Canadian Crossing

2022 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

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.

2022 CBC television upfront preview

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

Global/Corus

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.

Global will also have Season 3 of the Canada/Ireland co-production Departure. The show featured the late Christopher Plummer. The show runs in the United States on Peacock.

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.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Citytv/Rogers

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?

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

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 credit: Children Ruin Everything/CTV

Canadian TV notebook: CW picks up Season 1 of the Global TV series Family Law

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.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

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

Canadian TV notebook: Transplant Season 2 debuts Sunday on NBC

Season 2 of Transplant starts up on NBC starting Sunday at 10 pm Eastern. Season 2 of Transplant is currently running on CTV with 8 episodes aired so far. Transplant runs on CTV on Tuesday nights at 10 pm Eastern.

CTV did a sim sub in Season 1 when the program aired on NBC. That sim sub later moved to CTV2. A sim sub may not be practical for Season 2.

The show did surprisingly well in the United States, ranking as the #2 new drama in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Transplant is nominated once again for Best Drama Series at the Canadian Screen Awards, one of 9 nominations for the show. Hamza Haq (Best Lead Actor, Drama Series), Laurence Leboeuf (Best Lead Actress, Drama Series), and Ayisha Issa (Best Supporting Actress, Drama) were nominated in individual acting categories. The show and Haq won awards for Season 1.

Transplant has been renewed for Season 3 on CTV and NBC.

2022 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

Sort Of will be back for Season 2 on CBC and HBO Max. Season 1 was some of the best television we have seen in some time. Intrinsic characters and interaction. Children who didn't behave like TV children often do.

The 8 episodes in Season 1 left us wanting more about Sabi (Bilal Baig). Will Bessy (Grace Lynn Kung) be back to where she was before the accident? Will Sabi get to Berlin even just to visit?

The Toronto International Film Festival ran Season 1 episodes as a preview. CBC Gem had the episodes streaming before they even aired on Canadian TV. We will be curious if Season 2 runs relatively normal (by 2022 standards).

Sort Of received 13 Canadian Screen Awards nominations, including Best Comedy. Still stunned that there are no individual acting nominees.

Canadian TV notebook: Sort Of makes its CBC television debut

You might have seen Mary Berg on Mary Makes It Easy on the Food Network in the United States. If you have seen her before, that was likely on Season 3 of MasterChef Canada, which Berg won.

The Food Network is running episodes of Mary Makes It Easy on Saturdays at noon Eastern.

Your humble narrator surprised himself by watching more of MasterChef Canada because of Berg's charm.

In Mary Makes It Easy, Berg presents dishes as if they are easy. Novice and even decent cooks might need to tape the show and pause quite often because she goes very fast. She also has a knack of shortening words such as "parm" for parmesan.

Berg's relates well to cooks who want to learn. The show is good entertainment even if you aren't much into cooking.

One year after Fox acquires Diggstown rights, unknown when episodes will air

Missed the premiere? Stream it free on CBC Gem and see what everyone's talking about!

— The Porter (@ThePorterSeries) February 24, 2022

The Porter is off to a good start from all the reports we have seen. The series covers the world of Black porters on train lines from Chicago to Toronto to Montréal. Oscar Peterson’s father was a porter.

Got a chance to see the pilot episode. Wow. The story is intensive but very well done. As my friend Leroy pointed out, really nice production. He is definitely correct. Ronnie Rowe Jr., who was tremendous in Black Cop, is really good here. Always good to see Kevin Hanchard in the production.

The program is also a BET+ production. The issue is finding out what shows BET+ currently carries. A free trial might be worthy if we knew The Porter was currently running. If nothing else, you can take a free trial to see Diggstown since Fox isn't in a hurry to show the program to the U.S. audience.

Black History Month came and went quickly since somehow the shortest month (February) is attached to Black history. We should learn about that year round. Help us out BET+: we might even buy in for a month if we know what we can watch.

Canadians can catch up on The Porter on CBC Gem.

The Black Academy will have an awards show on CBC in 2022

Tom Power Q interview with Alfre Woodard on The Porter (CBC Radio One)

2022 CBC television winter preview

Got a chance to see the debut of Children Ruin Everything, running on CTV Wednesdays at 8 pm. Loved seeing Nazneen Contractor and Lisa Codrington work well against previous casting and Ennis Esmer in that great supporting role where he excels.

