With the end of the official 2010-2011 TV season just around the corner, we here at theTVaddict.com thought now might be as good a time as any to assure our fellow TV Addicts that all is not lost. Suffice it to say, there will be plenty of reasons to avoid those so-called “great outdoors” this summer and ample opportunity to unwind on your comfy, albeit heavily air conditioned, couch. And here with your first of those reasons are stars Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith with a preview of ROOKIE BLUE’s much anticipated second season.

ROOKIE BLUE caught everyone’s attention last summer with its heart-felt and personable tales of a quartet of rookie police officers enduring the trials and tribulations of their first year. Returning for its second season, the red-hot summer series returns with a bang when one of the team gets shot, which sends after-shocks and ripple-effects throughout the upcoming season.

Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith took time out of their busy schedules to share a bit about the show and what to expect.

Commenting first about the astounding success of the series, both Missy and Greg admitted that the show’s first season ratings exceeded their wildest expectations. They were initially nervous to see how it would do in a competitive primetime timeslot during the difficult summer months. But, as the ratings came in each week, they were stunned. In fact, one of their producers told them to not get too excited because there must have been some mistake. But the ratings were in fact that good and the second season pick-up was quickly ordered. To have that boost of confidence from both the viewers and the network has made it a pleasure to work on the show.

Then, despite comparisons to other procedural dramas, Missy and Greg said that their focus is strictly to do the best job possible on a show that is giving them creatively a lot to work with. They love the dual exploration into their character’s personal and professional lives; and the second season will continue with that tension between the professional/personal lives of the rookies and how each affects the other.

Providing a few teasers of what to expect, Missy shared that her character Andy is now living with her boyfriend Luke and while that is great, some tension arises when Luke’s ex-girlfriend and ex-partner transfers into the division. The fact that this other woman clearly wants him back and is a ranking superior to Andy stirs up a brewing problem.

Despite the personal tensions, due to the fact that neither Andy nor Dov (Greg’s character) need training officers this season, it places them in positions where they have to rely on themselves and each other. In addition, they are now able to delegate responsibilities, choose their own partner, and they will be the first on the scene – which means they have to be ready for anything; and being on the frontlines and in charge means you can be a target too – as Andy quickly finds out.

Another change that will be felt is Andy’s heightened awareness that Sam is no longer her training officer, which had made it taboo for them to date. With Luke’s ex back and causing problems, that previously forbidden opportunity will weigh on Andy’s mind as the season unfolds.

Then talking about how he prepared for both the physical and mental aspects of the role, Greg humorously shared that he did some extra training – just keep up with Missy! In all seriousness, he said they all had participated in cop boot-camp before season one and he also did a few ride-alongs in order to get a feel for what that aspect of the job actually felt like. Thus, he can see the parallels between the reality versus what is portrayed on the show – though reality is a lot more dangerous and taxing. He also admitted that he loves his character Dov’s misguided enthusiasm and roll-n-roll attitude, which creates a lot of opportunities to watch Dov squirm. He also said that this season stories will show more of Dov’s personal life and a little bit more of his serious side, which will help the audience understand why he is the way he is.

Both Missy and Greg also admitted that they have taken more initiative to talk to the writers this season, pitching ideas for their characters. Though Missy said that she was very satisfied with where the writers have taken her character. Both Greg and Missy admitted that they love delving more into the characters after reading each script and appreciate the open door policy with the writers.

Finally, as a big tease – and perhaps a fake storyline — as for what Greg would like to see more of for Dov, he joked that he thinks Dov has a man-crush on Sam. Though he sheepishly admits the writers have not really taken the bait on that idea. So to help foster the idea subliminally, Greg goes out of his way to mimic his co-star Ben Bass in scenes. It is all ‘cause Sam Swarek is such a bad-ass and, in his mind, Dov thinks it would be cool to be more like him.

So with a physical trauma, a few wrinkles in the Andy-Luke relationship and Dov’s secret fascination with Sam, the second season of ROOKIE BLUE promises to be a fun-filled ride. Be sure to tune in when ROOKIE BLUE returns on Thursday, June 23rd at 10PM on ABC (Global TV in Canada)

Tiffany Vogt is a contributing writer to The TV Addict. She has a great love for television and firmly believes that entertainment is a world of wondrous adventures that deserves to be shared and explored – she invites you to join her. Please feel free to contact Tiffany at Tiffany_Vogt_2000@yahoo.com or follow her at on Twitter (@TVWatchtower). Tiffany also writes as a columnist for NiceGirlsTV.

On Saturday November 13, Canada celebrated some of the best and brightest we have to offer the world of television at the 25th Annual Gemini Awards (Think: Canada’s Emmy equivalent). Hosted by GLEE’s Cory Monteith, we are not exaggerating when we say everybody who is anybody in the world of Canadian TV was there. Including, theTVaddict.com’s very own Melissa Girimonte (@thetelevixen on twitter) who, planted firmly on the red carpet had the enviable “job” of interviewing the likes of Nina Dobrev, Grace Park, the cast of ROOKIE BLUE, and more. Interviews we’ll be sharing all week in a series we’ve cleverly coined Gemini Gems.

