''The Eleventh Hour'' is a Canadian television drama series which aired weekly on
CTV from 2002 to 2005.
The show revolves around the reporters and producers at a fictional television
news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...
series, ''The Eleventh Hour''. Unhappy with the newsmagazine's shrinking audience, the network has brought in a new executive producer, Kennedy Marsh, to reorient the show in a more ratings-driven
tabloid journalism
Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even blatantly false), which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known a ...
direction.
The tension between the ratings imperative and the more traditional journalistic ethics of the show's senior staff is the primary conflict that drives the show, but storylines also include the team's efforts to get the stories that will make it to air each week.
''The Eleventh Hour'' was produced by
Alliance Atlantis
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. (commonly known as Alliance Atlantis and commonly shortened to simply Alliance or Atlantis and formerly traded as TSX:AAC) was a Canadian media company that operated primarily as a specialty service operato ...
, Canada's largest film and television production house. It aired in the U.S. on
Sleuth
Sleuth may refer to:
* Detective
*Sleuth, collective noun for a group of bears
Computing
* The Sleuth Kit, a collection of forensic analysis software
*SLEUTH assembler language for the UNIVAC 1107
Entertainment and media
*Cloo
Cloo (stylized ...
, under the title ''Bury the Lead'', to distinguish it from a
CBS series with a similar name.
Ratings
Although the show started off poorly in the Canadian television ratings, attracting an average of just 400,000 viewers each week, its audience during the start of its 2004 season was sufficiently high that CTV ordered a third season. However, ratings did not improve further. The third season, already ordered, aired irregularly on Saturday nights with very little promotion, and proved to be its last. The final season also received a ''Best Dramatic Series''
Gemini Award despite the cancellation.
''The Eleventh Hour'' was the latest in a lengthy line of drama series at CTV which had high-profile launches but were quickly marginalized to little-watched weekend timeslots and ultimately cancelled. However, it outlasted several other recent CTV dramas, including ''
Power Play
Power play or powerplay or their plurals may refer to:
Sports
* Power play (sporting term), a sporting term used in various games
* Powerplay (cricket), a rule concerning fielding restrictions in one-day international cricket
* Power play (cur ...
'', ''
The City'', and ''
The Associates'', which each lasted two seasons.
The show's theme song for season 3 is "
Weapon
A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, ...
", by
Matthew Good
Matthew Frederick Robert Good (born June 29, 1971) is a Canadian musician. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the Matthew Good Band, one of the most successful alternative rock bands in Canada during the 1990s and early 2000s. Since the ...
.
Cast
*
Sonja Smits
Sonja Smits (born September 8, 1958) is a Canadian actress. She was nominated for two Genie Awards: for ''Videodrome'' (1983) and '' That's My Baby!'' (1984). On television, she starred in '' Street Legal'' (1987-1992) and '' Traders'' (1996-2000) ...
as correspondent ''Megan Redner''
*
Shawn Doyle
Shawn Doyle (born September 19, 1968) is a Canadian actor known for his roles in ''The Expanse'', '' The Eleventh Hour'', ''Big Love'', '' 24'', ''Desperate Housewives'', and '' Star Trek: Discovery''.
Early life and education
Doyle was born an ...
as producer ''Dennis Langley''
*
Waneta Storms
Waneta Storms is a Canadian dramatic actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Isobel Lambert in the CTV series '' The Eleventh Hour'' (2003–2005).
Storms has also appeared in the Showcase series '' Naked Josh'', Peter Benchley's ''Amazo ...
as producer ''Isobel Lambert''
* Tanya Reid as executive producer ''Kennedy Marsh''
*
Jeff Seymour
Jeff Seymour is an American-Canadian actor. He is most noted for his role as Kamal Azizi in the Canadian television drama series '' The Eleventh Hour'', for which he won the Gemini Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series at the 18th Gemini Awards i ...
as correspondent ''Kamal Azizi''
*
Peter MacNeill
Peter MacNeill is a Canadian film and television actor and voice-over artist who has starred in numerous television series and films.
