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Live Chat With Mr D’s Naoimi Sniekus at 7:00pm Eastern Standard Time

17 04 2013

Naoimi Sniekus has been leading a distinguished and diverse career in the Canadian entertainment industry.Indeed,she has written for various series such as Trish Stratus‘ Walk of Fame and Nelly Furtado’s The Junos.The experienced actress has also made appearances on a variety of prominent Canadian series such as Little Mosque on the Prairie, Ron James Show, Being Erica, Wingin’ It, as well as the popular children series  Cat in the Hat and Franklin where she voiced the role of aunt turtle.

Naomi has also created,written and acted in the web series, TheCastingRoom.biz.The actress has also appeared in the Martin Short Special, I MartinShort and won the CCA 2010 award for best female improviser.The extraordinary actress also serves as the founding member of the Canadian award winning troupe,The National Theatre of the World.com.

More recently,Naomi has been involved with CBC’S hit sitcom,Mr. D where for the past two seasons,she has been portraying the tough and authoritative yet highly respected gym teacher,Bobbi.

Join us today,from 7:00pm -8:00pm eastern standard time for a live question and answer session with the actress.YOU will have the chance to interact with the actress herself, through the comments section!

Viewers are invited to post  comments and questions about any aspect related to Naomi’s involvement with Mr. D such her experiences on the sets of the show,her reflections on her experiences in portraying Bobbi,any specific questions related to the storylines of the hit series and other relevant questions and/or comments.Questions related to Naomi’s previous work as well as her alternate,current projects are also welcomed and highly encouraged.

With the season finale of Mr.D airing tonight @ 8:00pm eastern standard  time on CBC and Naomi’s character continuing to play a prominent role in the show,it’s a great time and way for fans to interact with the delightful actress.

The comments section will open up shortly before the event @ approximately 6:45pm eastern standard time.In order to see Naoimi’s responses to the questions and to see what other readers are asking,be sure to refresh the page several times throughout the session.

Questions related to the event can be sent by e-mail @ blogmanagement@ymail.com. Live technical support during the event will be available on the blog’s Facebook page.We look forward to hosting this event!

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Interview With Mr D’S Lauren Hammersley

1 04 2013

Lisa Mason

Actress, Lauren  Hammersley  has been emerging as a distinguished and effective   actress within the Canadian entertainment industry.  Having appeared in various series such as Single White Spenny ,Hammersley brings her  talents and energy to the role of  the sweet and innocent  teacher,  Lisa  in CBC’S hit sitcom Mr. D.

With Mr. D progressing through  its second season,  I  connect with Lauren to discuss her experiences working on the show,  insights into the development of her character as well  as her perspective on  why the show has had such a strong resonance with viewers.

Read through the complete interview with Lauren below.

Abbas Karimjee:When Mr D first launched,  Lisa presented herself as a very nervous teacher starting at Xavier Academy. Do you feel the character has developed since then and how so?

Lauren Hammersley :Lisa is less nervous and a bit more aware of where she stands in the school and socially.  Unfortunately, the more she speaks out, the more everything blows up in her face.  Aw, poor Lisa.

 AK:How do you relate to the character of  Lisa?

 LH:Not very much, actually.  She’s very sweet and innocent – but I’m outspoken and can be inappropriate at the best of times.  Maybe her enthusiasm – I have a hard time hiding my excitement which makes it difficult to be ‘cool’ about anything.  Yes.  I’m not cool.  That’s what we have in common.  Thank you for reminding me, Abbas.

 AK:What  challenges  have been involved in portraying the role of Lisa?

LH:This is my first series, so there were a lot of learning curves.  I found it hard to feel funny as the ‘straight guy’ in a show surrounded by a lot of very talented comedians, but after watching it, I started to understand there was humor in Lisa’s straightness, in her ‘niceness’. When people are so mean to such a desperately nice character – it’s hilarious.

AK:Lisa attracted the attention of Gerry’s   roommate, Bill back in season 1 when he initially asked her on a date when they encountered each other at the school dance. Although she refused then , she recently showed  an interest in attending the poker game in   the episode,”Poker Night”   when she discovered Bill would be present. What do you think  is drawing  her to Bill and what are your  thoughts on the suitability of the two as a couple? What is your preference on this matter?

LH: I think Lisa needs to make some terrible life-altering decisions. Take her to the dark side: (rubs hands together maniacally) Yes…. she’ll like it there.

AK.What else is in store for Lisa and in the second season of Mr. D in general, with the season approaching its end?

LH: We’ll  have to wait and see, won’t we?  (I don’t think my NDA will let me tell you that)

AK:Lisa has a more tolerant   response to Gerry’s  antiques  than some of the other characters on the show.How would you describe the  two’s working relationship?

