While CBC carries more Canadian TV shows than the 3 Canadian private networks combined, we are curious what CTV, Global, and Citytv have for the upcoming 2022-2023 TV schedule.
CTV/Bell Media
Sight Unseen is a new show coming to CTV about a former homicide detective who loses her vision. She meets a professional seeing-eye guide and they tackle the unsolved cases the detective left behind.
Here are the scripted shows returning to CTV: Transplant (Season 4), Children Ruin Everything (Season 3), and Sullivan's Crossing (Season 2).
Returning reality shows include Farming For Love (Season 2) and The Amazing Race Canada (Season 9).
Battle of the Generations is a summer show where generations are pitted against each other for how much they know about their generation and the other generations. Gen X will do well.
The Traitors: Canada (CTV) and Les Traîtres (Noovo) don't sound that interesting as a psychological reality competition series. The notable in the announcement is that Karine Vanasse will host both the English and French-language versions of the series. Odd to see Vanasse go from Plan B on CBC to hosting a reality show.
Love Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall and his determination to bring sketch comedy to Canadians. The Dessert is his latest venture into the realm with Isabella Campbell, Shane Cunningham (co-creator), and Jillian Smart. Music provided by executive producer Max Kerman of the Arkells. The Dessert is actually on Crave, not CTV.
For those on the U.S. side who watch Mary Berg on the Food Network, CTV Life Channel is bringing back Mary Makes It Easy for Season 3. Berg is also hosting a daytime show on CTV called The Good Stuff with Mary Berg.
We saw nothing in the release about a possible Season 2 for Shelved, a Season 2 allegedly coming for SurrealEstate (CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada and SyFy in the United States), a potential Season 2 for The Spencer Sisters. No news might be just that, no news.
Robyn Hood, the revitalization of the Robin Hood legend from Director X, hits the upcoming Global fall lineup. There will be 8 episodes in the fall with Jessye Romeo, Nykeem Provo, Idrissa Sanogo, Daniela Kharlamova, Jonathan Langdon, Sydney Kuhne, Ian Matthews, Kira Guloien, Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz, and Lisa Michelle Cornelius.
Robyn Loxley (Romeo) is "a young woman whose masked hip-hop band, The Hood, is known for their inventive videos and anti-authoritarian message."
The other Canadian TV shows on Global are running this summer, as we have noted. Season 2 of Family Law debuted May 22 on Global (also available on StackTV). Season 3 of Departure airs on Global on August 7.
Good to have a third Canadian show in Global but that will be the only one on the fall or winter schedule (unless a show moves up). Don't get how that is allowed.
Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent will have 10 episodes in spring 2024 on Citytv. The Rogers-owned network said the series "will showcase original Canadian stories written and produced by, and starring, Canadians."
“It's the most Rogers has ever spent on an original drama,” Hayden Mindell, senior vice president of Rogers television, said to the Canadian Press of the per-episode cost. It's "a hell of a lot of money" for a Canadian series.
We are curious if the U.S. audience would get to see this show. Maybe on Peacock?
Hudson & Rex returns to Fridays this fall for Season 6.
Citytv decided that Wong & Winchester is one and done. Mindell said the show failed to reach a ratings benchmark.
We don't get how Citytv gets away with only having 1-2 true Canadian shows on its schedule. Wong & Winchesterdeserved another shot, especially with a writers strike in the United States, the country that supplies the vast majority of its programming.
Then again, Canada's Got Talent qualifies as a Canadian show.
Omni Television has new seasons of summer shows starting June 11: comedy Our Big Punjabi Family, the 5-part documentary series Katiba Banat: Sisters in Arms, and Filipino sketch comedy Abroad.
The U.S. writers strike may mean more Canadian TV programming will cross over to the United States (Shelved, anyone?). Stay tuned may not apply as much to how television is consumed these days but we will stick with that phrase. We already ran the news from the CBC 2023-2024 upfront.
The TV-eh.com Web site is a great resource on Canadian TV. We like promoting them because they are such a valuable resource on this topic. There is no relationship of any kind; we are just generous.
