The Listener made wishes come true for a handful of kids on Thursday.
The CTV drama, starring Craig Olejnik as telepath Toby Logan, invited 10 out-patients from Toronto’s The Hospital for Sick Children down to the show’s Mississauga, Ont., studio to participate in filming a Season 4 episode.
Listener production shingle Shaftesbury says the children, who have all been released from the Sick Kids but are still receiving treatment, appear in “Caged In,” an episode that investigates the dark side of mixed martial arts and a fighter’s involvement with the hospital.
The drama’s art department collaborated with the Toronto-area hospital to recreate the institution’s lounge set, decked out with bright colours and a phalanx of stuffed animals.
“It has been humbling to use the platform of the show to support The Hospital for Sick Children, and as a result, today has been by far the most valuable day on the set of The Listener,” Olejnik told TV Guide Canada. “These kids are a reminder of the beauty and fragility of life, and it has been an honour to work with them.”
Olejnik and co-star Ennis Esmer appear with the young actors in the hospital segment, as the brother of a deceased MMA fighter visits the place his sibling dropped by to cheer up the young patients. Oz (Esmer), a volunteer at the hospital, clowns around with the kids while Toby helps perform magic tricks.
The Listener also stars Lauren Lee Smith, Rainbow Francks and Tara Spencer-Nairn.
Production on Season 4 is currently underway in Mississauga, Ont. The show is expected to return to CTV sometime this summer but a premiere date has not been announced.
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