best Performance in a Leading Role nods.

I don't know why this quality show is not at the top of my list.  I have never been disappointed by an episode.  "Flashpoint" airs on Fridays at 9pm on CTV.

Review: Flashpoint 3.01 One Wrong Move