Please let us know any corrections or updates to this list.
photo credits: Children Ruin Everything/CTV; Robyn Hood/Global; Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent/Citytv
Netflix gave its U.S. viewers a very pleasant surprise: Season 7 of Workin' Moms, the final season. No spoilers but "emotional final season" is not a surprise. There are 13 episodes in Season 7. Canadians can catch up on the show on CBC Gem.
For those not familiar with the show, the early episodes involved the friendship of several mothers in a mommy support group. The friendship between Kate (Catherine Reitman, creator and star) and Anne (Dani Kind) showcase one of the incredible relationships ever captured on Canadian television. The frustration of later seasons is watching that slip away in many ways.
The diversity of female characters has been a joy about the show. Frankie (Juno Rinaldi) was a valuable part of the show and her departure was more meaningful than anticipated.
Smaller roles get overlooked but those characters were crucial: Jenny Matthews (Jessalyn Wanlim), who showed so many sides of her; Valerie "Val" Szalinsky (Sarah McVie), who was like an utility player, adapting to the needs of the show; Rosie Phillips (Nikki Duval) scoring comic points as Catherine's secretary without being obvious; Alice Carlson (Sadie Munroe), the troubled and misunderstood daughter of Anne. Let there be a film in 5 years when Alice reaches 19.
Alicia Rutherford (Katherine Barrell), who deserved more on-screen time but Barrell was distracted by her work on Wynonna Earp. Sloane Mitchell (Enuka Okuma) who brought some less desirable tendencies, proving how complex women are.
The men deserve their nods as well: Lionel Carlson (Ryan Belleville) trying to make it all work yet running second fiddle to Anne; Nathan Foster (Philip Sternberg) a good guy but not a perfect guy; and Richard Greenwood (Peter Keleghan), who was a guiding force in helping Catherine figure out what she wanted to do professionally.
Michelle McLeod, who played Mejal in Women Talking, makes a brief appearance in Episode 2 in Season 7. McLeod was the lead in Don't Talk to Irene.
Citytv has very few original Canadian TV shows as compared to CTV and Global. So when Wong & Winchester debuted, I was curious about how this show would fare. You could easily make the joke that Citytv can only run Canadian TV shows with an ampersand in the title (Hudson & Rex).
The premise of the show from creator Hollis Ludlow-Carroll is the mismatch of Marissa Wong (Grace Lynn Kung), an ex-cop turned private investigator, with her driver Sarah Winchester (Sofia Banzhaf), who helps solve the crimes.
There are only 6 episodes that aired this winter and your humble narrator watched one of them. The premise behind the series and the chemistry with the leads is surprisingly good. The writing isn't much better than what we get out of Hudson & Rex. Pretty Hard Cases is similar and better than Wong & Winchester right now.
Joe Cobden and Anthony Lemke are also in the cast. The focus is on the main female characters.
The writing is part of why those who criticise Canadian TV might not like shows such as Hudson & Rex and Wong & Winchester. Then again, Hudson & Rex did win the Audience Choice Award at the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards.
Grace Lynn Kung has been an asset in supporting roles: Mary Kills People, Sort Of, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Being Erica. Kung deserves a crack at being a lead. She also was in the role of Janet in the play Kim's Convenience. This show definitely deserves a Season 2 to see where the characters go.
The show also makes good use of Montréal. Good to see an English language Canadian TV show make good use of Montréal. Transplant is shot in Montréal but pretends to be in Toronto.
While Wong & Winchester is very light, we know is very good at producing dark television. Was very excited about the prospect of Essex County from Jeff Lemire's graphic novel Essex County Trilogy coming to a 5-part series on CBC. Strong cast, well-filmed, and a lot going on.
Lester (Finlay Wojtak-Hissong) is 11, loves to draw, gets picked on a lot, and just lost his mother to cancer. He lives with his closeted uncle Ken (Brian J. Smith) and wants to establish a relationship with his father Jimmy (Kevin Durand).
