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==International distribution==
==International distribution==
Flashpoint is being distributed by Alchemy Television and Tele München Group to all international markets outside of North America. Flashpoint is available in nScreen VOD on [[N (Poland)|n satellite service]] in [[Poland]].<ref>[http://n.pl/vod/nscreen/film/flashpoint.html nScreen VOD - "Flashpoint"]</ref> The show will air on the [[Nine Network]] in Australia,<ref>[http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/07/nine-acquires-flashpoint.html Nine acquires Flashpoint] Retrieved on July 30, 2008</ref> [[TVNZ]] in New Zealand and [[ITV3]] in the UK.<ref>[http://www.playbackonline.ca/articles/daily/20080724/flashpoint.html Brits, Kiwis buy Flashpoint] Retrieved on August 26, 2008.</ref> The series has also been picked up by television networks in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Latin America.<ref>[http://www.tv-eh.com/2008/07/25/flashpoint-canadian-ratings-foreign-sales/#more-2744 Flashpoint Canadian ratings, foreign sales.] Retrieved on July 27, 2008.</ref> In the [[Netherlands]] the show will premiere on February 3, on the [[SBS 6]] channel.
Flashpoint is being distributed by Alchemy Television and Tele München Group to all international markets outside of North America. Flashpoint is available in nScreen VOD on [[N (Poland)|n satellite service]] in [[Poland]].<ref>[http://n.pl/vod/nscreen/film/flashpoint.html nScreen VOD - "Flashpoint"]</ref> The show will air on the [[Nine Network]] in Australia,<ref>[http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2008/07/nine-acquires-flashpoint.html Nine acquires Flashpoint] Retrieved on July 30, 2008</ref> [[TVNZ]] in New Zealand and [[ITV3]] in the UK.<ref>[http://www.playbackonline.ca/articles/daily/20080724/flashpoint.html Brits, Kiwis buy Flashpoint] Retrieved on August 26, 2008.</ref> The series has also been picked up by television networks in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Latin America.<ref>[http://www.tv-eh.com/2008/07/25/flashpoint-canadian-ratings-foreign-sales/#more-2744 Flashpoint Canadian ratings, foreign sales.] Retrieved on July 27, 2008.</ref> In the [[Netherlands]] the show premiered on February 3, on the [[SBS 6]] channel, to very high ratings with a 18,1 share in the 20-49 age group.


The Australian premiere occurred on January 11 when Nine took the unusual step of screening the [[First In Line (Flashpoint episode)|second episode]] in isolation ahead of the season after a major [[Cricket]] telecast, in a relatively late Sunday night timeslot.<ref>[http://www.yourtv.com.au/guide/?action=session_info&event_id=25526614 yourTV.com.au]</ref>
The Australian premiere occurred on January 11 when Nine took the unusual step of screening the [[First In Line (Flashpoint episode)|second episode]] in isolation ahead of the season after a major [[Cricket]] telecast, in a relatively late Sunday night timeslot.<ref>[http://www.yourtv.com.au/guide/?action=session_info&event_id=25526614 yourTV.com.au]</ref>

Revision as of 13:02, 4 February 2009

Flashpoint
Flashpoint title screen
GenrePolice drama
Created byMark Ellis
Stephanie Morgenstern
Directed byDavid Frazee, Clark Johnson
StarringEnrico Colantoni
Hugh Dillon
Amy Jo Johnson
David Paetkau
Sergio Di Zio
Michael Cram
Mark Taylor
Ruth Marshall
Theme music composerAmin Bhatia
Ari Posner
Country of originCanada Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes31 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersAnne Marie La Traverse
Bill Mustos
ProducerTracey Boulton
CinematographyDavid Perrault
Stephen Reizes
Running time44 mins (excluding commercials)
Original release
NetworkCTV and CBS
ReleaseJuly 11, 2008 –
Present

Flashpoint is a Canadian police drama television series that debuted on July 11, 2008, on CTV in Canada and CBS in the U.S.[1] Sniper[2] and Critical Incident[3] were former working titles. The original 2007 pilot for the series was filmed using the Critical Incident title[3] and Sniper was used when CTV originally announced the series in late December 2007.[4]

Plot

Flashpoint is about the dramatic portrayal of an elite tactical unit, called the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), within a Canadian metropolitan police force (styled on the Toronto Emergency Task Force, Toronto being where the series is filmed). The SRU are tasked to resolve extreme situations that regular officers cannot handle including hostage-taking, bomb threats and heavily armed criminals. Even though they're backed with high-tech equipment with an arsenal of explosives, tasers, submachine guns, assault and sniper rifles, the SRU operators use intuition and judgement to resolve the situation.

