Canadian Crossing

2025 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

While CBC carries more Canadian TV shows than the 3 Canadian private networks combined, we also cover what CTV, Global, and Citytv have for the upcoming 2025-2026 TV schedule.

CTV/Bell Media

Sullivan's Crossing is in Season 3 currently on CTV and also The CW. The show will be back for Season 4. CTV ran Season 2 of Sight Unseen over the winter. The show is apparently over after 2 seasons (no one ever says cancelled). The CW is a co-producer of the latter show and we haven't heard of when (if?) that network would run Season 2. Maybe through the Web site, like with Season 2 of Moonshine.

CTV dumped Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby after 1 season, though the Kids in the Hall alum has a new movie on Crave: Hoser: The Movie.

The network lost Children Ruin Everything and Sight Unseen (maybe) without new shows on the broadcast network. Well, there is Slo Pitch, an already established Web series that is coming to CTV and Crave with 10 episodes. Elliot Page is a key producer of the project. The Bell Media description: "A queer underdog slo pitch team chases their dreams of making it to the beer league championships. Beer. Baseball. Lesbians. Something for everyone."

We are surprised that we haven't seen more Web series being bumped up to CBC or the private networks.

CTV has a new season of The Traitors Canada (Season 3). CTV Comedy greenlit Season 4 for Acting Good, which I found somewhere in the States. The Good Stuff with Mary Berg (daytime on CTV) is back for Season 3 though we miss Mary Makes It Easy on CTV Life Channel in Canada and the Food Network in the United States.

• CTV mostly American shows
• Bell Media returning series
• Bell Media new content

CTV is running more CFL games with Saturday night games through most of the summer and then switching to Saturday afternoon games. We would like to think this is honourable but more like cheap programming, already produced in house by TSN.

SurrealEstate (CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada and SyFy in the United States) has barely ended Season 3. I loved Season 1 but the show has not been that good of late. We don't figure to know any status for Season 4 for some time.

Children Ruin Everything is done on CTV after 4 seasons while The CW finishes its run in the United States later this month. Transplant is long done after 4 seasons on CTV though NBC finally is showing Season 4 in the United States.

On the Crave side of things, Shoresy is renewed for Season 5. Late Bloomer and The Trades will have a Season 3. Super Team Canada and The Office Movers are back for Season 2.

Somehow, there is a Season 2 of The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs barely made the playoffs and won 1 playoff game in 2025. So maybe they are still rebuilding?

There are so many new Crave shows that we are posting a link, since some of these shows are way down the line. There is an untitled Jared Keeso show coming but we know nothing about the show. Tom Green has a new show coming to Crave.

Bell Media and the USA Network are working on Anna Pigeon, "a former city slicker who became a park ranger" who solves "crimes that have taken place within national park grounds." This is primarily worth noting since the showrunner is Canadian Morwyn Brebner, who created and produced Rookie Blue and Saving Hope. and developed and produced Coroner.

Though the newly renamed USA Network in Canada isn't connected to the U.S. version of USA Network (NBCUniversal).

There is no mention of Don't Even (Crave and APTN), an urban Indigenous coming-of-age story in the late 1990s in Winnipeg. You can watch the show on Crave and APTN in Canada and Tubi in the United States. We don't know if APTN will produce more seasons.

2025 CBC television upfront preview

Global/Corus

Just when we wonder if Global wasn't going to get ambitious about producing new Canadian television, we find out about a return to Private Eyes as in Private Eyes West Coast. Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson will reunite for a spinoff series. The original series ran 5 seasons from 2016-2021 on Global with the first 2 seasons on Ion in the United States.

Spinoff series are rather rare in Canada, officially or unofficially. The idea that Strays was a spinoff but not Run the Burbs was more about licensing of characters. Shannon (Nicole Power) was not part of the original Ins Choi play Kim's Convenience.

The show will move from Toronto to Victoria, British Columbia. Priestley is a semi regular on Wild Cards (CBC/The CW) that films in Vancouver. Shawn Piller and Lloyd Segan – who worked on Private Eyes and Wild Cards – are producing the new show.

We know the new show will cast new supplemental characters. Would be fun to see them cast people from the old show as new characters or even as cameos: thinking about Ennis Esmer, Samantha Wan, Jordyn Negri, and Clé Bennett. Esmer did more comedy on Children Ruin Everything and Wan took on a nice role on Run the Burbs. Bennett and Negri haven't done as much of late.

The show will likely run this winter on Global in Canada.

If you just think of Priestley as "that guy" from that Fox show 30 some years ago, Priestley has taken risks in such Canadian TV shows as Call Me Fitz, Private Eyes, and Wild Cards. he also directed a feature film — Cas & Dylan (2013) — with Tatiana Maslany and Richard Dreyfuss.

Murder in a Small Town is back for Season 2 on Global and Fox. We think Fox is doing the heavy lifting yet the show is rather Canadian. Gibsons, BC and Molly's Reach are iconic north of the border thanks to The Beachcombers, a Canadian TV series that ran on the CBC from 1972-1990.

Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk have decent chemistry though we wish they would either be friends or flat out significant others. The hesitation and anxiety is the weakest part of the show. They are not building tension, aka Sam and Diane.

Season 2 gets 10 episodes, up from 8 in Season 1. The show gets a token American in Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden as the town's new mayor.

Doc, starring Canadian actor Molly Parker, is not a Canadian show, though there is a bit of Canada in the show. A rare show where the fun is the guest stars plucked from Canadian CVs. Both series will run this fall on Global and Fox. The latter series has a full run of 22 episodes.

Global has shifted those shows on its schedule. Both shows air on Fox back-to-back on Tuesday nights with Doc at 9 pm Eastern. Doc airs at 10 pm on Wednesdays on Global and Murder in a Small Town runs on Sunday nights at 8 pm Eastern.

Global runs 60 Minutes from the start at 7 pm Eastern since Global, unlike CBS, doesn't have the NFL. Global is definitely not simsubbing those shows so Canadians with cable or satellite can just watch them on Fox on Tuesdays.

Global finally showed Season 3 of Family Law this winter. Season 4 runs this summer on The CW and is scheduled for the winter of 2026 on Global. We liked Season 3 more than Season 2.