Jimmy's sister Anne (Molly Parker) just got her daughter off to university and is dealing with her estranged uncle Lou (Stephen McHattie), whose dementia is getting worse.
The supporting cast includes Tamara Podemski, Rossif Sutherland, and Daniel Maslany.
Saw the first episode of Essex County. Definitely up for more.
When we see lame British dramas filling holes on the CBC lineup, Essex County is more of what we need on Canada's public broadcaster. Molly Parker may not have been on CBC since Twitch City. Stephen McHattie is a legend. Good actors are drawn to good projects. Be proud Canadians of programs such as this one.
Three Pines on Amazon Prime Video is another good dark Canadian TV show. The 8-episode, 4-part mystery miniseries is based on the novel series by Louise Penny.
The series set in Three Pines, a quaint village in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, has the 4 mysteries and an ongoing storyline about the disappearance of a young Indigenous woman Blue Two-Rivers (Anna Lambe).
English actor Alfred Molina is the lead as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. Plenty of Canadians on the callsheet, including Rossif Sutherland, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, and Sarah Booth on the investigation team. The cast also includes Tantoo Cardinal, Georgina Lightning, and Crystle Lightning.
Tailfeathers' character is an Indigenous person who doesn't know her roots. CC de Poitiers, the murder victim in the first mystery, lived in a large house she converted from a former residential school.
Unfortunately, the program only has the 8 episodes since Prime Video didn't renew the show for a second season.
We are big fans of the tv-eh.com site for information on Canadian television. Greg David wrote a cool piece on the must watch Canadian TV shows.
David mentions Wong & Winchester (Citytv) as well as CBC shows Run the Burbs and Plan B.
Sullivan's Crossing is a new series currently running this spring on CTV. Maggie Sullivan (Morgan Kohan) is a neurosurgeon from Boston who has to relocate and goes back home to Nova Scotia. American actors Chad Michael Murray and Scott Patterson are at the top of the callsheet.
Canadian actors further down the callsheet are Tom Jackson, Andrea Menard, Republic of Doyle alums Lynda Boyd and Allan Hawco, and Peter Outerbridge.
American viewers will get a chance to see the show this fall on the CW.
The Red Ketchup series is based off a graphic novel. Martin Villeneuve (Mars et Avril) is the series director so that is a good sign. The animated program is not on the air yet but will come to Télétoon la nuit (en Francaise) and in English on Adult Swim Canada.
David mentions a show named Casino but we can't track which show. Perhaps this is the show but we aren't sure. Je ne sais pas.
Love television but not always fond of the sequel. We voted Michael: Tuesdays and Thursdays to the #7 slot in Canadian TV shows of the 2010s based on the 12 episodes from 2011.
Got a chance recently to watch the 6-episode follow-up Michael: Every Day from 2017.
Fans of the 2011 version will appreciate what went into the 2017 edition. We find out some odd things along the way that perhaps we didn't want to know. The 2017 version is a lot more sad and pathetic, especially on the therapist side.
If you haven't watched the show, please don't start with the 2017 version. Start with the 2011 version. Netflix in the United States has the 2011 version.
There is often the disclaimer that you shouldn't pay attention to TV because television is not realistic. I can tell you I found useful therapeutic information within the voice recordings that David makes in the 2011 version. The show is based from Matt Watts (Michael) therapy and anxiety experiences. Still consult a professional but you can get a good start from watching the show.
There is a Twitter feed @NBCTransplant but that hasn't been updated in awhile. Tweeting to @NBC or @Peacock might make you feel better about wondering where the hell Season 3 of Transplant is on the U.S. side. Season 3 aired this winter on CTV in Canada. Season 4 is on deck for next year for CTV.
Hamza Haq won Best Leading Performance in a Drama Series; Laurence Leboeuf was also nominated in this category in the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards. The show was nominated for Best Dramatic Series and the Audience Choice award.
We figure NBC has decided to run off episodes this summer. Will that be on NBC and Peacock? Just Peacock? The U.S. network handled Season 2 in a very poor fashion. The show is still good so the quality isn't the issue. NBC has a production element in Transplant so this isn't like when they didn't carry Season 2 of Nurses. Notice we didn't complain when NBC stopped after Season 1.
