Schitt’s Creek earns more award noms in the New Year

CBC comedy Schitt’s Creek has picked up two new nominations at the beginning of 2020. The series, which had its final season premiere on Jan. 7 on CBC and Pop TV in the U.S., was nominated for the Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy in the Producers Guild Awards. Canadian nominees for the award include co-creators Eugene Levy and Dan Levy, Andrew Barnsley, Fred Levy, Rupinder Gill and Colin Brunton. They will compete against producers of Barry, Fleabag, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Veep. The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Hollywood Palladium on Jan. 18.

Additionally, Schitt’s Creek picked up its second consecutive GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series. The series is among 10 nominees, including last year’s winner Vida, Apple TV+ series Dickinson and One Day at a Time. Back in December Schitt’s Creek earned its second best comedy nomination from the Critics Choice Awards.

Band Ladies start their set in Toronto

Band Ladies, a 6 x 12-minute webseries created by actors Kate Fenton, Molly Flood and Dana Puddicombe, is now in production in Toronto until Jan. 24. Flood serves as the director on the series, with episodes penned by Fenton and Puddicombe, who also star. Band Ladies is produced by Breann Smordin and follows a group of women who decide to form a punk rock band out of their book club. Also starring in the series are Lisa Michelle Cornelius, Kirsten Rasmussen and Vicki Kim. Melissa D’Agostino and Matthew Campagna of series distributor Highball.TV serve as executive producers. It is expected to premiere on the platform in spring 2020. Band Ladies is partially funded through the Bell Fund and IPF.

Property Brothers strike Casaza deal with HGTV

The Property Brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott have expanded their work with HGTV. The Discovery-owned channel has invested in Casaza, their online shopping platform, with plans to provide promotional consideration and new collections from designers that appeal to HGTV viewers. The Scotts launched Cazasa in October 2018 to provide curated collections for fans of their franchise. HGTV recently extended its multi-year partnership with Scott Brothers Entertainment, including renewals for Property Brothers: Forever Home and Brother vs. Brother. Katie Ruttan-Daigle, an executive producer and showrunner on several Property Brothers series, was recently named as VP, programming at HGTV.

Image (L-R): Kate Fenton, Dana Puddicombe and Molly Flood