New to CBC Gem in January 2024

New unscripted comedy GHOSTING WITH LUKE HUTCHIE AND MATTHEW FINLAN (Jan. 26) follows two actors known for their work in the horror genre as they step off script and venture into some of Ontario’s most haunted places

New point-of-view docuseries FOR THE CULTURE WITH AMANDA PARRIS (Jan. 30) showcases urgent and provocative conversations that centre Blackness and Black folks

January kicks off CBC’s winter slate, with the premieres of new CBC original series including workplace comedy ONE MORE TIME (Jan. 9) and crime-solving procedural with a comedic twist WILD CARDS (Jan. 10), and the return of comedy hits RUN THE BURBS (Jan. 9) and SON OF A CRITCH (Jan. 9), as well as character-driven docuseries BOLLYWED (Jan. 14) and PUSH (Jan. 14) and the debut of new hosts Sarika Cullis-Suzuki and Anthony Morgan on THE NATURE OF THINGS (Jan. 4)

Ring in the new year with laughs on the CBC Comedy FAST channel with full-day marathons of SCHITT’S CREEK (Jan. 1-5), RUN THE BURBS (Jan. 6) and SON OF A CRITCH (Jan. 7), available on CBC Gem, LG Channels, The Roku Channel and Samsung TV Plus

International series include the exclusive Canadian premieres of Australian series SUMMER LOVE (Jan. 12), a romance-driven anthology, and haunting comedy IN LIMBO (Jan. 24), as well as Season 4 of YOUNGER (Jan. 3) from creator Darren Star (Sex and the City); police procedural DI RAY (Jan. 5) starring Parminder Nagra (Bend it Like Beckham, ER); and critically acclaimed Australian hit comedy COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS (Jan. 17) 

Documentary features include SATAN WANTS YOU (Jan. 7), delving into the satanic panic phenomenon; stranger-than-fiction portrait THE MAN WHO STOLE EINSTEIN’S BRAIN (Jan. 21); and COVEN (Jan. 28), exploring what it means to identify as a witch in today’s world

Feature films include buddy comedy BOOKSMART (Jan. 1) starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever; award-winning Canadian drama SCARBOROUGH (Jan. 5) adapted by Catherine Hernandez from her novel; popular comedy-drama MENTEUR (COMPULSIVE LIAR) (Jan. 19); and Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winning-drama 120 BPM (Jan. 26)

CBC Gem is Canada’s streaming service, offering more than 6500 hours of live and on-demand Canadian programming and a curated selection of acclaimed, best-in-class content from around the world, including more than 800 documentaries, 500 hours of ad-free content for kids and tweens, and a collection of over 200 Canadian feature films. CBC Gem is available free as an app for iOS and Android devices and online at CBCGem.ca, and on TV screens via Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Google/Android TV and Xbox. 

For screening links or more information about any of the titles, please contact Tanya Koivusalo at tanya.koivusalo@cbc.ca. Note: This schedule is subject to change.

For images from CBC Gem titles, click here. Please credit Courtesy of CBC Gem.

CBC ORIGINALS 

GHOSTING WITH LUKE HUTCHIE AND MATTHEW FINLAN (8x30, Comedy, Blue Ant Studios and Luke Hutchie Productions) 

Begins streaming Friday, January 26 

This new unscripted comedy series follows Hutchie (EZRA) and Finlan (Orphan: First Kill, EZRA), two actors known exclusively for their work in the horror genre, as they step off script and into their own real-life thriller on their quest to discover if Canada’s most haunted places are truly haunted. Joined by a celebrity special guest each episode, Hutchie and Finlan put their fictional survival skills to the test in the very real world of ghost busting, hoping to reach a final verdict of ‘haunted’ or ‘not’.