A pilot episode is such a rough way to judge a TV show. I would say closer to Run the Burbs than Strays. Meaghan Rath and Aaron Abrams are good as the parents and the children aren't annoying. Worth trying out from our perspective, especially if you are parents with children.

Children Ruin Everything has been renewed for Season 2 and the Roku Channel will pick up both seasons.

Canadians can stream CTV shows through the CTV Web site.

Got an opportunity to see the Son of a Critch debut. Promising. The public broadcaster said Son of a Critch scored its highest rating for a comedy premiere since the Kim’s Convenience debut in October 2016. That CBC show has also been renewed for Season 2.

Son of a Critch has a deal with Lionsgate for U.S. and international distribution rights. Netflix would be a nice landing spot, given that the streaming service carries fellow Newfoundland show Republic of Doyle.

Run the Burbs also renewed for Season 2.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

Brioux.tv is a good source of Canadian TV information. The Web site reported that Murdoch Mysteries is now Canada's longest running hour-long drama, beating out Heartland in number of episodes. Murdoch Mysteries aired its 233nd episode Monday night. Heartland has 232 episodes.

The key is hour-long drama. The Beachcombers, a 30-minute program, ran on CBC from 1972-1990 with 19 seasons and 387 episodes.

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We love the folks at tv-eh.com and read them often. They used to have podcasts every so often. This particular break has been quite long. The newest podcast talks about season renewals for Transplant and Sort Of, among other topics.

photo credits: Transplant; Sort Of
Twitter capture: @ThePorterSeries
video credit: The Porter/CBC

2022 MLS Canadian teams preview

The 2022 MLS season will be notable in Canada because the Canadian MLS teams get to play all of their home games in Canada. The 2020 and 2021 seasons were filled with "home" games on U.S. soil from Connecticut, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, and Utah.

Wilfried Nancy is the senior coach of the MLS Canadian teams, having served as the coach for CF Montréal in 2021.

Vanni Sartini took over the Vancouver Whitecaps on August 27, going 7-5-3 in the regular season.

Bob Bradley, father of captain Michael Bradley, is the new Toronto FC head coach. The senior Bradley was the initial coach of Los Angeles FC and served as the coach from 2018-2021.

Been a long time since a Toronto FC squad didn't have Jozy Altidore. Altidore is now with the New England Revolution after a buyout. Justin Morrow retired from MLS soccer.

Lorenzo Insigne is the most popular MLS offseason signing. The Italy national team starter won't get to Toronto until July on a free transfer. Insigne will be a viable 31 years old when he arrives.

Carlos Salcedo is another huge pickup for Toronto FC after being away from the MLS for 7 years. Salcedo is only 28.

CF Montréal will be glad to have Alistair Johnston on defence after acquiring Johnston from Nashville SC for $1 million in General Allocation Money.

Vancouver got a new right-sided centre back in Tristan Blackmon via Charlotte and ultimately LAFC.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC eliminated from 2021 MLS playoffs

2021 MLS playoffs preview: Vancouver Whitecaps FC as the #6 seed

Vancouver scored 1 playoff goal while CF Montréal barely missed the playoffs. Toronto FC didn't come close to the 2021 MLS playoffs.

Toronto FC, CF Montreal get to cross back into Canada

ABC and ESPN released their full schedules. Fox and Fox Sports 1 gave a press release but not a full schedule.

The Canadian MLS teams in 2021 did not appear on U.S. television, English or Spanish, in the regular season. If this changes somehow, we will update this article

TSN will carry Toronto FC and Vancouver FC matches as well as 16 CF Montréal contests. TVA Sports will carry all CF Montréal matches en Francaise.

CTV will simulcast the TSN feed on Saturday (Sunday for May 8) telecasts this spring:

March 19 DC United @ Toronto FC, 3 pm
April 2 NYCFC @ Toronto FC, 4 pm
April 16 Vancouver @ CF Montréal, 3 pm
April 23 CF Montréal @ Philadelphia, 3 pm
April 30 Cincinnati @ Toronto FC, 3 pm
May 8 Toronto FC @ Vancouver FC, 4 pm
May 14 Orlando SC @ Toronto FC, 3 pm
May 21 Toronto FC @ DC United, 4 pm

ESPN+ will carry all English language feeds. This is where we note that ESPN+ carries the MLB, CFL, and NHL.

