U8TV: The Lofters

Last updated
U8TV: The Lofters
GenreReality
Created by Zev Shalev
StarringSeason One:
Mathieu Chantelois
Arisa Cox
Valéry Gagné
Kalen Haymen
Jennifer Hedger
David Keystone
Sandy Medeiros
Trevor "Tre" Smith
Season Two:
Heather Basciano
Danny Crowder
Dan Fraleigh
Annie Guillo
Carolyn Jarvis
Donnie "Chico" Ruiz
Jason Ruta
Tonya Thongs
Country of originCanada
No. of seasons2
Production
Executive producerZev Shalev
Original release
Network Life Network
U8TV.com
Release2001 (2001) –
2002 (2002)
Related
So Gay TV

U8TV: The Lofters is a Canadian reality television series, which aired on the Life Network and online on the internet television channel U8TV.com, in 2001 and 2002. It was created by Zev Shalev, Lili Shalev-Shawn and Fiorella Grossi, its co-founders and executive producers. [1] The show followed the lives of eight Canadians in their 20s who lived together in a Toronto loft for a one-year period, while at the same time producing and hosting their own television programs for Life Network or other cable TV networks, and for the website U8TV.com. [2]

Contents

It followed up on a project that Shalev had spearheaded during his time as producer of Canada AM in the 1990s, in which a man and a woman were confined to a loft for one week to test how well they would get by with only a credit card and the Internet for contact with the outside world. [3]

Format

The loft, located in the Entertainment District near the intersection of Peter and Richmond streets in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, had 21 cameras filming 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in all rooms of the house including the bathrooms, although the bathroom camera was only broadcast if Lofters went in there to talk. The full live stream could be viewed at U8TV.com, while Life Network broadcast a nightly episode to recap the day's highlights. [1]

The show was not only a fly-on-the-wall-style reality show like MTV's The Real World , but was also a nightly series of talk shows and documentaries that were created and hosted by the cast members. The online shows or TV shows produced by the Lofters included Fuel, So Gay TV , Male Box, Spin the Bottle, Love Shack, Money Shot, U8 on Film and House Party. The shows had regular weekly time slots and were hosted regularly by one or two lofters, and usually centred on themes of interest to young people. [4]

The program was announced in fall 2000, with over 700 people showing up for scheduled auditions that fall. [1] It premiered in January 2001. [1]

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission approved a licence for a U8TV Category 2 digital television channel in 2000, [5] but the channel was never launched.

Season One: 2001

The Lofters in Season One were:

In the original auditions, Chantelois and Hedger schemed to stand out from the crowd by making out for the cameras even though both were in relationships with other people and Chantelois was gay. [7]

Tre Smith was a last minute replacement when original lofter Marc left the show over the phone in the first episode. Cast members Kalen and Valery left the show early, before completing their full year in the loft. [8] Other notable events of Season One included Cox meeting a half-sister she never knew, gay issues being addressed by Chantelois (including grilling Allan Rock, the federal health minister, on the issue of blood donation by gay men), an episode in which the lofters view and discuss the events of the September 11 attacks, a minor scandal when two lofters baked a birthday cake for a third in which they pretended to add urine to the recipe, [9] and a number of angry spats between Hedger and Keystone.

Season Two: 2002

Season Two had extensive auditions and various combinations of possible lofters were sent into the house for trial runs to see which candidates had the right chemistry. The auditions were shown early on in Season Two. The lofters who began Season Two, premiering in January 2002, were:

In the second season, the show moved towards more of a Big Brother -style format when a new twist was added to the show. Every ten weeks, the producers would select two Lofters whose hosting skills were sub-par or who didn't share enough of their lives, and nominate them for eviction. [8] Fans of the show could then go to U8TV.com and vote for the Lofter they wanted to evict. The first and only occurrence of the twist saw Jason Ruta and Annie Guillo nominated for eviction. Fans voted Ruta off the show, [10] and he was replaced by Stephen MacDonald. [11]

Haymen reappeared on several occasions during Season Two, as he was dating Guillo.

Cancellation

Mid-way through the second season, the show was cancelled in June 2002. [12] Although the show's ratings on television were strong, the production costs associated with streaming live video over the internet were too high at the time for the show and online TV channel to survive. [13]

Post-show careers

A few former lofters have gone on to successful television gigs, most notably Season One's Jennifer Hedger who is now an anchor on TSN's popular SportsCentre (and in this role made an appearance on the sitcom Corner Gas ). David Keystone became the host of Corus Entertainment's cooking competition series Cook'd on YTV. Mathieu Chantelois has hosted programming for OutTV and went on to become executive director of Pride Toronto, while Sandy Medeiros has appeared as a guest judge on MuchMusic's Video On Trial .