Production

Flashpoint began filming 13 episodes on April 17, 2008. It is written and created by Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern and executive produced by multiple Gemini Award-winner Anne Marie La Traverse for Pink Sky Entertainment and Bill Mustos for Avamar Entertainment in association with the CTV Television Network and CBS Paramount Network Television.

Flashpoint began life as a part of a CTV project that encouraged actors to submit scripts to the network. The original Flashpoint script (when it was known as "Critical Incident") was for a two-hour TV movie. CTV's interest in the project led to Flashpoint being reworked as a regular CTV series which was approved in mid-December 2007. Although originally developed for a Canadian audience only, it was announced on January 29, 2008 that American network CBS had purchased the rights to air the series in the United States,[5] making it the first Canadian TV series aired in prime time on a US broadcast network since Due South, also a CTV show aired by CBS.[6] In addition, Flashpoint is the first Canadian series aired by a major US broadcast network that is set entirely in Canada (as Due South was primarily set in Chicago).

Some sources[who?] suggest that CBS is using the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) to do struck work shows in Canada to bypass the strike at the Writers Guild of America (WGA). The WGC vehemently denies this, and says that since the show was greenlit before CBS bought the show, and it was created for CTV, that it is a Canadian show and not American, thus not related to the strike. The WGC further pointed out that all of the writers working on Flashpoint are Canadian writers who are not members of the WGA.[7]

On March 5, 2008, CBS announced that Flashpoint would premiere on that network in July 2008.[8] CTV announced on May 8, 2008 that it will simulcast the show in Canada beginning on July 11, 2008.

The pilot episode titled "Scorpio" was based on an actual event that occurred in Toronto in 2004 in which a gun-wielding hostage taker was shot and killed by an Emergency Task Force sniper.[9] Ellis and Morgenstern wrote their teleplay for the episode after interviewing members of the ETF.[10]

Director David Frazee carefully shoots the SRU as one unit in order to show their unity throughout the show.[11] Producer Anne Marie La Traverse said that the show would take people to their "own personal flash point."[12] David Paetkau, one of the show's regular cast members, said Flashpoint "tries to capture the human element involved in policing and discusses how some officers end up with emotional baggage and suffering with mental illnesses like post traumatic stress disorder."[13] Input and advice from various ETF personnel were used in the making of the series.[14]

On August 25, 2008, CTV announced it had renewed the show for a second season of 13 episodes to begin production in Toronto in early 2009.[15] Some months later, both CTV and CBS increased the renewal to 18 episodes. According to tvguide.com CBS announced that Flashpoint will return January 9, 2009 at 9pm for a midseason start. In the United States, the remaining 4 episodes that were originally produced for Season 1 will air as a part of Season 2.[16] [17] However, CTV in Canada considers the held-over episodes to still be part of Season 1 and has indicated this on their Flashpoint website (i.e. CTV lists "Eagle Two" as episode 110). [18]

Flashpoint was first broadcast in the United Kingdom by ITV3, the pilot episode premiering on Thursday, January 15 2009.

Music

Hugh Dillon and Amy Jo Johnson are both involved in the show's production with their music being used.[19] Johnson's Dancing In-between was used in the ending of episode 6 Attention Shoppers and Dillon's "Lost at Sea" was used to conclude the 8th episode, "Never Kissed a Girl".[19][20] The show's short 30 seconds theme was created by Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner.[20]

Setting

The setting for the series is a large Canadian metropolitan city that is assumed to be Toronto, the largest city in Canada. Enrico Colantoni has stated that attempts were made to downplay the city's importance and make it a seemingly indistinctive city. He also said in the same interview that "Toronto" is never identified as the city in which the series is set.[21] Nevertheless, shots do show the CN Tower, countless Toronto landmarks, a fictional Toronto Interpreter newspaper (designed in the style of the Toronto Star), Canadian mailboxes, Canada's flag on uniforms and actual Toronto Transit Commission subway stations and railcars, and the occasional Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Ontario Provincial Police patrol cars. Dialogue also references Tim Hortons, and local streets such as Yonge and Queen Streets, as well as communities within the Greater Toronto Area (Rosedale, Woodbridge). Bill Mustos, founder of co-production company Avamar Entertainment, points out that "you’re not going to see a show that is screaming ‘Canada.’ It’s a show in a big sophisticated urban city where crises take place. The stories we’re trying to tell are universal stories."[22] CTV's press release regarding the series does identify Toronto, and notes that the SRU is based on Toronto's Emergency Task Force.[23]

