THIS WEEK’S TOP TV TIPS
SATURDAY
Harry’s Arctic Heroes
If you have access to this high definition specialty channel, you may want to join Prince Harry as he, and four soldiers severely wounded in Afghanistan, take a trek to the North Pole to raise money for Walking with the Wounded – a charity raising money for service men and women injured on the front line. With no backup vehicles, the team had to pull sleds with all of the equipment and supplies required for the expedition. One of the Prince’s comrades had lost a leg in Afghanistan; one’s back was so damaged he was told he wouldn’t walk again; one had lost an arm and the fourth had a arm that was paralyzed.
Discovery World
Independent Spirit Awards
Acknowledging the wealth of talent available in Hollywood north, the awards recognizing innovation and diversity in film include among the nominees host
Seth Rogen (nominated for 50/50), Christopher Plum
mer for Beginners, Ryan Gosling for Drive and Giller Prize-nominated author
Patrick Dewitt for Terri. Presenters include Meryl Streep, Zoe Saldana, Pene
lope Ann Miller ( The Artist) and Michael Shannon, nominated for Take Shelter. The ceremony – surprise – takes place on the beach in Santa Monica.
E! Being Human U.K. The season four premiere finds ghost Annie ( Lenora Crichlow) and werewolf George ( Russell Tovey), with their new friends Tom ( Michael Socha) and Hal ( Damian Maloney), back on Barry Island, recovering from Mitchell’s ( Aidan Turner) tragic death. Lurking in the background is a malevolent ghost and vampires waiting to take over the world. Plus there’s a newborn baby to
complicate things.
Space
SUNDAY
The 84th Annual Academy Awards
Billy Crystal is back for the ninth time as host of the Oscars, replacing comedian
Eddie Murphy, the scheduled host who bailed last November. Only Bob Hope has hosted more of the Academy Awards shows, and Crystal credits part of his decision to return to the warm welcome he received during his guest stint last year. Top nominated film is
Martin Scorsese’s adventure flick Hugo, followed by the black-and-white, silent movie The Artist.
ABC, CTV
Mighty Planes
Building on the success of the earlier series Mighty
Ships, the specialty channel takes to the skies with a two-hour premiere of a new series featuring the world’s most impressive aircraft – including a flying hospital, super-jumbo passenger aircraft and the world’s biggest seaplane. The premiere takes viewers inside a regular DC10 that has been re-designed to house an ophthalmic hospital complete with operating room, laser treatment centre and a high-tech classroom, with 54 video screens demonstrating surgeries to student doctors.
Discovery Channel
MONDAY
Battle Castle Fairy tales notwithstanding, castles were fortresses built for war, and this new series sheds light on medieval castles and the epic battles they endured. Host Dan Snow explores the military engineering behind the medieval mega-structures, delving deep into the world of warfare and strategy, 12th century style.
History Television
TUESDAY
Undercover Princesses This new reality series follows three real-life foreign princesses looking for love in London – and working as hotel maids, waitresses and bartenders under the guise of taking part in a reality TV series about foreigners dating U.K. residents. While meeting men and going out having fun was par for the course, working for a living was clearly a shock to their pampered systems.
TLC
WEDNESDAY
King
Rossif Sutherland joins the cast of this popular cop drama in which the head of the Major Crimes Task Force, Jessica King ( Amy Price-Francis) reigns supreme over the boys in blue, packaging her obsessive approach to police work in pencil slim skirts and stiletto heels. But her commitment to the job is in sharp contrast to her plans for starting a family with third husband Danny ( Gabriel Hogan).
Showcase
THURSDAY
Family Cook Off Each episode of this new series features two Canadian families going head-to- head in an outdoor cooking extravaganza, preparing entrées and desserts with only 20 minutes to prep, cook and deliver a complete dish. Each team consists of four family members in any combination – siblings, parents, cousins, grandparents – and all teams are given a mandatory ingredient. Celebrity chefs Anthony Sedlak and Trish Magwood are the judges.
Food Network
FRIDAY
Way Off Broadway In this interesting exercise, choreographer-director
Sarina Condello took a group of 21 ordinary Canadians and put them through their paces for eight weeks in preparation for staging
The Wizard of Oz in front of an audience of 1,100. It’s the latest in a string of six amateur musical theatre productions that Condello has staged in the past four years, beginning with a cabaret show of songs from Broadway musicals. She has worked as a choreographer on such TV series as Battle of the Blades, Popstars
and Big Voice.
Bravo