.@NBC@peacock. We've tried tweeting at @NBCTransplant to find out about Season 3. That isn't working well. @TransplantCTV has already aired in #Canada. Let's find out when one of your outlets will show Season 3 of this really great #cdntv show.
Son of a Critch has been renewed for Season 3 by CBC. Lionsgate Television made a deal for distribution outside Canada. So far, at least in the United States, Lionsgate is sitting on its hands. Figured that was a obvious deal to pitch but something is clogging the path for U.S. viewers who can't get CBC to watch the show.
Netflix had Republic of Doyle so that service isn't allergic to Newfoundland. This is why Canadian content needs a Britbox type service. I would gladly volunteer (for money) to run such a service.
Season finale of @shelved_tv tonight! We didn't expect an ACTUAL Toronto election to be happening when this aired, but here we are! A lot is gonna go down in 21 minutes...
I've heard quite a bit about Shelved, running on CTV. Maybe this sitcom can make a jump to Hulu or Netflix in the States.
Anthony Q. Farrell wrote for The Office, worked as an executive story editor for Little Mosque on the Prairie, wrote for The Thundermans on Nickleodeon, and co-created the CBC show Overlord and the Underwoods.
Having spent a few hours in Toronto libraries, a comedy about a library in Toronto sounds promising.
Shelved will show up on Crave on May 5. Canadians can catch up on CTV shows through its Web site.
Speaking of Crave, the extra Letterkenny episode May 2-4 hits Crave on May 19. The Hulu premiere should be around that time.
Xavier Dolan gets mentioned a lot in our film coverage but not usually on the television side. Dolan adapted and directed a 5-part series The Night Logan Woke Up. The Canal+ project is adapted from a 2019 stage production from French-Canadian playwright Michel Marc Bouchard. Most of the actors from the play are in the TV adaptation.
Dolan is in the cast. Anne Dorval, used in most of his films, is in the series as well as Julie Le Breton, Patrick Hivon, Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, and Éric Bruneau.
The story revolves around a family haunted by a dark secret decades after a traumatic event occurs in a small Quebec town.
The adaptation played at the Sundance Film Festival. No Canadian or American screening dates have been set.
Bill C-11 has reached royal assent and is now law. What does this mean for Canadian television? Damned if I know. The CRTC will go a long way toward determining this. Wish everyone involved much luck sorting this out.
The Hollywood film and TV writers may go out on strike this week. While a long strike may help get more Canadian television into U.S. homes, the most important consideration is getting economic justice for the writers.
photo credits: Netflix; Citytv; CTV video credit: Amazon Prime Video Twitter capture: @canadian_xing; @aqfarrell
The television landscape looks very different for the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations for Canadian television. Lots of old favourites are gone, opening up new opportunities for rising Canadian TV shows.
The Porter got 19 nominations, best among Canadian TV shows. Sort Of received 15 nominations and Pretty Hard Cases had 11 nominations.
The CTV show Children Ruin Everything has a few major nominations on the comedy side as does Run the Burbs on CBC. Son of a Critch is surprisingly absent in these categories, especially Best Comedy Series. Strays is not on the list but Fakes somehow is.
Meredith MacNeill (Pretty Hard Cases) and Dani Kind (Workin' Moms) are 2 of the few repeat nominees for the same show. Andrew Phung received an acting nomination for his new show. Somehow Hudson & Rex has 2 of the lead role nominees on the drama side.
The gender-neutral acting awards mean that Bilal Baig got a very justifiable nomination for Best Lead Performer, Comedy. While the film roles are split in half by primary gender, only 4 of the 16 comedy acting nominations are for identifiable males. as a contrast, 10 of the 16 supporting acting nominations went to identifiable males.
One of those identifiable males is the late Christopher Plummer, up for Departure.
Jonathan Torrens wins our versatile Canadian actor award for guest performance nominations in comedy (Letterkenny) and drama (Moonshine).