FOR THE CULTURE WITH AMANDA PARRIS (6x60, POV Docuseries, CBC Unscripted)

Begins streaming Tuesday, January 30 

In this point-of-view documentary series, award-winning writer, executive producer and host Amanda Parris leaves the wars raging on social media to create space for urgent and provocative conversations that centre Blackness and Black folks. Travelling to where the stories are, she’ll talk with cultural leaders, activists, scholars and everyday people - including writer and producer Larry Wilmore, best-selling author Bolu Babalola, comedian Gina Yashere and the “Robin Hood of Restitution” Mwazulu Diyabanza - about topics such as reparations, Black maternal health, the business of Black hair and more. Each episode will make transnational connections and push the conversation beyond the hashtags. Mixing travel, in-depth interviews and abbreviated history lessons, FOR THE CULTURE brings the conversations that have been taking place in the margins, and centres them in an insightful and entertaining way. 

ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL SERIES

YOUNGER Season 4 (12x30, Comedy/Drama, Hudson Street Productions, USA) 

Begins streaming Wednesday, January 3  

Liza (Sutton Foster, Bunheads) is picking up the pieces of her shattered relationships. After a revelation three seasons in the making, her future at Empirical Publishing is hanging in the balance with Kelsey (Hilary Duff, How I Met Your Father). Meanwhile, Kelsey is surprisingly entwined with Josh (Nico Tortorella, The Walking Dead: World Beyond) – both finding solace in their shared betrayal. As Liza draws closer to Charles (Peter Hermann, Blue Bloods), her desire to stop lying to the people she loves slips further and further away.

DI RAY (4x60, Drama, Hat Trick Mercurio, UK) 

Begins streaming Friday, January 5 

When DI Rachita Ray (Parminder Nagra, Bend it Like Beckham, ER), a British Asian policewoman new to homicide, is assigned to investigate the suspected honour killing of a young Muslim man, she quickly realizes the suspects can’t be guilty. The evidence against the two brothers from a British Hindu family is flimsy at best. Her attempts at conveying this to her superiors and her colleagues fall on deaf ears, hidden biases and a keenness to wrap the case up mean no one is listening to her. That is until her probing leads the team to a much more sinister crime. In this four-part drama, DI Ray goes on a journey that sees her uncover a complex web of deceit within organized crime, while laying bare the wounds deep within herself that she’s spent a lifetime ignoring. Wounds that are born from a desperate desire to ‘fit in’, despite not looking the part.

“A police procedural with a fresh perspective”

Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

SUMMER LOVE (8x30, Comedy/Drama, Gristmill, Australia)

Begins streaming Friday, January 12

*Exclusive Canadian Premiere* 

SUMMER LOVE is an anthology series in which eight very different sets of people rent the same holiday house and encounter some incarnation of love; it harnesses the collision between the dreamy enchantment of the beach and the clumsy reality of humans on holiday. Funny and uplifting, the series captures the anonymity, the possibility, the escape that we all feel on vacation - alongside the sunburn and the sand in the sheets. The house, hanging over the ocean, is the portal for love - to be discovered, or recovered, or let go. Nominated for Best Comedy Program at the 2022 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards.

“hilarious new ABC series”

Clare Rigden, The West Australian

COLIN FROM ACCOUNTS (8x30, Comedy, Easy Tiger and CBS Studios, Australia) 

Begins streaming Wednesday, January 17 

Centred on Ashley and Gordon, two single-ish, complex humans who are brought together by a car accident and an injured dog. Flawed, funny people choosing each other and being brave enough to show their true self, scars and all, as they navigate life together. Created by and starring Patrick Brammall (Glitch, Evil) and Harriet Dyer (The Invisible Man, No Activity). 

***** "unfailingly funny, perfectly acted Australian sitcom"

Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

IN LIMBO (6x30, Comedy, Bunya Productions/ Heiress Films, Australia)

Begins streaming Wednesday, January 24 

*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*

When Charlie’s (Ryan Corr) best friend, Nate (Bob Morley), dies at just 38, Charlie is forced to face his grief in a way he could never have imagined, when the ghost of his dead friend begins ‘haunting’ him. There are no levitating tables or flying books, but confronting the spectre of loss is the scariest thing Charlie’s ever done. The only comfort is that he’s facing it with his charming, witty and garrulous best mate by his side – albeit in apparition form.