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

Vancouver starts out the season in Columbus this afternoon. Toronto FC is in Dallas today. CF Montréal is in Orlando on Sunday.

The Canadian teams open their home schedule on March 5. Toronto FC has its home opener against the New York Red Bulls at BMO Field. CF Montréal opens its home schedule against Philadelphia at Olympic Stadium. The Stade Saputo schedule starts in April. Vancouver Whitecaps FC host New York City FC at BC Place. 

Charlotte FC is the newest expansion team. Nashville SC moves to the Western Conference.

logos credits: individual teams/MLS

2022 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

The loss of Schitt's Creek and the classification of Pretty Hard Cases as a comedy has changed the dynamic for the Canadian television nominations for the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards.

Letterkenny got more acting nominations as a result with Jared Keeso being joined by Lisa Codrington and Kaniehtiio Horn, both up for Best Supporting Actress, Comedy.

Karen Robinson and Amanda Brugel are repeat nominees with different shows, now on Pretty Hard Cases. Peter Keleghan and Jann Arden have drama and comedy nominations.

This is the last run for Kim's Convenience, Private Eyes, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Burden of Truth, and Wynonna Earp.

Comedy

Best Comedy Series
Jann (CTV)
Kim's Convenience (CBC)
Letterkenny (Crave)
Sort Of (CBC)
Strays (CBC)

Best Lead Actor, Comedy
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Kim's Convenience
Simu Liu Kim's Convenience
Jared Keeso Letterkenny
Darryl Hinds Overlord and the Underwoods
Jason Priestley Private Eyes

Best Lead Actress, Comedy
Jann Arden Jann
Jean Yoon Kim's Convenience
Andrea Bang Kim's Convenience
Meredith MacNeill Pretty Hard Cases
Dani Kind Workin' Moms

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy
Andrew Phung Kim's Convenience
Al Mukadam Pretty Hard Cases
Jonathan Torrens Vollies
Ryan Belleville Workin' Moms
Peter Keleghan Workin' Moms

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy
Lisa Codrington Letterkenny
Kaniehtiio Horn Letterkenny
Jayne Eastwood Overlord and the Underwoods
Karen Robinson Pretty Hard Cases
Enuka Okuma Workin' Moms

Best Guest Performance, Comedy
Michael Bublé Jann
Ben Beauchemin Kim's Convenience
Tricia Black Pretty Hard Cases
Amanda Brugel Pretty Hard Cases
Kim Coates Pretty Hard Cases

A thinner year for comedy, but Strays as one of the 5 best comedies in Canada. Really??

That said, Sort Of was everything Strays was not. Bilal Baig should have been nominated for an acting award. The awards are split by gender. Well, that door needs to be open sooner or later.

Drama

Best Drama Series
Coroner (CBC)
Moonshine (CBC)
The North Water (Super Channel)
Transplant (CTV)
Vikings (History)

Best Lead Actor, Drama Series
Peter Mooney Burden of Truth
Roger Cross Coroner
Victor Garber Family Law
Yannick Bisson Murdoch Mysteries
Hamza Haq Transplant

Best Lead Actress, Drama Series
Kristin Kreuk Burden of Truth
Serinda Swan Coroner
Vinessa Antoine Diggstown
Laurence Leboeuf Transplant
Melanie Scrofano Wynonna Earp

Best Supporting Actor, Drama
Meegwun Fairbrother Burden of Truth
Mpho Koaho Diggstown
Kevin Hanchard Hudson & Rex
Peter MacNeill Moonshine
Tim Rozon Wynonna Earp

Best Supporting Actress, Drama
Natasha Henstridge Diggstown
Rebecca Liddiard Frankie Drake Mysteries
Emma Hunter Moonshine
Ayisha Issa Transplant
Tamara Podemski Unsettled

Best Guest Performance, Drama Series
Tamara Podemski Coroner
Jully Black Diggstown
Wendy Crewson Frankie Drake Mysteries
Peter Keleghan Murdoch Mysteries
Jann Arden Wynonna Earp

Tamara Podemski left Coroner for Unsettled and remained in the same category. Podemski also got nominated for her brief time on Coroner.

Murdoch Mysteries filled in some of the gaps in the major categories.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Canadian Screen Week will take place April 4-10. The Sunday night televised event returns to CBC and CBC Gem on April 10.

