New drama to move into “Intelligence” prime-time slot
Canadian Press reports that the CBC will put British drama Hustle in the prime-time slot formerly occupied by Intelligence, which received high praise from critics but has not yet been renewed for a second season.
“Hustle” has drawn an even more daunting assignment. It is up against the hottest U.S. import on Global’s prime time schedule: “House.” “Intelligence,” the Vancouver-based crime drama starring Ian Tracey (“Da Vinci’s Inquest”), which concluded its rookie run last week, got hammered by “House” all season. It routinely sank toward the 200,000 viewer mark, about a tenth the “House” audience.
Hustle was tested last summer on CBC and currently runs in the U.S. on the specialty-movie channel AMC.
Update: This post corrects an error suggesting that Hustle is an American program. Canadian Post still has not made the correction in their article.
|
Email This Post |
| Hustle, Intelligence |
Isn’t Hustle a BBC series? It’s made by the people who made Spooks (a.k.a. MI-5.) What’s with the focus on the U.S.?
(I enjoyed Hustle when it was on during the summer. And MI-5. And Intelligence. And Da Vinci’s Inquest, which, by the way, it being re-released on DVD in a few weeks. I’d pick any of those over House.)
What I don’t understand about programming,is why are new shows that are good scheduled against good show with established audiences. It seems like a death sentence most of the time unless the new show is marketed to death and is really that good.
Obviously, I am not a programming exec. I just regret that I did not PVR intelligence. Well, maybe DVD.
Although Hustle does, indeed, play in the U.S., I believe its provenance is not actually that of a “U.S. cable drama” but rather a BBC production picked up by AMC in the U.S. and CBC in Canada.
References:
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/hustle/
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379632/companycredits
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustle_%28TV_series%29
It should be noted that Hustle is not a US series. It is made by the BBC in the UK.
very cool
thx
On television, hustle usually beats intelligence.
_I, for one, automatically dismissed it as a pale British exported clone of another U.S., but already network(!) cancelled, thief show, Heist. This was entirely owing to the sole CBC promo clip of a British/continental english sounding actress.
_That’s pretty weak – that the modern CBC is tepidly airing ordinary US program(s) “in prime time”. At least in past decades, it had the honesty and skill to add top level shows like Dallas into its mix.
Ever since DaVinci’s Inquest debuted, I’ ve made a point of catching every production of the Chris Haddock team. I can’t believe that Intelligence may be cancelled…or maybe I can’t believe that it didn’t attract a large enough audience. Hustle is entertaining in a flashy, fluffy kind of way, but I wouldn’t rush home to see it. One thought on Intelligence; it is a complex story and might challenge potential viewers who hadn’t been with it from the start. I want more, please!
I used to watch Intelligence and Hustle on Friday nights. (It’s true I have no life. And admittedly I pretty much only get one channel–CBC–out here in the hinterland).
Still I hafta say Hustle is fluffy & formulaic. I’d pick Intelligence any day.
Classic: Actually, Hustle came before Heist.
_Yes, I can always be wrong. Yet Wikipedia and a couple of other sources say CBC premiered seasons 1&2 together (12 eps altogether) during the summer of ’06. Heist aired Here in the spring.
_Hustle, being a UK show was shown There in the spring of ’04, ’05, and ’06, six episodes each.
Intelligence is definetly one of the more solid shows that are on television today. wether is be american or canadian, intelligence is def there. The problem is that most people i know have never heard of it. The p.r. is terrible and the advertising channels are not doing it justice. A show like this could be picked up by a u.s. cable station, promote is properly and have a winning show. It is weeds meets the wire with a sopranos family aspect……..my only fear is that cbc’s inabilty to promote it to the level it deserves to be will ultimatly lead to its death. I hope that cbc does a second season.. This show is tops. 10 out of 10 people that i have showed teh show to recently have fallen in love with it. I didn not even know the show existed until last week….ridiculous….thang god for pvr….and one of my friends or i woud lhave never gotten to experience the show. CBC do something right, you have a winner, promote it during prime time american shows, invest, it will only lead to you guys doing well with it.
Intelligence is arguably among the best Canadian drama series ever produced. The fact that CBC programmers have yet to renew the series and have let its timeslot go to a Brit series (brilliant job, folks) does not surprise. As usual, the big thinkers at the Mothercorp leave me wondering whether to laugh or cry.
Come on, kids. Haddock has handed you gold, now do your part to make it pay off for viewers and your organization.