LH:. I think deep down Lisa admires Gerry’s caution to the wind approach to everything in life.  Secretly, I think she wishes she could be like that, even though he insults her 90% of the time.

AK: What are some of  your favorite moments from  Mr.D this season, either on-screen or off-screen?

LH:All of it.  I’m just so happy to be a part of it.  You can see why in our blooper reel:

AK:It has been previously reported that  Mr D brings attention  to the importance about under qualified teachers such as  the character of Gerry being responsible for educating today’s children about subjects which they know little about.  To what extent do to think Mr D raises awareness about this somewhat comical yet serious situation?

LH:  Hmmm… I haven’t seen those reports, but the majority of people who approach me to say they love the show are teachers.  I think it brings more of an awareness that teachers are humans.  Gerry’s playing a character of himself, in real life he was actually an awesome teacher (I’ve met a few of his past students and they’ve all said he was their favorite) and kids light up when they’re around him.  I’d imagine he is a bit of a hero to some in leaving a world of academia and pursue his dream of stand-up comedy.

 AK:Mr D has achieved record-breaking ratings on CBC  since the debut of CBC’S hit sitcom, Little Mosque on the Prairie with the series premiere earning a 1.3 million rating. Why do you think the show resonates with such a large audiences?

LH:I hope they watch because it’s a funny show, but I think it’s relatable as well.  Everyone has known at least one or more teachers they can relate to in Xavier Academy.

AK:.What message do you have for the fans of Mr. D?

 LH:You guys make the show – there wouldn’t be a show without you.  I know that sounds super cheesy and cliche, but it’s true.

AK:Are there any other acting projects you have been involved with, which you would like to share with  readers?

LH. No projects to speak of at the moment, but I do sell jewelry at http://www.etsy.com/shop/cheekyqueen.





Mr D Season 2 Episode 9 Preview- Poker Night

19 03 2013

209_poker_night

When Gerry comes across a down and out Daniel Negreanu (poker player), he orchestrates a staff poker night in order to get Daniel back on his feet[CBC]

How does Gerry encounter Daniel and will  this event actually  help Daniel get back on his feet?What  does he hope to achieve for himself by  arranging this poker night and how will the fellow staff of Xavier respond to the poker night?
 
 Take a look at the promo  video for this episode   on the show’s official Facebook page @https://www.facebook.com/CBCMrD and  report back to  share your thoughts, impressions  and speculations  in the comments section.
 
Be sure to watch this episode on Wednesday, March 20 @ 8:00pm eastern standard time on CBC.




Little Mosque on the Prairie – A Review

5 03 2013

Take a look at a feature I wrote  in relation to Little Mosque  on the Prairie’s impact on  Marilyn Gardner’s Communicating Across Boundaries  by following the link  enclosed below.

Little Mosque on the Prairie – A Review.

via Little Mosque on the Prairie – A Review.





Mr D Promo- Season 2 Episode 7[ The Date]

25 02 2013

CBC has released a preview of this week’s  episode of Mr D, The Date.  Take a look at the preview directly below and  share your predictions in the comments section. Be sure to tune in  for the episode on Wednesday @ 8;00pm eastern standard time on CBC.

Gerry and Jean’s date is interrupted, Leung’s makes an online video and Trudy regrets a decision.[TV Rage]

What is  Leung’s video about and how is it received?What decision does Trudy make and why does she  end up regretting it?





Mr D Season 2 Coverage Being Launched!

25 02 2013

Abbas Karimjee’s Weblog launches coverage of CBC’S hit sitcom, Mr. D

CBC’ s newest hit sitcom,Mr D follows under qualified middle school teacher, Gerry Dee as he attempts to handle educating   students in social studies despite only be qualified to teach Gym. The show revolves around the comical  mishaps  associated with Gerry’s incompetence  as  he interacts with  the students and fellow staff at  Xavier middle school. Interestingly, actor Gerry D  has over 9 years of  experience teaching at a private school.

Indeed from  rating his own teaching performance  on rate my teachers  to organizing overnight class field  trips  in order  to  see a sports game,  Mr, D will definitely bring about a few enjoyable laughs!

For further details on Mr. D, including the cast and crew as well as information  on past episodes please visit the official website @ www.cbc.ca/mrd.

Season 2 of Mr. D airs every Wednesday at 8:00pm eastern standard time on CBC . Stay tuned for promotional information regarding this  week’s episode.

Will you be following our coverage of the show?Drop us a line in the comments section.