The set of the SRU's headquarters is fully functional[24] as they appear on the show and are not simply props, though some of the firearms used in the show are, while others are actual decommissioned formerly firing weapons.[24]

Episodes

Main article: List of Flashpoint episodes

Cast and characters

Main cast of Flashpoint. From left to right: Ed Lane (Hugh Dillon), Julianna 'Jules' Callaghan (Amy Jo Johnson), Lou 'Lewis' Young (Mark Taylor), Gregory 'Greg' Parker (Enrico Colantoni), Mike 'Spike' Scarlatti (Sergio Di Zio), Roland 'Rolie' Cray (Gabriel Hogan) and Kevin 'Wordy' Wordsworth (Michael Cram). Gabriel Hogan only appeared in the first episode Scorpio and was replaced by David Paetkau, who plays Sam Braddock. He is not included in the photo.
Main article: Characters of Flashpoint

The majority of the cast involved in the making of Flashpoint are Canadians including Enrico Colantoni, David Paetkau, Hugh Dillon, Sergio Di Zio, Michael Cram, Mark Taylor and Ruth Marshall. Amy Jo Johnson is the only American actress starring in Canadian-made drama,[25] who said that she had no problems being in Flashpoint despite announcing to the press that she was already pregnant[26] with her first child with her fiancé Oliver Giner[27] during initial production of Flashpoint.[26]

Equipment

The series uses non-lethal copies of the following equipment:

Locations

Reception

Canada

Due to the original timeslot allotted for the show and the reception, Flashpoint was rebroadcast on July 13, 2008.[28] Suzanne Boyce explained that the audience, especially the American audience, would be getting new content at a low price as the producers get to put more money on the screen.[22] The pilot episode was watched on CTV by 1.11 million viewers, earning the #1 spot in its timeslot.[29] CTV would show the second episode on July 20, 2008 due to the reception like the first episode.[30]

Flashpoint drew in 1,216,000 viewers from July 28 to August 3 of 2008.[31] It gained a bit more audience when the show drew in 1,300,000 viewers.[32]

United States

BC TV Review had said Flashpoint is a different kind of cop show, since it portrays human emotions and how their actions would make the audience empathize with them.[33] The Boston Globe praised the show for using emotions that "lingers on the psychic toll that such high-tension work can take."[34] As an example, a recent episode has the team shoot a bank robber who is stealing money for the Alzheimer's treatment of his eldery ill wife, which is presented as sad but necessary. Shooting the bereft senior citizen whose wife is going to be evicted from the senior citizen's home for lack of funds is troublesome for the team. The pilot episode was watched on CBS by 8.23 million people, earning the #1 ranking for the hour.[35] CBS aired the second episode on July 20, 2008 due to a positive reception.[30] In addition, CBS is also considering expanding the show beyond 13 episodes.[36]

According to Flashpoint executive Bill Mustos, the success of the show in the US is not due to the Writer's Guild strikes, but mainly because of the need of having a new kind of show on television.[37]

Flashpoint did well in its initial airings on Friday nights (in the time slot normally given to NUMB3RS), building on the leadin from that show. In fact, it drew more viewers on Friday nights than Swingtown, another new drama, did on the normally busier Thursday nights, which prompted CBS to move Flashpoint to Thursday nights in an attempt to further build its audience.[38]

On December 2, 2008, CBS announced that they would begin airing the second season of Flashpoint on Friday, January 9, 2009 at 9pm. [39]

International distribution

Flashpoint is being distributed by Alchemy Television and Tele München Group to all international markets outside of North America. Flashpoint is available in nScreen VOD on n satellite service in Poland.[40] The show will air on the Nine Network in Australia,[41] TVNZ in New Zealand and ITV3 in the UK.[42] The series has also been picked up by television networks in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Latin America.[43] In the Netherlands the show premiered on February 3, on the SBS 6 channel, to very high ratings with a 18,1 share in the 20-49 age group.