If we see a Canadian original scripted series on Global, the show is almost always a drama. I don't know if The Jane Show was the last one to qualify. Canadians are known for comedy but the only outlets that are consistent about comedy (on this level) are CBC and Bell Media.

We don't count Crime Beat for a boatload of reasons but Americans can watch on Hulu. Canadians can catch up on Global programming on Stack TV.

2024 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

2023 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

2022 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

Citytv/Rogers

Hudson & Rex (fall) and Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent (winter) appear to be the entirety of scripted shows. Hudson & Rex runs at 8 pm Mondays with weekend repeats at 10 pm. Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is coming off the glory of winning Best Drama Series at the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards.

Hudson & Rex gets a new human actor in Luke Roberts, who will play Detective Mark. Roberts starred in Seagrass, one of my favourite Canadian films in recent years.

This will be Season 8 for Hudson & Rex and Season 3 for Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent. The CW will start with Season 1 of the latter show this fall in the United States.

Rogers is promoting its association with the Toronto International Film Festival with a live 1-hour red carpet special on Citytv. We would be curious, as measured in seconds, about whether they will mention Canadian films.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent has advantages to show Canadians the real Toronto

The other drama starting in October is Hockey Night in Canada. We know Rogers signed a fresh new contract that starts in the fall of 2026. Even if CBC goes along and runs the NHL without compensation and ad revenue, Rogers still needs Citytv as an outlet in the fall and winter.

Most Saturdays, Citytv simulcasts a game from a Rogers Sportsnet cable feed at 7 pm Eastern. Occasionally, that game is a simulcast of CBC. The Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver affiliates usually carry a second game at 7 pm Pacific.

Those in the States can catch Hudson & Rex episodes on UPtv, a "wholesome" family type channel you might have on U.S. cable.

We don't count Canada's Got Talent, but the show is going on "hiatus." Family Feud Canada (CBC) likely won't be jealous, but a Canadian version of The Price is Right is coming to Citytv. The working title is The Price is Right Tonight with Canadian Howie Mandel to air next spring. Here is the odd part: 12 1-hour episodes. A weekly game show isn't as enthralling.

Citytv does mostly dramas in Canadian scripted programming but has a slightly better track record for comedy than Global. Seed was sort of based on the Quebecois film Starbuck while CBC and Citytv shared Young Drunk Punk. Comedies also fill holes easier on a TV schedule since they are 30 minutes.

2025 Canadian Screen Awards wrapup: television

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television 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 credits: Slo Pitch; Sight Unseen/CTV/The CW; Super Team Canada/Crave; Private Eyes West Coast/Global; Murder in a Small Town/FOX/Global; Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent/Citytv

Canadian TV notebook: What is coming to the private networks in the winter of 2025

We had some love for the upcoming Canadian TV on CBC before the new year. Let's look at the few Canadian television titles on the private networks this winter.

CTV has the other 8 episodes of Season 4 of Children Ruin Everything coming back on Wednesdays starting January 8 at 8:30 pm ET/PT. The first half of those episodes ran this fall on CTV and in blocks in December on The CW.

The Bell Media press release notes significant upcoming guest stars including David Cronenberg, Carolyn Taylor, Scott Thompson, and Jesse Rath. Bruce McCulloch, Thompson's Kids in the Hall buddy, plays a politician who is Astrid's boss.

Sight Unseen (Season 2) is back on CTV on Monday nights at 10 pm starting January 20. Sullivan's Crossing (Season 3) will be later this year (presumably) on CTV. All of these shows also air on The CW.

Extracted mentions the Canadian wilderness but is a reality show from Fox also airing on CTV.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent comes back to Citytv on Thursday nights starting on February 20. We haven't heard anything of note as far as changes. We might even assume Season 2 has 10 episodes, same as last year.

The only live Citytv Canadian programming in the fall involved the NHL on Saturday nights. Hockey Night in Canada continues on Citytv through the regular season in April.

The western Citytv stations (Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver) carry a late game as well as an early game.

The Hudson & Rex repeats will give way to repeats (likely) as well as new episodes of the Newfoundland-set crime drama starting January 14. This will be Season 7 for Hudson & Rex.

The Citytv Canadian TV lineup should last as long in this story as the promo to the left. How does the CRTC allow this?

Global ran all 8 episodes of Murder in a Small Town with Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk. The season-ending episodes got a nice performance from Noah Reid.

The network will run Doc this winter that starts Canadian acting legend Molly Parker. Both shows run on Fox though Doc is not a Canadian TV show. Doc starts on January 7 in both countries.

Global has Season 3 of Family Law cued up to start January 5 on Sunday nights at 8 pm. The U.S. viewers are actually ahead of the curve, having seen that season on The CW.

Season 3 is better than Season 2. Season 4 will have to wait on both sides of the border.

Doc is distinct for an American TV show for a few reasons. This is an American adaptation of an Italian TV series. The show has a female protagonist instead of the male protagonist in the original Italian TV series Doc – Nelle tue mani (Doc – In your hands). A show on Fox has a female lead who is [whispers] over the age of 50.

While Nathan Fillion is the lead in The Rookie, a purely American production, having a Canadian lead in an American TV show is unusual. We have had a soft spot for Molly Parker since we saw her on Twitch City a couple of decades ago. Parker deserves this kind of an opportunity. Let's hope the scripts can be worthy of her talents.

As we have noted previously, Global TV only has 2 original Canadian TV programs on its schedule: one on Fox and the other on The CW (Family Law).

2025 CBC television winter preview

Reminding our American readers that The CW will carry Season 2 of Wild Cards on Wednesdays at 8 pm starting February 5. We are guessing that the U.S. network will wait until spring to show Season 4 of Son of a Critch along with the second half of the Children Ruin Everything episodes.

We found out that production on the 6th and final season of The Handmaid's Tale has been underway.

North of North will eventually be on Netflix globally (outside Canada) sometime in the spring. The CBC show starts January 7 and also runs on APTN, a great channel that would find a niche in the United States.