Little Mosque’s Arlene Duncan Running For Toronto Broadway World Awards

16 12 2012

arleneArlene Duncan

Little Mosque on the Prairie viewers are highly encouraged to show their support for actress,Arlene Duncan [ Fatema Dinssah] who is currently in the running for the Broadway World award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.The actress is in the run for the award as a result of her work on the Tony Award winning musical, Caroline of Change,which made its debut last January.

In order to vote for Arlene, please click on the link below and follow the prompts to proceed through the voting process.

http://Toronto.BroadwayWorld.com/vote2012region.cfm#sthash.hBMsikPs.dpbs

Duncan discussed her involvement on the musical in an interview with the blog in April 2012.Specifically, she gave details on the premise.Read through the excerpt from the interview below and for the complete interview, visit  http://abbaskarimjeeweblog.com/2012/04/02/little-mosque-on-the-prairies-arlene-duncan-talks-about-the-series-wrap-up/

“Set in 1963, Caroline Thibodeaux is a maid to

a Southern Jewish family who does what she must to provide for

children while struggling to keep her sense of self, while the son of

her employer struggles to make sense of the world around him. It

has been quite a while since I’d been ‘on the boards’ performing

live on stage night after night”.[ Arlene Duncan  on Abbas Karimjee’s Weblog, April 2012]





Season 5 of Little Mosque on the Prairie Now Available on DVD

14 07 2012

Little Mosque on the Prairie: Complete Fifth Season

Viewers of Little Mosque on the Prairie should be excited to discover that the fifth season of the sitcom is now available for purchase through CBC’S Online Shop  for a current sale price of $25:99[CA]

 The fifth season of Little Mosque on the Prairie, which initially aired from January 2011- March 2011  featured  Amaar [Zaib Shaikh]and Rayyan’s [Sitara Hewitt]relationship  as an engaged couple and the challenges  involved  in the two’s relationship  which was observed in accordance to the Islamic faith,leading up to the  much anticipated wedding. Meanwhile Reverend William Thorne[ Brandon Firla] attempts to reform and build positive  relationships in the community  in various ways, including one of a romantic nature with  the town’s librarian, Rose. The season also brought forth special guest appearances by  cast members from  earlier seasons including Derek McGrath[ Reverend Duncan Magee] , Carlo Rota[ Yasir Hammoudi] and Aliza Vellani[ Layla Siddiqui].

 The  2 disc DVD  set features all 14 episodes as well as a bonus blooper. Additional features have been listed below, as seen on CBC’S  Online Shop.Shipping is typically expected within 3-4 days, however may vary somewhat depending on factors such as location .

-322 Minutes

- Closed Captioned

- 16:9 Widescreen

- 5.1 Dolby Digital

- Region 0

Will you be purchasing the fifth season of the show? Should you be watching for the first time, which particular story element are you the most excited to see unfold?  Share your response in the comments section, below.





Little Mosque to be Launched on Hulu

25 05 2012

An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy! (Log...

An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy! (Logo for Hulu). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  Indeed, those from the USA who have expressed a strong desire to see Little Mosque have finally had heard  their voices heard! The  hit CBC sitcom will  air as a summer series on Hulu .com and Huluplus.com.

 Little Mosque  will air with its series premiere on June 28.  A new episode will be released each following week  until Thursday , August 23, at which point the entire series will be available for viewing.

Further information on Little Mosque’s debut on  Hulu as well as the other summer series which the site will be offering can be found @http://www.hulu.com/watch/362933/hulu-summer-series-little-mosque.

Will you be watching  the show through  Hulu? What is your reaction to having the chance to watch Little Mosque this summer? Share your response in the comments section.





Happy Birthday to Us!

21 05 2012


Happy  Birthday to US!  Happy Birthday to US! Today, the blog celebrates  4 years of operation!

It’s hard to believe that it has already been four years since I first  opened this blog.When I first  started this site four years ago I was unsure of what it would become and   would not have believed  that I would be running it four years later. This site means so much to me and I have genuinely enjoyed running it and keeping readers informed about relevant subject matter. It has been a truly rewarding  experience and  provided enriching opportunities, which I never would have thought I would have. I am proud that this blog has been providing prominent coverage for thousands of readers each month on various television series which are of interest. Special thanks are extended to YOU the reader for supporting the blog through your continuous visits, comments and ongoing involvement in other interactive opportunities on the site. Without readers a site has no purpose or future. Your visits truly mean everything!