How blown away were you with the success of ROOKIE BLUE’s first season both north and south of the border?
Gregory Smith: We were really nervous before it came on because we enjoyed doing the show so much and we had to wait while for it to actually air and when it did, for the numbers to come in the way that we did it was almost surreal.

Out of all the rookies last season, your character definitely was lacking in the romance department. Any chance Dov will get a girlfriend this season?
Yeah, I think so and maybe more than one!

And since you’re well aware of our obsession with your previous series, we have to ask if there is any chance that one of those lucky ladies might be Emily VanCamp?
You know, I tried, I spoke to her about it and she really likes the show, but the timing didn’t quite work out. We’d love to make it happen sometime in the future though as it would be a really fun little throwback for fans of EVERWOOD.

[Photo Credit: George Pimental/ACCT]

Trading in his backpack for a beretta, Gregory Smith has officially grown up.

“After EVERWOOD I could never play — at least on TV — another high school or college-aged kid,” explained the affable actor during our visit to the set of ROOKIE BLUE last fall. “Anyone who wore a backpack was out!”

Luckily for him — as well as his legion of fans from his time on the much-beloved brilliant-but-canceled WB series — his newest role, that of Dov Epstein, one of five rookie cops at the focal point of ROOKIE BLUE is 100% backpack free! Which is just one of the reasons why, after spending the better part of his post-EVERWOOD career travelling the world shooting films, he decided to return his hometown of Toronto (a city which he calls “my favorite place to shoot”) to enlist in ROOKIE BLUE.

“It takes a lot for the stars to align and for a project to turn out great, and while I was doing movies, I wasn’t quite as proud of them as some of the stuff I had done on EVERWOOD.” explained the actor. “ROOKIE BLUE was a great script, one I instantly fell in love with and the character was exactly the kind of part I was looking for.”

“As much as I loved Ephram, he was a very melancholic character that after enough time sort of seeped into my soul,” said Smith. “When I went back to TV I wanted to do something where people who knew EVERWOOD wouldn’t believe I was the same person. I wanted to show how I’d grown as both an actor as a person.”

Needless to say, mission accomplished.

With the exception of quirky character names and a shared Jewish heritage, over-eager adrenaline-junkie Dov Epstein and piano playing hopeless romantic Ephram Brown are two characters who are in no danger of being mistaken for one another in a police lineup anytime soon. Which is something you certainly don’t have to the artist formerly known as Ephram, who sees both characters as a snapshot of himself growing up.

“My teenage angst was immortalized in EVERWOOD. I was 18, rebelling against the world and so Ephram was pretty close to who I was at the time,” said Smith. “As I grew up and outgrew Ephram, I became a more actualized person who wasn’t quite as rebellious. Dov, my character on ROOKIE BLUE is now probably a lot closer to who I am now.”

“Who I am now,” being a Hollywood rarity: A young actor who has successfully managed to navigate the often perilous journey that is the transition from teenage stardom to well-adjusted and level-headed adult actor. So how did he do it?

“That’s a great question and something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I think I had just the right balance of success and failure. Successful enough that my confidence grew, but never enough so that I lost touch with reality,” said the actor, who was sure to credit his strong-willed mom, great friends and the fact that EVERWOOD shot in Utah, not Hollywood.

“It’s sort of hard to get in trouble in Utah. Believe me, I tried!”

Catch the series premiere of ROOKIE BLUE this Thursday June 24th at 9PM on ABC (Global TV in Canada)

Next Thursday, a new and exciting chapter in the career of actor Gregory Smith (pictured above, left) will begin thanks to his much-anticipated return to the small screen in ROOKIE BLUE. But before that happens, we thought it might be fun to look back one last (okay, probably not last) time on his remarkable time spent in that magical little town of EVERWOOD. What follows, an exclusive one-on-one with the artist formerly known as Ephram Brown, who was kind enough to indulge us with a few EVERWOOD-related questions while visiting the set of ROOKIE BLUE last fall.

How surprised were you when the CW pulled the rug out from under you and cancelled EVERWOOD? (A show which we inexplicably feel the need to mention attracted a VAMPIRE DIARIES sized audience for the majority of its run.)
Gregory Smith: Right up until the last minute, EVERWOOD was supposed to come back and we thought we were coming back. But because we knew there was a chance we weren’t coming back as a result of what was happening with the WB and UPN [merging into the CW] we shot two endings. It’s funny, because after we shot what turned out to be the final scene of the series — I don’t know if you remember, it was the scene with Amy and Ephram at the Ferris Wheel [Editor's note: How could we forget!] – I remember feeling really like we just shot a great moment for the show that probably never was going to see the light of day. I was almost bummed that we had done it to waste, but it turned out that was the scene they ended up using. It really was a last minute decision that sort of surprised everybody. But at the same time we ended on a high creatively.