Click below to access Canadian film and the overview.

Overview Canadian television Canadian film

photo credits: Sort Of; Transplant

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

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:

CTV/Bell Media

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.

Global/Corus

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.

Citytv/Rogers

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.

Canadian presence on 2021 U.S. TV upfronts

2021 CBC television upfront preview

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.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Our critiques of CBC running British seat fillers is the same concept: run more Canadian TV on Canadian television.

photo credit: Departure TV show

2021 MLS preview

The 2020 Major League Soccer (MLS) season had the Canadian teams start out "normal" before the COVID-19 pandemic. Each Canadian MLS team had a home game before the shutdown and then 3 home games on Canadian soil in September. Otherwise, they were wandering nomads in the U.S. desert.

Vancouver even had to play Portland in a "home game" in Portland.

2021 still has the Canadian teams in the United States. Toronto FC will start the 2021 season playing home matches in Orlando.

The Reds were in East Hartford, Connecticut as their U.S. base following the brief trip on Canadian soil. Like the Toronto Blue Jays, the logic of playing in Florida in the spring makes a lot of sense. The team might be back in East Hartford, Connecticut later in the season if not BMO Field in Toronto.

CF Montréal is playing at the Inter Miami CF stadium in Fort Lauderdale after playing in Harrison, NJ last season. Montréal got a home game at Olympic Stadium before the pandemic and 3 at Stade Saputo in the late summer.

Vancouver will establish a base at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah outside Salt Lake City as a base until the team can get back to BC Place.

The Montréal Impact have rebranded as Club de Foot Montréal, or CF Montréal. CF Montréal has a new logo as well as part of the rebranding.

Wilfried Nancy, an assistant coach with the team since 2016, takes over for Thierry Henry, who left after a single season. Henry was mentioned in the rumour mills to leave to coach Bournemouth.

While that team decided to retain its interim manager, Henry then left CF Montréal for family reasons.

Henry's single season for Montréal led to a 8-13-2 record and a playoff game, the first for the team since 2016.

Toronto FC, Montreal Impact gone from 2020 MLS Playoffs

Chris Armas is the new Toronto FC coach. Armas replaces Greg Vanney, who resigned. Vanney is now the coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Armas was the New York Red Bulls head coach for slightly over 2 years from 2018-2020.

Vanney took over Toronto FC in August 2014, the team's 9th coach in 8 years. He provided a much needed stability and brought success to the team. Vanney finished his Toronto career with a regular-season record of 87-68-48. The team went to 3 MLS Cups in his tenure: 2016, 2017, and 2019 winning the title in 2017.

The Reds qualified for the playoffs under Vanney in all but one of his 6 full seasons.

2017 was a stellar year for Vanney: MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield, and the Canadian Championship.

This makes Marc Dos Santos the longest running coach of a Canadian MLS team. Santos has been in charge of the Vancouver Whitecaps since November 7, 2018. The Whitecaps haven't made the MLS playoffs since 2017.

2020 MLS playoffs preview

Toronto, Montreal make 2020 MLS playoffs

2020 MLS preview

Montréal "hosts" Toronto to start the MLS season on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale. Vancouver hosts Portland in Utah on Sunday. The Toronto "home" opener in Orlando will be next Saturday against the Vancouver Whitecaps.

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

The only U.S. TV appearances for the Canadian MLS teams in 2020 came as a result of the Orlando tournament. The COVID-19 pandemic took out the spring TV schedule for CTV in 2020.

None of the English and Spanish channels in the U.S. have any telecasts with Canadian teams, again. Ugh.

TSN will carry Toronto FC and Vancouver FC matches as well as select CF Montréal contests. RDS will carry all CF Montréal matches en Francaise.;

CTV will simulcast the TSN feed on Saturday telecasts this spring:

April 17 Toronto FC @ CF Montréal, 2 pm
April 24 Vancouver FC @ Toronto, 3 pm
May 1 Columbus @ CF Montréal, 3 pm
May 8 CF Montréal @ Vancouver FC, 3 pm
May 15 Toronto FC @ New York City FC, 1 pm
May 22 Cincinnati @ CF Montréal, 1 pm
May 29 Toronto FC @ Columbus, 3 pm

All games are available on ESPN+. Once (if) the CFL resumes, ESPN+ is a better acquisition for your humble narrator.

