Canadian Crossing

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

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

2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations: Television

The television landscape looks very different for the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards nominations for Canadian television. Lots of old favourites are gone, opening up new opportunities for rising Canadian TV shows.

The Porter got 19 nominations, best among Canadian TV shows. Sort Of received 15 nominations and Pretty Hard Cases had 11 nominations.

The CTV show Children Ruin Everything has a few major nominations on the comedy side as does Run the Burbs on CBC. Son of a Critch is surprisingly absent in these categories, especially Best Comedy Series. Strays is not on the list but Fakes somehow is.

Meredith MacNeill (Pretty Hard Cases) and Dani Kind (Workin' Moms) are 2 of the few repeat nominees for the same show. Andrew Phung received an acting nomination for his new show. Somehow Hudson & Rex has 2 of the lead role nominees on the drama side.

The gender-neutral acting awards mean that Bilal Baig got a very justifiable nomination for Best Lead Performer, Comedy. While the film roles are split in half by primary gender, only 4 of the 16 comedy acting nominations are for identifiable males. as a contrast, 10 of the 16 supporting acting nominations went to identifiable males.

One of those identifiable males is the late Christopher Plummer, up for Departure.

Jonathan Torrens wins our versatile Canadian actor award for guest performance nominations in comedy (Letterkenny) and drama (Moonshine).

Usually, foreign actors tend to have more of a force on the film side. Malcolm McDowell (Son of a Critch) and Alfre Woodward (The Porter) are up for Canadian Screen Awards. Absolute acting legends, even if they are not from Canada.

Comedy

Best Comedy Series
Astrid & Lilly Save the World (CTV Sci-Fi Channel)
Children Ruin Everything (CTV)
Fakes (CBC Gem)
Letterkenny (Crave)
Sort Of (CBC)

Best Lead Performer, Comedy
Meaghan Rath Children Ruin Everything
Meredith MacNeill Pretty Hard Cases
Adrienne C. Moore Pretty Hard Cases
Rakhee Morzaria Run The Burbs
Andrew Phung Run The Burbs
Bilal Baig Sort Of
Dani Kind Workin' Moms
Catherine Reitman Workin' Moms

Best Supporting Performer, Comedy
Ennis Esmer Children Ruin Everything
Tricia Black Pretty Hard Cases
Al Mukadam Pretty Hard Cases
Karen Robinson Pretty Hard Cases
Malcolm McDowell Son Of A Critch
Amanda Cordner Sort Of
Sarah McVie Workin' Moms
Enuka Okuma Workin' Moms

Best Guest Performance, Comedy
Anna Hopkins Letterkenny
Jonathan Torrens Letterkenny
Kardinal Offishall Run The Burbs
Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll Son Of A Critch
Amanda Brugel Sort Of

Amanda Brugel, who is a Canadian acting gem, is a repeat nominee for this last category switching from Pretty Hard Cases to Sort Of. Brugel, as 7ven's mother, was amazing in that role. Another fun nod in this category to Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll for Son Of A Critch. You might remember him as a frequent customer on Kim's Convenience. Making the audience love you and sometimes cringe is a difficult task for an actor and he pulled that off well.

Drama

Best Drama Series
Departure (Global)
Moonshine (CBC)
The Porter (CBC)
SkyMed (CBC)
Transplant (CTV)

Best Lead Performer, Drama Series
Mayko Nguyen Hudson & Rex
John Reardon Hudson & Rex
Jennifer Finnigan Moonshine
Aml Ameen The Porter
Ronnie Rowe Jr. The Porter
Mouna Traoré The Porter
Hamza Haq Transplant
Laurence Leboeuf Transplant

Best Supporting Performer, Drama
Thom Allison Coroner
Andy McQueen Coroner
Wendy Crewson Departure
Karen LeBlanc Departure
Christopher Plummer Departure
Dwain Murphy Diggstown
Kevin Hanchard Hudson & Rex
Daniel Maslany Murdoch Mysteries

Best Guest Performance, Drama Series
Jo Vannicola Diggstown
Natalie Brown Hudson & Rex
Allan Hawco Moonshine
Jonathan Torrens Moonshine
Alfre Woodard The Porter

Between Coroner, The Porter, and Departure, there will be a lot of upheaval for the 2024 version. Wendy Crewson was up for guest performance last year for Frankie Drake Mysteries and is up for a supporting role in Departure.