Season Two's Carolyn Jarvis became a news anchor for Global's newsmagazine series 16x9 , after having worked as a meteorologist for The Weather Network and a television news anchor for several local stations. Season One's Arisa Cox and Season Two's Jason Ruta were co-hosts of E! Canada's E! News Weekend; [14] following that show's cancellation Cox became lead entertainment reporter for CBC News, and was later the host of Big Brother Canada until its cancellation in 2024. [15]

Season One's Trevor Smith became the lead animal cruelty investigator for the Toronto Humane Society and made headlines for his rescue of a dying Rottweiler locked in a car. [16] Smith went on to be the face and spokesperson for the animal welfare movement and was a frequent guest on CP24's Animal Housecalls and other TV and radio shows promoting animal welfare.

U8TV co-creator and executive producer Zev Shalev joined television station CKXT-TV ("Toronto 1") as producer of its nightly news. [17] After the station cancelled its news programming in 2005, he moved to the Global Television Network to become the founding producer of Entertainment Tonight Canada . [18] By 2008 he held the senior role of vice-president of strategic programming and senior executive producer of information and entertainment programming for all CanWest Media broadcast properties, [19] when he left that role to become producer of The Early Show for CBS in the United States. [20]

Related Research Articles

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

CITY-DT, branded as Citytv Toronto or simply Citytv, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Cushing</span> Canadian celebrity chef

Christine Cushing is a Canadian celebrity chef and television program host. Her television debut took place in May 1998 when she was working at a small food company and a TV producer approached her, asking her to audition for one of his new shows. She hosted Christine Cushing Live and Dish It Out on Food Network Canada, and Fearless in the Kitchen on the Oprah Winfrey network in Canada.

Midday is a newsmagazine television program broadcast on CBC Television, which ran from January 7, 1985 to June 30, 2000, replacing local noon-hour newscasts on CBC stations. The program, which aired from noon to 1 p.m. on weekday afternoons, presented a mix of news, lifestyle and entertainment features.

Christine Moya McGlade is a Canadian digital designer and strategist, executive, and professor, as well as a former television producer, and children's television host.

ET Canada is a Canadian entertainment news television series, using the same format as the American entertainment newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight. ET Canada was a broadcast show that aired back-to-back with the American version on most of Global's stations.

<i>E! News</i> American entertainment news operation

E! News, previously known as E! News Daily and E! News Live, is the entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and primarily reports on celebrity news and gossip, along with previews of upcoming films and television shows, regular segments about all of those three subjects, along with overall film and television industry news.

COVERguy is a six-part Canadian television series created and produced by Giant Productions, hosted by Mathieu Chantelois broadcast on OUTtv in 2005. Thirty aspiring male models compete for $1000 cash, a fashion photoshoot, a one-year membership to Goodlife Fitness Club and the front cover of abOUT magazine. Chantelois is accompanied by celebrity stylist Maha Rishi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mathieu Chantelois</span> Canadian television personality, journalist, magazine editor, and marketing executive

Mathieu Chantelois is a Canadian television personality, journalist, magazine editor, and marketing executive.

So Gay TV is a Canadian television talk show, which aired on PrideVision in the early 2000s. Hosted in its first season by Mathieu Chantelois and in its second season by Jason Ruta, the program originally aired in 2001 as an Internet television series connected to U8TV: The Lofters, and was picked up by PrideVision after that network's launch. The series ended in 2002 after the cancellation of The Lofters, although it continued to air in repeats on PrideVision.

<i>So You Think You Can Dance Canada</i> 2008 Canadian TV series or program

So You Think You Can Dance Canada is a dance competition and reality show that aired on CTV.

Arisa Cox is a Canadian television and radio personality, best known as the host of Big Brother Canada. Cox was born in Toronto, Ontario.

Jason Ruta is a Canadian television personality and actor.

<i>Big Brother Canada</i> Canadian reality television series

Big Brother Canada is a Canadian television reality game show based on the Dutch reality show of the same name, which was part of the wider Big Brother franchise. The first season of the series premiered on February 27, 2013, on Slice. From the third season, the show aired on Global until the twelfth and final season ended on May 8, 2024. The series is produced by Endemol and Insight Productions. It is hosted by Arisa Cox, who is concurrently an executive producer starting from the ninth season.

Canada's Got Talent (CGT) is a Canadian television reality talent show, which debuted on the Citytv network on March 4, 2012. It is part of the global Got Talent franchise.

