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“This has probably been the best interview I’ve ever had, and I’ve done thousands and thousands of them. You guys just made me feel really special and very welcome,” said Canadian singer Jann Arden about her participation in new CBC series The Assembly, now streaming on CBC Gem.
“How would you define what makes a person evil?” is just one of the frank questions that Arden answered. She shared her feelings about her brother who was incarcerated for murder and talked openly about her new relationship with Thordis Elva, an author from Iceland.
A total of six Canadian celebrities took part in this innovative interview series that is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
“This is a series that champions honest, authentic and open interactions,” says executive producer Stephen Sawchuk, “the result is something truly special, and we’re incredibly proud to share this series with Canadian audiences.”
A roomful of autistic and neurodivergent interviewers ask unpredictable, probing and direct questions to celebrities in a no holds barred interview.
What is The Assembly?
The Assembly is a television series where a roomful of autistic interviewers ask probing and direct questions of celebrities in a no-holds-barred interview. The conversations get very deep, very quickly.
(Erich Saide )
The Assembly has won rave reviews around the world and now CBC is bringing it to Canada.
Where did The Assembly originate?
The show is an adaptation of the French series Les rencontres du Papotin which debuted in 2022 on France 2. In its debut season, French President Emmanual Macron was asked whether it was right to marry his former teacher, who is nearly 25 years his senior. His answer went viral online.
The TV program was inspired by a real-life newspaper that has been written and published by autistic journalists since 1990.
Renamed The Assembly for British audiences, the series has become an international hit that has been commissioned across 19 countries so far.
Who are the celebrities featured on The Assembly in Canada?
Along with Arden, featured celebrity guests include comedians Russell Peters and Howie Mandel, actors Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Allan Hawco and entrepreneur Arlene Dickinson. “It was harder than I thought because you asked really tough personal questions and it was easier than I thought because you’re all so kind,” said Dickinson after being grilled about an affair, her subsequent divorce and her insecurities.
In The Assembly, no topic is off the table.
Howie Mandel, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Russell Peters all appear on The Assembly (Erich Saide )
Mandel talked openly about his struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and shared a humorous story about his first time in front of a live audience. (It involved a rubber glove, because, well, OCD) Ramakrishnan was asked whether she loved herself and Peters if he felt like “a safe brown guy for white audiences.”
“It’s just nice to meet other humans without filters!” said Peters. “It was a great experience.”
Who are the interviewers in The Assembly?
The series features a cast of 47 autistic adults from British Columbia who rotated throughout the taping of six episodes.
(Erich Saide )
Executive producers Sawchuk and Sean De Vries worked with their casting team to reach out to a number of organizations, social groups and individuals within the community to understand the best way to support autistic participants to empower them to represent themselves.
“As someone who rarely saw themselves on TV growing up, having the chance to share my voice and be the representation I was so desperate for has been incredibly meaningful,” says Mac Walsh, a 24-year-old storyteller who appeared on the show.
Allan Hawco faces an interviewer on The Assembly (Erich Saide )
The cast were provided with optional production resources to support their roles as interviewers, enabling them to exercise their full agency and freedom to ask questions in their own voices and on their own terms.
“This for me has been one of the most unforgettable experiences I was honoured to be a part of,” agrees 37-year-old Julianna Vittorio. “It truly unlocked things I never thought possible: New friendships with cast members while building my own neurodivergent community, skills to hopefully one day come back to do even more interviewing and more confidence to fully be myself and show vulnerability in my own way in a space free of judgement.”
Where was The Assembly filmed?
The Assembly was filmed in multiple locations across Vancouver, British Columbia.
Spaces were chosen with the needs of the cast in mind. Each one offered natural light, access to sensory rooms and private places for the interviewers to gather.
Who created The Assembly?
In Canada, The Assembly is produced in Vancouver, by Small Army Entertainment.
(Erich Saide)
After seeing versions of this show from France and the UK, producers saw the incredible impact this format could have on Canadian audiences.
“The authenticity, sincerity and energy of the show is magnetic. We saw a chance for the audience to get a unique insight into celebrities, but more than that, to gain a much needed insight into neurodivergent communication,” says De Vries.
How many episodes of The Assembly will air in Canada?
The Assembly debuts on CBC and CBC Gem on Thursday, November 6 at 9 pm (9:30 NL). Two half-hour episodes will air over three weeks for a total of six episodes.
Where can I watch The Assembly in Canada?
The Assembly is now streaming on CBC Gem, which has a special director’s cut with additional minutes of content not seen in the broadcast episode.
CBC Gem is available for free as an App for iOS, tvOS, Fire TV, Android TV, Android phones and tablets, LG and Samsung Smart TVs, Roku, and Xbox One/S/X and online at gem.cbc.ca.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cbc.ca ’