The last year has been the biggest and most successful year for this site. We welcomed nearly 44 000 visitors which is approximately  4 times the number of visits the site had in its initial year.  We continue to interact with readers through active monitoring of the blog`s Facebook and Twitter page . We pursued   affiliation with both CBC and Westwind pictures that supported the blog by endorsing its coverage of Little Mosque on the Prairie. The blog also further  expanded its diverse network this past year by having partnered with various cross cultural  blogs which have expressed interest in Little Mosque on the Prairie such as Marilyn Gardner`s Communicating  Across Boundaries and Knightley Emma. We were also recognized by the Canada Media  Fund  for  the site`s ongoing coverage of Little Mosque on the Prairie.  The blog connected with Gateworld .net , which is known as the leading online website for Stargate  where many of our interviews with cast members from the franchise were linked from. Thank you to  all of our affiliates for your support of the blog. I have  greatly enjoyed working with each of  your respective  organizations and/ or sites and hope that we  will continue to support one another in this coming year.

We continued our retrospective coverage of  the Stargate franchise after  it drew to an end after 17 years with SGU  through news reporting and interviews with SGU’S Jennifer Spence, Peter Kelamis and   brilliant main cast member , Brian J Smith. We also had the delight of interviewing  Stargate Atlantis, Rachel Luttrel! Thank you to each of  you for  kindly participating in the interviews. I tremendously enjoyed the rewarding experience and I trust each of you benefitted from it as well.

The past year has been a significant year for the blog’s coverage of Little Mosque on the Prairie as the show progressed in its sixth and final year.   In addition on going news coverage and weekly episode features, I   once again interviewed Little Mosque’s  Manoj Sood,   Debra McGrath,   Brandon  Firla  , Arlene Duncan and Aliza Vellani to  extensively discuss  roles within the show’s sixth and final  season. We also interviewed, for the first time, Little Mosque’s Derek McGrath to discuss  the impact  which the departure of his character had on the show as well as the fan favourite , Zaib Shaikh who provided an insightful overview of the show’s sixth and final season as well as  how the program represents  Canada.  Thank to you all of the cast members for your exceptional portrayals and for participating in the interviews. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I did and extend best wishes in the future of your acting careers. It has truly been truly an honour and my pleasure to work with each of you .

Indeed, this is the only online media outlet which has interviewed the entire cast of this ground-breaking series.The blog was  recognized  by other institutions of the media for its extensive coverage of Little Mosque on the various occasions for its extensive coverage of this ground-breaking series including   Aquila Asia, a cosmopolitan magazine which did a  complete overview on the series to introduce it to its south Asian  readership. The blog was also mentioned on a live streaming with the cast of Little Mosque on CBC Live where the entire cast of the show thanked  us for its extensive support as well as responding to additional questions which we had about the show’s end.  I also had a chance to appear on CBC`S The National in order to discuss the show’s impact

From February to April the blog hosted a few live chats with various cast members of Little Mosque on the Prairie  including Aliza Vellani, Manoj Sood and Debra McGrath as a way of providing  viewers with the chance to directly  interact with  the stars themselves. Thank you to these prominent Canadian talent and all of the readers who joined in the discussion!

We also covered various other series on the blog. Back in September we launched coverage of FOX`S  new science fiction series,Terra Nova through weekly episode previews as well as through our  interactive features. Although  this show was not renewed for a second season, I greatly enjoyed discovering the series.

The blog launched its coverage of The Office and Web Therapy back in September and January respectively .As a result we have begun to welcome a new audience to the readership  through ongoing news coverage .Interviews  with various cast members of both series may be scheduled within the upcoming period.

I would also like to take  a moment to extend thanks to Youtube group, supportfire115@http://www.youtube.com/user/supportfire115 for kindly providing the decorations used for this celebratory post. Thank you for helping make this special  day even more memorable through your assistance in this regard.Thanks also goes to the blog’s occassional communications auditor , Nisreen O’Neill.

What plans do we  have for year number 5? With Little Mosque and Stargate having ended, we look forward to occasional  ongoing respective coverage of these significant and  defining series for this blog.  The blog will continue to cover  The Office  as we approve its impending ninth season and provide extensive , ongoing coverage of Showtime’s Web therapy through ongoing news, weekly episode guides as well as  interviews with various cast members of this unique  comedy. The blog will also be launching coverage of  CBC`S, Mr. D as the show approaches its second season.  Expect other science fiction series to be covered as well. The blog may launch a music aspect  by  covering  works of  prominent North American  musicians. Further details will follow  next month once precise  plans have been finalized.

Although our previously announced plans to launch a held hosted site have been terminated at this time, we are  in the process of  assessing  various other templates  within WordPress.com. Readers can therefore look forward to a new  design .

What  would you like to see on the site for our  upcoming year. Share your thoughts in the comments section or by e-mail. Thank  you for being apart of the community and I  look forward to another exciting year with the readership where we continue to work together to make the site the best it can be.








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