Editor's note: Cavendish moved to Tuesday nights, switching places with Workin' Moms.
With no offence to Rick Mercer, the Tuesday night CBC lineup for winter 2019 is a comedy machine. Kim's Convenience has shifted to winter in the old Rick Mercer Report timeslot with new seasons from Schitt's Creek and Workin' Moms. This Hour Has 22 Minutes is definitely missing Shaun Majumder on and off camera.
CBC has plenty of new winter dramas to keep you warm. Coroner is from the mind of Morwyn Brebner (Saving Hope) about a recently widowed coroner in Toronto. Street Legal marks the return of the long-running CBC series from 1987-1994. Cynthia Dale is back as Olivia Novak. The 2 dramas will split the post-Murdoch timeslot on Mondays with the latter premiering on March 4.
Burden of Truth is back for Season 2 on Wednesday nights. The drama will split that early time slot with Diggstown, a Halifax-based legal aid drama with the first black Canadian female lead in Vinessa Antoine (above). The latter show premieres March 6. Unspeakable is a fictional account of the very real tainted blood scandal in Canada. The show will run in the late slot on Wednesdays.
Burden of Truth will be on the CW but not until the summer. Unspeakable will air in the United States on Sundance TV.
Schitt's Creek celebrates Christmas with a holiday special
Cavendish is the only new comedy in the winter lineup. Brothers Mark and Andy return to Cavendish for the first time in 30 years ago to take care of their dad. The show teams up with Season 2 of Little Dog in the post-Dragons slot on Thursdays.
The Stats of Life is back for Season 2 in the post-Marketplace slot on Friday nights. Arlene Dickinson from Dragons' Den has a 4-episode series called Under New Management about buying and selling small businesses that debuts March 15.
Heartland took the fall off but is back for Season 12 in its traditional Sunday timeslot.
The genuine surprise is that CBC is not using British shows to prop up the prime time lineup.
All the shows debut next week unless otherwise noted.
Monday
Murdoch Mysteries 8p
Coroner/Street Legal 9p
Tuesday
Kim's Convenience 8p
This Hour Has 22 Minutes 8:30p
Schitt's Creek 9p
Workin' Moms 9:30p
Wednesday
Burden of Truth/Diggstown 8p
Unspeakable 9p
Thursday
Dragons' Den 8p
Cavendish 9p
Little Dog 9:30p
Friday
Marketplace 8p
The Stats of Life/Under New Management 8:30p
CBC Docs POV 9p
Saturday
Hockey Night in Canada 7p
Sunday
Heartland 7p
The Nature of Things 8p
The Fifth Estate 9p
bold indicates new series; ital indicates new timeslot
Murdoch Mysteries, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Dragons' Den, Marketplace, CBC Docs POV, Hockey Night in Canada, The Nature of Things, and The Fifth Estate stay in their timeslots.
CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage
Pure finally makes its WGN America debut on January 23. The initial 6 episodes have been available on Hulu in the United States. There will be a Season 2 for CBC and WGN America but those details will come later.
We thought Crawford would eventually air on Comedy Central given the articles when the show was first announced. We don't have info if there is a U.S. release.
I was able to watch a few episodes of Crawford. My assessment is that the shows are interesting but you feel like there is something missing within the episodes. The characters were very interesting but there wasn't much cohesion between the characters. They felt like random people together in a house than actual family members.
There are 12 episodes; I got through 5 or 6 episodes and had to stop. The show isn't bad but isn't all that good.
Canadian TV notebook: CBS to produce U.S. version of 'Mr. D'
Mr. D finished its Canadian sitcom life with 8 seasons and 86 episodes. By Canadian comedy standards, those numbers are rather amazing. Gerry Dee, teacher turned comedian and actor, took his teaching experience and applied it to the show.
CBS looked into an American version back in 2015 involving Will Arnett but that fizzled quickly. Mr. D was never a flashy show and the humour was even more subtle than what you would find on Schitt's Creek. The show did keep coming back again and again.
While Mr. D was a CBC show, Season 4 of the program also ran on Citytv in an exchange where CBC got to air Young Drunk Punk.
---
IFC finished its run of 10 episodes of Baroness von Sketch Show from CBC. The program ran Thursday nights at 9 pm Eastern though moved to midnight for the final 2 episodes.
The higher 10-episode request didn't dampen the quality. There might have been fewer memorable moments but offered a quiet consistency.
Aurora Browne and Jennifer Whalen of the troupe mentioned on the Christmas Eve show on Q with Tom Power that they were filming 10 more episodes for Season 4, presumably for next fall.
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
This is mostly a CBC update but we had to update other Canadian TV shows.
Mary Kills People will be back for the final season on Global. In an immature move, Lifetime will NOT show Season 3. 6 episodes wouldn't hurt the bottom line. Hopefully, there will be a U.S. deal for Season 3 likely on a streaming service.
Caroline Dhavernas and the rest of the cast deserve a better fate in the U.S.
There are 9 more episodes of Private Eyes that Ion has not shown in the United States. We don't have a target date. There will be a Season 3 for the show on Global and hopefully Ion.
Season 3 of Cardinal with Karine Vanasse debuts January 24 on CTV.
photo credit: Diggstown/CBC
video credit: Crawford/CBC
Comments