Usually, foreign actors tend to have more of a force on the film side. Malcolm McDowell (Son of a Critch) and Alfre Woodward (The Porter) are up for Canadian Screen Awards. Absolute acting legends, even if they are not from Canada.
Comedy
Best Comedy Series Astrid & Lilly Save the World (CTV Sci-Fi Channel) Children Ruin Everything (CTV) Fakes (CBC Gem) Letterkenny (Crave) Sort Of (CBC)
Best Lead Performer, Comedy Meaghan Rath Children Ruin Everything Meredith MacNeill Pretty Hard Cases Adrienne C. Moore Pretty Hard Cases Rakhee Morzaria Run The Burbs Andrew Phung Run The Burbs Bilal Baig Sort Of Dani Kind Workin' Moms Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms
Best Supporting Performer, Comedy Ennis Esmer Children Ruin Everything Tricia Black Pretty Hard Cases Al Mukadam Pretty Hard Cases Karen Robinson Pretty Hard Cases Malcolm McDowell Son Of A Critch Amanda Cordner Sort Of Sarah McVie Workin' Moms Enuka Okuma Workin' Moms
Best Guest Performance, Comedy Anna Hopkins Letterkenny Jonathan Torrens Letterkenny Kardinal Offishall Run The Burbs Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll Son Of A Critch Amanda Brugel Sort Of
Amanda Brugel, who is a Canadian acting gem, is a repeat nominee for this last category switching from Pretty Hard Cases to Sort Of. Brugel, as 7ven's mother, was amazing in that role. Another fun nod in this category to Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll for Son Of A Critch. You might remember him as a frequent customer on Kim's Convenience. Making the audience love you and sometimes cringe is a difficult task for an actor and he pulled that off well.
Drama
Best Drama Series Departure (Global) Moonshine (CBC) The Porter (CBC) SkyMed (CBC) Transplant (CTV)
Best Lead Performer, Drama Series Mayko Nguyen Hudson & Rex John Reardon Hudson & Rex Jennifer Finnigan Moonshine Aml Ameen The Porter Ronnie Rowe Jr. The Porter Mouna Traoré The Porter Hamza Haq Transplant Laurence Leboeuf Transplant
Best Supporting Performer, Drama Thom Allison Coroner Andy McQueen Coroner Wendy Crewson Departure Karen LeBlanc Departure Christopher Plummer Departure Dwain Murphy Diggstown Kevin Hanchard Hudson & Rex Daniel Maslany Murdoch Mysteries
Best Guest Performance, Drama Series Jo Vannicola Diggstown Natalie Brown Hudson & Rex Allan Hawco Moonshine Jonathan Torrens Moonshine Alfre Woodard The Porter
Between Coroner, The Porter, and Departure, there will be a lot of upheaval for the 2024 version. Wendy Crewson was up for guest performance last year for Frankie Drake Mysteries and is up for a supporting role in Departure.
Hamza Haq and Laurence Leboeuf from Transplant won the lead drama awards last year but only one of them, or someone else, can win this year.
Interesting to see a summer show such as SkyMed make the cut for best drama series.
Somehow not a single Podemski sister was up for an acting award.
Sort Of had such an outstanding debut last fall on CBC and HBO Max. There is some new energy for Season 2 where Amanda Brugel will come in to play 7ven’s (Amanda Cordner) mother. That should be a lot of fun.
Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall) will appear as Bryce, a wealthy investor and potential business partner. Raymond Cham Jr. will play Wolf, Deenzie’s (Becca Blackwell) offspring.
The family unit returns: children Violet (Kaya Kanshiro) and Henry (Aden Bedard) and their parents Paul (Gray Powell) and Bessy (Grace Lynn Kung). Bessy spent most of Season 1 in a coma but that will change in Season 2.
Sort Of is airing in back-to-back episodes Tuesday nights, starting tonight at 9 pm local time on CBC. CBC Gem is streaming the show as of today. Those who watch Sort Of on HBO Max in the United States will have to wait until December 1.