Hamza Haq and Laurence Leboeuf from Transplant won the lead drama awards last year but only one of them, or someone else, can win this year.

Interesting to see a summer show such as SkyMed make the cut for best drama series.

Somehow not a single Podemski sister was up for an acting award.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

CBC will carry the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards on April 16 at the Meridian Hall in Toronto. The telecast concludes a week of awards presentations.

Overview Canadian television Canadian film

photo credits: The Porter; Run the Burbs

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

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

Canadian TV notebook: Trickster one and done, Nurses ends next week in U.S.

No spoilers here for the Trickster series finale that aired on the CW last night. There are few moments in the history of television where the creators set up a season finale knowing there will be a next season, and then there wasn't. The finale would have been more gratifying if there was a Season 2.

As a season of 6 episodes, the show combined a harsh but accurate realism with the supernatural element of Indigenous stories. Trickster kept my interest all the way through with good stories, interesting characters (good and bad). The coarse language was authentic; the CBC presented it without censorship while the CW bleeped a lot of dialogue.

The U.S. audience got a peek into the problems with residential schools, but likely had to do an Internet search for "residential schools." To our non-Canadian readers doing research, feel free to ignore anything former Canadian Senator Lynn Beyak has to say on the topic.

The furor on social media has been to find another home for future seasons for Trickster. APTN and Crave are possibilities to take up the series though the rights would be tangled up with Season 1 on CBC.

We don't talk often about books on CanadianCrossing.com. Eden Robinson has written the Trickster trilogy. Trickster the series is based on her novel Son of a Trickster (2017). Trickster Drift (2018) might have been the source material for Season 2. The Return of the Trickster is slated for release in March. Robinson wrote Monkey Beach (2000), of which we recently reviewed the film version.

Watching adaptations of books is a lot of fun but those books can be enjoyed on their own.

Canadian film review: Monkey Beach

Canadian TV notebook: Trickster and Nurses on the U.S. side

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

Transplant makes U.S. debut on NBC

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

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

Nurses ends its U.S. run for Season 1 on Tuesday. Nurses has some bright moments: the collective care for a chronic long-term patient was so beautiful. This show also gives problems to the nurses that disappear and reappear on a whim: Wolf's issue with affording a specific drug (in Canada) and Naz's needing to learn the basics. Grace's sexual assault by a doctor that got her fired (not him) from her previous job is an important story but handled poorly at times.

The Global show will have a Season 2 in Canada and likely could also run again on NBC.

Fox acquired the rights to the 12 episodes that make up 2 seasons of Diggstown. The CBC show is coming back for Season 3. Diggstown ran the last 2 winters but did not run this winter.

Vinessa Antoine is the lead about a high-powered corporate lawyer who leaves that world to join a legal aid clinic in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Love the shots of the Halifax area from the show. Natasha Henstridge, C. David Johnson, Stacey Farber, Brandon Oakes, Shailene Garnett, Tim Rozon, and Dwain Murphy are in the cast. In the era of inclusion, great to see a character who is Indigenous (Oakes) but not have that be a big deal.

We don't have a timetable for when Fox will run the show. Summer isn't ideal but that might be the path for the show.

IFC is finally airing the 5 bonus episodes of Baroness von Sketch Show a week from today at midnight Eastern on February 24.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

We don't have word on whether Pretty Hard Cases has a U.S. outlet. NBC Universal is a major producer on the project so one of their networks should eventually air the show. U.S. viewers are in for a rather unusual ride in the police drama genre.

Episodes don't end with cases wrapped up tight. There are comedic elements within the drama. There is a discussion about whether ketchup should be on French fries or off to the side.