**** “cleverly calibrated series”

Debi Enker, The Sydney Morning Herald

DOCUMENTARY FEATURES

SATAN WANTS YOU (88 min., a documentary Channel original, directed by Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams, Canada) 

Begins streaming Sunday, January 7

During the 1980s and ‘90s the world was gripped by the cultural hysteria known as the Satanic Panic. Ignited by Michelle Remembers, a lurid memoir by psychiatrist Larry Pazder and his patient Michelle Smith, rumours of “Satanic Ritual Abuse” spread through panic-stricken communities worldwide. Although Dr. Pazder’s methodology relied on controversial recovered-memory therapy to expose Michelle’s childhood abduction by baby-stealing satanists, the book became a bestseller and left a wave of destruction and wrongful convictions in its wake. 

In the feature documentary SATAN WANTS YOU, filmmakers Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams dive deep into the untold story of how Dr. Pazder and Michelle Smith became international sensations, supported by the Catholic Church and amplified by law enforcement and America’s Daytime TV boom. The film features shocking, never-before-heard audio recordings of the pair’s original therapy sessions and interviews with a high priestess of the Church of Satan, a Wiccan police detective, an FBI ‘Mind Hunter’ as well as the devastated families of both Michelle and Lawrence. SATAN WANTS YOU is a compelling investigation into the roots of moral panics, cult conspiracies, and the making of contemporary legends, revealing how these events still impact and distort our reality to this day.

THE MAN WHO STOLE EINSTEIN’S BRAIN (78 min., a documentary Channel original, directed by Michelle Shephard, Canada) 

Begins streaming Sunday, January 21

He believes it will solve the mystery of genius. He thinks it will make him a scientific star. But the decision will haunt the rest of his life. THE MAN WHO STOLE EINSTEIN’S BRAIN tells the little-known and bizarre story of Dr. Thomas Stoltz Harvey. In April 1955, Harvey is the chief pathologist of Princeton Hospital who steals the brain from Albert Einstein’s corpse while performing the autopsy on the world’s most famous scientist. While Einstein’s family demands the brain be returned, the ambitious Harvey strikes a secret deal with the estate to safeguard it for science - but science is not yet up to the job and Harvey can never outrun the power of Einstein’s celebrity. After cutting the brain into 240 pieces, he spends the next half century hiding it in basements, car trunks, and cardboard boxes, while his personal and professional lives crumble. He loses his job, three marriages fail and by his 80s, he’s working the night shift at a plastics factory to get by -- with Einstein’s brain in the closet. Quirky and poignant, this stranger-than-fiction portrait features a rich archive, interviews with those who knew Harvey best, and rare access to Harvey’s own recorded words.

COVEN (88 min., a documentary Channel original, directed by Rama Rau, Canada) 

Begins streaming Sunday, January 28

Three millennial women explore what it means to identify as a witch in today’s world, and set out to discover if the rituals, lore, and sacred places of their ancestors can help them channel their gifts, confront their obstacles, and claim their power. 

FEATURE FILMS

BOOKSMART (102 min., Comedy, directed by Olivia Wilde, USA) 

Begins streaming Monday, January 1 

On graduation eve, best friends Amy and Molly realize they may have missed out. To make up for lost time, they cram four years of not-to-be missed fun into one night. Starring Beanie Feldstein (Ladybird, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising), Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable, Justified) and Jessica Williams (Shrinking, Love Life).

SCARBOROUGH (136 min., Drama, directed by Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson, Canada)

Begins streaming Friday, January 5

Adapted by Catherine Hernandez from her award-winning novel, SCARBOROUGH explores the struggles, endurance, and resilience of this culturally diverse Toronto community through the lives of three kids growing up within a system that has set them up for failure. Filmed on location in the Kingston-Galloway/West Hill neighbourhood, SCARBOROUGH takes place over the course of a school year. The film received its world premiere at TIFF 2021 where Rich Williamson and Shasha Nakhai won the Shawn Mendes Foundation Changemaker Award. Winner of Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Casting at the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards. 