To our Phriends and Phamily in the 🇺🇸, season three of @runtheburbs is streaming now on @hulu! #runtheburbs pic.twitter.com/G3qSg1HTXY

— Andrew Phung (@andrewphung) December 12, 2024

One of the few joys I get these days is to enjoy the final season of Run the Burbs, thanks to Hulu. I love the characters on this show, especially the well-drawn supporting characters: energetic Hudson (Jonathan Langdon), intense Sebastian (Chris Locke), and love-shy Cathy (Samantha Wan). That would have extended to Candy (Candy Palmater), who was a part of Season 1 but passed away in real life.

Canadians can catch up on all 3 seasons on CBC Gem.

Goodbye, eh, to How I Met Your Mother

We have crossed the 10-year point of the end of How I Met Your Mother on CBS (and Citytv). Very easy to say that Robin Scherbatsky aka Robin Sparkles aka Robin Daggers was the best drawn Canadian character in U.S. television history. Cobie Smulders is Canadian and from Vancouver.

The task of whether a Canadian TV show has created a character so Canadian is perhaps unfair. After all, Canadian characters are Canadian and don't have to show that off within Canada. Robin defended her Canadian status to not lose that within New York City and her friends.

Sandra Bullock played a Canadian in The Proposal but didn't seem to act as if she was Canadian at key points in the film. Molly Parker and Nathan Fillion are Canadians as American TV leads playing American characters.

Rick Mercer felt Canadian in his rants in the alley but he wasn't a fictional character. Red Green sure summed up an element of Canadiana but are Canadians that talented with duct tape? Stevie Budd (Emily Hampshire) would get a few votes for being sarcastic and searching for her niche in her world. Older Canadians might vote for Nick Adonidas (Bruno Gerussi) from The Beachcombers.

I don't have a grand answer to this question or even nominees for who that might be. Just a thought to ponder. If you have a nominee, let us know in the comments section.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

U.S. fans of Transplant will have to wait until at least March to get Season 4, the final season, on NBC. We are coming up on the 1-year anniversary (January 19) of the final episode on CTV. I would almost subscribe to Peacock if I thought I could get the episodes sooner.

photo credits: Family Law/Global; Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent/Citytv; How I Met Your Mother/CBS
video credit: Doc/Fox
Twitter capture: @andrewphung

Canadian journalism notebook: Pierre Poilievre overreacting to a CTV News mistake

As @stphnmaher writes in today’s @TorontoStar, the CTV/Poilievre edit wasn’t a malicious plot, it was fuck up, the kind that almost inevitably happens when you strip newsrooms of experienced staff https://t.co/pXqNx1kuzM pic.twitter.com/tPUArXipqz

— Richard Warnica (@richardwarnica) September 28, 2024

The mistake was rather obvious. No one believes Pierre Poilievre is pushing for a federal election over the new dental care program. Carbon tax. If the federal opposition leader did get that election and won, the dental care program is pretty much as good as gone or underfunded or not as good as it should be. Poilievre won't address the issue of whether the Conservatives would keep the new dental care program.

The opposition leader has said no one is getting help with dental care when that definitely isn't true.

CTV News' Omar Sachedina had previously aired a statement apologizing to Poilievre and the party: "Last night, in a report on this broadcast, we presented a comment by the official opposition leader Pierre Poilievre that was taken out of context. It left viewers with the impression the conservative non-confidence motion was to defeat the Liberals dental care program. In fact, the Conservatives have made it clear the motion is based on a long list of issues with the Liberal government including the carbon tax. A misunderstanding during the editing process resulted in this misrepresentation. We unreservedly apologize to Mr. Poilievre and the Conservative party of Canada. We regret this report went to air in the manner it did."

CTV apologized for the mistake. CTV threw 2 people under the bus for said mistake, firing them from their jobs. That is way more than most people get in retribution for a journalism mistake. That's the reality.

Struck by how terrified CTV sounds in these statements. Not just regretful, but quite abject. As if they fear … retribution. https://t.co/NaI3N6dubJ

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@acoyne) September 26, 2024

Pierre Poilievre has made journalists out to be the bad people in the world. They cover Poilievre like they are scared of him. We've written extensively about Bell Media journalism cuts.

Jesse Brown and Rahim Mohamed shared thoughts on this for Canadaland. The original idea came from an episode of Question Period from CTV. Question Period host Vassy Kapelos is not known for being kind to non-conservative politicians. Mohamed backs that up. The episode they question was about the dental care program. The theory is that the dental care program was the impetus for the story that ran on CTV on the Sunday night newscast in question.

This doesn't excuse a mistake, a definite mistake. The idea that there was a deliberate attempt by CTV or any other news outlet to mix that up — it's too obvious to not get caught.

Great point by former NDP MP Françoise Boivin. Should @PierrePoilievre really be rejoicing in @bell stock being downgraded by moodys?

Should a potential Prime Minister to actually celebrate the demise of a Canadian company that employs so many Canadians? #Cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/pRop5dFets

— Jaro Giesbrecht (@JaroGiesbrecht) September 25, 2024

Poilievre was happy that Bell Media's stock has tumbled. This is part of a larger strategy to get really great coverage, which apart from this incident, Poilievre gets. Cheering for a prominent Canadian company when they are down financially. Poilievre already wants the defund the CBC.

Interesting how Poilievre would never go after Postmedia in a negative fashion. We may hate it but the tactics work. Justin Trudeau is very positive about things in Canada; Pierre Poilievre isn't. Consistently. Again, this is not about politics. This is about approach and beliefs.

Short Cuts: Who Framed Pierre Poilievre? (Canadaland)

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

Canadians should ask if Poilievre becomes prime minister as to whether or not he will be accountable to Canadian journalists. Well, the few that are left. Politics aside, this isn't good for journalism or democracy.

I sent this in and got the call. My last cartoon, I think, in the Chronicle Herald. It's not published yet. pic.twitter.com/Wg82rwTnyr

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) October 8, 2024

If you go back far enough, I want to be a catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, like Johnny Bench. A most reasonable life dream would be as an editorial cartoonist. My lack of drawing ability did me in for that career.

Michael de Adder is a very talented editorial cartoonist. The ideas. The drawings. You have to tell a lot in a small space. de Adder happens to be Canadian. While his work can be found in a lot of places, his base has been The Chronicle Herald in Halifax.

