'Heated Rivalry' Is Getting the Academic Treatment

The Canadian-made hockey romance will be at the centre of two University of Victoria courses this fall.

Since premiering less than a year ago on Crave, hockey romance series Heated Rivalry has become one of the most viral subjects in pop culture. From unauothorized off-Broadway parodies to a sea lion at Pacific Marine Mammal Center being named after Shane Hollander, the series has become seemingly inescapable. Now, the NSFW show, and the book series it was based on, is getting its place in academia.

Starting this fall, students at the University of Victoria in British-Columbia will be able to take two different classe centered around the series, the Times Colonist reports. Law professor Gillian Calder has taught her class ''Queering Law'' before, but will now use the series to push students to reflect how regulations affect queer lives, sports, gender, sexuality and masculinity in Canada. Guest speakers will be called upon to discuss different real-life events, such as the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal that rocked the country. Her broader approach to legal education, she says, emphasizes creativity, empathy and the ability to understand experiences beyond one's own.

Across campus, English professor Janice Niemann is taking a different route into the phenomenon.

Her course, English 321: Authors on Screen: Rachel Reid's Heated Rivalry, will bring Reid's novels, the television adaptation and fan culture into the classroom. Students will read three books from the series, watch the show and examine fan fiction and fandom while considering what happens when a hugely popular romance moves from the page to the screen. Interest in the class is so strong, she says, that more seats needed to be added to accomodate students.

The course's aim, among other things, is to challenge the idea that media aimed toward women and queer people is not as valuable or culturally significant.

Production for the second season of the Crave series is currently underway, and is expected to release in April 2027.

Heated Rivalry is expanding its roster for Season 2, with Kevin Zegers, Paul Gross and Milla Jovovich joining the cast as the hockey drama moves into a new season.

Zegers will play Coach Weibe, the head coach of Ottawa’s professional hockey team, where Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie, will suit up during the upcoming season. Weibe is a new figure in Ilya’s professional world, as the Russian hockey star navigates the growing complications surrounding his career and personal life.

Paul Gross will take on the role of Roger Crowell, the commissioner of the professional hockey league. Gross,a Calgary native, brings another distinctly Canadian presence to the series, which has quickly become one of the country’s biggest television successes. Superstar actress Milla Jovovich will portray Dr. Galina Molchalin, a therapist Ilya sees during the events of The Long Game, Rachel Reid’s sixth Game Changers novel and the primary source material for Season 2.

The new season picks up with Ilya and Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams, now in a committed relationship. While the pair have moved beyond the secretive situationship at the heart of Season 1, they still have to conceal their relationship from the public as their professional hockey careers continue.

Series creator Jacob Tierney has previously said the season will also draw from Role Model, which follows Ilya’s teammate Troy Barrett and social media manager Harris Drover. Elements of Tough Guy, centred on Toronto hockey enforcer Ryan Price and musician Fabian Salah, are also expected to feature.

Williams and Storrie will return alongside Season 2 additions including Justice Smith, Charlie Gillespie, Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi. Currently filming, Heated Rivalry Season 2 is targeting a spring 2027 release on Crave and HBO Max.

Neil Peart’s legacy is continues to grow, as his former bandmates and recent Rolling Stone Canada cover stars carry on with their reunion tour. This time, the late Rush drummer and lyricist is at the centre of a new documentary.

Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, directed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen of Banger Films, will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 16 before airing September 23 on CBC and CBC Gem as part of The Passionate Eye.

The 106-minute film combines rare archival footage and performances with conversations between Peart’s longtime Rush bandmates, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, as well as four acclaimed drummers. Among them, Stewart Copeland of The Police, Tool’s Danny Carey, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and Gavin Harrison, all invited to tackle Rush material and look back at the formidable musicianship Peart brought to the band.

The documentary also looks beyond the drum kit, tracing Peart’s difficult beginnings, rise to international fame and the personal tragedies that shaped his life. Archival footage allows Peart himself to reflect on his relentless pursuit of improvement and the responsibility he felt toward his craft.