Bilal Baig has a much better shot at getting nominated for an acting award now that the Canadian Screen Awards will have awards for lead and supporting performances in the drama and comedy categories that are not split off by gender. Though the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television made a terrible mistake in reducing the number of nominees from 10 to 8 in each category.
Loved this interview with @cleaduvall and @cbcradioq (the best)! So excited High School is streaming in Canada now! Hope everyone is enjoying it! Watch this weekend! All 8 episodes are on @PrimeVideoCA !!! https://t.co/TreqJeEyDv
High School is the TV adaptation of the memoir from the Canadian indie pop duo Tegan and Sara. Clea DuVall, along with Tegan and Sara, created the show.
The memoir of the same name came out in 2019.
This show isn't considered Canadian even though this is literally a Canadian story. Tegan and Sara, besides being amazing singers and songwriters, have a really intriguing story.
There is a lot of relevant music from that time as part of the unofficial soundtrack.
There are a few Canadians in the cast. Amanda Fix, who was marvelous in North of Normal, is in the primary cast. Cobie Smulders plays the mother of Tegan and Sara. Recurring Canadian cast members include Jayne Eastwood and Nikki Rae Hallow.
We included a link to the Clea DuVall interview on Q with Tom Power in the Twitter capture.
The program airs on Freevee in the United States and Amazon Prime Video in Canada.
We try to write about Canadian television even with shows that aren't as accessible. Hudson & Rex on Citytv has been particularly non-accessible.
The program is the major Canadian TV show for Citytv in a sea of Canadian knock-offs from American shows, such as Canada's Got Talent.
If you are visiting the United States from Canada, you can log into the Web sites (ABC, Fox, etc.) and watch over-the-air television. Same thing if you are visiting Canada, you can watch shows on CTV and Global, since they are over-the-air networks. So your humble narrator figured to watch Citytv by being on Canadian soil.
Uh, no.
The Citytv site, at first, would only let me watch the last episode. Didn't care. Then, the site required a cable or satellite authentication — for an over-the-air network. Also, my Airbnb had a Roku setup with apps for CTV and Global, but not Citytv. Of course, you can watch CBC shows in Canada on CBC Gem.
Part of the curiosity behind this program is that Hudson & Rex is all the way up to Season 5, unlike a lot of Canadian television shows. I got a friend who got me a Hudson & Rex episode from Season 5.
The obvious comparison is Republic of Doyle, since both shows shoot in St. John's in Newfoundland. Put that out of your mind since there is little comparison other than similar space.
Charlie Hudson (John Reardon), the Hudson & Rex human partner, is milquetoast at best. Rex (Diesel vom Burgimwald) has slightly more charisma than Hudson.
Chief of Forensics Sarah Truong (Mayko Nguyen) deserves a better show as does Superintendent Joseph Donovan (Kevin Hanchard). When Donovan tells the sister of the victim to have faith in Hudson, you almost want to laugh instead of the seriousness the show is going for in the moment.
IT Specialist Jesse Mills (Justin Kelly) feels like he belongs on this show.
You could tell us that a single episode from Season 5 isn't a good indicator. Fair point but this is what we have to go with for now. Feel free to defend the show in the comments.
We are much more excited about a new Citytv Canadian TV show debuting this TV season.
Wong & Winchester features Marissa Wong (Grace Lynn Kung) and Sarah Winchester (Sofia Banzhaf), an ex-cop and a naive former university student who partner as detectives.
We talk about reasons to come to Canada: legal marijuana, poutine, abortion, a different sensibility. Watching Season 3 of Mary Kills People, the lone season that hasn't made it to the United States, or Season 3 of Jann, also not available in the States: not a huge reason to cross the border but that could be further down the list. A way to pass a winter weekend in Canada.
A fond farewell to Diggstown, ending its run on CBC after 4 seasons. The series finale airs tomorrow night on CBC at 8 pm local time.
A show has been notable with a Black female lead (Vinessa Antoine) with Black producers (Floyd Kane, creator and executive producer) and Black directors (including Cory Bowles). The show also was a rare legal drama where lawyers fought for those who really needed help.
