The Wedge (Canadian TV series)

Last updated

The Wedge is a defunct Canadian television series devoted to indie and alternative music, which aired on Canadian music TV station MuchMusic from 1992 to 2014.

The program, which debuted in 1992 as a Monday to Friday half-hour series, was originally hosted by Simon Evans. In 1995, Sook-Yin Lee became the host, [1] and remained with the program until her departure from MuchMusic in 2001. [2] At this time, with alternative rock having undergone a commercial decline, the program was reduced to a weekly airing on Friday evenings. [3] The program had no permanent host for the next decade, serving primarily as a continuous "videoflow", although musicians occasionally appeared as guest hosts of a special episode. By 2010, it had been relegated to airing only at 3 a.m. [4]

On January 26, 2011, The Wedge was re-launched at a new 10 p.m. timeslot. [4] The format was expanded from just music videos to include live performances, interviews, and panel discussions. [4] The show's new host was Damian Abraham, lead singer of the Toronto-based, Polaris Music Prize-winning hardcore punk band Fucked Up. [5]

The program's cancellation was announced in 2014, as part of significant staffing and production cutbacks at Bell Media. [6]

Related Research Articles

The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a division of the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE. It is Canada's largest privately or commercially owned network consisting of 22 owned-and-operated stations nationwide and two privately owned affiliates, and has consistently been placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival Global Television Network in key markets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CFNY-FM</span> Radio station in Brampton-Toronto, Ontario

CFNY-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, its studios are in Downtown Toronto at Corus Quay on Toronto's Harbourfront, and its transmitter is located atop the CN Tower. The Edge is simulcast by satellite on Bell Satellite TV channel 955, and on Shaw Direct channel 866.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Citytv</span> Canadian television network owned by Rogers Communications

Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consists of six owned-and-operated (O&O) television stations located in the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver, a cable-only service that serves the province of Saskatchewan, and three independently owned affiliates serving smaller cities in Alberta and British Columbia.

<i>Canada AM</i> Defunct Canadian morning news program

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 was produced from CTV's facilities at 9 Channel Nine Court in Scarborough, Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Much (TV channel)</span> Canadian music television channel

Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. Prior to 2013, the channel was officially known as MuchMusic, though "Much" has been the branding most commonly seen on-air since 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CITY-DT</span> Citytv flagship station in Toronto

CITY-DT is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television outlets CFMT-DT and CJMT-DT. The stations share studios at 33 Dundas Street East on Yonge–Dundas Square in downtown Toronto, while CITY-DT's transmitter is located atop the CN Tower.

The National is a Canadian national television news program which serves as the flagship broadcast for the English-language news division of CBC News by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It reports on major Canadian and international news stories, airing on CBC Television stations nationwide Sunday to Friday at 10:00 p.m. local time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sook-Yin Lee</span> Canadian actress

Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian broadcaster, musician, film director, and actress. She is a former MuchMusic VJ and a former radio host on CBC Radio. She has appeared in films, notably in the John Cameron Mitchell movie Shortbus.

<i>Breakfast Television</i> Canadian morning program television brand

Breakfast Television is a Canadian morning television program that is broadcast on Citytv. As of 2023, BT only broadcast from Toronto as a four-hour morning show, while a national edition aired in 8:30-10 a.m. local time on all Citytv stations. Versions were formerly broadcast in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Montreal, but have been canceled and replaced with alternative programming. The version broadcast by the Atlantic Satellite Network continued to use the brand under license from Rogers until 2011, when it was re-launched as CTV Morning Live upon the service's rebranding as CTV 2 Atlantic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Brown</span> Canadian cartoonist (born 1960)

Chester William David Brown is a Canadian cartoonist. Brown has gone through several stylistic and thematic periods. He gained notice in alternative comics circles in the 1980s for the surreal, scatological Ed the Happy Clown serial. After bringing Ed to an abrupt end, he delved into confessional autobiographical comics in the early 1990s and was strongly associated with fellow Toronto-based cartoonists Joe Matt and Seth, and the autobiographical comics trend. Two graphic novels came from this period: The Playboy (1992) and I Never Liked You (1994). Surprise mainstream success in the 2000s came with Louis Riel (2003), a historical-biographical graphic novel about rebel Métis leader Louis Riel. Paying for It (2011) drew controversy as a polemic in support of decriminalizing prostitution, a theme he explored further with Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus (2016), a book of adaptations of stories from the Bible that Brown believes promote pro-prostitution attitudes among early Christians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Stroumboulopoulos</span> Canadian broadcaster

