''Jann'' is a Canadian television comedy series that premiered on CTV on March 20, 2019. It stars Canadian singer-songwriter

Jann Arden Jann Arden (born Jann Arden Anne Richards; March 27, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress. She is famous for her signature ballads, "Could I Be Your Girl" and "Insensitive (song), Insensitive", which is her biggest hit to date. Ea ...

as a fictionalized version of herself and is loosely based on events from her life. The cast also includes

Zoie Palmer Zoie Palmer is a Canadian actress best known for her roles as Dr. Lauren Lewis in the Showcase supernatural drama ''Lost Girl'' and as the Android in the SyFy science fiction series ''Dark Matter''. Early life Palmer was born in Camborne in Cor ...

Patrick Gilmore Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore (December 25, 1829 – September 24, 1892) was an Irish-born American composer and bandmaster who lived and worked in the United States after 1848. While serving in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War, Gilmore ...

Deborah Grover Deborah Grover is a Canadian actress, best known for her regular roles as prosecuting attorney Elaine Jeffers in ''Night Heat'' and Nora in '' Jann''. She is a two-time Canadian Screen Award nominee for Guest Performance in a Drama Series, receivin ...

Elena Juatco The second season of '' Canadian Idol'' debuted on June 1, 2004, and became the most watched show in Canada, drawing in over 3 million viewers each week. Auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halif ...

, Alexa Rose Steele, and

Jason Blicker Jason Blicker is a Canadian film and television actor.Rita Zekas, "Expats: Ice work if you can get it". ''Toronto Star'', July 19, 2003. He has had several small roles in television series including recurring roles on '' Robocop'', '' F/X: The S ...

Plot

Jann is a former pop star struggling to cope with turmoil in her personal life, including the breakup of her relationship with Cynthia, her longtime girlfriend, her mother's diagnosis of early-stage

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

, and trying to rebuild her career in the hope of finally outshining her archrival

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

Cast and characters

as her fictional self *

as Max, Jann's younger sister *

as Nora, Jann's mother *

as Dave, Max's husband and Jann's brother in law *

as Cale, Jann's new manager *

as Todd, Jann's long-term manager *

Sharon Taylor Sharon Taylor (born June 5, 1981) is a Canadian actress. Biography Sharon Taylor was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre from Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser ...

as Cynthia, Jann's ex-partner * Alexa Rose Steele as Charley, Jann's eldest niece

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2020)

Season 3 (2021)

Production

Production on six half-hour episodes for Season 1 began in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

on September 11, 2018. Production on Season 2, consisting of eight episodes, began on October 1, 2019, and wrapped in early November 2019. Production on Season 3, consisting of eight episodes, began on February 25, 2021. Sarah McLachlan appears as herself in a guest role in the second season. Arden has clarified in interviews that she and McLachlan get along well in real life, and their fictionalized rivalry in the television series draws as much from McLachlan's own ideas as Arden's.A. R. Wilson
"Jann Arden’s clueless alter ego is back in town for Jann’s second season"
''TV, eh?'', September 18, 2020. Other guests in the second season include

Keshia Chanté Keshia Chanté Harper (born June 16, 1988) is a Canadian singer, television host, actress, songwriter and philanthropist. As a teenager, Chanté gained recognition with the release of her singles "Unpredictable", "Bad Boy" and "Does He Love Me" " ...

as Nia Taylor, an up-and-coming new singer signed by Todd after he drops Jann as a client;

Elisha Cuthbert Elisha Ann Cuthbert Phaneuf (; born 30 November 1982) is a Canadian actress and model. As a Child actor, child actress, she made her first televised appearance as an extra in the Canadian horror-themed series for children ''Are You Afraid of the ...

as Liz, a school board trustee; and

Miguel Rivas ''The Beaverton'' is a Canadian news satire television comedy series, which premiered on The Comedy Network in 2016. Based on the satirical online publication of the same name, the series follows the format of a mock television newscast,"New Can ...

as Nigel, a megafan of Jann's. Guests in the third season include

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

as himself.

Release

''Jann'' premiered on March 20, 2019, with its first season becoming the "most-watched" Canadian television series and comedy of the year. In October 2020,

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

acquired American distribution rights to the series."Hulu secures U.S. rights Jann Arden’s semi-autobiographical sitcom"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', October 21, 2020. In January 2023, the series has left Hulu and is now on

The Roku Channel The Roku Channel is an American over-the-top video streaming service owned and operated by Roku, Inc., which launched in September 2017. History In September 2017, Roku, Inc. launched a free, ad-supported streaming channel for its digital media ...

in the US, with them acquiring the first two seasons of the series and releasing the third one at its launch on the platform on January 17, 2023.

Accolades

The series has been nominated for awards such as the

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

Canadian Society of Cinematographers The Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC) ('' French:'' Société canadienne des cinéastes) is a non-profit Canadian trade organization with over 500 members whose mission is to promote the artistic creativity and required skills for cinemat ...

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

and

Writers Guild of Canada The Writers Guild of Canada is an organization representing more than 2,500 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and digital media production in Canada. Members of the Guild write dramatic TV series, feature films, Movies of th ...

References

External links

* * {{CTV Television Network Shows (current and upcoming) 2019 Canadian television series debuts 2010s Canadian sitcoms 2010s Canadian LGBT-related comedy television series 2020s Canadian LGBT-related comedy television series 2010s Canadian music television series 2020s Canadian music television series Bisexuality-related television series Lesbian-related television shows Television shows filmed in Calgary CTV Television Network original programming 2020s Canadian sitcoms Canadian LGBT-related sitcoms Television series about families Television series based on singers and musicians Television series by Bell Media English-language television shows