His film credits have included '' The Hanging Garden'' (for which MacNeill won a Genie Award for Best Suppo ...
as network news head ''Warren Donohue''
*
Inga Cadranel
Inga Cadranel (born April 30, 1978) is a Canadian film and television actress. She is best known for playing the roles of Brooke Fairburn on '' The Eleventh Hour'', Liz Santerra on '' Jeff Ltd.'', Francesca on ''Rent-a-Goalie'', Aife on '' Lost G ...
as researcher ''Brooke Fairburn''
*
Scott McCord
William Scott McCord is a Canadian actor. He is known for his versatility and character work in film, television, animation and on stage. He is a Lifetime Member of ''The Actors Studio''. On television he has appeared in series regular, recurri ...
as researcher ''James Joy''
*
Matt Gordon
Matt Gordon (born 1969) is a Canadian actor, perhaps best known for playing Doc in the sports sitcom ''Rent-a-Goalie'', and for his portrayal of Officer Oliver Shaw in the drama series ''Rookie Blue
''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police d ...
as legal counsel ''Murray Dann''
*
Jonas Chernick as editor ''Gavin Kowalchuk''
*
John Neville as interviewer ''Deaton Hill''
Main Crew
*Creators:
Semi Chellas,
Ilana Frank
*Executive Producers:
Ilana Frank,
Semi Chellas,
David Wellington,
*Directors:
David Wellington,
Kelly Makin
Kelly Makin is a Canadian television and film director. He directed episodes of ''The Kids in the Hall'' comedy television series and also directed several episodes of ''Queer as Folk'' including the series finale. More recently, Makin has dire ...
, Philip Earnshaw,
T.W. Peacocke,
Graeme Campbell,
Milan Cheylov
Milan Cheylov is a Canadian television director/producer. A professional stage actor at 15, Cheylov ran Bootleg Theatre in Toronto for ten years. He acted in theatre, television and film for almost twenty years. He started producing and directin ...
,
Stephen Reynolds
*Writers:
Semi Chellas,
Esta Spalding,
Tassie Cameron
Tassie Cameron is a Gemini Award-winning Canadian screenwriter who has contributed to numerous television shows and films. She was the head writer and executive producer on the Global Television Network/ABC series ''Rookie Blue'' and creator of ...
, Frank Borg,
,
Peter Wellington
Peter William Wellington (born 21 August 1957) is an Australian politician. He was the independent member for Nicklin in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2017, and served as Speaker from 2015 to 2017. Wellington has held the b ...
,
Karen Walton
Karen Walton is a Canadian screenwriter best known for writing the film, ''Ginger Snaps'', for which she won the Best Film Writing Canadian Comedy Award in 2002. Her writing for the film received both critical scrutiny and academic analysis. W ...
,
Awards and nominations
The show was nominated for 14
Gemini Awards in 2003, and won for ''Best Dramatic Series'', ''Best Actor in a Leading Role'' (Seymour) and ''Best Supporting Actor'' (MacNeill).
The show was nominated for Best Dramatic Series
Gemini Awards again in 2004.
In 2005, the show won
Gemini Awards for Best Dramatic Series and for Best Writing for
Semi Chellas and
Tassie Cameron
Tassie Cameron is a Gemini Award-winning Canadian screenwriter who has contributed to numerous television shows and films. She was the head writer and executive producer on the Global Television Network/ABC series ''Rookie Blue'' and creator of ...
.
Episode list
Season 1
# Mad As Hatters
# I'm Mad As Hell
# The Source
# A Low, Dishonest Decade
# Tree Hugger
# A Modern Mata Hari
# Not Without My Reefer
# The 37-Year Itch
# Don't Have a Cow
# Shelter
# Cell Phone Slaves
# The RASH Troops of Error
# Hall of Mirrors
Season 2
# Cowboy
# Stormy Petrel
# Hard Seven
# Swimmers
# Wonderland
# Gone Baby Gone
# Nadir
# Rather Be Wrong
# Georgia
# I'll Build Me An Island
# Strange Bedfellows
# The Revenge Specialist
# The Missionary Position
Season 3
# Eden
# In Spite of All the Damage
# Megan Ice Cream
# Bedfellas
# A Virgin Walks into a Bar
# ZUGZWANG
# Hit Delete
# Kettle Black
# In Another Life
# The Miracle Worker
# Special Delivery
# Das Bootcamp
# Bumpy Cover
External links
*
The Eleventh Hour (fan Web site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eleventh Hour, The
CTV Television Network original programming
Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Drama Series winners
2000s Canadian drama television series
2002 Canadian television series debuts
2005 Canadian television series endings
Television series by Alliance Atlantis
Television series about television
Television series about journalism
English-language television shows