MLS Canadian teams playoffs results

Year	Date	Teams	Winner	Score
2020	November 24	Nashville @ Toronto	Nashville	1-0 (ET)
2020	November 20	Montréal @ New England	New England	2-1
2019	November 10	Toronto @ Seattle	Seattle	3-1
2019	October 30	Toronto @ Atlanta	Toronto	2-1
2019	October 23	Toronto @ New York City FC	Toronto	2-1
2019	October 19	D.C. United @ Toronto	Toronto	5-1 (ET)
2017	December 9	Seattle @ Toronto	Toronto	2-0
2017	November 29	Columbus @ Toronto	Toronto	1-0
2017	November 21	Toronto @ Columbus	Tie	0-0
2017	November 5	New York Red Bulls @ Toronto	NY Red Bulls	1-0
2017	November 2	Vancouver @ Seattle	Seattle	2-0
2017	October 30	Toronto @ New York Red Bulls	Toronto	2-1
2017	October 29	Seattle @ Vancouver	Tie	0-0
2017	October 25	San Jose @ Vancouver	Vancouver	5-0
2016	December 10	Seattle @ Toronto FC	Seattle	0-0 (5-4 PK)
2016	November 30	Montréal @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	5-2 (ET)
2016	November 22	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-2
2016	November 6	Montréal @ New York Red Bulls	Montréal	2-1
2016	November 6	Toronto FC @ NYCFC	Toronto FC	5-0
2016	October 30	NYCFC @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	2-0
2016	October 30	New York Red Bulls @ Montréal	Montréal	1-0
2016	October 27	Montréal @ D.C. United	Montréal	4-2
2016	October 26	Philadelphia @ Toronto FC	Toronto FC	3-1
2015	November 8	Portland @ Vancouver	Portland	2-0
2015	November 8	Montréal @ Columbus	Columbus	3-1 (ET)
2015	November 1	Vancouver @ Portland	Tie	0-0
2015	November 1	Columbus @ Montréal	Montréal	2-1
2015	October 29	Toronto FC @ Montréal	Montréal	3-0
2014	October 29	Vancouver @ Dallas	Dallas	2-1
2013	October 31	Montréal @ Houston	Houston	3-0
2012	November 1	Vancouver @ LA Galaxy	LA Galaxy	2-1

logo credits: MLS

Jann to debut on Hulu

Jann Arden is a multi-layered artist in Canada with almost no recognition south of the 49th parallel. This might change a bit today with Hulu picking up both seasons of her TV show Jann.

Jann has aired on CTV with a 6-episode Season1 in spring 2019 and an 8-episode Season 2 in fall 2020.

Arden plays a fictionalised version of herself with a show-only rivalry with Sarah McLachlan. The character gets caught up in advancing her singing career and dealing with family issues and her former girlfriend.

The show features Max, Jann's younger sister (Zoie Palmer), Nora, Jann's mother (Deborah Grover), and Cale, Jann's new manager (Elena Juatco).

I've seen a few episodes of Season 1. Jann is fun without taking itself too seriously.

Arden has also worked on Workin' Moms as well as Robson Arms, Corner Gas, and Wynonna Earp. She got a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2019 for her work as Anne's mother on Workin' Moms.

There will be a Season 3 on CTV.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

To many in Canada, Arden is an accomplished singer who has crossed over seamlessly as an actor. Arden is best known for ballads such as Insensitive and Could I Be Your Girl.

photo credit: Jann/CTV

Transplant back on Tuesday this week on NBC and CTV

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the news that Baroness von Sketch Show is running 5 bonus episodes on CBC early in 2021.

Transplant airs on Tuesday nights at 10 pm Eastern on NBC and CTV. The Baltimore-Pittsburgh NFL game started out on Thanksgiving night. The game was moved to Sunday due to COVID-19 numbers for the Baltimore Ravens. The game, originally scheduled to air on NBC, was moved to Tuesday.

NBC chose to move the Tuesday programming to Thursday nights, putting Season 1 Episode 11 Orphans on a 48-hour delay. Late yesterday, the NFL moved the game once again to Wednesday.

The network announced last night that the original Tuesday night programming will return to Tuesday night.

NBC Reveals Schedule Changes After Ravens-Steelers NFL Game Is Moved, Again https://t.co/9IVreluxdW

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) December 1, 2020

NBC normally has the Sunday Night Football package but gets the nighttime U.S. Thanksgiving game as part of the deal. NBC moved the programming to Thursday instead of Wednesday because the network was carrying coverage of the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, home of the NBC headquarters.