Postmedia, owned by American hedge funds who are definitely pro-toddler, took over the SaltWire publications in Atlantic Canada. Besides firing de Adder, Postmedia also fired long-time columnist Ralph Surette for, well, doing their jobs well.

Whatever we might have thought about SaltWire's ownership, Postmedia has been way worse and it hasn't been in charge for long.

You can follow @deadder on Twitter and his other platforms. With all of these bailouts for Canadian journalism, Postmedia pockets a lot of that money and not using that money to save local journalism.

pic.twitter.com/0g1njaAcoU

— Michael de Adder (@deAdder) October 16, 2024

Bell Media making deep cuts to W5, CTV local newscasts

W5 returns in October as Avery Haines leads Canada’s top investigative team, debuting on all platforms, including https://t.co/1kZunfYtgi, CTV News App, CTV News Channel and CTV National News. pic.twitter.com/CVKKcSDehW

— CTV W5 (@CTVW5) September 11, 2024

This is the first tweet that @CTVW5 has sent in months. Bell Media ended the show in February, on since 1966 (not a typo) as part of cost-cutting. Bell Media kept the name and concept in house to use on CTV News platforms, just without the legitimacy the show established for decades.

Canadian viewers are getting microdoses of something that looks like W5. Narco Jungle: The Death Train. We also get related occasional documentaries under the title W5: Avery Haines Investigates.

Feels like a stylized W5 to be more flashy than relevant. The W5 name without what made the W5 name significant in Canadian journalism.

Keeping the W5 name within its newscasts keeps others from stealing the ideas and even personnel. Bell Media wants the credit for W5 just not to spend the money needed for strong journalism.

It is a shocking failure of editorial judgment to give a foreign agent airtime to attack the credibility of Canada’s government after it expelled him for playing a role in the murder of Canadians on Canadian soil. https://t.co/HXAIGk2Sw4

— Andrew Tumilty (@AndrewTumilty) October 20, 2024

Bell Media and CTV is spending money on Question Period, a show making questionable bookings such as this one. Vassy Kapelos interviewed India High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma, a person allegedly linked to the murders of Canadians on Canadian soil. 

The timing is awkward because of alleged ties between India and Pierre Poilievre in terms of foreign pressure on the last Conservative Party leadership race.

Kapelos could be seen as helping Poilievre and hurting Trudeau as well as Canada in airing this interview. Does that tie back to Poilievre's criticism of CTV News? Not much more of a stretch than Poilievre used against CTV News and Bell Media.

We aren't trying to pick on CTV and Bell Media. A coincidence that all of these stories are hitting around this time. Speaking of Bell Media, here is one more journalism story.

SHE’S BACK 🤩@saraorlesky is in the host’s chair for all #NHLJets home games on @TSN_Sports this season! pic.twitter.com/l2kcNpH9TJ

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) October 11, 2024

Everyone loves Sara Orlesky so why is it a big deal for Orlesky to host the Winnipeg Jets home games on TSN3? Orlesky is an employee of the Winnipeg Jets and not TSN. That is why this is a big deal that Orlesky (employee of the team) is replacing John Lu (employee of TSN).

We aren't surprised that the Jets did this. The inclination is that TSN might have done this to save a few bucks, even if they are paying John Lu to cover the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.

Sports teams aren't suppose to have a conflict of interest of this magnitude. I like Sara Orlesky but this looks and smells bad.

photo credit: CTV News
Twitter captures: @richardwarnica; @acoyne; @JaroGiesbrecht; @deAdder; @CTVW5; @AndrewTumilty; @NHLJets

2024 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 2024-2025 TV schedule.

CTV/Bell Media

The new show of note on CTV comes from Kids in the Hall alum Mark McKinney on a search mission to uncover Canada's hobby enthusiasts on Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby. We've been surprised that no one has tried to do a take on what Jonny Harris does with Still Standing on CBC. Hoping this show has a similar feel.

Children Ruin Everything is coming back with 16 new episodes that look to be divided between a Season 4 and yes kids, a Season 5. We are curious as to which season that Morris (aka Andrew) will start talking. The program airs on The CW in the United States.

Sullivan's Crossing (Season 3) and Sight Unseen (Season 2) will have new episodes on CTV and also The CW. The latter show is a co-production with the 2 networks. CTV aired Season 2 of Sullivan's Crossing with the CW airing coming this fall. The season finale airs Sunday on CTV. Sight Unseen just finished its 10-episode Season 1 on Wednesday on The CW.

SurrealEstate (CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada and SyFy in the United States) will have a Season 3. This is a surprise to those who suffered through a miserable Season 2. Season 1 was cool and Season 2 was not.

Transplant is done after 4 seasons on CTV though NBC is taking its sweet [bleep] time getting to Season 4. The Spencer Sisters is an one-and-done series for CTV and the CW.

Unfortunately, there is no Season 2 for Shelved. Season 1 was worth a few years of this show. But, cutbacks.

Bell Media making deep cuts to W5, CTV local newscasts

While we don't normally count Canadian news as "Canadian programming" in terms of the CRTC, we made a grand exception for W5, which Bell Media cancelled suddenly in February. W5 was older than the Super Bowl and 60 Minutes, dating back to September 11, 1966 on CTV.

Canadians lost a Canadian TV classic and a necessary part of Canadian TV journalism.

CBC should grab Shelved if CTV cancelled that show

Loss of 'Run the Burbs' a death knell for Canadian TV (Toronto Star)

Canadian TV notebook: Run the Burbs done after 3 seasons

CTV has new seasons of The Traitors Canada (Season 2), Battle of the Generations (Season 2), and The Amazing Race Canada (Season 10). Karine Vanasse returns to host The Traitors: Canada et Les traîtres on Noovo. While we want Vanasse to have success. she is very much needed as an actor on film and television.

While this is on the sports end, CTV will have Saturday afternoon CFL football starting September 7. The CBC had the last CFL game over the air with the 2007 Grey Cup and CTV hasn't aired a CFL game since 1986. CTV regularly simsubs NFL games from the United States.