Trevor (Tre) Smith is a Canadian former television personality, best known for his role in the reality television series U8TV: The Lofters. Prior to appearing on The Lofters, Smith was a child actor, whose credits included regular roles in the CBC Television shows Spirit Bay and 9B.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Hedger</span> Canadian television personality

Jennifer Frances Hedger is a right-wing Canadian television personality and the co-host of TSN's nightly sports news program SportsCentre.

<i>The Great Canadian Baking Show</i> Canadian television series

The Great Canadian Baking Show is a Canadian cooking competition television series which premiered on CBC Television on November 1, 2017. It is an adaptation of the U.K. series The Great British Bake Off, which is aired in Canada under the title The Great British Baking Show.

<i>Big Brother Canada</i> season 8 Season of television series

Big Brother Canada 8 is the eighth season of the Canadian reality television series Big Brother Canada. It is based on the Dutch series of the same name, which gained notoriety in 1999 and 2000. Arisa Cox returned as the host for the series. The season premiered with a two-night premiere on March 4–5, 2020, on Global and was expected to end on May 21 with the live finale. Preceding the two-night premiere, on March 1, there was a one hour long event, titled Big Brother Canada's Supersized Season 8 Preview with ET Canada, which featured interviews with the entire cast, an exclusive tour of the house with Arisa Cox, a retrospective on the past seven seasons, and the official reveal of the season's supersized theme.

<i>Big Brother Canada</i> season 10 Season of television series

Big Brother Canada 10 is the tenth season of the Canadian reality television series Big Brother Canada. The series began filming on February 26, 2022, and premiered on March 2, 2022, on Global. Hosted by Arisa Cox, the show revolved around sixteen contestants, who volunteered to reside in a house under constant surveillance and without any communication with the outside world as they compete to win a grand prize of CA$100,000.

Zev Shalev is an Israeli-South African television producer, who has worked predominantly in Canada and the United States. He is most noted as the creator of the Canadian reality television series U8TV: The Lofters.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Lofty experiment for young TV hosts: Cast of U8TV will live, work for a year in front of the cameras". Ottawa Citizen , January 10, 2001.
  2. ↑ "Alliance has lofty idea for reality show". Kingston Whig-Standard , August 30, 2000.
  3. ↑ Andrew Flynn, "A guy, a girl and a computer: Two strangers see if they can survive with only the Internet and a credit card". St. Catharines Standard , November 25, 1999.
  4. ↑ "U8TV.com announces new fall shows". The Telegram , August 29, 2001.
  5. ↑ "Internet loft dwellers plan to sell product placement advertising". National Post , January 16, 2001.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The loft life: Eight hip cats on the prowl for fame: TV show begins Monday". National Post , January 10, 2001.
  7. ↑ "A reality show kicked off his career". Toronto Star , June 19, 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "M8, H8 & CRE8 on U8TV; Eight fresh faces ready to be taped, watched and talked about 24/7". Toronto Star , January 8, 2002.
  9. ↑ "New lofters cast move into home for the season". Kingston Whig-Standard , January 8, 2002.
  10. ↑ "Record number of voters force Calgary man off show". Calgary Herald , March 23, 2002.
  11. ↑ "New lofter has lofty ideas". The Province , April 14, 2002.
  12. ↑ "The Lofters lose their TV perch". The Globe and Mail , May 20, 2002.
  13. ↑ "The Lofters shown the door". Calgary Herald , June 19, 2002.
  14. ↑ Ben Kaplan, "Less chalk and cheese, more steak and eggs; Jason Ruta and Arisa Cox took two very different paths to end up at the same spot, and they couldn't be happier about it". National Post , December 13, 2008.
  15. ↑ Alex Nino Gheciu, "‘Big Brother Canada’ host Arisa Cox ‘heartbroken’ by show’s cancellation". Toronto Star , June 27, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Did dog rescuer go too far?". Toronto Star , August 16, 2007.
  17. ↑ Murray Whyte, "Pop goes the news; Zev Shalev, the brain behind Toronto 1's current affairs shows, admits to being celebrity obsessed 'I cried at the end of Joe Millionaire. The ranch, the horse, it was all so beautiful,' he tells Murray Whyte". Toronto Star , December 20, 2003.
  18. ↑ "New producer and program for Global". National Post , May 19, 2005.
  19. ↑ Alex Bozikovic, "Deals and moves in Canadian arts". The Globe and Mail , March 17, 2008.
  20. ↑ "The Zen Art of Early Show's Zev Shalev". New York Observer . Observer.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
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.