The 2019 CBC upfront gives us a much more streamlined fall lineup than we saw last year with most of the new shows working their way in the winter months.
Battle of the Blades is not new but we haven't seen the skaters since 2013. The only new prime time show in the fall is sketch comedy from TallBoyz II Men — Tim Blair, Guled Abdi, Franco Nguyen, and Vance Banzo. They were precede the Baroness von Sketch Show on Tuesday nights.
We only have the official fall schedule for now. Let's go to the highlights.
In a highly pleasant fashion, Monday nights are the same with Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries. Baroness von Sketch Show moves to 9:30 pm on Tuesdays to make room for Tallboyz.
The Great Canadian Baking Show remains as the early show on Wednesdays. Daniel Levy and Julia Chan are out with new hosts Aurora Browne and Carolyn Taylor (Baroness von Sketch Show). Northern Rescue seems anti-climatic as the late show on Wednesdays. Those watching on CBC Gem (Canada) and Netflix (United States) have been able to watch all the episodes since March.
Battle of the Blades is back for its 5th season but hasn't been seen since 2013 due to budget cuts. Dragons' Den moves back an hour to complete the Thursday lineup.
Marketplace and In the Making start out Fridays. The latter show profiles Canada’s most extraordinary creators. The Nature of Things moves from Sundays to Fridays.
Heartland returns to the fall lineup on Sunday nights followed by Anne with an E. The Fifth Estate remains on Sunday nights.
CBC Fall 2019
Monday
Murdoch Mysteries 8p
Frankie Drake Mysteries 9p
Tuesday
Still Standing 8p
This Hour Has 22 Minutes 8:30p
Tallboyz 9p
Baroness von Sketch Show 9:30p
Wednesday
The Great Canadian Baking Show 8p
Northern Rescue 9p
Thursday
Battle of the Blades 8p
Dragons' Den 9p
Friday
Marketplace 8p
In The Making 8:30p
The Nature of Things 9p
Saturday
Hockey Night in Canada 7p
Sunday
Heartland 7p
Anne with An E 8p
The Fifth Estate 9p
bold indicates new series; ital indicates new timeslot
Outside of prime time, CBC Arts: Exhibitionists returns on Friday nights at 11:30 pm. Gerry Dee will host Family Feud Canada "with a Canadian spin" in late fall Tuesdays-Fridays at 7:30 pm. Your tax dollars at work.
CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
While we don't have a defined winter schedule, we know Schitt’s Creek, Kim’s Convenience, Workin’ Moms, Diggstown, Burden of Truth, Coroner, The Detectives, and CBC Docs POV are on the list.
The Trickster will be one of the new winter dramas on CBC. The story is based on award-winning Canadian writer Eden Robinson's novel Son of a Trickster. This will be the first CBC show developed based on books by an Indigenous author.
Fortunate Son is about the matriarch of an American activist family who helps smuggle Vietnam war deserters and draft dodgers across the border to Canada. The Sounds is a co-production between Canada and New Zealand about the happenings in Pelorus Sounds. Reality-type shows include Back in Time for Winter, Fridge Wars, and High Arctic Haulers.
Northern Rescue streaming on both sides of the border
We featured Street Legal as the top photo for the 2018 CBC television upfront review. There wasn't much of a chance for the reboot to continue beyond the 6 episodes. The reboot did have an unfortunate distinction of being cancelled before the finale aired. Haven't watched the original or the reboot, but from what I've read, there wasn't much of the old show in the new show.
Little Dog did make it for 2 seasons and 15 episodes. Crawford (12 episodes) and Cavendish (8 episodes) each lasted a brief season. I did see most of Season 1 of Little Dog (all but the season finale). The show was a bit rough in the telling but felt very Newfoundland somehow.
I watched a few episodes of Crawford and the show didn't quite click. Crawford was still better than a lot of U.S. sitcoms. CBC presented the entire show online on Groundhog Day 2018 before airing the show in the following summer.
For Canadians, this is why CBC Gem exists. Can't speak to Cavendish but the other two comedies are definitely worth sampling.
Mary Kills People debuts final season in Canada but doesn't have a U.S. TV home
While we cover the CBC, we do acknowledge Canadian TV on other networks. We wrote earlier this month on the saga that is Mary Kills People in the United States as well as Season 3 of Private Eyes. Both shows air on Global in Canada.
If you have a Canadian TV show in question over being renewed (whether or not CBC carries the show), you should check out the tv-eh.com renewal scorecard. They do really fine work.
Season 2 of Burden of Truth debuts on the CW on June 2 at 8 pm Eastern on The CW. The U.S.-based network has also agreed to pick up Season 3 of the CBC program. See. Lifetime: that is how a show gets picked up.
CanadianCrossing.com radio coverage
This is a CBC television upfront but we have to pass along this CBC Radio news. Anna Maria Tremonti has been with the CBC for 35 years, the last 17 years as the only host in the history of The Current. Tremonti is leaving the show to start a pair of new CBC podcasts.
The new podcasts will have Tremonti hosting a 1-on-1 long-form interview show along with "a serialized story" where she might be one of a few voices.
The new podcasts will start this fall. The final day for Tremonti on The Current will be June 20. We will have more on this story when CBC announces Tremonti's replacement.
The Current airs at 8:30 am local time (9 am in Newfoundland) on CBC Radio One.
photo credit: Geoff George/CBC
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