You mentioned that was the scene they ended up using? What was the scene that fans never got to see?
I was trying to remember that. I basically ended up not going outside and somehow missed Amy. Amy ended up outside the house with the Ferris Wheel while I ended up with Madison. They were going to bring Sarah Lancaster back and continue that storyline.

If there is a silver-lining to EVERWOOD’s cancelation, it’s that the cast has flourished on so many different shows. Do you keep in touch with them and watch what they do?
I see Scott [Wolf] around Los Angeles all the time and speak regularly with Emily [VanCamp] and Chris Pratt, those are the two who I keep in touch with most. Chris is awesome by the way, glad he’s totally kicking ass and taking names now [on PARKS AND RECREATION] because he’s the funniest guy I’ve ever known. Sarah Drew, she needs her own show and she’ll get it for sure one day soon [Editor's Note: This interview was conducted prior to Drew signing on as a GREY' S ANATOMY series regular!]. The younger cast I keep in touch with often, but even Treat [Williams] and Tom (Amandes] we all keep in touch. We don’t have reunions but we all sort of keep in touch individually. Same goes for [Executive producers] Rina Mimoun and Mickey Liddell.

Fans were certainly rooting for Rina’s PRIVILEGED not to get canceled so that you might have had an opportunity to guest star.
Actually there was one episode of PRIVILEGED, I think maybe in the pilot, because I’m a photographer as well, they had an art show and they used all my pictures as set dressing for the art show. We all kind of pop up in each other’s lives in different kind of ways. And then of course I did guest star for Greg [Berlanti] on ELI STONE and the reason I ended up doing the ELI STONE thing is that I hope and plan to start directing so Greg let me shadow some directors. I was on the ELI STONE set for a month and then I ended up coming back a month later to do that guest spot.

Looking back on EVERWOOD, do you have a favorite episode?
The pilot, obviously because that was just so so life changing. There was an episode “The Unveiling,” episode 17 of the first season I really liked. And the last scene in the last episode was good. There are so many I have trouble remembering, but the one I talk about the most is probably the episode with the deer just because that deer hated me so much! The first shot I did with it, I had to walk it on a leash past a waterfall and as it turned out it was scared of the water. So it freaked out, bumped me and tried to run off. And then from that moment on it forever associated me with this terrible waterfall, so I had to do a whole episode with it and any chance it got it would knock me down and run away. Not necessarily my favorite, but definitely the episode I talk about the most.

And finally, your brother [actor Douglas Smith] guested on EVERWOOD as a high school wrestler, when can we expect him to return the favour and hook you up with a spot on BIG LOVE?
I don’t know. I really pushed for him on EVERWOOD and I never felt the same sort of reciprocation from BIG LOVE! But funny enough, the producers were talking about — which I don’t think will happen this season because we’re out of episodes — but if we get another season I think he’ll guest on ROOKIE BLUE. He was up here a little while ago and it would be fun. They might even have him come on as my brother, not sure if that would actually happen, but it could be fun. We’ve never been on screen together. Ever. On EVERWOOD we only passed each other in the hallway.

Stay tuned next week when we talk to Gregory Smith about his new series, ROOKIE BLUE, premiering on ABC (and Global TV in Canada) Thursday June 24 at 9PM.

Calling all Cars TV Addicts! On June 24, ABC (and Global in Canada) will unveil ROOKIE BLUE, a high-stakes drama that follows the lives of five young, ambitious and let’s face it, easy-on-the-eyes cops fresh out of the academy. On the off chance you’re still debating whether or not you’ll be signing up your DVR/PVR for recording duty? We’ve uncovered some evidence, in the form of first look photos, that might sway your opinion. See for yourself after the jump.

Greg Smith stars as Dov Epstein

Missy Peregrym stars as Andy McNally

Travis Milne stars as Chris Diaz

Enuka Okuma stars as Traci Nash

Charlotte Sullivan stars as Gail Peck

According to Gregory Smith’s Facebook status (and backed up by imdb and twitter), he’s most definitely not in EVERWOOD any more. In fact, he’s in his hometown of Toronto! Although it’s not yet been confirmed, it appears Smith has joined REAPER’s Missy Pergrym in the cast of the currently-shooting pilot COPPER. Billed as GREY’S ANATOMY meets NYPD BLUE, the series — following five pals enduring life as rookie cops — is a co-production between ABC and Canada’s own GLOBAL TV. The cross-border partnership makes sense seeing as the show was co-created by Tassie Cameron, who was one of the players involved with CTV’s FLASHPOINT, which proved surprisingly successful when aired by CBS. No definite airdate has been set, but the series is expected to hit the airwaves in 2010.