CTV Comedy greenlit Season 3 for Acting Good, starring Paul Rabliauskas. There was mention of another season of The Good Stuff with Mary Berg (daytime on CTV) but no note on a Season 4 of Mary Makes It Easy on CTV Life Channel in Canada and the Food Network in the United States.

On the Crave side of things, Shoresy is renewed for Season 4. Season 3 airs later this month on Hulu in the United States. There will be a Season 2 for Late Bloomer and The Trades. The latter show is a bit of Trailer Park Boys and Moonshine, very Nova Scotia.

Super Team Canada is an animated series coming to Crave next year featuring Will Arnett, Cobie Smulders, Kevin McDonald, Charles Demers, Brian Drummond, Ceara Morgana, and Veena Sood about the exploits of 6 little-known Canadian superheroes.

Don't Even (Crave and APTN) is an urban Indigenous coming-of-age story in the late 1990s in Winnipeg. Leenah Robinson and Victoria Turko are the leads with Joel Oulette (Trickster), Gail Maurice, and Jennifer Podemski.

There is a feel of Montréal with a docuseries The Rebuild: Inside the Montreal Canadiens about the Habs' previous season. As someone who writes about hockey, the team has been rebuilding for awhile. There are short series based on previous Canadian films Bon Cop, Bad Cop and So Long, Marianne (think Leonard Cohen).

Sasha Leigh Henry is back with a drug-related drama called Bad Trips. Henry created Bria Mack Gets A Life, which just won Best Comedy Series at the Canadian Screen Awards last week. A Season 2 of Bria Mack Gets A Life is not mentioned in the Bell Media release. Then again, no one at Bell Media said Shelved got cancelled.

Update: Turns out Bria Mack Gets a Life got cancelled. There was U.S. interest in the show if there was a second season. 

2024 CBC television upfront preview

Global/Corus

Canadian TV fans might recognize this shot of Gibsons, BC. Molly's Reach was the restaurant on The Beachcombers, a Canadian TV series that ran on the CBC from 1972-1990. I've seen a few episodes on the Internet and I can see the charm in the program.

This is contained within the trailer for Murder in a Small Town, starring Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk. Fox will debut the program during the 2024-25 TV season. Global has the show on its fall schedule, Wednesdays at 10 pm Eastern.

Sutherland plays the chief of police while Kreuk plays a local librarian. Somehow, they solve crimes. Watching the trailer made me think back to Three Pines, a series where Sutherland starred. Sutherland and Kreuk are Canadian and well known to American audiences.

Molly's Reach is a reference point that 99.99999% of Americans and a lot of Canadians would not know. Nice Easter egg.

Global will show Season 3 of Family Law sometime in 2025. The U.S. viewers are actually ahead of the curve, having seen that season on The CW. Not a spoiler, but Season 3 is better than Season 2.

Though Doc, starring Canadian actor Molly Parker, is not a Canadian show, we note that Global will carry the Fox series in Canada. We mentioned Murder in a Small Town and Doc in our Victoria Day notebook.

2024 Victoria Day notebook: Vancouver, Edmonton meet tonight for Game 7

Corus cut ties to Robyn Hood after a single season and 8 episodes. The show was a take by Director X on the Robin Hood legend, starring Jessye Romeo as Robyn Loxley, "a young woman whose masked hip-hop band, The Hood, is known for their inventive videos and anti-authoritarian message."

I thought the idea was interesting. I heard next to nothing about how this show was. The trailer seemed really dark. Sorry this didn't get more of a chance.

Global ran Season 3 of Departure last summer. Season 3 did not run on Peacock in the States. No news likely means the show won't return.

2023 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

2022 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

Citytv/Rogers

The focus on the Citytv upfront was on the fall schedule. So what does Citytv count as Canadian television in the fall? Hudson & Rex repeats and Hockey Night in Canada.

The fall lineup features Hudson & Rex repeats on Saturday nights at 10 pm as well as Sunday nights at 7 pm Eastern AND 10 pm Pacific. Hopefully, those are distinct reruns.

Most Saturdays, Citytv is simulcasting a game from a Rogers Sportsnet cable feed. Occasionally, that game is a simulcast of CBC. The Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver affiliates usually carry a second game at 7 pm Pacific.

Rogers has a picture of the Citytv fall schedule. The most Canadian part of this is a picture of Connor McDavid.

We’re wagging our tails with excitement! Our favourite cop-and-canine duo is BACK for an all-new season of #HudsonAndRex returning in 2025 on Citytv. It’s season 7 – that’s season 49 in dog years! 🐶 pic.twitter.com/LuRxL20qyi

— Citytv (@City_tv) June 10, 2024

Update: We only had to wait 3 days after our story to find out Hudson & Rex is coming back in the winter of 2025 on Citytv. We have the release for the "Canadian content" including Season 4 of Canada's Got Talent. This comes 6 days after the Citytv upfront for the American shows.

Hudson & Rex will be back in the winter on Citytv for Season 7: 6 seasons and 100 episodes so far. Whatever we might think of the quality of the program, 100 episodes in Canadian TV is a rare honour. 

Those in the States can catch Hudson & Rex episodes on UPtv, a "wholesome" family type channel you might have on cable.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent has advantages to show Canadians the real Toronto

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is renewed for Season 2, also in the winter. Canada's Got Talent ran this spring. I didn't think Wong & Winchester was that great but I miss its presence.

"Fox also has come in as a partner on The Donut (working title), a single-camera family business comedy in development at Canada's CBC from Catherine Reitman and Philip Sternberg, stars of CBC/Netflix's popular comedy Workin’ Moms, which Reitman created."

We see a lot of films that are co-produced by Canada and the United States. Canadian TV seems to be taking on this trend on some level. Interestingly, Fox is involved in this — odd since this is the network that bought the rights to Diggstown and never showed the Canadian TV show.

2024 Canadian Screen Awards: Little Bird leads the way with 13 CSAs

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

The U.S. writers strike did not produce an influx of Canadian TV. We still have slight hope that a U.S. outlet can save Shelved, so ironically, more episodes can air in Canada.