George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian media personality. He is one of Canada's most popular broadcasters and best known as formerly being a VJ for the Canadian music television channel MuchMusic. He was also the host and co-executive producer of the CBC Television talk show George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight from 2005 to 2014. From 2014 to 2016, Stroumboulopoulos worked for Rogers Media, anchoring Hockey Night in Canada and the NHL on Rogers. As of December 2019, he is a radio host on CBC Music. Most recently, he joined Apple Music Radio as host of a Monday to Thursday live show.

<i>Global National</i> Canadian national television newscast

Global National is the English language flagship national newscast of Canada's Global Television Network. Editorial and production staff are based out of Global's national news centre at Global BC in Burnaby, British Columbia, with Dawna Friesen presenting from the Global BC studios Mondays to Thursdays, and Farah Nasser presenting from the Global Toronto studios Fridays to Sundays. From 2008 to 2010, the program was the only Canadian network newscast to be regularly anchored from the nation's capital, Ottawa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinnie Starr</span>

Alida Kinnie Starr is a Canadian multidisciplinary recording artist.

<i>Good Rockin Tonite</i> Canadian music television series

Good Rockin' Tonite was a Canadian television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1983 to 1993. The program, similar to the American Friday Night Videos, played popular music videos, and also featured interviews with musicians, viewer contests and a countdown of the week's most popular singles and albums across Canada. Along with CBC's daily daytime music video program Video Hits, the programs represented the only options for Canadian viewers of the mid-1980s to see music video programming outside of cable TV.

City Limits is a Canadian television series, which aired on Citytv and later MuchMusic in the 1980s and 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob's Your Uncle (band)</span> Canadian alternative rock band

Bob's Your Uncle was a Canadian alternative rock band formed in Vancouver. The band consisted of band founder guitarist Jamie Junger, vocalist and guitarist Sook-Yin Lee, bassist Bernie Radelfinger, harmonica player Peter Lizotte and drummer John Rule. Later to be replaced by drummer Karl Cardosa Aka Charles Pinto. The band's music was characterized by Lee's strong voice and lyrics, and with rock, jazz and blues instrumental accompaniment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium</span> Consortium of broadcasters that aired 2010 and 2012 Olympic coverage

Established in 2007, Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium was a joint venture set up by Canadian media companies Bell Media and Rogers Media to produce the Canadian broadcasts of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England, as well as the two corresponding Paralympic Games. Bell owned 80% of the joint venture, and Rogers owned 20%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global News</span> Canadian news network, division of Global Television Network

Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and-operated stations.

Landscape Artist of the Year Canada is a Canadian reality competition series, which premiered in 2020 on Makeful and CBC Gem. An adaptation of the British series Landscape Artist of the Year, the series featured Canadian artists, both amateur and professional, competing to produce the best landscape paintings of scenes in Canadian nature.

References

  1. ↑ "Lee: An arteest with a capital A". The Province , January 6, 1995.
  2. ↑ "Too cool for Toronto: Vancouver's Sook-Yin Lee took a look at her life after Sept. 11 -- and came home". Vancouver Sun , December 8, 2001.
  3. ↑ "Much less to hear on MuchMusic: Thin and not edgy, aside from The Wedge, playlists point out the station's shortcomings". Montreal Gazette , December 20, 2001.
  4. 1 2 3 "Fans rejoice as serious music returns to Much: RapCity and The Wedge return with respected hosts at the helm". Toronto Star , January 20, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Toast to the hosts; MuchMusic's new VJs couldn't be any more different". National Post , January 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Big changes at MTV, Much as Bell Media makes deep cuts to production staff" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine . Edmonton Journal , July 10, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.