Editor's note: This story has been updated with the date for the BET+ debut of The Porter.
The CW network in the United States has picked up Season 1 of the Global TV series Family Law. The 10-episode Season 1 does not have a start date.
The Canadian show premiered in Italy even before the show aired in Canada. The Nine Network carries the series in Australia.
Jewel Staite stars as lawyer and recovering alcoholic Abigail Bianchi. The premise is that she has to work at her estranged father Harry’s (Victor Garber) law firm as a condition of her probation. She also has to form relationships with her half-siblings (Zach Smadu and Genelle Williams).
Staite was the star of the not-so-great Canadian film A Frosty Affair and the much better Canadian film How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town.
Garber has a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Lead Actor, Drama Series for Family Law.
CW had carried Burden of Truth so the show could fit into a late spring or summer timeslot. The U.S. network also carries Coroner (CBC) and did carry CBC shows Trickster and Fridge Wars.
There have been Global shows that aired in the United States. Ion television carried the first 2 seasons of Private Eyes (5 seasons on Global) and Lifetime television carried the first 2 seasons of Mary Kills People. Hulu doesn't even have the final season of the show.
2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights
Trickster coming to the U.S. on the CW in January
Transplant fans are used to subtitles with Bash (Hamza Haq) and other characters speaking in Arabic. In Season 2, Episode 3 (Sever), we heard the French language.
Dr. Mags Leblanc (Laurence Leboeuf) had a scene where she joins her sister Camille (Mylène Mackay) for lunch. They speak in French and English in the scene. Leboeuf crosses over easily from French to English and Canada and the United States.
Anglophones watching Transplant on CTV and NBC may not have known Mags is fluent in French. As we've noted, French speaking actors are more likely to cross over to English in Canada. Leboeuf has also worked in Montréal on the English language show 19-2. Even though Transplant is set in Toronto, the show is actually filmed in Montréal.
Leboeuf played one of the many Tremblays in French Immersion, a Canadian film co-written and directed by Kevin Tierney (Jacob Tierney's father). The elder Tierney also co-wrote and produced Bon Cop, Bad Cop, another film that plays on the French-English divide.
Letterkenny is one of the few anglophone shows that acknowledges French Canada. Jared Keeso, who co-created the show with Jacob Tierney, also starred on 19-2.
Mackay was the lead in Nelly.
Transplant Season 2 airs on CTV and NBC.
Canadian TV notebook: Transplant Season 2 debuts Sunday on NBC
Bilingual Canadian actors tend to flow from French to English
Ion Plus, a streaming service of sorts, may be a good resource for Canadian TV shows. According to the Wikipedia listing, Ion Plus "linear broadcast is found on Samsung TV Plus and Vizio WatchFree without advertisements."
The channel has Murdoch Mysteries, Hudson & Rex, Saving Hope, and Private Eyes.
The problem is that you have to know when the show is on; these programs are not available on demand. Unless we did something wrong. We consider ourselves to be reasonably technically aware and are confused by how this works.
If we can figure this out, we will update this story. If Ion Plus makes sense to you, let us know in the comments.
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The Porter will debut in the United States on BET+ on May 5. We wondered back in March as to when the show would arrive on the U.S. streaming service.
Season 1 has been running on CBC since February 21. The Season 1 finale airs next Monday (April 11) at 9 pm local time on CBC.
Canadians can catch up on past episodes through CBC Gem. There are 8 episodes in Season 1.
We saw the first episode and found the show gripping and well told.
photo credit: Family Law/Global
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