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: Sight Unseen/CTV/The CW; Super Team Canada/Crave; Murder in a Small Town/FOX/Global; Robyn Hood/Global; Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent/Citytv

CBC should grab Shelved if CTV cancelled that show

Editor's note: This is no longer a matter of "if" since CTV has cancelled Shelved. This would still be a great pickup by CBC.

American TV has a lot of shows that have aired on more than one network. Brooklyn Nine-Nine ran 5 seasons on Fox and 3 on NBC. Taxi had most of its run on ABC but finished on NBC.

Murdoch Mysteries started out on Citytv and ran for 5 seasons. CBC picked up the program and has aired it since January 2013.

CBC and Citytv had a production deal in 2015 where the CBC ran Young Drunk Punk reruns while Citytv ran Mr. D reruns. The shows originally appeared on the other network.

Ann Pornel wrote a recent column in the Toronto Star on how Canadian TV is falling short of diversity with the Run the Burbs cancellation. Pornel noted in the article that One More Time (CBC) and Shelved (CTV) were cancelled after a single season. This was news to a lot of people, including your humble narrator.

CBC has had a dearth of comedies of late. The home of Schitt's Creek, Kim's Convenience, and Workin' Moms hasn't replenished that comedy supply. Having to resort to mediocre American comedies (Animal Control) in key time slots. We know CBC is down one comedy with the cancellation of Run the Burbs and likely another if One More Time isn't returning.

We agree with Pornel about having more comedies that reflect underappreciated segments of Canadian society. We also love Shelved and that show deserves more of a life.

Loss of 'Run the Burbs' a death knell for Canadian TV (Toronto Star)

Canadian TV notebook: Workin' Moms final season is on Netflix

We first wrote about Shelved about a year ago after its first season run on CTV. We watched a few episodes while on Canadian soil in November. Loved this show. One of those shows Americans would love if they knew this existed.

Anthony Q. Farrell created this series. 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 Gem show Overlord and the Underwoods.

Shelved takes place at Jameson Branch, a not-so-great branch in the Parkdale neighbourhood in the Toronto public library system. Lyndie Greenwood, Paul Braunstein, Dakota Ray Hebert, and Chris Sandiford are the leads in the show.

Robin Duke plays an unhoused recurring character. The drag queen storytime episode felt ripped from the headlines in Canada and the United States.

Comparison points would be shows such as Abbott Elementary and Parks and Recreation.

If CTV and Bell Media let go of the show, CBC would still be a winner in showing Season 1 of Shelved before producing and airing new episodes in the near future.

We thought the Young Drunk Punk and Mr. D relationship was a bit odd and that Young Drunk Punk deserved a second season. If that is what works for Canadian television, better than ditching good shows too soon. CTV could even run repeats of One More Time or even pick up more seasons of Run the Burbs. Even if CTV does renew Shelved, the network could make a financial deal with CBC to show Season 1 reruns this fall instead of more Animal Control. 

And yes, this is an open letter to the CW to pick up Shelved if that money helps out more seasons of this Canadian show.

Ann Pornel in @TorontoStar on “Run the Burbs” cancellation and the sorry state of current Canadian tv. Didn’t realize that “Shelved” and “One More Time” were also axed. Sucks all round. https://t.co/2nELfB3BNe

— Glenn Sumi (@glennsumi) May 8, 2024

Canadians have proven for decades that comedy runs through its veins. Canadians are funny, especially when given a proper chance to show off their talents. Dramas are easier to produce and get noticed in the TV landscape of late. The CBC Tuesday night comedy lineup was a dynamite collection of comedy. These days, the holes in that lineup are large enough to fit mice.

Canadian television can't afford to randomly throw away comedy gold in shows such as Shelved. Would be like throwing away steak or truffles for a starving person. There is a lot of potential in that show. CTV has every right to be foolish and throw out Shelved and CBC has every right to bring that show to the public broadcaster.

Canadians can watch Season 1 (for now) of Shelved on CTV.ca.

Canadian TV notebook: Run the Burbs done after 3 seasons

Four in the Morning would benefit Canadian television with a Netflix boost

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We noted at the beginning of the month that the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) overwhelmingly (96.5%) voted for an authorizing strike action against the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). Good news. The sides have reached a new agreement.

video and photo credit: Shelved/Bell Media
Twitter capture: @glennsumi

Bell Media making deep cuts to W5, CTV local newscasts

Update from changes to local news at Bell Media pic.twitter.com/tCrK7O6uwt

— jonah (@yyzsportsmedia) February 8, 2024

We wrote back in June about Bell Media wanting the CRTC to reduce (even more) local newscasts. Well, Bell Media decided on its own to reduce those local newscasts.

• Weekday noon newscasts at all CTV stations will end, except for Toronto.
• 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts on weekends will end at all CTV and CTV2 stations, except for Toronto, Montréal, and Ottawa.

W5, the CTV News crowning glory, is being cancelled as a standalone documentary series and reduced to a "multi-platform investigative reporting unit" for the various CTV News properties.

Bell Media will implement "multi-skilled journalists" to replace news correspondents and technician teams reporting to CTV National News in Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. The translation into English is that journalists will run their own cameras instead of having a team go on assignments. They will also make correspondent changes in Ottawa.

The company is making other dramatic changes to CTV News Channel, including the cancellation of evening programs The Debate, This Hour, and Top 3 Tonight. The channel will run a 4-hour news broadcast weeknights at 6 pm. The company determines local newscasts are too expensive yet newscasts are cheaper than programs that give depth to the day's news.

Bell Media wants CRTC to allow reducing local news

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

Weekday daytime programming at BNN Bloomberg is "being streamlined," reducing the number of separate broadcasts.

On top of all those changes, Bell Media is selling 45 of its 103 regional radio stations in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.

This comes on the heels on cutbacks at CBC and Radio-Canada to their news departments, among other cuts.

Local news counts as "Canadian content" for CRTC requirements. Given the olé and/or laissez-faire approach the CRTC uses in its regulation, somehow Bell Media will get away with the local news cuts.

The CTV stations generally run a local newscast following the CTV National News at 11:30 pm. That would comprise 2.5 hours for the entire week, since the local weekend newscasts would be cut. Bell Media petitioned the CRTC last summer to allow its stations in major markets to no longer have to broadcast at least 6 hours of weekly locally reflective news. Bell Media petitioned to broadcast fewer than 3 hours of locally reflective news each week for its non-metropolitan stations.

