The Wedge is a defunct Canadian television series devoted to indie and alternative music, which aired on Canadian music TV station MuchMusic from 1992 to 2014.
The program, which debuted in 1992 as a Monday to Friday half-hour series, was originally hosted by Simon Evans. In 1995, Sook-Yin Lee became the host,[1] and remained with the program until her departure from MuchMusic in 2001.[2] At this time, with alternative rock having undergone a commercial decline, the program was reduced to a weekly airing on Friday evenings.[3] The program had no permanent host for the next decade, serving primarily as a continuous "videoflow", although musicians occasionally appeared as guest hosts of a special episode. By 2010, it had been relegated to airing only at 3 a.m.[4]
On January 26, 2011, The Wedge was re-launched at a new 10 p.m. timeslot.[4] The format was expanded from just music videos to include live performances, interviews, and panel discussions.[4] The show's new host was Damian Abraham, lead singer of the Toronto-based, Polaris Music Prize-winning hardcore punk band Fucked Up.[5]
The program's cancellation was announced in 2014, as part of significant staffing and production cutbacks at Bell Media.[6]
References
- ^ "Lee: An arteest with a capital A". The Province, January 6, 1995.
- ^ "Too cool for Toronto: Vancouver's Sook-Yin Lee took a look at her life after Sept. 11 -- and came home". Vancouver Sun, December 8, 2001.
- ^ "Much less to hear on MuchMusic: Thin and not edgy, aside from The Wedge, playlists point out the station's shortcomings". Montreal Gazette, December 20, 2001.
- ^ a b c "Fans rejoice as serious music returns to Much: RapCity and The Wedge return with respected hosts at the helm". Toronto Star, January 20, 2011.
- ^ "Toast to the hosts; MuchMusic's new VJs couldn't be any more different". National Post, January 24, 2011.
- ^ "Big changes at MTV, Much as Bell Media makes deep cuts to production staff" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. Edmonton Journal, July 10, 2014.