We do give a lot of love to CBC comedies and dramas but we need to give more love to fine Canadian shows on the private networks.
Cardinal only had 24 episodes over 4 seasons on CTV but proved to be a well-done Canadian television drama with a significant viewing audience in the United States.
Cardinal features detectives John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) and Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse) in fictional Algonquin Bay.
Most shows choose the best weather to shoot: Schitt's Creek shot its only Christmas episode in the summer. Cardinal was set in winter in seasons 1 and 4 with spring in Season 2 and autumn in Season 3. The show is based on the Giles Blunt books: Forty Words for Sorrow (Season 1); Blackfly Season (Season 2); By the Time You Read This (Season 3); Until the Night (Season 4).
Cardinal was a great outlet for wonderful Canadian talent such as Brendan Fletcher, Allie MacDonald, Kristen Thomson, Kris Holden-Ried, Orphan Black veterans Kevin Hanchard and Kathryn Alexandre, Susan Coyne, Jennifer Podemski, and Devery Jacobs.
Farewell, Cardinal (tv-eh.com)
The show was also intriguing since Vanasse got to play a French-Canadian character. She has played a French character on U.S. television (Pan Am).
Thank you to everyone who joined us tonight and for the past four seasons. Thank you all and goodnight. #Cardinal #UntilTheNight pic.twitter.com/6ZbkfK7vJ5
— Cardinal (@CardinalCTV) May 12, 2020
Cardinal offered a gritty portrayal of small town life in Ontario. Definitely not boring.
The series is broadcast on Hulu in the United States as well as BBC Four in the United Kingdom, C More in Scandinavia, Calle 13 in Spain, and SBS in Australia.
U.S. television turns to Canadian TV shows to fill gaps due to COVID-19
Top 10 best Canadian TV shows in the 2010s
Celebrating Mary Kills People in humanizing assisted suicide
Mary Kills People debuts final season in Canada but doesn't have a U.S. TV home
Canadian TV dramas are hot on U.S. television lately
Karine Vanasse latest to play French-Canadian on English language TV
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
Since we are honouring Canadian TV dramas that aren't from the CBC, we have a couple of non-updates.
Season 3 of Private Eyes started just under a year ago on Global (May 29) and ran through August 7 with 12 episodes. We have not heard a peep about whether Ion will show Season 3 in the United States or when that might happen.
We have noted that Ion is an odd network for the show since the death count on Private Eyes is much lower than their lineup of shows.
Private Eyes had 12 episodes in Season 3. Global has a 12-episode Season 4 scheduled to air this summer.
We also haven't heard anything from Hulu on Season 3 of Mary Kills People. Hulu has had Seasons 1-2 of the Global drama. Lifetime carried the first 2 seasons on cable TV but dropped the show before Season 3.
We wish we had much better news on either show.
photo credit: Bell Media
Twitter capture: @CardinalCTV
Comments