"Schitt's Creek" made a comedy impact in the Tuesday 9 pm slot last winter on the CBC. The Canadian public broadcaster is going that same route with "Young Drunk Punk" this fall.
The single-camera comedy from "Kids in the Hall" alum Bruce McCulloch already aired on City TV. But the CBC is very smart to keep the comedy train going on Tuesday nights, given that the U.S. and Canadian private networks are shifting away from comedy on Tuesday.
The surprise curveball is that the post "Young Drunk Punk" slot on Tuesday nights is going to the British comedy "Raised by Wolves." The show follows 6 home-school siblings and their mother. The relative good news is that "Wolves" is the only non-Canadian new show this fall on the CBC primetime schedule.
CBC 2015 fall primetime TV schedule
Monday
Murdoch Mysteries 8p
This Life 9p
Tuesday
Rick Mercer Report 8p
This Hour Has 22 Minutes 8:30p
Young Drunk Punk 9p
Raised By Wolves 9:30p
Wednesday
Dragons' Den 8p
The Romeo Section 9p
Thursday
The Nature of Things 8p
First Hand 9p
Friday
Marketplace 8p
Crash Gallery/Interrupt This Program 8:30p
The Fifth Estate 9p
Sunday
Heartland 7p
Canada's Smartest Person 8p
Keeping Canada Alive 9p
bold indicates new shows
Here are the new Canadian shows for the fall:
- The English language remake of "Nouvelle adresse," entitled "This Life" airs following Murdoch Mysteries on Monday night. The story is of a single mother who has terminal cancer and is preparing her teenage children for what happens when she is gone. This was the timeslot for "Strange Empire" last fall.
- "The Romeo Section" is a serial drama set in Vancouver about spies who engage in "intimate relations with intelligence targets." The Romeo Section airs Wednesdays after "Dragons Den" in the old "Republic of Doyle" timeslot.
- "Keeping Canada Alive" is a 6-part series profiling the Canadian health care system that follows "Canada's Smartest Person" on Sunday nights. This was the timeslot for the misleading "CBC Selects" from last fall.
- "Crash Gallery" (October 2 premiere) and "Interrupt This Program" (November 6 premiere) will offer original programming between "Marketplace" and "The Fifth Estate" on Friday nights. Both shows explore art with creativity the emphasis for "Crash Gallery" and political protest for "Interrupt This Program." Rick Mercer reruns aired in this timeslot last fall.
- "First Hand" is in the "Doc Zone" timeslot with documentaries. Not sure about the difference between "Doc Zone" and "First Hand" but there will be documentaries following "The Nature of Things" on Thursday nights.
- "Exhibitionists" is a 30-minute series on Sunday nights featuring Canadian artists "people who create and what motivates them to do it." This may air before "Heartland" but that isn't clear from the information we were given.
Without specifics as to the content of the new shows, this is very good news for the CBC and the public broadcaster took some of our advice.
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Helping CBC Part I: Show more Canadian content
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Helping CBC Part II: Making money through cable channels
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Helping CBC Part III: Filling programming holes
The CBC has only one new non-Canadian show as opposed to last fall's schedule with international fillers such as "The Honourable Woman" and "Janet King." There are more Canadian shows on the fall schedule. We even have original programming in the Friday night timeslot in between the two news stalwarts.
The Canadian health care system series is a nice addition to the schedule, and hopefully will be available to watch south of the border beyond the range of the CBC.
The art shows are a great way to show real Canadians without the fakeness of reality TV. This also follows one of our suggestions from our 3-part series last year.
Returning in their regular timeslots for the fall schedule are "Murdoch Mysteries" (Monday); "Rick Mercer Report" and "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" (Tuesday); "Dragons Den" (Wednesday); "The Nature of Things" (Thursday); "Marketplace" and "The Fifth Estate" (Friday); "Hockey Night in Canada" (Saturday); and "Heartland" and "Canada's Smartest Person" (Sunday).
Winter
We don't have timeslots for the winter shows, but you can almost count on "Schitt's Creek" and "Mr. D." for the Tuesday night comedy block in the late timeslot.
"X Company" will be back this winter. "Ascension" won't rise back up after just the one season.
"Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays" is supposed to be back with 6 new episodes, presumably in winter, but wasn't mentioned in the press release yesterday from the CBC.
Here are the new shows for the winter:
- "Hello Goodbye" finds touching stories at Toronto Pearson International Airport, perhaps a cross between "Heartland" and non-harsh reality TV.
- "Jekyll & Hyde" is a British import, a 10-part miniseries set in 1930s London.