The One About Matthew Perry, a three-part documentary examining the actor’s rise to global fame, his private struggles with addiction and legacy, is coming to Netflix. The Ottawa-raised actor was 54 when he died from the acute effects of ketamine in 2023, with his death ultimately ruled accidental. (A Los Angeles drug dealer prosecutors dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” was sentenced to 15 years in prison earlier this year for supplying the powerful dissociative anesthetic to the actor.)

The series was directed by Emmy Award winner Mary Robertson and features previously unheard memories from Perry’s sister, Mia Perry Bowick, as well as longtime friends and collaborators. It will also contain unreleased photographs and home videos from the Perry family’s private archive.

For viewers all across the world, Perry was synonymous with Chandler Bing, the character he played throughout all 10 seasons of Friends. From 1994 to 2004, Perry appeared in all 236 episodes of the sitcom, helping turn Chandler into one of the show’s most recognizable characters.

After the series, Perry was increasingly open about his struggles with substance addiction. His 2022 memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, detailed his experiences with addiction, recovery and the physical consequences of years of substance use.

Robertson says the documentary aims to move beyond the public image of Perry and allow those closest to him to tell a fuller story. The One About Matthew Perry premieres on Netflix on Oct. 27.

Mel Gibson arrived in Toronto to talk about the future of The Passion of the Christ at Toronto's Fan Expo.

During a Q&A at Fan Expo Canada on Aug. 29, Gibson revealed that he is currently editing The Resurrection of the Christ and handling its post-production work in Toronto. The long-awaited sequel to his 2004 religious blockbuster has been split into two films, with the first scheduled for 2027.

“I’m editing and doing all the post-production work here in Toronto,” Gibson told the crowd, according to the Toronto Sun.

The Resurrection of the Christ was filmed in Italy over 135 days and has grown considerably in scope from the original conception of a single sequel.Gibson said the production recreated Jerusalem, Damascus and parts of Egypt, describing the new films as larger than The Passion of the Christ, which earned more than $600 million worldwide.

That revelation, however, was not the headline of that chat. Rather, video from the event circulated online showing the actor making exaggerated hand gestures behind an American Sign Language interpreter as he walked onto the stage. The footage prompted widespread criticism, with some viewers accusing Gibson of mocking the interpreter and describing the gesture as disrespectful to the deaf community.

Gibson subsequently apologized in a statement to Variety, characterizing what happened as “spontaneous thoughtless idiocy” and saying there was no malicious intent.

It's the latest in a career plagued with controversy for Gibson, including his 2006 antisemitic tirade during a DUI arrest and subsequent allegations concerning offensive and abusive behaviour.

Air Force One sits on the tarmac with an airport catering container adjacent to the body of the aircraft on July 8 in Ankara, Turkey

On July 8, Donald Trump snuck out of Turkey via a decoy plane that he reached by riding in a catering container, according to ABC News, which reported the news on Aug. 13. Now roughly two weeks later, Netflix has made a whole documentary about the escapade. Instadocs: The Decoy Plane will premiere on the streaming platform on Sept. 4.

A 90-second trailer for the series shows scenes from Ankara, Turkey’s airport as Associated Press photographer Alex Brandon describes how unusual it seemed to see catering vehicles lining up around Air Force One. “I shot the shit out of it,” he said. He and the rest of the press corps then boarded the plane after seeing Trump ascend the stairs when another peculiarity arose. “We’re told by the White House staff that we should lower our window shades,” Reuters correspondent Gram Slattery said. Brandon then says he’s on high alert to see something unusual, and the clip fades out.

Decoy Plane is the latest installment of the Instadocs series, which Netflix has described as “fast-turnaround documentary series.” Previous Instadocs episodes have covered the reversal Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder conviction and prediction markets.

“The best documentaries don’t just capture history — they shape how we understand it,” Josh Tyrangiel, one of the series’ executive producers, said in a statement. “With Netflix, we have the infrastructure to match the speed of the world we’re documenting. Instadocs is about giving audiences something they’ve never had before: depth and craft at the moment it matters most.”

In addition to Brandon and Slattery, Decoy Plane interviewees include MS NOW reporter Carol Leonnig, The Washington Post‘s Dan Lamothe, a former Secret Service agent, and a former Air Force One crew member.