The company also announced that it would pay a quarterly dividend of 99.75 cents per common share, up from 96.75 cents per share. So this isn't about money, despite their cries.

W5 as a stand alone program is eliminated by Bell. More than 50 years of fine current affairs journalism on CTV at an end. A tremendous legacy. A sad day for Canadian television. https://t.co/OvNqtTzrKT

— Tom Harrington (@cbctom) February 8, 2024

W5 is older than the Super Bowl and 60 Minutes. The program debuted on CTV on September 11, 1966. The idea that W5 would be part of the budget cuts is a gut punch even among cynics. The program's loss also reduces the Canadian content in CTV's prime-time schedule, likely not to be replaced with other Canadian content.

W5 ran on Friday nights at 10 pm on CTV and the program was also run on other Bell Media properties, including CTV2, CTV News Channel, and Investigation Discovery.

Bell Media insists the content will be on CTV News platforms yet not even close to the same level as we've seen on television. The potential ratings of running crappy American content in a terrible timeslot is going to make that much money for Bell Media? Especially given the ability to run the episodes multiple times on its properties.

Omar Sachedina, the current CTV National News anchor, contributed to W5 and was a long-time reporter. Bell Media has cut back on its reporters at home and abroad. Having those correspondents is how you build news talent. The Bell Media news bench has been weak and will now be weaker with these latest cuts.

Bell Media benefits greatly from the profits made running American TV shows that dominate the prime time lineup. They have cut back on Canadian content and will likely get away with those moves.

CanadianCrossing.com CTV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Broadcast media in Canada, of which Bell Media is the dominant force financially in this category, will get $30 million from Google as part of the $100 million every year. Even if somehow the money is divided evenly among CTV, Global, and Citytv, that is $10 million that could go to news coverage. A reminder that the companies will get huge amounts of money, even though they aren't required to spend the money on news.

The idea is that these companies are in debt, which isn't true. The company's news division is reportedly losing more than $40 million a year on its own. They want the news to succeed on its own financially instead of taking profits from running the American shows to pay for news. That isn't viable, leading to these cuts.

Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge weighed in on the cuts in a news conference. "I am extremely disappointed in Bell Canada's decision for many reasons."

"In the past decade, when acquisitions were allowed for those big companies to acquire television stations or radio stations, it came with the promise that they would deliver on news content. And today, they are backing [away] from that promise," said St-Onge.

The minister pointed out that Bell Media received more than $40 million in annual regulatory relief. That amount would cover the alleged debt of the news department.

No offence to the heritage minister but Bell Media (CTV), Corus (Global), and Rogers (Citytv) aren't scared of the Trudeau Government. Things will get worse for Canadian journalism until the private companies are scared to make such cuts.

Twitter captures: @yyzsportsmedia; @cbctom
photo credits: Bell Media (x2)

Hoping the CW brings back the rest of Season 2 of Run the Burbs

Son of a Critch, Run the Burbs, and Children Ruin Everything have been peas in a pod as Canadian comedies on the CW this summer and fall. They were supposed to be on Tuesdays in the fall, started on Mondays, and switched to Thursdays in October.

Unfortunately, the CW made a change this week, benching Run the Burbs and moving Children Ruin Everything into that 8:30 pm Eastern timeslot on Thursdays this past week.

The CW ran 15 episodes of Run the Burbs, all 12 episodes from Season 1 and 3 episodes from Season 2. There are still 10 more episodes from Season 2. The network is running reruns in the 9-10 pm Eastern block on Thursdays.

The U.S. network has run 17 of the 26 episodes for Son of a Critch and 17 of the 24 episodes for Children Ruin Everything covering the first 2 seasons.

The 10 remaining episodes could return to the CW later in the year, such as during a non-sweeps month. Funny how we leaned toward Run the Burbs over Children Ruin Everything while the CW audience went in the other direction.

We would fight for all of these shows, maybe not Sullivan's Crossing.

Canadian TV notebook: CBC Gem only place to watch Sort Of in 2023

Canadian TV notebook: Fall 2023 premiere dates on both sides of the border

CW announces summer schedule filled with Canadian television

Several U.S. reports have used the word "cancelled" or "ax" to reflect the CW change on Run the Burbs. We can agree to disagree about not carrying further seasons but the U.S. network should air the remaining episodes in the near future or allow fans to stream them through the CW Web site. The ratings could not have been that bad for that specific show.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We realize that divorce from a U.S. network can come quickly. Private Eyes and Mary Kills People have seasons unseen in the United States but the U.S. outlets finished the seasons they aired.

We figured that the CW running shows with strikes all around would gamble to stick with shows rather than running reruns over original programming. Apparently, we were mistaken. Sigh.

Canadians can catch up with Run the Burbs on CBC Gem. Season 3 airs this winter on CBC and CBC Gem.

photo credit: Run the Burbs
video credit: CBC Comedy

Bell Media wants CRTC to allow reducing local news

The concept of Canadian content as applied to television counts local news as part of that Canadian content. Now Bell Media, the largest of the private broadcasters, wants the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to make severe cuts in local news requirements for its CTV, CTV2, and Noovo stations.

The first application asks for the following:

• Requested the elimination of a requirement for English-language television stations in metropolitan markets to broadcast at least 14 hours of local programming per week. In Quebec, Bell also asked the regulator to do away with its obligations to broadcast at least 5 hours of local programming per week at its Montréal and Quebec City stations (2.5 hours in smaller markets).
• Allow for its stations in major markets to no longer have to broadcast at least 6 hours of weekly locally reflective news. For its non-metropolitan stations, Bell wants to be able to broadcast fewer than 3 hours of locally reflective news each week. In Quebec, the requirement for 5 hours of locally reflective news each week on its Noovo Montréal station.
• Waive the requirement for the company to devote 11% of the previous year's gross revenues to the acquisition of or investment in locally reflective news.