The Australian premiere occurred on January 11 when Nine took the unusual step of screening the second episode in isolation ahead of the season after a major Cricket telecast, in a relatively late Sunday night timeslot.[44]

References

  1. ^ MacDonald, Gayle (2008-05-01). "Are U.S. networks messing with our shows?". Globe and Mail.
  2. ^ "CTV adds two new Canadian dramas to lineup". CTV. 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  3. ^ a b Pender, Tracy Nita (2007-07-20). "Cop action in the works for CTV". Playback. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  4. ^ "CTV Orders Two, New One-Hour Canadian Drama Series". TV, eh?. 2007-12-20. Retrieved 2008-07-13.
  5. ^ "CBS bypasses writers to import Canadian cop series". Reuters. 2008-01-30.
  6. ^ "New CTV series 'Flashpoint' picked up by CBS". CTV. 2008-01-29.
  7. ^ Vlessing, Etan (2008-02-01). "'Flashpoint' not struck work, WGC says". The Hollywood Reporter.
  8. ^ Schneider, Michael (2008-05-03). "CBS Announces Thursday Plans". Variety.
  9. ^ A series inspired by a T.O. sniper. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  10. ^ Kristine, Diane (2008-07-11). "Cop Drama Flashpoint Explores Human Cost Of Heroism".
  11. ^ HBO presents a pat war drama; CBS surprises with 'Flash point'. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  12. ^ 'Flashpoint' brings police drama to summer TV. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  13. ^ David Paetkau shoots new series in Toronto. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  14. ^ 'Flashpoint' chronicles the price heroic cops must pay on the job. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  15. ^ More Flashpoint In The Crosshairs Retrieved August 25, 2008.
  16. ^ CBS Midseason Plan Targets Flashpoint for Fridays. Retrieved on December 11, 2008.
  17. ^ CBS orders more 'Flashpoint'. Retrieved on November 6, 2008.
  18. ^ CTV's Flashpoint website.
  19. ^ a b 'Flashpoint' stars feature musical side in upcoming episodes. Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  20. ^ a b Music Page, CTV's Flashpoint site. Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  21. ^ "Enrico Colantoni's CTV Flashpoint interview". — only viewable in Canada
  22. ^ a b Canadians Sneak Across Border, Hide on CBS. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  23. ^ "High-stakes Drama Flashpoint Targets CTV July 11". CTV (Press release). 2008-06-25.
  24. ^ a b Tour of Flashpoint set in Toronto. Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  25. ^ Checking in with Amy Jo Johnson. Retrieved on August 18, 2008.
  26. ^ a b Amy Jo Johnson to deliver for 'Flashpoint'. Retrieved on August 18, 2008.
  27. ^ Amy Jo Johnson & Oliver Giner: Expecting!. Retrieved on August 18, 2008.
  28. ^ Flashpoint debut gets a second chance. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  29. ^ CTV's Flashpoint debuts #1 in Canada: #1 in US..
  30. ^ a b Flashpoint is getting second second-go-round. Retrieved on July 19, 2008. Cite error: The named reference "Air" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  31. ^ Top Programs - Total Canada. July 28-August 3, 2008. Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  32. ^ Top Programs - Total Canada. August 4-10, 2008. Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  33. ^ TV Review: Flashpoint - A Different Kind Of Cop Show, Eh? Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  34. ^ 'Flashpoint' resorts to usual suspects. Retrieved on July 13, 2008.
  35. ^ Overnight Nielsen TV Ratings Friday, July 11, 2008: Flashpoint, Eh? Retrieved on July 14, 2008.
  36. ^ CBS considers more 'Flashpoint'. Retrieved on July 19, 2008.
  37. ^ Canadian TV sizzles in U.S.. Retrieved on August 19, 2008.
  38. ^ CBS Moves Flashpoint to Thursday
  39. ^ http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117996691.html?categoryid=14&cs=1 CBS, ABC fill midseason
  40. ^ nScreen VOD - "Flashpoint"
  41. ^ Nine acquires Flashpoint Retrieved on July 30, 2008
  42. ^ Brits, Kiwis buy Flashpoint Retrieved on August 26, 2008.
  43. ^ Flashpoint Canadian ratings, foreign sales. Retrieved on July 27, 2008.
  44. ^ yourTV.com.au
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