Kingston’s Hugh Dillon Series “Flashpoint” Renewed by Ion Television

Published on: 2012/01/06 - in Entertainment Featured

The U.S. cable network ION Television announced this week that it is renewing the Canadian produced police drama “Flashpoint” for a fifth season. 13 new episodes, set to begin shooting this February 2012, will air on ION in the United States and the CTV network in Canada.

The SRU tactical police squad depicted in the series is inspired by Toronto’s Emergency Task Force, and stars Enrico Colantoni, Amy Jo Johnson, David Paetkau and Kingston-bornHugh Dillon.

Flashpoint joined ION’s primetime schedule in October 2011 after the network acquired all episodes from seasons 1-3 along with 11 season four original episodes. Since its debut on ION, the show earned its highest-telecast ever among the network’s key demos on December 27, with a total of 2.1 million viewers.

The announcement was made today by Brandon Burgess, CEO of ION Media Networks, who said “Flashpoint’s solid performance season-to-date shows that a growing number of fans enjoy the series on ION Television. We welcome back this exciting dramatic series and its cast to ION Television for another season in 2012.”

“We’re thrilled to be continuing our relationship with ION,” stated Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos, executive producers of Flashpoint. “We are delighted with how ‘Flashpoint’ continues to resonate with fans in the U.S. and we look forward to creating another season of compelling and engaging episodes for them to enjoy.”

Kingston’s Hugh Dillon portrays one of the show’s most prominent characters, Head SRU (Strategic Response Unit) sniper Ed Lane, and is also the lead singer for the hard rock band The Headstones which formed in Kingston in 1987 and was one of the country’s most successful bands until their breakup in 2003.

The Headstone reunited in 2011 and are continuing to test the waters for a potential full time return.

Dillon has been nominated for Gemini awards in 2007 for his role in the movie ‘Trailer Park Boys’, in 2008 for his work on Durham County, and in 2009 for his portrayal of Ed Lane in Flashpoint.  He was awarded a Gemini in 2009 for “Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series” for the CTV movie ‘Of Murder and Memory’.

Flashpoint is produced by Pink Sky Entertainment and Avamar Entertainment in association with CTV and ION Television. Anne Marie La Traverse and Bill Mustos serve as executive producers, and co-creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern helm the writing department. David Frazee is the Series Consultant.

ION Television is a leading U.S. general entertainment network, combining high-quality programming and dependable broadcast distribution with an attitude of innovation and growth normally associated with a cable channel.  Since its launch in 2008, ION’s reach has grown to 99 million households and has become one of the top-15 TV rated U.S. networks in record time.

See also: Flashpoint a Cross-Border Hit for Kingston-Born Hugh Dillon

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Photos source: Flashpoint | CTV.ca