Big announcement today from team #WorkinMoms. Season 7 is coming, but theres something you should know… ❤️ pic.twitter.com/OM78RwdMLm
— Workin' Moms (@WorkinMoms) June 20, 2022
Editor's note: This story has been updated with the news that Season 7 will be the final one for Workin' Moms.
Canadian TV shows don't generally have longevity like a lot of U.S. television shows. The Beachcombers had 19 seasons vs. the original Law & Order with 21 seasons before its return this fall.
Schitt's Creek had 6 seasons. Workin' Moms has had 6 seasons. Kim's Convenience had 5 seasons. Baroness von Sketch Show decided to call it after 5 seasons. Republic of Doyle went out on its own terms after 6 seasons. Frankie Drake Mysteries got cut off after 4 seasons.
Kids in the Hall had 5 seasons on CBC with a Season 6 on Amazon Prime Video.
Kim's Convenience to end after Season 5; Frankie Drake Mysteries ends its CBC run
CBC gladly would have taken more of Schitt's Creek and had renewed Kim's Convenience for a Season 6. As we learned in the Kids in the Hall documentary The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks, the troupe couldn't handle a Season 6.
Schitt's Creek finished on a good note where 6 seasons were ideal. Kim's Convenience desperately needed a Season 6, especially one with more input from the cast.
Workin' Moms will be the next Netflix Canadian treasure
Workin' Moms provides CBC with Canadian humour for adults
Workin' Moms has slipped under the radar in a lot of ways. A popular CBC show on Netflix in the United States yet not as well known as Schitt's Creek and Kim's Convenience.
Season 5 of Workin' Moms separated Kate (Catherine Reitman) and Anne (Dani Kind), the besties at the strength of the show. Having Anne, Lionel, and their two daughters in Cochrane, Alberta (not a real place) made the show less enjoyable since the separation wasn't good for the primary friendship.
Season 6 of Workin' Moms brought Kate and Anne closer but had other challenges. Juno Rinaldi, who played Frankie Coyle, departed the series. Catherine Reitman chose to eliminate all the characters in Frankie's world, with one intriguing cameo exception in Season 6.
Sloane Mitchell (Enuka Okuma) just became a workin' mom (sorry, spoilers). Jenny Matthews (Jessalyn Wanlim) hasn't been much of a hands-on mom. We actually got to see her with her child for the first time in several seasons. We didn't even see Alicia Rutherford (Katherine Barrell) this season.
2022 CBC television upfront preview
Workin' Moms will get a rare Season 7 in Canadian television. The show will voluntarily end after Season 7.
As American TV viewers can tell you, the shows you want to last longer don't and other shows last longer than you would want them to last. Kim's Convenience fans might wonder why Workin' Moms got to last longer. Unfair on most levels, but some TV fans were thinking that exact point.
Kids in the Hall fans had to wait 3 decades to get a Season 6. Your humble narrator is cynical of nostalgia. I enjoyed Brain Candy and Death Comes to Town yet have been more impressed with Season 6, as it were.
Their updated takes on their characters have been impressive. The bandwagon fans (sorry) love the Head Crusher and the Chicken Lady (as you should), but true fans are thrilled with seeing relatively minor characters return.
Comedy usually isn't for the older crowd; the "Kids" are around 60. These "Kids" are the exception.
Could build an all-star Canadian TV lineup out of shows that are leaving
We know there are Canadian TV shows on the CBC that have had long runs such as Heartland and Murdoch Mysteries. They count but they don't count. Their renewals aren't filled with uncertainty.
We obviously are talking about scripted programming so Still Standing and Dragons' Den aren't a part of this story.
Coroner is being cut off after 4 seasons, but that seems more about Serinda Swan leaving the show than anyone deciding to stop the show for other reasons.
The U.S market is more about syndication where 100 episodes of a show means you can run in syndication. Most Canadian TV shows that make it to 6 seasons fall short of 100 episodes. The fact that Schitt's Creek runs under U.S. syndication, being a Canadian TV show AND having well under 100 episodes, is a minor miracle.
Top 10 best Canadian TV shows in the 2010s
Revisiting the Strange Empire: finding more Canadian TV in the United States
CBC cancels Strange Empire
Canadian TV shows don't usually make a comeback. One grand exception was the 18 total episodes of Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays (12 episodes in 2011) and Michael: Every Day (6 episodes in 2017) on CBC.
This may sound like sour grapes for fans of spectacular Canadian TV shows that only survived a single season, such as Strange Empire and Young Drunk Punk.
CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage
CanadianCrossing.com television coverage
CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage
There will always be talk of a Schitt's Creek movie. Maybe we will have to wait for a true return of Kim's Convenience to go out on their terms. Perhaps the Baroness von Sketch Show ladies will come back for an encore. Just won't be the same.
Twitter capture: @WorkinMoms
photo credit: Workin' Moms/CBC
Comments