''The Smart Woman Survival Guide'' is a Canadian situation comedy, filmed in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

, that aired from September 4, 2006, to January 5, 2008. It aired on the

W Network W Network (often shortened to W) is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts general entertainment programming oriented towards a female audience. W Network was ...

and CosmoTV. It was renewed for 26 further episodes before season one had finished shooting. The show was originally conceived as a two-act show that grew to four acts with a teaser and tag.

Premise

''The Smart Woman Survival Guide'' is a half-hour hybrid that is part lifestyle and part comedy. Lifting the ‘Ironed Curtain’ on a ''

Martha Stewart Living ''Martha Stewart Living'' is a magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), ...

''-type show, the series takes place behind the scenes of a fictional lifestyle program called ''Smart Woman'' and follows a group of women who bond over their work, lives and loves. The series stars Tricia Braun as Lana Pearson, the demanding host of ''Smart Woman'', and her trusty staff, producer Liz (Siobhan Murphy), associate producer Brooke (Joanne Alderson), and researcher Natalie (Laura McLean). As the women attempt to navigate the challenges of their personal and professional lives, the audience is presented with tips, how-tos and information for today's “smart woman”. When the Smart Women go into the real world to research segments for the show, they interact with real world experts who make guest appearances on the ''Smart Woman'' show. These include real-life

Olympians Olympian or Olympians may refer to: Religion * Twelve Olympians, the principal gods and goddesses in ancient Greek religion * Olympian spirits, spirits mentioned in books of ceremonial magic Fiction * ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'', fiction ...

, celebrity chefs and ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestselling authors.

Cast

*Tricia Braun – Lana Pearson, the host of ''Smart Woman'' *

Siobhan Murphy Siobhan Murphy is a Canadian actress who has appeared in ''The Smart Woman Survival Guide'' in 2006, ''Men with Brooms'' in 2010, '' Max & Shred'' in 2014, '' Murdoch Mysteries'' in 2016 and '' Merry Happy Whatever'' in 2019. Early life From a ...

– Liz Duncan, the producer *Laura McLean – Natalie Knowles, the researcher *Joanne Alderson – Brooke Patterson, the associate producer *Riley Gilchrist – Alistair, Lana's assistant *Ryan V. Hays – Phil, the IT guy *Adam Seybold – Reggie, the make-up artist

Notable guest-starring cast

* Jean-Paul Saurine - Steve Duncan, Liz's husband * Megan Hutchins - Geneva, Lana's 19-year-old niece * Boomer Phillips – Pete Sharp, Lana's nemesis and host of a rival show * Brad Hampton - John Smith

Guest experts

Alexandra Robbins Alexandra Robbins is a journalist, lecturer, and author. Her books focus on young adults, education, and modern college life. Five of her books have been New York Times Bestsellers. Biography She graduated from Walt Whitman High School in Bethe ...

, ''

'' bestselling author of ''Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis'', ''The Overachievers'', ''Pledged'', and ''Secrets of the Tomb''. *

Conrad Leinemann Conrad Leinemann (born April 2, 1971) is a male former beach volleyball player from Canada who won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, partnering with Jody Holden. He represent ...

, Beach Volleyball Olympian, finished 9th at the Sydney Olympic Games, and is a Pan Am Games Gold Medalist, with a 100+ km/h serve. * Mark Heese, Beach Volleyball Olympian. Mark brought home Canada's first medal in beach volleyball in the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. * Marc Dunn,

Beach Volleyball Beach volleyball is a team sport played by two teams of two to four players each on a sand court divided by a net. Similar to indoor volleyball, the objective of the game is to send the ball over the net and to ground it on the opponent's side o ...

Olympian, finished 17th at the Atlanta Olympic Games. *

Craig Kielburger Craig Kielburger (born December 17, 1982) is a Canadian human rights activist and social entrepreneur. He is the co-founder, with his brother Marc Kielburger, of the WE Charity, as well as We Day and the independent, social enterprise Me to ...

, Founder and Chair of

Free the Children WE Charity (), formerly known as Free the Children (), is an international development charity and youth empowerment movement founded in 1995 by human rights advocates Marc and Craig Kielburger. The organization implemented development progra ...

, and three-time

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

nominee. * Barbara Coloroso, internationally recognized parenting expert and author of four best selling parental advice books: ''Kids are worth it''; ''Parenting Through Crisis, Helping Kids in Times of Loss, Grief, and Inner Discipline''; ''The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander''; ''Just Because it’s not Wrong Doesn’t Make It Right''. * Rick Gallop, Author o
''The G. I. Diet''
* Rob Stewart, Director of award-winning environmental feature film documentary,

Sharkwater ''Sharkwater'' is a 2006 Canadian documentary film written and directed by Rob Stewart. Helping to protect sharks, changing government policy, and inspiring the creation of shark conservation groups, ''Sharkwater'' is considered one of conservat ...

Episodes

Production credits

The series was edited at Visual Fixations. Audio post production and 5.1 surround mixing for the 39 episodes was completed at Rhythm Division. The re-recording mixer was Jim Longo, with additional editing on season 3 by Andrea Cyr. Music for season 1, as well as the show theme were composed by Tom Third. For seasons 2 and 3 the music was composed at Rhythm Division by Kevan Staples. Executive Producer Al Magee was the creative consultant for Showcase Network, contributing to numerous shows, including ''

Slings & Arrows ''Slings & Arrows'' is a Canadian television series set at the fictional New Burbage Festival, a Shakespearean festival similar to the real-world Stratford Festival. It stars Paul Gross, Stephen Ouimette and Martha Burns. Rachel McAdams appeared ...

'', ''

Kink KINK (101.9 FM also known as kink.fm) is a commercial radio station in Portland, Oregon. It is owned by Alpha Media and it airs an adult album alternative radio format. KINK's studios and offices are on Southwest 5th Avenue in the PacWest C ...

'', ''

Naked Josh ''Naked Josh'' is a Canadian comedy television series, which aired on Showcase from 2004 to 2006. It was created and written by Alex Epstein and Laura Kosterski. The show starred David Julian Hirsh as Josh Gould, a university professor in Mo ...

'', ''Show Me Yours'', '' Kenny vs. Spenny'', and ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary television sitcom created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer park resi ...

''. Series composer Kevan Staples was a member of the Canadian new wave rock band,

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores *Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''Am ...

. He has won 4

Juno Awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

and a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

. The photo of Liz and Steve on Liz's desk is a real photo of Siobhan Murphy (Liz) and Jean-Paul Saurine (Steve) taken years ago, when the two were classmates at theatre school.

External links

* (defunct) *

Press and media coverage

National Post 09/16/06

Globe Television 09/06

Toronto Metro 08/11/06

Etc News 08/24/06

Insider Entertainment 09/06
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart Woman Survival Guide, The 2006 Canadian television series debuts 2008 Canadian television series endings 2000s Canadian sitcoms W Network original programming