The producers and stars of Flashpoint pose with the Gemini for best drama series in Calgary on Saturday. (Larry Macdougal/Canadian Press)Canada's Gemini Awards touched down in Calgary on Saturday night, with the slick Toronto-set cop drama Flashpoint the evening's big winner.
The police drama nabbed a trio of trophies at the annual celebration of Canadian English-language TV: best drama, best director for Kelly Makin, and best actor in a continuing drama for Enrico Colantoni, who stars as the leader of the show's elite police tactical unit.
Producer Anne Marie La Traverse thanked the show's growing fan base.
"Every week the numbers have been creeping up and we've been awed by [your] loyalty," she said on stage. "This is why we make television, it's for you guys, first and foremost."
The fast-paced CTV show, a co-production shown in Canada and the U.S. (on CBS), earned a record 19 nominations overall this year and won three awards at October's non-televised galas in Toronto, where the majority of the Geminis were presented.
CBC-TV shows picked up prizes in several prominent categories, with hit satire Rick Mercer Report winning for best comedy and Dragons' Den for best reality series.
Erin Karpluk won the Gemini for best actress in a continuing leading dramatic role for her work in Being Erica. (Larry Macdougal/Canadian Press)"Wow a Gemini and I shook hands with the guy from Glee. Whaaaaaa!" Mercer quipped. "It's a huge honour accepting a Gemini, especially wearing my producer's hat."
Also, Jasper, Alta.'s Erin Karpluk won best actress in a continuing drama for her starring role in CBC-TV's Being Erica.
"[This show] has been the most incredible experience of my life," Karpluk said after taking the stage. "It's really great to receive this in my home province."
Cancelled comedy takes Gemini
It was a bittersweet night, however, for the quirky CMT comedy Three Chords from the Truth, which won best comedy ensemble performance but was cancelled after 10 episodes.
"Canada's greatest export is comedy. It is, that's just a fact," actor Paul Snepsts said after the troupe accepted their Gemini. "Celebrate it, keep supporting it."
CBC-TV's George Stroumboulopoulos added his second consecutive best talk show host Gemini to the one he picked up last month when The Hour was named best talk series.
"It's an honour and it's a privilege to be able to make television in the country that you live in and the country that you love," Stroumboulopoulos said.
Leah Miller, host of the first season of CTV's reality dance competition So You Think You Can Dance Canada, nabbed the Gemini for best performance or host in a variety program — matching the trophy the show won in October for best variety show.
Diana Swain of CBC News triumphed as best news anchor, beating CBC colleagues like Peter Mansbridge, Heather Hiscox and Janet Stewart as well as Global's Kevin Newman.
Tiger Spirit, a feature documentary exploring the issue of reunification of North and South Korea, won the Donald Brittain award for best social/political documentary program.
Other winners included:
- Dramatic miniseries: Burn Up.
- Lead actress in a dramatic program or miniseries: Christine Ghawi, Céline.
- Lead actor in a dramatic program or miniseries: David Suchet, Diverted.
- Supporting actor in a dramatic program or miniseries: Hugh Dillon, Of Murder and Memory.
- Supporting actress in a dramatic program or miniseries: Barbara Hershey, Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning.
- Writing in a comedy or variety program or series: Adam Reid, Max Reid, Billable Hours.
Two of this year's prominent nominees — the CBC historical co-production The Tudors and Citytv's dark and dysfunctional comedy Less Than Kind — ended the night without awards.
Canadian comedies, Peterson honoured
The evening also included a number of special tributes: for three Canadian comedy hits — Royal Canadian Air Farce, Trailer Park Boys and Corner Gas — which ended their runs in the past year, and for veteran actor Eric Peterson, the 2009 winner of the Earl Grey Award for his contribution to Canadian television.
Calgary welcomed the Geminis for the first time while veteran comedian Ron James made his debut as Gemini host for the 24th edition of the awards.
The Gemini Awards are administered by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
Cast members of the cancelled comedy Three Chords from the Truth, from left, Paul Snepsts, Jordan McClosky, Kevin Ellis, Phyllis Ellis, Steve Cochrane and George Komorowski, pose with their Gemini for best ensemble performance in a comedy series in Calgary on Saturday. (Todd Korol/Reuters)
