Monday
Murdoch Mysteries 8p
Shoot the Messenger 9p
Tuesday
Rick Mercer Report 8p
This Hour Has 22 Minutes 8:30p
Kim's Convenience 9p
Mr. D 9:30p
Wednesday
Dragons' Den 8p
The Romeo Section 9p
Thursday
The Nature of Things 8p
Firsthand 9p
Friday
Marketplace 8p
Hello Goodbye 8:30p
The Fifth Estate 9p
Saturday
Hockey Night in Canada 7p
Sunday
Heartland 7p
This is High School/Canada's Smartest Person 8p
This Life 9p
bold indicates new series; ital indicates new timeslot
We asked the CBC for more Canadian programming and the network is delivering on that request. The CBC is debuting 3 new shows, all of them Canadian, for the fall lineup.
- Kim's Convenience gets the treasured Tuesday 9 pm slot. We've been waiting awhile for this sitcom based on the Ins Choi play (above photo). The story is about Korean immigrants who set up a convenience store in downtown Toronto and live in Regent Park. The father had a falling out with his teenage son, and the now grown up son is trying to get his life together. We're told that the immigrant experience is part of Canada, and cool to see that on the small screen on the network.
- Shoot the Messenger is a political crime thriller in the post-Murdoch timeslot. The conflict centers on the crime reporters and the police. Elyse Levesque plays a young reporter; Lucas Bryant is a co-worker and Alex Kingston as her editor. Lyriq Bent plays the lead homicide detective. There are some Canadian cameos in the queue and the show was shot in Toronto. This sounds like the kind of show that the CBC previously imported, so good for bringing something like this home.
- This is High School is a 6-part documentary-esque look into a British Columbia high school. This is based on a British series. The show runs in the post-Heartland slot on Sunday nights.
There are fewer new holes since Hello Goodbye and Mr. D, members of the winter lineup, are back quickly in the fall. They retain their winter timeslots. The only show to switch timeslots is This Life, moving from Mondays to Sundays for Season 2.
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
The rest of the lineup is back for another year: Murdoch Mysteries, Rick Mercer Report, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Dragons' Den, The Romeo Section, The Nature of Things, Firsthand, Marketplace, The Fifth Estate, Hockey Night in Canada, Heartland, and Canada's Smartest Person (starting in November).
Winter
Schitt's Creek and X Company will be back. We'll likely check in with Crash Gallery, Interrupt This Program, and Exhibitionists from last fall. Since Canada's Smartest Person is starting late, the show will likely carry on to the winter schedule.
This is the second year we have been promised Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that might happen this winter or next summer or … .
New titles for the winter include the Catherine Reitman sitcom Workin' Moms, Pure about Mennonites and drug-trafficking, and True North Calling following young Canadians living on the edge of the Arctic.
Daytime
We don't have a title and know who all the hosts will be, but the CBC will have a new daytime show with Steven Sabados and Jessi Cruickshank, host of Canada's Smartest Person. Sabados hosted Steven and Chris before the tragic death of Chris Hyndman last August.
Chris Hyndman's death has very large impact
The program will focus on food, home, fashion, and health with an October 3 debut.
Young Drunk Punk
This sitcom wins the Strange Empire award for the past TV season. The award goes to a well-done show that is interesting, takes risks, and somehow doesn't get renewed for a second season.
The program ran on the CBC last fall after its debut on City TV. Mr D episodes got a second airing on City TV as part of the exchange between CBC and City TV.
Comedy slots are far and few at the CBC. If you factor that Kim's Convenience, Mr. D, Schitt's Creek, and Working Moms are 4 comedys that have to run, there isn't much room for an extra comedy. The CBC should have more slots to give comedy a chance to fly at the network.
Bruce McCulloch, creator and star of the show, says he is searching for an outlet for a second season. We'll have more much to say on this show next week at CanadianCrossing.com.
Takeaway
This Life and The Romeo Section made the cut for Season 2, helping the CBC avoid running international dramas. We already know 1 of the 3 new fall shows will have a limited run. We are intrigued about Kim's Convenience. The Tuesday 9 pm hour should be the home for comedies that have an edge to them of some kind. If Young Drunk Punk had run behind Kim's Convenience in the fall schedule, you could have had a comedy night worth noting.
Toronto dominates the film industry but we haven't seen much of Toronto on CBC shows lately. 2 of the 3 new fall shows are centered in Canada's largest city.
The reality show material seems beneath the purpose of the CBC. Dragons' Den may bring in money to the CBC, but should that be what counts?
If I were running a cable channel in Canada, I would run shows such as Strange Empire and Young Drunk Punk, but only because the CBC doesn't know what to do with those shows. Still, the 2016 fall lineup is something to be proud of compared to recent lineups.
Some of that risk taking happens digitally. For more on the CBC digital options, click here.
This Life came from the Radio-Canada side of the CBC. Perhaps there are more options to adapt the French-Canadian programming.
The CBC is a gateway to non-Canadian audiences for Canadian programming. The best drama — Orphan Black — airs on BBC America in the States, though Schitt's Creek is on CBC and Pop TV. The CBC needs to take more risks and hang on to those shows. We forget sometimes the improved stability of the CBC lineup, but that shouldn't mean complacency.
photo credit: Cylla von Tiedemann/Soulpepper Theatre Company/Canadian Press
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