''The Social'' is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

daytime television Daytime is a block of television programming taking place during the late-morning and afternoon on weekdays. Daytime programming is typically scheduled to air between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., following the early morning d ...

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

, which airs weekday afternoons on CTV and

CTV 2 CTV 2 is a Canadian English-language television system owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. The system consists of four terrestrial owned-and-operated television stations (O&Os) in Ontario, one in British Columbia and two regional cab ...

. John Doyle
"Will daytime TV finally stop making my skin crawl?"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 9, 2013. Using a panel format similar to American talk shows such as '' The View'' or '' The Talk'',"'The Social': Canadian Talk Show Isn't 'The View'"
''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', September 1, 2013. the show is hosted by

Melissa Grelo Melissa Grelo (born June 30, 1977) is a Canadian television personality, best known as a co-host of ''CP24 Breakfast''"CP24 opens a new front in breakfast TV wars". ''Toronto Star'', March 27, 2009. and the moderator of '' The Social''. Since Augus ...

(the show's moderator), Lainey Lui, and

Cynthia Loyst Cynthia Loyst is a Canadian talk show host and media personality. She currently co-hosts CTV's '' The Social'', along with three other women. Loyst is also the creator of Find Your Pleasure, an online hub to help readers find pleasure in their l ...

. On Friday editions, Jessica Allen serves as an additional co-host. The series covers news, lifestyle and entertainment topics, and places a strong emphasis on direct and live interaction with viewers through

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

History

The show premiered on September 2, 2013, originally hosted by Grelo, Lui, Loyst and

Traci Melchor Traci Melchor is a Canadian television personality. She is known for her role as an entertainment reporter for CTV's series '' etalk'' and as a judge of the reality competition series ''Canada's Drag Race''. Melchor is also the former co-host o ...

with Allen as a digital correspondent for the show. Grelo took a maternity leave from the program in spring 2014."THE SOCIAL Reveals Upcoming Guest Co-Hosts, as Melissa Grelo Takes Time to Deliver Her Biggest Story Yet".

Yahoo! Finance Yahoo! Finance is a media property that is part of the Yahoo! network. It provides financial news, data and commentary including stock quotes, press releases, financial reports, and original content. It also offers some online tools for perso ...

, March 6, 2014. A series of celebrity guest hosts appeared during her absence, including

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 ...

Marilyn Denis Marilyn Denis (born July 1, 1958) is a Canadian television and radio personality. Denis is the host of ''The Marilyn Denis Show'' and co-host of CHUM-FM's ''Marilyn Denis and Jamar''. Early life and education Born in Edmonton, Alberta, she grew ...

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film '' The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in many Hollywood films, inc ...

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 ...

Arlene Dickinson Arlene Dickinson (born October 8, 1956) is a South African Canadian businesswoman, investor, author, and television personality. She is the general partner of District Ventures Capital and CEO of Venturepark. Dickinson joined the cast of the C ...

Arielle Kebbel Arielle Caroline Kebbel (born February 19, 1985) is an American actress and model. She has appeared in various television series, including ''Gilmore Girls'' (2003–2004), ''The Vampire Diaries'' (2009–2017), ''Life Unexpected'' (2010), ''90 ...

Emily Procter Emily Mallory Procter (born October 8, 1968) is an American actress and activist. She played Ainsley Hayes in the NBC political drama ''The West Wing'' (2000–2002; 2006) and Det. Calleigh Duquesne in the CBS police procedural drama ''CSI: Mia ...

Sarah Rafferty Sarah Gray Rafferty (born December 6, 1972) is an American actress, widely known for her role as Donna Paulsen on the USA Network legal drama '' Suits''. Early life and education Rafferty grew up as the youngest of four daughters in the Riversi ...

and

Debbie Travis Debbie Travis (born June 27, 1960 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England) is a British-Canadian television personality, self-taught interior decorator, and former fashion model. She is best known as the host of ''Debbie Travis' Facelift'' and ''Debbie ...

Melchor took a leave of absence from the show in 2016, with

Marci Ien Marci Ien (born July 29, 1969) is a Canadian politician serving as the minister for women and gender equality and youth since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, Ien represents Toronto Centre in the House of Commons. Previously, s ...

stepping in as a substitute host following the cancellation of ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, and ...

''."Traci opens up about why Bell Let's Talk Day is close to her heart"
'' eTalk'', January 25, 2017. Melchor later revealed that she took the leave of absence for mental health reasons, after bursting into uncontrollable tears while preparing for an interview with Lynn Keane, an author who had published a book about her son's

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, leading Melchor to realize that she had not fully processed her grief over the 2015 death of her friend Chris Hyndman. Melchor announced in March 2017 that she would not be returning to the program full-time, instead concentrating on her duties with '' eTalk'', although she will occasionally still appear on the show as a substitute host when one of the regulars is away."Former 'Canada AM' host Marci Ien new co-host of 'The Social'"
''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

'', March 29, 2017. Ien became a permanent cohost of the program in 2017. She left the program upon her election to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

for the federal electoral district of

Toronto Centre Toronto Centre (french: Toronto-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1872 to 1925, and since 1935, under the names Centre Toronto (1872–1903) ...

in 2020.

Controversy

Jess Allen comments on hockey players

On November 12, 2019, during a discussion regarding the firing of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

commentator

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

from ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'', Allen said that she doesn't "worship at the altar of hockey" and found that those who did, in her experience, "all tended to be white boys who weren't, let's say, very nice." Allen also added, "they were not generally thoughtful, they were often bullies." Allen later clarified on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

saying, "I never said every white boy, just the ones whose unsavoury behaviour, which didn’t feel very Canadian, I witnessed. Because of this, I am guilty of having conflicted feelings about hockey being so closely linked to our

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or to one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

." On November 13, Allen acknowledged that she "struck a nerve with many people." The controversy resulted in

backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backla ...

, including the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#FireJessAllen, and the

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) is an industry funded self-regulating organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its own members, Canada's private broadcasters. The coun ...

issuing a notice on their website that they had received "a large number of similar complaints" and that "no further complaints will be accepted by the CBSC on this issue." On November 14, CTV issued a statement apologizing to "everyone who was offended by the remarks," however they wouldn't restrict their hosts from "offering their opinions on an opinion show," but they will "always listen to viewers when they offer theirs." Allen also issued an apology saying she was only speaking about hockey players she knew personally, and that Don Cherry reminded her of them; however, she couldn't "apologize to the very specific hockey players" she was originally referring to.

International broadcasts

The series began airing in syndication in the United States through PPI Releasing and

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...

via selective markets since September 2015, although a few stations had started airing the show during a test run prior to the push to expand it in more American television markets. It had been targeted for a soft 2014 US launch but was held back in order to give the show enough time to find its footing."PPI GETTING "SOCIAL" IN DAYTIME."
from PPI (October 16, 2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Social, The 2013 Canadian television series debuts 2010s Canadian television talk shows 2020s Canadian television talk shows CTV Television Network original programming CTV 2 original programming Television series by Bell Media Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows filmed in Toronto Television series about social media Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic