Misplaced Pages

#720279

57-554: The series was created by Matt MacLeod, Philip Keatley and Julia Keatley, and produced by Keatley MacLeod Productions and Alliance Atlantis in association with CTV Television Network, with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund (Canada Media Fund). Cold Squad is the first prime time national series produced out of Vancouver . With seven seasons and 98 episodes it became the longest-running prime time drama series on Canadian television. The cast of Cold Squad

114-739: A "web publication", as the defunct magazine's website would be expanded. Although it was not the first publication to abandon its print edition in favor of a digital version, TV Guide was one of the first major magazines in Canada to make the conversion. By July 2014, the American edition of TV Guide (which in the time since the demise of the TV Guide Canada publication, has phased out localized television listings) began to be distributed in Canada once again. On December 1, 2006, TV Guide launched its new website at tvguide.ca, hosted by Sympatico/MSN . By 2008,

171-563: A European co-financing and distribution deal with German studio TV-Loonland AG . The distribution deal was valued at $ 14 million. In 2001, the company purchased Salter Street Films , which produced a number of television shows for both the Canadian and international market. However, soon after the acquisition, Salter Street was disbanded and its active projects were transferred to Alliance Atlantis' own television production/development division. Citing lower profits, Alliance Atlantis later closed

228-593: A Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series" (2001). It won four Leo Awards, including Julie Stewart for "Best Lead Performance By A Female in a Dramatic Series" (2003). Alliance Atlantis Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operator in Canada . Alliance Atlantis also had offices in Halifax , Los Angeles , London , Dublin , Madrid , Barcelona , Shannon , and Sydney . Alliance Atlantis

285-571: A considerable reworking of the series. The only character to appear in all seven seasons was Sgt. Ali McCormick. Cold Squad was originally conceived in 1995 as a one-hour series for the Lifetime channel in the United States. Baton Broadcasting became involved in its development in November 1995. Lifetime, however, backed out in mid-1996 and in 1997 the producers partnered with Alliance Atlantis . At

342-515: A domestic version of the American TV Guide magazine before being spun off into a separate print publication that was published from 1977 to 2006, at which point it ceased publishing and its content was migrated entirely to a website (though occasional print specials have been published as recently as 2010). The magazine's original format consisted of several editorial articles on television programming and/or issues related to television, with

399-430: A larger full-size magazine (comparably similar in size to a comic book ) that would offer more program listings. Magazine executives cited the need to keep the page count reasonable while listing an increased number of broadcast and cable channels as the primary rationale for the upgrade in the publication's print size. With the change in format, came the decision by the magazine to cease printing 24-hour listings (following

456-463: A lawsuit. CTV acquired the rights to broadcast Cold Case in Canada and added the series to its Fall 2003 schedule, at the same time postponing the last season of Cold Squad until Fall 2004. The network took advantage of the resemblance between the two shows by scheduling both during the same prime time day of the week, Sunday, publicizing the programming as a "crime theme night", with Cold Case airing at 8 p.m. and Cold Squad at 10 p.m. During

513-472: A new crime drama that revolves around a tough blond detective with an edgy haircut who solves cold cases. Of course, Canadian viewers got excited by that show back in '98, when it debuted under the name Cold Squad ." The comparison between Cold Squad and Cold Case became compelling when it was revealed that Meredith Stiehm , the creator of Cold Case , had attended seminars on television writing in April 2002 at

570-478: A new drama about a blond, female cop (played by Kathryn Morris ) who tracks down old, cold cases and faces discrimination because she's a woman. It has no connection with Cold Squad , a Canadian series about a blond, female cop who tracks down old, cold cases and faces discrimination because she's a woman." The likeness to Cold Squad was also noted by other Canadian television critics. Stephanie Earp of TV Guide wrote: "Last fall, American viewers got excited about

627-511: A number of Canadian specialty services, which, in addition to those listed above, later included Food Network , Discovery Health (now FYI Canada), BBC Canada , BBC Kids and more. Throughout the years, the company had purchased assets of several bankrupt studios, including Norstar Entertainment, Telescene, Peace Arch, Cinemavault, Odeon Films and in 2005, had bought out the television library of Fireworks Distributing Corporation from CanWest Global Communications . In 2007, Alliance Atlantis

SECTION 10

#1732854720721

684-453: A similar move by the U.S. version in July 2004); the overnight listings were removed entirely in order to focus on providing listings for time periods of higher viewership, which elicited complaints from readers. Beginning with the November 5, 2005 issue, the six remaining local editions were eliminated, being replaced by two editions covering different regions of Canada: one for the western half of

