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Pic from The Gemini Awards Site

Canada.com 11/5/06: Tom McCamus

Slings & Arrows takes home six Geminis
Published: Sunday, November 05, 2006

* * * * VANCOUVER - Slings & Arrows, an eccentric ensemble drama about the behind-the-scenes goings-on of a struggling Shakespearean theatre troupe in the fictional Ontario town of New Burbage, went triumphantly into the good night Saturday at the 21st Annual Gemini Awards with a clean sweep at Canadian television's top awards, winning for best drama, actor, actress, writing and directing.

Global National's Kevin Newman won the Gemini for best news anchor, for the second consecutive year.

And Corner Gas, Brent Butt's gentle fable about the denizens of a small Prairie town, won the Gemini for best comedy, also for the second consecutive year.

In all, Slings & Arrows won a field-leading six Geminis. Writer-actor Mark McKinney walked away with three Gemini awards, two for Slings & Arrows, which he co-wrote with Susan Coyne and Bob Martin, and one for Robson Arms, in which he won a Gemini for best acting in a comedy.

One Dead Indian, Andrew Wreggitt and Hugh Graham's fictionalized drama based on the 1995 Ipperwash Crisis outside Sarnia, Ont., and the death of Dudley George, won a pair of Geminis, for writing and directing. Wreggitt and Graham won for writing, Tim Southam for directing.

Ironically, One Dead Indian did not win the Gemini for best made-for-television movie. That award went to Hunt for Justice: The Louise Arbour Story.

A pair of sport-related true-life docudramas won acting awards for their lead performers.

Tom McCamus won a Gemini for his affecting portrait of Walter Gretzky and Gretzky's fight to recover after a debilitating aneurysm in Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story.

And Wendy Crewson won the Gemini for playing the wife of CFL Hall-of-Famer Terry Evanshen in the made-for-TV movie The Man Who Lost Himself, based on Evanshen's battle to recover his memory after a car crash.

The National Film Board's House Calls, about the hidden social implications of an aging society, won the Donald Brittain Award for social-political programming.

And CityLine's Marilyn Denis won the Viewers' Choice Award, which was decided by an online poll of TV viewers from across Canada.

It was a good night for Canada's private broadcasters, as most of the top awards went to CTV (Corner Gas, One Dead Indian, The Man Who Lost Himself) and The Movie Network and Movie Central (Slings & Arrows).

It was not altogether a disappointing night for CBC-TV, however.

The once-dominant public broadcaster walked away with Geminis for best comedy ensemble, for This Hour Has 22 Minutes; best comedy writing, Mary Walsh for Hatching, Matching & Dispatching; and for best sports host/interviewer, Ron MacLean.

CBC dominated last month's news and documentary awards.

The Geminis are awarded each year to the best in Canadian television, as decided by voting members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

astrachan@canwest.com

21st ANNUAL GEMINI AWARDS

Winners at the 21st Annual Gemini Awards from Saturday:

- Best Dramatic Mini-Series Human Trafficking

- Best Dramatic Series Slings & Arrows

- Best Comedy Program or Series Corner Gas

- Best News Anchor Kevin Newman, Global National

- Donald Brittain Award for Social/Political Documentary Program House Calls

- Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries Tim Southam, One Dead Indian

- Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries Andrew Wreggitt, Hugh Graham, One Dead Indian

- Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series Mary Walsh, Ed MacDonald, Hatching, Matching & Dispatching

- Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Dramatic Program or Miniseries Tom McCamus, Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story

- Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Dramatic Program or Miniseries Wendy Crewson, The Man Who Lost Himself

- Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Mark McKinney, Slings & Arrows

- Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Martha Burns, Slings & Arrows

- Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series Cathy Jones, Gavin Crawford, Mark Critch, Shaun Majumder, This Hour Has 22 Minutes

- Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast Ron MacLean, Hockey Day in Canada

- Viewers' Choice Award Marilyn Denis, Cityline

© Canada.com

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