Sutherland back as Bauer
Kiefer Sutherland is back as Jack Bauer this weekend and, as usual, he's surrounded by Canadians.
Jon Cassar, a native of Malta who grew up in Ottawa and is a graduate of that city's Algonquin College, has directed "24" since it went on the air in 2002. Often, he does so sporting a Toronto Maple Leafs cap.
A veteran who paid his dues in Canadian television, he is now an executive producer on "24," winning an Emmy for directing the series in 2006.
Cassar's allegiances to his homeland remain strong, notes Vancouver native Gil Bellows, who is in the new TV movie "24: Redemption" (airing Sunday at 8 p.m. on Global and Fox).
"Jon's a homer," says Bellows. "If he worked with somebody in Toronto, and he thought they were really good, he would fight for them to get a job on the show."
During the late '90s, Cassar perfected his run-and-gun, one-or-two-takes-tops shooting style on the action series "La Femme Nikita" in Toronto.
That series was produced by "24" co-creator Joel Surnow. Many of the Canadian actors who passed through "Nikita," including Alberta Watson and Carlo Rota, were later brought into the "24" mix.
Another of Cassar's past jobs was directing "Forever Knight." The star of that series, Geraint Wyn Davies, has had some face time on "24."
Cassar is still reaching across the border for Canadian talent. Colm Feore, who Cassar worked with years ago while directing episodes of "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues," plays the White House's "First Gentleman" in the TV movie and in upcoming episodes of the series.
Shooting in South Africa really energized the cast and crew, says Cassar. Gone are the computer-crammed CTU crime labs and other spy gadgets.
"It's all very low tech," he says. "We wanted it to look different. There's almost a period kind of feel to it."
At first, Cassar was against sticking to the strict, real-time format for the TV movie.
"I said to them, 'Guys, we don't really need to do this,"' he said.
The writers, however, came up with a story that worked as a real-time, two hour adventure, complete with "24"-style tension.
The story finds Bauer, devastated and alone when we last saw him on the side of a cliff at the end of the sixth season, searching the world for some answers.
"He was so disillusioned by not only what he had done with his life, but circumstances that he had been confronted with here in the States," Sutherland told reporters last July in Los Angeles .
In Africa, he stumbles across an old Special Forces buddy (played by Robert Carlyle) and throws himself into his pal's project, providing a safe haven for children caught up in war.
"There was something wonderful about beginning in South Africa , that he had actually found a kind of peace and calm there with his friend," said Sutherland.
Shooting during the African winter proved a challenge. There was only eight hours of sunlight a day, and conditions were often windy.
This didn't curtail Cassar and his breakneck shooting pace. While an entire season of "24" unfolds in sequence, with one episode always directly leading to the next, Cassar has worked out a production system allowing the cast and crew to shoot two episodes at once. The "24: Redemption" TV movie was shot and banked in a little over three weeks.
The TV movie could be a dry run for an eventual "24" theatrical release.
Cassar says it is a project he and Sutherland and fellow executive producers Surnow and Howard Shore have discussed in the past.
"Doing the series takes 10, 11 months out of my year," he says, "so there never seemed to be a way to work in a movie until the series was finished.
This year, with the writers strike forcing a full year delay in getting to a seventh season (starting Jan. 11 and 12 in a four hour block on Fox and Global), they finally had a chance.
"Now we're back talking about a feature again," says Cassar.
Sarah McLachlan, Loverboy to be honoured at Junos
Lilith Fair founder and charitable campaigner Sarah McLachlan has been named winner of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award to be presented at the Juno Awards gala in March.
It is the fourth time the award, for an artist whose "humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced the social fabric of Canada" has been given.
The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hosts the Junos, also announced Thursday that '80s rock band Loverboy would be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
The band that created Turn Me Loose and This Could Be the Night was formed in Calgary in 1980 and is now based in Vancouver.
Members include Mike Reno on lead vocals, guitarist Paul Dean, bassist Scott Smith, keyboard player Doug Johnson on keyboards and Matt Frenette on drums. Smith died in 2000 after being knocked off a sailboat.
McLachlan, best known for her hit Angel, has had a 20-year career as a singer-songwriter and is an eight-time Juno Award winner. She also earned Grammy Awards for Building a Mystery, Last Dance and I Will Remember You.
She is widely recognized for founding Lilith Fair, a tour headlined by all female artists that raised money for charities and women's shelters across North America.
Lilith Fair ran for three years and was considered ground-breaking for its role in promoting women in music.
Her Sarah McLachlan Foundation supports music education among young Canadians and has established a Vancouver program to provide music lessons to disadvantaged children.
In 2004, McLachlan and director Sophie Muller created fund-raising video World on Fire, designed to raise awareness about the need for global aid.
She also has been involved with music education charity MusiCounts, global charity Free the Children, and the B.C. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Previous winners of the Allan Waters Award, named for the CHUM Ltd. founder, include Paul Brandt, Bruce Cockburn and Tom Jackson.
The Juno gala is March 28.
Can't wait? MySpace streams long-delayed Guns N' Roses album
Just days before the long-awaited Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy hits stores, the band has released the complete album to social networking site MySpace.
Visitors to the band's MySpace page can listen to the entire album, but will not be able to download the 14 songs. Officially, Chinese Democracy will be released Sunday.
Tracks off the anticipated release, which arrives nearly 15 years after the band's last album, have previously popped up online both in authorized and unauthorized manners.
This summer, a U.S. blogger was charged with violating U.S. copyright laws for posting leaked tracks from Chinese Democracy on his website in June.
In September, the band chose to debut the song Shacklers' Revenge as part of the video game Rock Band 2. Last month, the album's title song made its radio debut.
After rising to fame in the late 1980s and early 1990s, hard-rocking band Guns N' Roses appeared to disintegrate as frontman Axl Rose fought with his bandmates. Rose remains the sole member of the original Guns N' Roses lineup.
More early online releases
Giving curious fans an early taste of new albums by streaming songs online has become an increasingly common way recording artists promote their forthcoming releases.
As part of their latest venture as The Firemen, former Beatle Paul McCartney and musician-producer Youth allowed U.S. public broadcaster NPR to stream their upcoming third album Electric Arguments on Tuesday — a week ahead of its Nov. 25 retail release.
MySpace also began streaming the album on Thursday.
Dr Pepper to deliver on its free-soda promise!!
LOS ANGELES – Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is a reality. The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. "Chinese Democracy," infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.
"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."
Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.
Sources: Daisies, Stone and Dirty Sexy Canceled
Los Angeles (E! Online) – ABC has canceled Pushing Daisies, executive producer Bryan Fuller confirms to me exclusively.
According to reports, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money have also been canceled, but reps for both shows have declined to comment.
Bryan Fuller tells me, "[ABC president] Steve McPherson called me, and said 'We gave it the best shot we could.' "
According to Fuller, the facts are these: "It's very likely that Pushing Daisies will end after episode 13, which as you know, is a cliffhanger. But we are talking to DC Comics about doing comic books that will wrap up our storylines, and I already have a pitch for a movie ready to go.
"To be honest, I'm really not feeling very boo-hoo about it. I am so proud of the show. We put together 22 really good episodes, and there is a lot to be proud of. I'm sure I'll be working with a lot of these people again, and I would love to do so."