Your humble narrator has seen the first 2 episodes. Meredith MacNeill and American actor Adrienne C. Moore form an unusual pair but fun to watch. The surrounding cast works well. Katie Douglas is part of a multi-episode arc reminding us of what we loved and hated about her character on Mary Kills People.

CBC thought enough about the series to give the second episode an extra airing last Sunday night and has used the Hockey Night in Canada games for a lot of promos. The program airs on Wednesday nights at 9 pm on CBC and is available on CBC Gem.

photo credit: Trickster/CBC

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

Coroner and Transplant have had some good success on U.S. broadcast television. Nurses is the next Canadian drama to work its way south.

The Global drama will debut on NBC on Monday nights at 10 pm ET for December 7 and December 14 before moving into what has been the Transplant timeslot, Tuesdays at 10 pm ET, starting January 5.

The show debuted in Canada last winter with 10 episodes. Nurses is set is a busy downtown Toronto hospital, similar to Transplant, not the same hospital. Tiera Skovbye, Natasha Calis, Jordan Johnson-Hinds, Sandy Sidhu, and Donald Maclean Jr. are the primary cast members.

Nurses has a legacy to Rookie Blue with many of the same creative team. Adam Pettle (Burden of Truth, Saving Hope) is the series creator and executive producer.

Nurses has now been sold to more than 100 territories. Besides the United States, recent deals include countries such as Germany, Australia, France, Belgium, Iceland, Turkey, and the Netherlands.

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

CTV went with a simsub with Transplant this fall during the NBC telecasts. Global certainly will consider that option for Nurses.

We don't talk as much about Global. The Canadian network is most famous to U.S. audiences for shows such as Mary Kills People and Private Eyes. Ironically, those shows found homes in the United States but not to completion. Still waiting to find out if Ion Television will go beyond Season 2 of Private Eyes.

While CBC is in a number of U.S. markets mostly through cable, CTV has a few U.S. markets but Global doesn't have any footprint in the United States outside the antenna in Buffalo. 

Transplant looks to wrap up in December on NBC. Transplant averaged 5.6 million total viewers for its NBC premiere. Coroner should wrap up its 2 seasons and 16 episodes on the CW in early December.

Transplant has been a pleasant surprise with intriguing characters and stories. You wish for more of Bash's home life with his sister and the challenges they face.

Coroner is a show where the actors and characters feel comfortable. The show knows its own skin so well. Episodes can be really strong or what the hell.

Would love to see the U.S. networks pick up more seasons even when the pandemic lessens. Not every Canadian show will be good fits for U.S. broadcast television; Trickster will be a good test in January on the CW.

We've seen a few Canadian dramas coming through in recent years, such as Flashpoint (CTV/CBS), The Listener (CTV/NBC), Rookie Blue (Global/ABC), Saving Hope (CTV/NBC), and The LA Complex on (CTV/CW). The new dramas have more of an independent feel, more Canadian, less tied to pressures from American producers.

This doesn't factor in Canadian dramas such as the CBC drama Burden of Truth that is a part of the CW lineup.

U.S. viewers of Transplant and Nurses get a better sense of Canadian health care, showing them a better way.

Transplant, Coroner, Trickster, and Nurses weren't created with the United States in mind. That approach makes them better dramas in our eyes.

Notice that Citytv isn't listed. The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco has some exposure; a UK-Canada co-production doesn't fit the bill too well in the States. Hudson & Rex would be a good fit; Republic of Doyle isn't the only TV drama set in Newfoundland and Labrador. Though Murdoch Mysteries is on cable, Citytv was the original Canadian home for the show.

CanadianCrossing.com Canadian TV coverage

CanadianCrossing.com television coverage

Canadian/American joint ventures aren't a new thing. CBS late night dramas from the late 1980s and early 1990s included Night Heat and Sweating Bullets aka Tropical Heat Of course, we can't forget about Due South.

U.S. broadcast television has the most eyeballs but isn't the creative pinnacle south of the 49th parallel. Still, a few pure Canadian dramas on U.S. broadcast television is a positive move for both countries.

Canadian viewers can watch Nurses on GlobalTV.com and the Global TV app.

photo and video credit: Nurses/Global