Maybe Fox was waiting until all the episodes had aired in Canada to then run the show in the United States. The U.S. network announced almost 2 years ago that the program would be picked up. For those who think we are a little obsessed, don't announce on my birthday you did something great and then not do it.
U.S. viewers can catch up on Diggstown through BET+, though Season 4 isn't yet available on the U.S. streaming service. Canadians can watch all 4 seasons on CBC Gem.
David Suzuki has been hosting The Nature of Things since October 24, 1979. Suzuki is stepping away from the show in the spring to focus on activism and calling out BS, in his words.
Suzuki has made an amazing impact on the show. The show itself has been around for 62 seasons.
"I have been fortunate to have been endowed with good health which has enabled me to remain the host of the series long after my 'best before date'," said Suzuki.
Fakes is not the strongest Canadian TV show on U.S. television but you might be in the young person demo. Zoe (Emilija Banarac) and Becca (Jennifer Tong) start and end up losing a fake ID empire. That might seem like a spoiler but that info comes up in the first 5 minutes of the opening episode. Zoe is the good and smart one while Becca is the party animal.
More about the ride than the result. Any previous CW comparison based on really pretty people: well, the show is smarter and has a lot more swearing than the CW would allow (as we saw with Trickster).
Banarac and Tong, both Canadian, have a nice chemistry. Wish their characters were more realistic instead of the simplistic shy versus over the top aspects of their personalities.
Vancouver is a beautiful co-star in the show.
Fakes is available on CBC Gem in Canada and Netflix in the United States.
While CBC carries more Canadian TV shows than the 3 Canadian private networks combined, we are curious what CTV, Global, and Citytv have for the upcoming 2022-2023 TV schedule.
CTV/Bell Media
Sullivan’s Crossing is coming to CTV. Morgan Kohan is the lead along with American actors Chad Michael Murray and Scott Patterson. The cast features Canadian actors Tom Jackson, Andrea Menard, Amalia Williamson, Lynda Boyd, and Allan Hawco. The latter two actors worked together in Republic of Doyle. The series will shoot in Nova Scotia.
Shelved is a single-camera, workplace comedy set in the Jameson Public Library in Toronto's Parkdale neighbourhood. Think 1300 block of Queen Street West (west of BMO Field). I did spend some time at a a different Toronto library in 2016. That was a really nice location. Also, waiting for the headline once this show ends that says, "Shelved is shelved."
Sight Unseen is about a former homicide detective who has lost her vision. She meets a professional seeing-eye guide through a visual assistance app. They try to solve crimes.
The Spencer Sisters is about Darby Spencer, who quits her job as a police officer, and her mystery novelist mother Joan teaming up to solve crimes.
Little Bird is on Crave, not CTV, but sounds fascinating. Bezhig Little Bird is removed from her home in Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan and adopted into a Montréal Jewish family at the age of 5, becoming Esther Rosenblum. She goes back to her roots to discover who she is. Jennifer Podemski is the showrunner.
We don't normally talk about unscripted shows but a couple of notable shows are worth mentioning. Battle of the Generations is a game show featuring different generations (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z) for how much they know about all the generations. This is notable given Family Feud Canada and watching old Talk About episodes and why there aren't more Canadian game shows.
Farming For Love features 5 Canadians "searching for their soulmates open up their farms – and their hearts – to a select group of urban singles." We love farmers and they deserve love. Like most unscripted shows, this feels like more about humiliation than love.
Bell Media renewals of note include Children Ruin Everything (Season 2), Transplant (Season 3), SurrealEstate (Season 2 CTV Sci-Fi Channel), Letterkenny (Season 12 though Season 11 hasn't aired), and Mary Makes It Easy (Season 2) with Mary Berg, which might end up on the Food Network in the United States.
The press release notes an 1-hour Jann holiday special. Season 3 aired in Canada but is still not on Hulu in the United States.
We already know about Family Law with Jewel Staite and Victor Garber. Season 2 will air this fall on Global while Season 1 airs in the U.S. on the CW this fall. The show is shooting Season 3 in Vancouver.
