''Life's Little Miracles'' (or ''Little Miracles'') follows the stories of children at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

's Hospital for Sick Children. It originally aired on

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broadcasters Slice Network and

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History

The series' first season started airing on September 20, 1999, and had 13 episodes. The 30-minute episodes ran on the

Life Network Slice is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts programming targeting young adult women, including comedy, reality, lifestyle, and true crime programming. It was launched on J ...

. It was produced by Ron Singer and Peter Williamson and his company Breakthrough Films. Television stations in England, Italy, and the United States purchased the rights to broadcast the show. Around 2001, the series was extended for a third season containing 26 episodes. The producers spent 2.5 years to work out with the hospital how they could send

film crew A film crew is a group of people, hired by a production company, for the purpose of Filmmaking, producing a film or motion picture. The crew is distinguished from the Ensemble cast, cast, as the cast are understood to be the actors who appear ...

into it. The show secured families' written authorization to be able to record patients. Several times families have revoked the authorization, leading to the cancellation of that episode. None of the show's participants are paid for their appearances on it.Ward, Bruce (2000-05-13). "I want my (I want my) real TV. From first date to the altar and beyond—reality-based television is up close and extremely personal" (page
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''. Archived from the original (page
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on 2024-02-03. Retrieved 2024-02-03 – via

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. Owing to the emotionally difficult subject matter of observing ill children, the television series hired a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

to keep an eye on the crew and to give talks about mental pressure.

Content

Set at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the inaugural episode on September 20, 1999, covered a teenager whose neck had a malignant tumor and a comatose four-year-girl who had been injured in a collision. A 2003 episode covered an eight-year-old girl from the Philippines afflicted with frontal

encephalocele Encephalocele is a neural tube defect characterized by sac-like protrusions of the brain and the Biological membrane, membranes that cover it through openings in the human skull, skull. These defects are caused by failure of the neural tube to cl ...

. Doctors at the Hospital for Sick Children operated on her face to take out a large growth.

Reception

Andrew Ryan of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' praised the show, saying "the stories on ''Life's Little Miracles'' are hopeful though always heartwrenching". The ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...

''s Bonnie Malleck said the show was "a poignant, heart-warming 13-part series using a

cinema verite ''Cinema Verite'' is a 2011 HBO drama film directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. The film's main ensemble cast starred Diane Lane, Tim Robbins, James Gandolfini and Patrick Fugit. The film follows a fictionalized account of ...

style to follow the on-going stories of 'little miracles' performed daily at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children."

References

{{reflist

External links

''Life's Little Miracles''
on Slice Network's website
''Little Miracles''
on

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

's website
''Little Miracles''
on co-producer Breakthrough Entertainment's website
''Little Miracles''
on

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1990s Canadian medical television series 1990s Canadian reality television series 1999 Canadian television series debuts 2000s Canadian medical television series 2000s Canadian reality television series CBC Television original programming Canadian English-language television shows Slice (TV channel) original programming Television series by Alliance Atlantis Television series set in hospitals