741-402: The 18th Gemini Awards , awards host Seán Cullen bluntly echoed a shared sentiment about CTV bumping Cold Squad off its fall programming in favor of the new American cop show: "Screw you Cold Case . I love Cold Squad ." When Cold Squad went into syndication in the United States the similitude between it and Cold Case raised eyebrows — until American viewers discovered that Cold Squad

798-484: The Alliance Cinemas banner until January 1, 2021; the theaters under the chain are now owned by Cineplex Entertainment . Alliance Atlantis was formed in 1998 from the merger of two former production companies, Alliance Communications (founded in 1984) and Atlantis Communications (founded in 1978). As President and Board Director of the subsequent combined Alliance Atlantis, Lewis Rose was responsible for leading

855-521: The Canadian Film Centre and was informed about the concept of Cold Squad during one of the sessions. The similarities led Cold Squad series creators Matt MacLeod and Julia Keatley to retain intellectual property attorney Carole Handler , of Los Angeles law firm O'Donnell & Schaeffer, to broker talks with Cold Case producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Bros. MacLeod declined to discuss details but said, "We are deeply concerned [about

912-562: The syndication rights to the series. In Europe, Sony Pictures Television International secured the license to broadcast the program from Fireworks International in October 2005. In the United States, Program Partners (PPI Releasing) acquired the syndication rights from Thunderbird in January 2006, and the series began airing in the U.S. in Fall 2006 as part of a "Crime Watch" block package. In June 2008,

969-467: The 10th anniversary of Food Network Canada (which was released on October 4, 2010); and a Prince William - Catherine royal visit special, released in the fall of 2011. In December 2012, tvguide.ca was replaced with The Loop , Sympatico's lifestyle and entertainment portal, which incorporated TV Guide's television news and listings. TV Guide owner Transcontinental Media discontinued TV Guide ' s online editorial content on July 2, 2014, ceasing

1026-471: The 2000s, the bulk of the Canadian magazine's content remained the localized listings. A series of sharp price increases occurred, with the newsstand cost of each issue rising to 30¢, 35¢, and ultimately close to $ 1 per issue. In 2000, Telemedia sold the magazine to Transcontinental Media . Beginning with the February 24, 2004 issue, TV Guide switched from its longtime digest size format and began printing as

1083-837: The AAC Fact unit. Alliance Films was a major motion picture distribution/production company which serves Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Formally known as Motion Picture Distribution LP, it was re branded and relaunched in 2007 due to the break-up of its preceding company, Alliance Atlantis, which was sold off piece by piece to Canwest Global , GS Capital Partners , along with several other smaller companies. Alliance Atlantis and Vivafilm home video releases were manufactured and distributed by NBCUniversal 's Universal Pictures Home Entertainment . Entertainment One (eOne) later acquired Alliance Films on January 9, 2013 for $ 225 million and merged Alliance Films and all of their subsidiaries under

1140-590: The CTV network, was reorganized and renamed CTV Inc. in December 1998. In March 2000, CTV Inc. was acquired by Bell Canada Enterprises .) Originally scheduled to start on June 16, 1997, filming on Cold Squad began on July 2, 1997, and the new series' scheduled premiere was changed from September 1997 to January 1998. When U.S. television network CBS announced the premiere of Cold Case for its 2003/2004 schedule, John Doyle of The Globe and Mail wrote: " Cold Case ...is

1197-496: The Canadian rights to the TV Guide name and split it off into a separate magazine. Originally, it incorporated some of the same stories and covers as the U.S. version (and utilized a similar logo to that of the American version), but eventually began publishing completely different editorial content, often with a Canadian focus – although the Canadian edition also published features and photos on American productions that did not appear in

SECTION 20

#1732854720721

1254-538: The North American Broadcasting Association (NABA). The company ceased to exist in 2007 as the broadcasting division was acquired by Canwest Global Communications and an affiliate of Goldman Sachs that year. The motion picture division was then spun off and operated independently as Alliance Films , headquartered in Montreal (subsequently sold to Entertainment One and later, Lionsgate ), and

1311-553: The Spring of 2005. In July 2000, CanWest Global Communications obtained the international distribution rights for Cold Squad from Endemol Entertainment Holding NV when it purchased the company's television library. Endemol had procured the rights from Alliance Atlantis. Alliance Atlantis owned Showcase and within Canada reruns of Cold Squad aired on the channel (Showcase was acquired by CanWest in 2007 after its purchase of Alliance Atlantis). In 2005, Thunderbird Films acquired