While "Strange Empire" would have had trouble fitting into the fall schedule, the CBC could use that now-cancelled program in its winter schedule.
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CBC cancels 'Strange Empire'
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Analyzing the 2014 CBC fall schedule upfront
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Canadian presence on U.S. TV 2015 upfronts
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CanadianCrossing.com TV coverage
Summer 2015
The Pan Am Games will dominate the CBC summer schedule from July 10-26 as well as the Parapan Am Games from August 7-15.
The CBC has a few original Canadian shows that are debuting this summer.
- "Still Standing" debuts on June 23 and features comedian Jonny Harris going to small towns across Canada to gather material for a standup comedy routine pertinent to that community. The promos on Hockey Night in Canada has been dominant so perhaps the CBC wants to see if this show can grow beyond summer.
- "Fool Canada" also premieres on June 23; the program is a "Candid Camera" type show where Will Sasso and a team of other comedians travel across Canada and poke fun at what it means to be Canadian.
- "When Calls the Heart" is a American-Canadian Western drama. The program has already aired on Super Channel in Canada and the Hallmark Channel in the United States. The program was developed by Michael Landon, Jr. The program's CBC debut is June 28.
Australia factors into 3 new non-Canadian CBC summer shows: dramas "Banished" and "Love Child" and the comedy "Please Like Me."
Digital shows
CBC will also debut some new shows but only on the Internet. Art-related shows are "Canada in the Frame"; "The Collective"; and "The Re-education of Eddy Rogo." CBC's Punchline Web site has two new shows: "Body Buds," a comedy satirizing the workout craze of the 1990s, and sci-fi serial "Riftworld Chronicals."
Takeaway
Forgetting the summer lineup, the CBC is charging through with more Canadian content with a much smaller budget. Real TV, as opposed to reality TV, is more dominant on the overall schedule.
The fall schedule looks good and encouraging. The CBC needs to develop more shows that will extend beyond short periods of time. As fun as the art shows are, there needs to be a way to keep that going under a specific umbrella, along the lines of "Doc Zone" or "First Hand" with documentaries. The CBC needs to experiment with new ideas to present Canadian content yet also have shows with staying power.
"Republic of Doyle" is gone from the schedule. "Strange Empire" and "Ascension" were cancelled after one season. Will "This Life" and "The Romeo Section" have enough staying power to survive to next year?
"Canada's Smartest Person" was the only new show to debut last fall that is back this fall. "X Company" and "Schitt's Creek" were the only new shows from last winter to stay next winter. CBC needs a better track record from this year's new crop.
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Though there is overlap with CBLT Toronto and CBOT Ottawa, CBC is about to lose a major presence in Eastern Ontario.
Corus-owned long-time CBC affiliates in Peterborough, Oshawa, and Kingston will flip from CBC to CTV on August 31. CHEX-TV (Peterborough), CHEX-2 (Oshawa), and CKWS (Kingston) will leave the only affiliation they have ever known in time for the fall season. CHEX and CKWS spent 60 years with the CBC.
Those with cable and satellite in Eastern Ontario will be able to watch CBLT or CBOT as those services are required to carry a CBC English affiliate. Those accessing the signals via antenna will have to get cable or stream CBC programming. CKWS is carried on some western New York cable systems; the CTV affiliation is a concern since much of CTV's programming can't be shown in the States.
You might remember that CHEX served as an alternate for Stanley Cup playoffs coverage when the CBC had a conflict.
The CBC owns the majority of its stations. The Corus stations represent ½ of the private-owned CBC stations in Canada. 2 of the remaining 3 are owned by Bell Media, parent company of CTV.
CJDC in Dawson Creek, BC and CFTK in Terrace, BC were owned by Astral Media. Bell Media acquired Astral in 2013 but agreed to keep the CBC affiliation until the end of its license term in 2017.
CKSA in Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan is owned by Newcap Broadcasting.
The news can be downplayed as only affecting those with rabbit ears, but this is a significant loss for the CBC in a rather populated area.
video credit: City TV
Nice to see my hometown of Terrace referenced in your blog!! And my former employer :)
Posted by: Tyler | June 03, 2015 at 10:19 AM
Glad to give them a mention. The idea of private-owned CBC affiliates is an ever shrinking proposition, especially if the Terrace and Dawson Creek stations go to CTV in 2017.
Posted by: Chad | June 04, 2015 at 08:29 AM
I would think CFTK and CJDC are strong candidates to become CTV Two stations
Posted by: Tyler | June 15, 2015 at 04:31 PM
I would concur. As soon as the license expires, the switch will be made.
Posted by: Chad | June 15, 2015 at 07:48 PM