If you are a Transplant fan and not a fan of football, you might not have even known the show had been temporarily moved. We always remind people to check your local listings.

NBC is running the final 2 episodes of Transplant back-to-back a week from tonight December 8 at 9 pm and 10 pm Eastern.

The return to Tuesday nights is convenient to CTV, which is running a sim sub on the repeats in Canada that are new to the U.S. audience.

Trickster coming to the U.S. on the CW in January

Transplant makes U.S. debut on NBC

U.S. television turns to Canadian TV shows to fill gaps due to COVID-19

Their work has only just begun. #Nurses premieres Monday, December 7 at 10/9c on NBC. pic.twitter.com/QbSl7QUC3V

— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) November 28, 2020

Nurses is the latest Canadian TV drama to come to U.S. broadcast TV

Since we are updating Canadian television on U.S. channels, tomorrow night (December 2) marks the end of the 2 seasons for Coroner on the CW Network. The CBC drama had 16 episodes that ran on the CW since late summer. IFC is wrapping up the 8-episode final season of Baroness von Sketch Show tomorrow night. The CBC comedy has been running on IFC on Wednesdays at midnight Eastern.

Baroness von Sketch Show just announced that 5 bonus episodes will run on CBC starting January 5.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

NBC starts running the Global series Nurses Monday night at 10 pm Eastern. The first 2 episodes run on Mondays before moving into the Transplant timeslot Tuesday nights at 10 pm Eastern in 2021 on January 5.

Trickster from CBC hits the U.S. airwaves on the CW on January 12.

We have been very pleased with Transplant in its first season. We are mostly happy with Coroner though the show goes off on odd tangents. We implore the U.S. networks to keep these shows well past the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

photo credit: Transplant/CTV
Twitter captures: @Deadline; @NBC

Trickster coming to the U.S. on the CW in January

Coroner, Fridge Wars, and now Trickster on the CW. Been quite a Canadian TV explosion on the U.S. based network lately. Trickster will make its U.S. debut on the CW starting January 12 at 9 pm Eastern.

The CBC series will have 6 episodes for Season 1 with Season 2 already guaranteed. Joel Oulette stars as Jared, an Indigenous teen who juggles dealing with a dysfunctional family and then starts seeing strange things.

Michelle Latimer adapted Trickster from the best-selling novel Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson. Latimer had a successful time at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival with Inconvenient Indian, winner of Best Canadian Feature Film and the Documentary Award. TIFF 2020 also showed the first 2 episodes of Trickster.

CW fans shouldn't be confused since Trickster was a character in The Flash that aired on the network.

The talent and voices that made #TricksterCBC a reality, in front of and behind the camera. pic.twitter.com/UIEKQz16Lu

— Trickster (@TricksterCBC) October 23, 2020

2020 CBC television fall preview

2020 CBC television upfront preview

2020 TIFF wrapup

Unlike Coroner or Fridge Wars, Trickster has a bit of swearing. As we have noted numerous times, Canadians can better handle swearing than those in the United States. CBC and CW are both over-the-air networks but that means more censorship in the United States, the "land of the free."

For those who prefer Trickster uncensored, the series will be available on Sundance Now and Shudder, which will stream the director’s cut of the series once the CW’s broadcast run has finished.

The series has also been sold to outlets in the UK, Australia, and Brazil.

Transplant makes U.S. debut on NBC

U.S. television turns to Canadian TV shows to fill gaps due to COVID-19

CanadianCrossing.com CBC coverage

As for the fellow Canadian TV dramas on U.S. television, Transplant returns with Episode 8 next Tuesday after a 2-week hiatus. The CTV show only has 13 episodes so the NBC run should end around early December.

Coroner is already been shown through Season 2, Episode 5 last night. There are only 8 episodes in each season so the CW run might end in late November or early December at the latest.

We are hopeful that these U.S. networks continue to carry subsequent seasons of these Canadian TV shows.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Canadians can watch Coroner, Fridge Wars, and Trickster on CBC Gem. Transplant can be found on the CTV Web site; the Canadian network is simsubbing the NBC telecasts in Canada.

video and photo credit: Trickster/CBC
Twitter capture: @TricksterCBC