Season two of the hit series “THE WEEK THE WOMEN WENT” returns to CBC Television this January with more drama, more hilarity and more personal transformations than before. The premise is simple. Take one small Canadian town, remove the women, and see if the men can keep the home fires burning – without burning the kids’ dinner. This season, the women of Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia – a picturesque Maritime village with a population of approximately 700 – disappear en mass for one week, leaving the men to fend for themselves, their town and their families. While away, the men – many of whom work away from home for months at a time – must juggle all the cooking, cleaning, child rearing and work duties alone while the women enjoy a week of pampering at a luxury resort. With relationships tested, gender roles reversed and emotions high, what ensues is an intimate video diary of one town and how their men really cope without women. The series is produced by the award-winning Paperny Films.

A crew of over 80 directors, producers, cameramen and support staff from Paperny Films descended on Tatamagouche in September 2008 to pull off the largest social experiment the region – if not the country – has ever seen for the hit television series “The Week the Women Went”.

Exactly 167 women – 50 more than in season one – left on the week long trip to the posh Fairmont Algonquin Resort in New Brunswick the first week of September. Although some women were unable to go because of their jobs, or because they were sole caregivers in their family, the majority of women did participate. All of the men remained in Tatamagouche. In addition to caring for the children, working and doing domestic duty, the men worked together on a special community revitalization project which Paperny Films donated $10,000 to kick-start.

The remnants of two strong hurricanes provided bookends for the production. The first – Hurricane Hanna – hit the day the women left. The remnants of Hurricane Ike arrived the day after the women returned. The series is shot cinéma vérité style, with some interviews. Like last season, the only one scene in the entire production was staged – the women marching down Main Street, Tatamagouche as they left town.

Information and images courtesy of CBC.