Robyn Hood, a modern adaptation of the classic Robin Hood story, comes from filmmaker Director X and Boat Rocker. The show will shoot this summer in the Toronto and Hamilton areas.
The Global release didn't mention a Season 3 for Nurses. The show ran 2 seasons on Global. NBC carried Season 1 in the United States.
Citytv is known for Hudson & Rex, its only scripted Canadian TV show on the network.
Season 5 arrives this fall with a 2-episode arc in Northern Ontario. The show normally shoots in St. John's, Newfoundland. The drama runs Sunday nights at 8 pm ET/PT.
Citytv has a new drama called Wong & Winchester, a female-driven buddy detective procedural, debuting in the winter. The partnership is unlikely (Pretty Hard Cases?) with Marissa Wong (Grace Lynn Kung) and Sarah Winchester (Sofia Banzhaf).
The cast also includes Joe Cobden and Anthony Lemke.
We have a soft spot for Grace Lynn Kung. Kung has been in so many Canadian TV shows: Mary Kills People, Sort Of, Transplant, Frankie Drake Mysteries.
Are show titles required to have an ampersand to be on Citytv?
The TV-eh.com Web site is a great resource on Canadian TV. We like promoting them because they are such a valuable resource on this topic. There is no relationship of any kind; we are just generous.
Please let us know any corrections or updates to this list.
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.
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.
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.
We don't spend much time on the upfronts from CTV, Global, and Citytv because most of the programming is American or Canadian copies of American shows. The announcements come with shows on the over-the-air networks as well as their cable channels.
We have also noted that most Americans can't get a CTV signal, even on cable. Buffalo and Bellingham, WA are grand exceptions.
Transplant (CTV) and Nurses (Global) — Canadian dramas on U.S. television — will have a Season 2. NBC will carry Transplant and we're waiting on the status of Nurses on the U.S. network. The latter show had a problematic episode in Season 1.
Let's look at some of the intriguing tidbits from the upfronts:
Jann has also been renewed, hoping that ends up on Hulu in the United States. Letterkenny is shooting the next 2 seasons and there is a spinoff Shoresy.
Surrealestate, which we wrote about last month, will run on Syfy in the United States and CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada.
Children Ruin Everything covers the world of parents and their 2 young children and the struggles of juggling all of that chaos. The show has 8 episodes and stars Meaghan Rath, Aaron Abrams, Ennis Esmer, and Nazneen Contractor.
Corner Gas Animated will have its fourth and final season on the CTV Comedy Channel starting July 5. Season 4 will have 13 episodes.
Family Law is a new Canadian drama starring Jewel Staite as a recovering alcoholic lawyer forced to work for her estranged father (Victor Garber). The show also features Zach Smadu and Genelle Williams as her half-siblings.
Departure will be back for Season 2. This includes the late Christopher Plummer, who filmed his scenes before his death in February. Departure is a British-Canadian co-production with English actor Archie Panjabi, Plummer, and Kris Holden-Ried. The show airs on Peacock in the United States.
Canadians can watch Season 2 of Nurses with 10 new episodes starting June 21. Season 5, the final season, of Private Eyes starts July 7. The adventures of Matt Shade (Jason Priestley) and Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson) are sadly coming to a close. Seasons 1-2 aired on Ion television in the United States but the U.S. cable channel or anyone else hasn't aired any new episodes.
Hudson & Rex is an example that not every Canadian TV show makes a way to the U.S. What little I know about the show is that there is a German shepherd, the show is shot in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the cast includes John Reardon, Mayko Nguyen, Kevin Hanchard, and Justin Kelly. The show is shooting Season 4 this summer.
The Canadian upfronts don't focus as much on specific schedules with simsubs at play. There is also the issue where what counts as Canadian programming in terms of the CRTC is rather lenient. Having a majority U.S. show lineup isn't as much of an issue as simply having more Canadian TV shows on the private networks.
The private networks are skirting the rules but not violating the rules.
