Drew Scott and Michael Bublé pose for a photograph as they walk the carpet at the 2026 Prime Video Upfront, in Toronto on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

TORONTO —

When Michael Bublé and Drew Scott, part-owners of the Vancouver Giants, started working on a new docuseries about rebuilding the struggling hockey franchise, they decided to call a friend for advice — Ryan Reynolds.

"What are you doing, idiots? You know what you're getting into?" Bublé said while recounting Reynolds' advice through chuckles.

The conversation is featured in episode one of the series "Hometown Giants," and Scott said Reynolds — co-owner of the Welsh soccer club Wrexham — didn't hold back.

"All Canadian celebrities, they buy a sports team, that's just what we do. His advice was, 'Don't do it.'"

The show looks at the pressure that comes with running a hockey team, and the sacrifice teenage players make for a chance to join the NHL.

"But all jokes aside, I mean, it was great to talk to somebody who's been through this and what he's done with his team and with Wrexham is phenomenal," Scott said in a video interview from Prime Video's Upfront presentation in Toronto.

The six-part series is reminiscent of "Welcome to Wrexham," a reality show executive produced by Reynolds that follows the team's trajectory from a lower-tier league to a history-making three consecutive promotions all the way to the second-highest tier, the Champions League.

A similar parallel story is currently happening with the Vancouver Giants. The WHL team haven't won the Canadian Hockey League's top prize, the Memorial Cup, in nearly 20 years. And last season they were last place in their conference.

"It wasn't an easy year, either. Like for us to be in first place, you have to turn the newspaper upside down," Bublé said.

As an owner it makes him cry Scott said, but as a producer you can't ask for a better story.

"You think you're doing all the right things and you just get knocked down by things that are out of your control. I don't want to give away what happens, but really this is a show that's going to pull you in and make you want to watch to the end. And this is just Season 1," Scott said.

"Hometown Giants" joins a list of hockey-themed shows currently streaming. Scripted dramas like Prime Video's "Off Campus," and Crave's "Heated Rivalry," have captured audiences across the globe.

"Heated Rivalry" creator Jacob Tierney was also at the Prime Video Upfront for "Young Farts Trailer Parts," a docuseries about Alberta siblings who are trying to build an RV-parts empire. The show is executive produced by Tierney and was announced last year. It will premiere July 17.??

Bublé and Scott said they hadn't run into Tierney at the event, but they loved the international success that "Heated Rivalry" has received and joked that they should talk to him about appearing in Season 2.

"This is the new 'Heated Rivalry' here, right? But less sex," Scott said while Bublé hunched over laughing.

Prime Video announced the new lineup at its annual Amazon Upfront event in Toronto, geared toward promoting its slate to advertisers. It includes six new Canadian originals and one returning, all of them unscripted.

It's also teaming up with another HGTV star, Scott McGillivray, for the survival series "Surrender." The handyman will host and executive produce the eight-part series in which strangers compete in the Canadian wilderness. It starts production this fall.

The streaming service is creating a Canadian version of a reality format it's produced in other countries with "Heels in the Hay," in which influencers are moved away from their comfy city lives to reside in the countryside. The French-language show will be produced by Canadian company Trio Orange in association with Amazon MGM Studios.

Meanwhile, the three-part true crime series "The Pig Farm Killer: Robert Pickton," will examine the horror's of one of Canada's most prolific serial killers and how he evaded arrest for years while killing women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Prime Video also touted a new 11-year deal with the NBA that allows it to air 67 regular season games, along with the NBA Cup tournament and select playoff games.

The streamer did not give an update on "Prime Monday Night Hockey" or "NHL Coast to Coast," which was part of a two-year deal with the National Hockey League that ends after this season.

Mark Shopiro, who heads up Prime Video in Canada, said in a video interview last week they were proud of the last two years and think the shows have been well received, but did not have any information about a renewal to share at the time.

Last year the NHL and Rogers announced a 12-year $11-billion-dollar deal for the national media rights for games across all platforms in Canada.When it was announced, Rogers CEO Tony Staffieri said there was a "strong possibility" they would continue their deal with Prime Video.

Prime Video's only returning series announced Wednesday is the Québécois show "LOL: Qui Rira Le Dernier?," which features comedians competing to make each other laugh without breaking out in laughter themselves. The show is hosted by Patrick Huard, best know for his role in "Bon Cop, Bad Cop," and in its fifth season it's inviting back former players.

To date the company said it has commissioned more than 25 Canadian Prime Originals and Brent Haynes, head of original programming for Canada, said their strategy is figuring what shows will capture an audience.

"There's so much on Prime Video that there's something there for everyone. On the originals side, we're just looking for those grey spaces that we can fill within Canada," Haynes said.

Executives declined to share how much the streamer spends on Canadian programming.

Last week, after the interview with Prime Video executives, the Canadian broadcast regulator announced that large streaming services must contribute 15 per cent of their Canadian revenues to Canadian content.

That’s three times the initial contribution requirement of five per cent that the CRTC set out in 2024, which is being challenged in court by major streamers, including Apple and Amazon.

The Motion Picture Association, the U.S. group representing streamers including Netflix and Prime Video, said the new rules will triple the cost of doing business in Canada and called on the federal government to reconsider.

Asked to comment on the CRTC ruling, a spokesperson for Prime Video forwarded the MPA statement and quoted Shopiro: "We have a long-standing commitment to investing in Canadian production, the latest examples of which are being announced today at the Amazon Upfront."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2026