1368-428: The U.S. version. Telemedia continued to use the same logo and staple-bound manufacturing used at the time of the split by the U.S. TV Guide publication until the late 1990s, even as its former U.S. counterpart had updated its logo and adopted a perfect square binding process during the 1980s. Similarly, while the U.S. TV Guide began reducing its television listings in favor of incorporating more editorial content, until

1425-771: The United Kingdom as an import. The Season 2 DVD (Region 2) was released in the Netherlands (English audio with Dutch subtitles) by Just Entertainment Bv on June 19, 2012. It was made available in the United Kingdom as an import. Digital distribution of Cold Squad became available in the U.S. as instant streaming on Netflix in 2011. The complete series (98 episodes) was made available as video on demand (VOD) on Hulu in February 2013. Amazon Video added Season 1 to its North American library in October 2015, Season 2 in September 2016, Season 3 in October 2016, and Season 4 in March 2017. In

1482-457: The United Kingdom, Amazon Instant Video UK added Season 2 first to its library in September 2016, Seasons 1 and 3 in October 2016, and Season 4 in February 2017. The series became available on Tubi in 2018. In a final season interview with Julie Stewart, media and television columnist Bill Brioux wrote: " Cold Squad has consistently been one of the top-rated Canadian-produced TV shows, despite being booted all over CTV's schedule." Cold Squad

1539-502: The United States). The only differences between the two publications were the price (in 1972, the U.S. edition sold for 15¢ per copy, while in Canada, it sold for 25¢ per copy, equivalent to $ 1.79 in 2023) and the publisher. The Canadian edition was published by McMurray Publishing, a subsidiary of Triangle Publications , a U.S.-based firm owned by Walter H. Annenberg, who acquired several local television listings magazines in 1953 to form

1596-457: The bulk of the magazine featuring programming listings specific to the market served by a particular edition. Beginning with the release of the first issue of TV Guide in the United States on April 3, 1953, the Canadian edition of the magazine was virtually the same as the U.S. publication, right down to the advertisements featured in the colour section (until the mid-1970s, some Canadian TV Guide editions were also sold in some markets bordering

1653-475: The companies launched History Television and HGTV Canada respectively. Earlier that year, Alliance Atlantis teamed up with Hallmark Cards to create Crayola Kids Adventures, a series of three direct-to-video adaptations of well-known children's novels. Atlantis had also been a major investor in YTV in its first few years before selling out to Shaw Communications and later, Corus Entertainment from 1999. In 1998,

1710-499: The company purchased 75% of Cineplex Odeon Films . In 1999, Kinowelt purchased an interest in Alliance Atlantis' UK distribution arm, which was soon renamed to Momentum Pictures in 2000. Also that year, the company secured the Canadian rights to distribute features by Destination Films. Also in 2000, it purchased the rights to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation from Disney's Touchstone Television . Another major deal in 2000

1767-470: The cost of labor on 13 episodes by $ 225,000 ( CAD ). With this concession, the overall budget to produce the first season became approximately $ 12.5 million (CAD). An unexpected cash crunch by Telefilm Canada 's Equity Investment Program affected the corporation 's funding for the series and the original order for 13 episodes was reduced to 11 episodes. Funding was adjusted and both Baton and Alliance Atlantis committed to an increased financial investment in

Cold Squad - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-502: The country (covering the Pacific , Mountain and Central time zones) and one for the eastern half of the country (covering the Eastern and Atlantic time zones). After receiving numerous complaints about the new format (which severely condensed cross-country listings), changes were introduced with the November 26 issue. TV Guide introduced the magazine's first ever two-week edition, which

1881-526: The former Atlantis sales office in Amsterdam. As part of the merger deal, Robert Lantos , founder of Alliance, signed a deal for film and TV production with Alliance Atlantis through his own firm, Serendipity Point Films. At the time of the merger, both companies had launched various Canadian specialty television services; in 1995, Alliance launched Showcase Television while Atlantis launched Life Network (which has since been renamed "Slice"); in fall 1997

1938-645: The international distribution rights to the Degrassi franchise, to DHX Media . In 2017, producer Steven Paul announced that he would acquire the non-family assets of Echo Bridge Entertainment, including the international distribution rights to Alliance Atlantis' library (with the exception of its children's programs that are still owned by DHX Media/WildBrain) and later folded it into SP Releasing, in turn licensed most of Alliance Atlantis, Cineplex Odeon Films, Echo Bridge and PM Entertainment libraries to FilmRise for digital distribution and online streaming. eOne in turn