MENTEUR (COMPULSIVE LIAR) (111 min., Comedy/Drama, directed by Émile Gaudreault, Canada)

Begins streaming Friday, January 19 

Simon is a compulsive liar. To his surprise, his family, friends and colleagues send him a collective ultimatum: He must learn to tell the truth. But Simon lives in denial and ends up telling one lie too much, provoking an exceptional situation: All the lies he has told in his life become reality. Disasters follow one after the other to his dismay, and with the help of his twin brother and a new colleague, he will have to find a way to get out of this nightmare.

120 BPM (144 min., Drama, directed by Robin Campillo, France)

Begins streaming Friday, January 26 

Early 1990s. With AIDS having already claimed countless lives for nearly ten years, Act Up-Paris activists multiply actions to fight indifference. Nathan, a newcomer to the group, has his world shaken up by Sean, a radical militant. The film received its world premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival where it won critical acclaim and four awards including the Grand Prix. Winner of six César Awards including Best Film.

“raw and riveting film”

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

HOLIDAY 

More information about CBC’s holiday programming lineup is available here and new CBC Gem holiday specials here. 

GHOSTS Season 5: Christmas Special (1x60, Comedy, Monumental Television/Them There, UK) 

Begins streaming Tuesday, December 26

It’s coming up to Christmas and Mike’s mum is staying. Betty wants to be helpful but it isn’t long before she is driving Mike and Alison round the bend. Betty has overstayed her welcome but Alison and Mike don’t quite have the heart to tell her. Just as she decides to leave of her own volition, Betty suspects something is terribly wrong at Button House. She adopts extreme measures to make the house safe and in doing so endangers the resident Ghosts – will they come out of this unscathed?

LIFESTYLE

GRAND DESIGNS AUSTRALIA Season 10 (B) (8x60, Lifestyle, Fremantle Australia, Australia)

Begins streaming Monday, January 1 

*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*

Peter Maddison takes us all over Australia to meet the people building this brand-new season. Expect even more amazing, inspirational architecture and dogged determination on the journeys of ambitious Australians designing and building their own dream homes, in this 10th season.

ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY Season 30 (A1) (14x60, Lifestyle, Naked Television, UK) 

Begins streaming Wednesday, January 10

*Canadian Premiere*

When homeowners are reviewing their quality of life and questioning the need to live in expensive and polluted urban spaces, ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY’s satisfying journeys of rural property searches and lifestyle changes have never felt more relevant. Having been on screen for twenty years, this heritage brand now focuses on escaping to the countryside in its broadest sense, presenting practical lifestyle content and constructive suggestions for the viewer, all the while capturing the seasonal beauty of the British landscape. A warm and knowledgeable cast of presenters helps a broad range of property hunters with differing budgets and wish lists.

KIDS 

DINO RANCH Season 3 (26x22, Kids Animation, Industrial Brothers and Boat Rocker Studios, Canada)

Begins streaming Saturday, January 6

In the third season of this CBC Kids original animated series, the Dino Ranchers and their dinosaurs take care of their home and herds with creative problem solving and the support of their family.

THE BEST OF CBC

The Canadian streaming home of hit CBC original series including THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW, HEARTLAND, KIM’S CONVENIENCE, MURDOCH MYSTERIES, SCHITT’S CREEK and WORKIN’ MOMS, plus BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW, BLACKBERRY, BONES OF CROWS, MR. D, PRETTY HARD CASES, THE PORTER, RUN THE BURBS, SKYMED, SON OF A CRITCH, SORT OF, STILL STANDING and TALLBOYZ, and classic CBC hits like BEING ERICA. 

COMING IN FEBRUARY
 

BELGRAVIA: THE NEXT CHAPTER

BLUE VALENTINE

MY MUM YOUR DAD

ON THE LINE: THE RICHARD WILLIAMS STORY

POKER FACE