Alberta-shot Anna Pigeon scores USA Network’s biggest scripted debut in nearly eight years
Tracy Spiridakos stars as park ranger Anna Pigeon in Anna Pigeon, the new Crave Original filmed in Calgary and Alberta’s Kananaskis mountains.
Photo: Michelle Faye/USA Network
The Crave Original uses Alberta’s Kananaskis mountains to stand in for Montana and puts Canadian talent on both sides of the camera.
American viewers tuning in to the new national-park crime drama Anna Pigeon are watching a story set in Montana, but the mountains filling the screen are Canadian.
The new series, starring Winnipeg-born Canadian actor Tracy Spiridakos, was filmed in Alberta, with the foothills of the Canadian Rockies standing in for Glacier National Park. It has also given USA Network its highest-rated original scripted series premiere in nearly eight years.
In the three days following its Aug. 7 U.S. premiere, Anna Pigeon averaged 2.25 million viewers across USA Network, E! and Syfy, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel figures reported by Deadline. The premiere was also among the top new entries on ad-supported cable in both total viewers and the 18-to-49 demographic.
For Canadian viewers, the series premiered on Crave on Aug. 8, one day after its USA Network debut. New episodes air Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on USA Network and stream Saturdays on Crave.
The 10-episode, hour-long drama is based on Nevada Barr's bestselling series of mysteries about Anna Pigeon, a park ranger who investigates crimes in U.S. national parks. Spiridakos plays Pigeon, a former city dweller who became a ranger after a devastating loss changed the direction of her life.
The series is also notable as Bell Media's first co-commission with Versant's USA Network. It is produced by Cineflix, December Films and Calgary-based SEVEN24 Films for USA Network in association with Bell Media. Canadian writer and producer Morwyn Brebner, whose credits include Saving Hope, is showrunner, while Lea Thompson directs and executive produces.
Alberta is doing considerably more than supplying production facilities.
Bell Media describes Anna Pigeon as filmed in Calgary, while USA Network more specifically says the show was shot entirely on location in the Kananaskis mountains, neighbouring Banff National Park. The Canadian Rockies foothills double for Montana's Glacier National Park in the series.
Spiridakos told USA Network there was no studio involved in the mountain setting.
“Everything's practical,” she said while describing the Alberta location.
The wilderness also brought some very real wildlife. Spiridakos said a grizzly bear and two cubs were near the set on the production's first day, prompting park rangers to warn cast and crew not to wander far and to keep bear spray nearby.
The Canadian connections continue through the cast.
Alongside Spiridakos, Anna Pigeon stars Ronnie Rowe Jr. and Paulina Alexis, with additional cast members including Tricia Helfer, Kim Coates, Jordan Sledz, Ryan Northcott, Crystle Lightning and Nikki Hallow.
Several have particularly strong Western Canadian ties. Alexis was raised on the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation in central Alberta, while Battlestar Galactica actor Helfer was born and raised near Donalda, Alta.
That gives Anna Pigeon an unusually substantial Canadian footprint for a drama about the U.S. national-park system: a Winnipeg-born lead, Canadian showrunner, Alberta production company, Canadian supporting talent and the Canadian Rockies providing the landscape viewers see on screen.
For a show in which wilderness is central to both its setting and its main character, Alberta isn't simply hidden behind the production. Its mountains are one of Anna Pigeon's most visible stars.
New episodes of Anna Pigeon air Fridays on USA Network and stream the following day on Crave in Canada.
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