1995-529: The international television distribution division was sold to Echo Bridge Entertainment . All of the former Alliance Atlantis specialty networks, except for the now-defunct BBC Kids , are now owned by Corus Entertainment . The films division was later acquired by Entertainment One group and folded into eOne on January 9, 2013. Most of the assets of eOne, which included Alliance Atlantis' films division and television library, were later acquired by Lionsgate on December 27, 2023. The Alliance name survived under

2052-409: The latter brand. Most of the assets of eOne, as well as Alliance Films libraries was subsequently bought by Lionsgate in late 2023. TV Guide (Canada) TV Guide was a weekly Canadian magazine that provided television program listings information as well as television-related news, celebrity interviews and gossip, film reviews, crossword puzzles and horoscopes . It originated as

2109-464: The majority of its production arm, aside from the highly profitable CSI: Crime Scene Investigation family of series, which it co-produces with CBS Television Studios . It briefly maintained Salter Street's long-running This Hour Has 22 Minutes before transferring the show to the Halifax Film Company , made up of former Salter Street employees. It's primary business became its ownership of

2166-676: The most likely bidder. A similar announcement was made previously regarding the Motion Picture Distribution unit, which is also expected to be sold separately while finding a bidder to acquire most parts of the company. On January 10, 2007, it was announced that Alliance Atlantis would be acquired by a consortium of Canwest Global and GS Capital Partners , an affiliate of Goldman Sachs . Following Canwest seeking creditor protection in late 2009, Shaw Communications subsequently took over most of Alliance Atlantis's former broadcasting assets as of October 27, 2010. after CRTC approval for

2223-561: The nucleus for the national edition of TV Guide (this was acknowledged in a notice featured in the "Saturday" listings, "This Canadian magazine is distributed, assembled and prepared by McMurray Publishing Company, Ltd...."). At least eleven editions were available across Canada, which featured localized television listings for the country's major cities, as well as including columns that are pertinent to Canadian television (such as "The Canadian Report", which replaced "The Doan Report" in Canadian editions). In January 1977, Telemedia acquired

2280-434: The production of Cold Squad , with the budget per episode at $ 900,000-plus (CAD). Baton thereafter reoriented its involvement to that of being the series' Canadian broadcaster only. Keatley MacLeod Productions retained 75% copyright ownership and the rights to U.S. distribution, and Alliance Atlantis retained 25% ownership with distribution rights in other international territories. (Baton Broadcasting, which had full control of

2337-632: The sale was announced on October 22. Alliance Atlantis (CW Media) became part of the Shaw Media division. Corus Entertainment acquired Shaw Media on April 1, 2016. Entertainment One would later acquire Alliance Films on January 9, 2013 and all of their subsidiaries from Goldman Sachs Group, similar to the purchase of Maple Pictures a year prior. eOne subsequently adopted the 2004 Alliance Atlantis fanfare, still in use by Alliance Films, for their own logo. On November 20, 2014, Echo Bridge Entertainment sold Alliance Atlantis' children's programs, including

Cold Squad - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-540: The series after rebranding as The Family Channel . In May 2019, the series began airing on the El Rey Network . Alliance Atlantis released the DVD of Season 1 for Region 1 in Canada only, on September 2, 2003. It became available in the United States in 2009. The Region 2 DVD of Season 1 was released in the Netherlands (English audio with Dutch subtitles) by Just Entertainment Bv on March 20, 2012. It became available in

2451-501: The series). Starting with the third season, the "Cold Squad" division was folded into a province-wide task force and its basement setting eliminated. Along with significant variations of the title sequence (Seasons 1–2, 3–6, 7), theme music (Seasons 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7), new sets (Seasons 3–6, 7), and change in McCormick's hair colour from auburn to blonde along with her wardrobe (in particular her jacket), these differences contributed to

2508-415: The shows' similarities]...We're taking the appropriate actions." Confirming that written correspondence was proceeding between the producers of the two shows, Handler stated, "We hope to work out the producers' concerns. This is a real issue. My clients are the creators of the original concept." Recourse in the matter included the option of doing nothing, a settlement involving royalties or a format payment, or

2565-408: The site began to source its program listings from the U.S.-based entertainment website Zap2It . While TV Guide embraced the use of the internet to distribute content, it still occasionally published printed magazine specials on noteworthy events, under the tvguide.ca imprint. These specials included a special tribute to Princess Diana (which was released on May 6, 2007); a special issue to celebrate

