The Smart Woman Survival Guide
Encyclopedia
The Smart Woman Survival Guide is a Canadian situation comedy, filmed in Toronto, Ontario, currently in its third season. It airs on the W Network
and CosmoTV
. It was renewed for 26 further episodes before season one had finished shooting. The show was originally conceived as a two-act show that grew to four acts with a teaser and tag.
-type show, the series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional lifestyle program called Smart Woman and follows a group of women who bond over their work, lives and loves.
The series stars Tricia Braun as Lana Pearson, the demanding host of Smart Woman, and her trusty staff, producer Liz (Siobhan Murphy), associate producer Brooke (Joanne Alderson), and researcher Natalie (Laura McLean). As the women attempt to navigate the challenges of their personal and professional lives, the audience is presented with tips, how-tos and information for today’s “smart woman”. When the Smart Women go into the real world to research segments for the show, they interact with real world experts who make guest appearances on the Smart Woman show. These include real-life Olympians
, Nobel Peace Prize
nominees, celebrity chefs and New York Times bestselling authors.
Executive Producer Al Magee was the creative consultant for Showcase Network, contributing to numerous shows, including Slings & Arrows, Kink
, Naked Josh
, Show Me Yours, Kenny vs. Spenny
, and Trailer Park Boys
. Series composer Kevan Staples was a member of the Canadian new wave rock band, Rough Trade
. He has won 4 Juno Awards and a Genie Award
.
The photo of Liz and Steve on Liz’s desk is a real photo of Siobhan Murphy (Liz) and Jean-Paul Saurine (Steve) taken years ago, when the two were classmates at theatre school.
W Network
W Network is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. W Network broadcasts lifestyle and entertainment programming aimed at women....
and CosmoTV
Cosmopolitan TV (Canada)
CosmopolitanTV is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel.CosmoTV broadcasts programs aimed at women ages 18–34. The channel's name and concept is licensed from the American women's magazine Cosmopolitan...
. It was renewed for 26 further episodes before season one had finished shooting. The show was originally conceived as a two-act show that grew to four acts with a teaser and tag.
Premise
The Smart Woman Survival Guide is a half-hour hybrid that is part lifestyle and part comedy. Lifting the ‘Ironed Curtain’ on a Martha Stewart LivingMartha Stewart Living
Martha Stewart Living is a magazine and a television show featuring entertaining and home decorating guru Martha Stewart. Both the magazine and the television program focus on the domestic arts. Martha Stewart Living began as a quarterly magazine in 1990, published by Time Inc..and is currently...
-type show, the series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional lifestyle program called Smart Woman and follows a group of women who bond over their work, lives and loves.
The series stars Tricia Braun as Lana Pearson, the demanding host of Smart Woman, and her trusty staff, producer Liz (Siobhan Murphy), associate producer Brooke (Joanne Alderson), and researcher Natalie (Laura McLean). As the women attempt to navigate the challenges of their personal and professional lives, the audience is presented with tips, how-tos and information for today’s “smart woman”. When the Smart Women go into the real world to research segments for the show, they interact with real world experts who make guest appearances on the Smart Woman show. These include real-life Olympians
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
nominees, celebrity chefs and New York Times bestselling authors.
Cast
- Tricia Braun – Lana Pearson, the host of Smart Woman
- Siobhan Murphy – Liz Duncan, the producer
- Laura McLean – Natalie Knowles, the researcher
- Joanne Alderson – Brooke Patterson, the associate producer
- Riley Gilchrist – Alistair, Lana's assistant
- Ryan V. Hays – Phil, the IT guyInformation technologyInformation technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
- Adam Seybold – Reggie, the make-up artist
Notable guest-starring cast
- Jean-Paul Saurine - Steve Duncan, Liz's husband
- Megan Hutchins - Geneva, Lana's 19 year old niece
- Boomer PhillipsBoomer PhillipsBoomer Phillips is a Canadian comedian/actor and television personality, who made regular appearances on Video on Trial as well as Stars Gone Wild on MuchMusic. He was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and currently lives in Toronto...
– Pete Sharp, Lana's nemesis and host of a rival show - Brad Hampton - John Smith
Guest experts
- Alexandra RobbinsAlexandra RobbinsAlexandra Robbins is a journalist, lecturer, and author. Her books focus on young adults, education, and modern college life and its aspects that are often overlooked or ignored by college administrators...