In a second application before the CRTC, Bell Media made these requests:

• Reduce its obligation for Canadian content spending on English-language television stations from 30% of the previous year's revenues to 20%.
• Reduce the amount its English-language television stations must spend per year on programs of national interest from 7.5% of the previous year's revenues to 5%.

Steve Faguy reported that the 30% to 20% change could save the company up to $60 million a year. Faguy also noted other applications to the CRTC include one from TVA to eliminate weekend newscasts in Quebec City and Rogers allowing the company to spend less on drama and more on Canada's Got Talent.

The applications by the media companies doesn't mean the CRTC will grant their acceptance. The CRTC would set lower standards if they granted relief, not just to Bell Media.

Bell Media asks #CRTC to eliminate all local news requirements for CTV, CTV2 and Noovo stations https://t.co/Q43NaWmNNp

— Steve Faguy (@fagstein) June 23, 2023

Let's look at CFTO, the CTV station in Toronto. The station runs a 1-hour local newscast at Noon weekdays, a 1-hour newscast at 6 pm, and a 35-minute newscast at 11:30 pm. The station simulcasts the news from CP24 from 5-6 pm. CFTO shows a lot more than 6 hours a week of "locally reflective news."

CIVT Vancouver runs a similar schedule where CIVT produces that hour of news from 5-6 pm.

Citytv is mostly programming produced at the Toronto station with few local programs for individual markets. Citytv in Ottawa, the nation's capital, runs the same regular programming as the Toronto station.

Global has fewer Canadian TV offerings than Bell Media and more than Rogers' Citytv.

Bell Media said they would run local news programming, less than required to do now and more than zero.

The American programming that allows Bell Media, Global, and Citytv to make so much money is supposed to fund what little Canadian programming, news and otherwise, the networks broadcast to Canadians.

"Paramount has taken a number of properties including new Star Trek series and popular older services like South Park from Crave and CTV Sci-Fi and moved them on to its own streamer, Paramount+," said Faguy in his reporting. Presumably, this cuts into Bell Media profits, which are still really high.

The latest round of Bell Media layoffs, including the loss of several radio stations, is not inspiring that the company would make smart decisions about reduced local news coverage. Their late local newscasts get the lead-in of the most watched nightly national telecast at 11 pm Eastern/Pacific.

How to save news media from our tech overlords (Canadaland)

Canadian journalism notebook: Canadian cities losing Monday newspaper editions

CanadianCrossing.com journalism coverage

Bill C-18 is designed to give relief to Canadian news outlets, especially large outlets such as Bell Media, with help from tech giants such as Google and Meta (Facebook). The hope is that the financial relief would be applied to providing useful and relevant Canadian content. This move by Bell Media implies they have no interest in spending that financial relief on improving local news.

Bell Media, Corus, and Rogers run over-the-air networks in Canada as well as cable channels. There are obligations, reasonable obligations with the responsibility of over-the-air networks. Local news is one of those services. Bell Media provided figures on how much they are losing on local news. The overall picture is a very robust company, making plenty of money, especially on insanely expensive smartphone services.

2023 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Bell Media, Corus, and Rogers should be carrying more Canadian dramas and comedies, fewer ripoff shows (Canada's Got Talent) to sort of balance the tons of American programming on CTV, Global, Citytv, and their cable outlets. The CRTC should have sharper teeth in making sure that happens.

Rogers has 2 Canadian TV dramas on Citytv and they want to spend less on dramas??

Canadian TV creators complain that there aren't a whole lot of options. These 3 companies need to open up space for more Canadian scripted content. If they won't do it on their own accord, the CRTC should step in with strong requirements.

Editor's note: As if Canadian newspapers aren't already monopolized, there is talk of a possible merger between Postmedia and the Toronto Star's parent company. The claim is that the Toronto Star would maintain "editorial independence." This is a potentially backwards move for Canadian journalism.

photo credit: Bell Media
Twitter capture: @fagstein

CW announces summer schedule filled with Canadian television

We knew the CW network would have a lot of Canadian television this summer. Now we know when those shows will debut.

Season 2 of Family Law starts July 7 at 8 pm on the CW followed by the U.S. premiere of Moonshine at 9 pm (all times Eastern).

The CW runs back-to-back episodes of Son of a Critch (8 pm) and Children Ruin Everything (9 pm) on July 24. Run the Burbs debuts the following Monday at 8:30 pm in between the other Canadian TV comedies.

Those comedies will run in those time slots on Tuesdays for the CW fall schedule.

The CW summer schedule also includes reality shows from north of the border. Season 4 of the Great Chocolate Showdown (8 pm) debuts August 5 followed by the U.S. premiere of Recipe for Disaster (9 pm).

Makes us miss Fridge Wars which the CW and CBC carried in 2020. Emma Hunter, who is in Moonshine, hosted Fridge Wars.

Moonshine has 16 episodes over 2 seasons, 8 for each season. We don't know when the CW will run Season 2.

As we have noted, the CW will have Sullivan's Crossing and The Spencer Sisters on Wednesday nights this fall.

The CW has acquired 4 new shows for this summer#Bump S2 (Australia)#FamilyLaw S2 (Canada)#Moonshine S1 (Canada)#RunTheBurbs S1 (Canada) pic.twitter.com/0AQDllmfeZ

— The CW news (@CWshows) May 10, 2023

Canadian TV notebook: A much longer wait for Season 3 of Transplant on NBC

2023 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

2023 CBC television upfront preview

2021 CBC television upfront preview

Your humble narrator has seen the opening episode for Moonshine, Son of a Critch, Children Ruin Everything, and Run the Burbs. All of them offer promise and interest to see where they go in terms of character development. 

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

You can find your local CW station in your area for our American readers. We are not sure how this works for those in Canada who can access a CW affiliate from the States, given the territorial rights in Canada.

photo credits: Moonshine/CBC; Run the Burbs/CBC
Twitter capture: @CWshows

2023 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 2023-2024 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. 

2023 CBC television upfront preview

2022 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

2021 Canadian TV upfronts highlights

Global/Corus

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.

Canadian TV notebook: A much longer wait for Season 3 of Transplant on NBC

Canadian TV notebook: Workin' Moms final season is on Netflix

Citytv/Rogers

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 & Winchester deserved 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.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

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