The past couple of Gemini Awards ceremonies were marked by grave industry concerns over the future of dramatic programming in this country. But this year, the clouds seem to be breaking somewhat. Could it be there is new optimism in the air?

Fresh faces among this year’s nominees show that despite the continued growth of cheap reality and info programming, it is still possible to launch dramatic programs here to critical kudos and, in some cases, blockbuster ratings.

CBC’s rookie legal drama This Is Wonderland is this year’s most-nominated series with 15 nods. The cast for the Toronto-based show is led by rising star Cara Pifko, who is nominated both for Wonderland and for her supporting turn in the CBC refugee miniseries Human Cargo, which leads all programs with 17 noms. Wonderland, currently in production on season two, has often stalled under 500,000 viewers, but reportedly airs in more than 100 countries.

After a couple of years of comedian Sean Cullen hosting the Gemini Awards Gala, broadcaster CBC and the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, which puts on the awards, wanted to shake things up, and so invited independent producers to pitch new concepts for the show. Producers seemed to have comedy on the brain, in an era when a Corner Gas can draw well over one million viewers.

‘All of them really focused on comedy as the vehicle through which to get our message and our information out,’ says Maria Topalovich, president and CEO of the Academy.

Lynn Harvey, a veteran producer of live TV including seven Juno Awards shows, eventually got the gig. She won one Gemini herself in 1992 for The Tommy Hunter Show and has been nominated 10 other times.

To talk to CBC and the Academy, gone are the days when the Geminis were ‘about the industry for the industry.’ Now they want eyeballs. And how will they get them?

‘I’m trying to ensure that almost everybody that you see on the screen is famous,’ Harvey explains. ‘Why do we watch the Academy Awards and the Emmy Awards? We watch them to see the biggest stars. So let’s put our biggest stars up there.’

Going against tradition, there will be no host this year. The show will unfold in a series of comedy sketches laden with celebrities who will later present awards.

‘Rather than focusing on one person, we’re going to feature as many as possible,’ Harvey continues. ‘My goal is to make it seamless, fast and funny.’

Sketch writers will include Gary Pearson and Peter McBain, both of whom have written for This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Celebs slated to participate include Ron MacLean and Don Cherry, the Stan and Ollie of the hockey world, Wonderland’s Pifko and Michael Riley, Canadian Idol host Ben Mulroney and 22 Minutes’ Shaun Majumder.

Harvey adds that highly watched programs will be represented in the night’s entertainment even if they were shut out of award noms, referring specifically to CTV broadcast phenom Canadian Idol.

It just wouldn’t be the Geminis without some other anomalies, and topping this year’s list is the fact that, despite leading all series in overall noms, Wonderland did not make the cut for best dramatic series. A couple of the shows that did, such as Rhombus Media’s Slings & Arrows and Big Motion Pictures’ Snakes & Ladders, could pass as comedies, while nominee Bliss, from Galafilm and Back Alley Films, could pass as softcore porn.

Another promising sign is that The Eleventh Hour, last year’s dramatic series winner, survived low ratings and is back with 12 noms, including a shot at repeating for best series. The TV journo show’s continued life can be attributed to broadcaster CTV’s faith despite the tepid numbers.

CTV apparently bought itself some good karma with that move, as another of its Canuck series, Brent Butt’s small-town comedy Corner Gas, is the biggest homegrown hit of its kind in years. The laugher is up for five noms, including best comedy program or series. Still, that is four less than perennial favorite This Hour Has 22 Minutes, which has helped CBC claim the comedy program or series category every year since the Geminis’ inception. Whether the underdog series from Dog River, SK can unseat the Ceeb is this year’s most intriguing contest.

While the Genie Awards are no longer in the CBC’s domain, the pubcaster will air the Monday, Dec. 13 gala, where the most high-profile prizes are presented.

‘When we sent the Genies over to CHUM, we felt it was about time that others accepted the social responsibility, and CHUM, which has a remarkable track record in feature films, took up that responsibility,’ says Slawko Klymkiw, CBC’s executive director of network programming. ‘The Geminis have more to do with our core business, obviously… so it made sense for us to continue to support it.’

While the awards were presented in October last year, they were moved back to December this year at CBC’s request. There is some speculation that the powers-that-be didn’t want the show to get lost in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Of course, with its new date, it will now be caught in the run-up to the holidays.

‘We agreed with CBC’s decision, in that we’re moving into Christmas specials [in December] and different audiences are drawn to the CBC at that time of year,’ says Topalovich, who recently won a Crystal Award for outstanding achievement from Women in Film and Television – Toronto. ‘It very much speaks to the strength of comedy at this point in time in the development of our industry.’

This year’s Viewer’s Choice Award is for TV personality on a lifestyle, talk or practical information program. It represents a clever initiative to integrate the increasingly popular magazine-style shows – and, by extension, the specialties that carry them – into the proceedings. The public can cast their votes on the Gemini website.

The gala will again take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The Documentary, News & Sports Gala, hosted by Ron MacLean, will take place on the preceding Saturday, followed on Sunday by the Industry Gala for craft awards, hosted by Royal Canadian Air Farce’s Jessica Holmes. The first two nights will be broadcast on local Rogers Television on a date to be announced.

-www.geminiawards.ca

With files from Dustin Dinoff