ZeD

ZeD was a Canadian television series which billed itself as "open-source television". Created by Emmy-nominated executive producer/new media developer McLean Mashingaidze-Greaves, the series premiered in March 2002 and ran to 2006.

Original format

The program, which aired every weeknight on the CBC, aired original music, short films, animation, performance, visual art and spoken word pieces from around the world. The subject matter was mature, and each episode began with a humorously-worded call for viewer's discretion. Each episode was 40 minutes long, with no advertisements. While the show did not run in the summer, its website allowed people to continue viewing certain works, and also upload their creations onto the website, which might then appear on television. Although some films are not available on the website, viewers of the television show could e-mail ZeD and request replays on Fridays, which were named "Feedback Fridays". Altogether, the website claimed over 40,000 members.

Led by renowned short film expert Sue Biely, films seen on ZeD include Cannibalism and Your Teen, which is a humorous parody of the father-knows-best ideology, and the world broadcast premiere of the Academy Award winning film Ryan. The anti-racism comedy Cowboys and Indians has been aired four times as of this writing but is not available on the website. Other popular short films include the animated comedy Strange Invaders, which combines the themes of extraterrestrials and parenthood.

Music on ZeD was sometimes presented in the form of music videos, but musical guests also appeared. Among such guests were Sam Roberts, who performed "Brother Down" and "This Is How I Live" on October 15, 2002.

Another feature of ZeD was its annual Halloween episodes, which ran longer than 40 minutes. These episodes featured some of ZeD's more disturbing short films and art, or comedies with supernatural or gothic themes. Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl and Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll are examples of the latter.

The ZeD pilot was originally hosted by several hosts including Bif Naked, True Daley, Kardinall Offishall, Sook Yin Lee and Nobu and Mio Adilman. The program was subsequently hosted by Sharon Lewis until the 2004-2005 season, when she was replaced by Ziya Tong. In its heyday, the series was produced by Jennifer Ouano, Sudha Krishna and written by Peter Alexander and Tammy Everts, and directed by Mark Lawrence, Greg Kisser and others.

After three acclaimed seasons and 300 episodes, executive producer Mashingaidze-Greaves left ZeD to launch The Nimble Company with partners/former ZeD alumni Sue Biely and Sudha Krishna.

Later format

Led by replacement executive producer Kevin Teichroeb, on January 3, 2006, ZeD was revived as three television series to air weekly. Zed Real was the first, playing on Tuesdays, hosted by Jarrett Martineau and featuring documentaries. Zed Candid, airing on Wednesdays, featured short films and was hosted by Trish Williams, Suzanne Bastien and Zorana Sadiq. Finally, Zed Tunes aired on Thursdays, with a focus on music. It was hosted by Jenna Chow. All three continued to be aired on the CBC and ran for one hour, starting around 11:30 p.m. on their respective nights.

Cancellation

On May 7, 2006, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) announced the cancellation of the series.

External links

• Official ZeD website
• ZeD on the Internet Movie Database
• NIMBLE: A new media company started by the ZeD creators
• Urban Visuals created set environments for most of the show's episodes