2622-500: The syndication was renewed for an additional season to begin airing in the fall. Cold Squad was seen in off-network syndication intermittently on cable specialty channel Mystery TV , and also on Bravo . The series aired on digital cable channel Sleuth in the U.S. in 2009. It was then broadcast on digital television networks , such as Tuff TV . It began airing on Retro TV in 2011. Also in 2011, My Family TV added Cold Squad to its roster of programs and continued to carry

2679-446: The teams which arranged the merger financing of $ 545 million and which achieved in excess of $ 20 million in savings and synergies from the combination of the two companies in the year following the merger. (The merger was also parodied on Made in Canada , when that show's Pyramid Productions merged with a company called Prodigy.) After the merger, the company laid off 15% of their staff (much of them from pre-merger Aliiance), and closed

2736-527: The time Cold Squad was developed, the production of television series in Vancouver was heavily dominated by programs made for the United States. When Cold Squad was greenlit it became the first one-hour, prime time dramatic series for Canadian television to be produced out of Vancouver. After Baton committed to local production of the series, the producers reached an agreement with Canadian labor union ACFC West (Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople) to cut

2793-423: Was a renewal of their distribution pact with Artisan Entertainment , including Canadian distribution of Artisan material, and UK theatrical distribution of Artisan films via Momentum Pictures. The company expanded its business with its launch of its children's production label AAC Kids in 1999, and its nonfiction production label, AAC Fact in 2000. These labels were dissolved in 2003. In 2000, AAC Kids signed

2850-476: Was acquired by U.S. toy maker Hasbro in 2019. On August 3, 2023, Hasbro announced that it would sell most of eOne's assets, including the copyrights and Canadian distribution rights to the library of Alliance Atlantis, to Lionsgate (which Hasbro attempted to acquire in 2017). The deal closed on December 27, 2023. Specialty Channels Websites NOTE: Channels marked in BOLD lettering indicates Alliance Atlantis

2907-457: Was diverse and changing. Except for Julie Stewart, almost the entire cast was replaced between the second and third seasons, and the series revamped. The revision was meant to attract a younger audience and more male viewers. ( Michael Hogan , who played main character Det. Tony Logozzo in Seasons 1 and 2, appeared in the third season two-part opener episode " Deadly Games " but thereafter was gone from

SECTION 50

#1732854720721

2964-431: Was issued for the 16-day period from December 24, 2005 to January 6, 2006. The listings began to be printed entirely in colour, but the number of channels covered were further reduced. On October 19, 2006, Transcontinental announced it would cease publication of the print edition of TV Guide , with the last issue to be released on newsstands on November 20 (issued for November 25 to December 1), and would transition it into

3021-526: Was named one of Canada's Top 100 Employers , as published in Maclean's magazine, the only broadcaster to be included on the list. On December 20, 2006, the company announced that it was "exploring strategic alternatives", effectively putting the company up for sale. Expected bidders included Canwest Global , Corus Entertainment , Astral Media , and Rogers Communications . The rights to CSI were expected to be sold separately, with CBS Paramount Television as

3078-484: Was nominated for 38 Gemini Awards , 49 Leo Awards , one Directors Guild of Canada award, and two Writers Guild of Canada awards during its seven-season run. The series won seven Gemini Awards, including Julie Stewart for "Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role" (2002), Garry Chalk for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series" (2002 and 2001), and Tamara Craig Thomas for "Best Performance by an Actress in

3135-580: Was the managing partner. Proposed but never launched Alliance Atlantis owned a chain of cinemas called Alliance Cinemas . The chain owned movie theatres in British Columbia and Ontario and is based in Toronto . This division of Alliance Atlantis developed and distributed various television programmes to Canadian, American and International broadcasters. The programs ranged from series, lifestyle and documentaries. Some documentaries were produced through

3192-465: Was the precedent series. The premiere of the final season was delayed until Fall 2004 and its programming changed to 9 p.m. Saturday as part of CTV's "crime time" block . Due to the network's sporadic scheduling of the season, the last episodes of the series premiered in their French- dubbed versions on Séries+ in 2004, long before the English-language versions of those episodes aired on CTV in

3249-399: Was the result of a merger of two companies: Atlantis Communications , founded in 1978 by Michael MacMillan , and Alliance Communications , founded in 1984 by Stephen Roth, Denis Héroux , John Kemeny , Robert Lantos , Andras Hamori and Susan Cavan as Alliance Entertainment. Alliance Communications and Atlantis Communications merged to form Alliance Atlantis in 1998 which was a member of

#720279