, New York Times bestselling author of Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis, The Overachievers, Pledged, and Secrets of the Tomb. - Conrad LeinemannConrad LeinemannConrad Leinemann is a beach volleyball player from Canada, who won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, partnering Jody Holden. He represented his native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.-References:*...
, Beach Volleyball OlympianOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, finished 9th at the Sydney Olympic Games, and is a Pan Am Games Gold Medalist, with a 100+ km/h serve. - Mark HeeseMark HeeseMark Heese is a Canadian beach volleyball player.Heese began playing beach volleyball at age 19 at the Balmy Beach Club in Toronto, and is a graduate of McMaster University. Partnered with John Child, Heese is a three time Olympian - bronze medal in Atlanta , 5th in Sydney and 5th in Athens...
, Beach Volleyball Olympian. Mark brought home Canada’s first medal in beach volleyball in the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. - Marc Dunn, Beach VolleyballBeach volleyballBeach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
Olympian, finished 17th at the Atlanta Olympic Games. - Craig KielburgerCraig KielburgerCraig Kielburger, CM, MSM, OMC is a Canadian activist for the rights of children. He is the founder of Free The Children and co-founder of Me to We. On February 20, 2007, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:Kielburger was born in Thornhill,...
, Founder and Chair of Free the ChildrenFree The ChildrenFree The Children is an international charity and youth movement founded in 1995 by children's rights advocate Craig Kielburger. The organization is largely youth-funded, based on the concept of "children helping children." It specializes in sustainable development in countries of Kenya, Ecuador,...
, and three-time Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
nominee. - Barbara Coloroso, internationally recognized parenting expert and author of four best selling parental advice books: Kids are worth it; Parenting Through Crisis, Helping Kids in Times of Loss, Grief, and Inner Discipline; The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander; Just Because it’s not Wrong Doesn’t Make It Right.
- Rick Gallop, Author of The G. I. Diet.
- Rob StewartRob Stewart (filmmaker)Rob Stewart is an Canadian photographer and movie director/filmmaker, best known for making and directing the multi-award-winning movie Sharkwater.-Biography:...
, Director of award-winning environmental feature film documentary, SharkwaterSharkwaterSharkwater is a 2007 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Rob Stewart, who also narrates it. In the film, Stewart seeks to deflate current attitudes about sharks, and exposes how the voracious shark-hunting industry is driving them to extinction.Filmed in high definition video,...
.
Production credits
The series was edited at Visual Fixations. Audio post production and 5.1 surround mixing for the 39 episodes was completed at Rhythm Division. The re-recording mixer was Jim Longo, with additional editing on season 3 by Andrea Cyr. Music for season 1, as well as the show theme were composed by Tom Third. For seasons 2 and 3 the music was composed at Rhythm Division by Kevan Staples.Executive Producer Al Magee was the creative consultant for Showcase Network, contributing to numerous shows, including Slings & Arrows, Kink
Kink
* A twist or bend in something such as rope, cable, hair or IG curveKink or KINK can refer to:* Kink , a colloquial term for non-normative sexual behavior...
, Naked Josh
Naked Josh
Naked Josh was a Canadian television series broadcast on Showcase. The show starred David Julian Hirsh as Josh Gould, a university professor in Montreal who, although he teaches a sexual anthropology course, struggles to understand the ever-shifting rules and expectations of the dating scene.It...
, Show Me Yours, Kenny vs. Spenny
Kenny vs. Spenny
Kenny vs. Spenny is a Canadian comedy reality television series about Kenny Hotz and Spencer Rice, who face each other in various competitions. The loser of the episode must perform an act of humiliation, usually selected by the winner. Hotz and Rice helped create the series, and it was typically...
, and Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys
Trailer Park Boys is a Canadian comedy mockumentary television series created and directed by Mike Clattenburg that focuses on the misadventures of a group of trailer park residents, some of whom are ex-convicts, living in the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The...
. Series composer Kevan Staples was a member of the Canadian new wave rock band, Rough Trade
Rough Trade (band)
Rough Trade was a Canadian new wave rock band in the 1970s and 1980s, centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples. The band was noted for their provocative lyrics and stage antics; singer Pope often performed in bondage attire, and their 1981 hit "High School...
. He has won 4 Juno Awards and a Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
.
The photo of Liz and Steve on Liz’s desk is a real photo of Siobhan Murphy (Liz) and Jean-Paul Saurine (Steve) taken years ago, when the two were classmates at theatre school.