Terrorism drama among list of new CBC TV shows; Venture and Opening Night cancelled
CBC Television is launching an aggressive schedule for 2007/2008, which will include four new regular series, now moving into production. It also spells the end to the arts show Opening Night and long-running business program Venture.
THE NEW SHOWS (show summary text provided by CBC communications)
- Drawn from today’s headlines, The Border is a fast-paced, hard-driving series set in Toronto in a paranoid post-Sept. 11 world concerned with security crises, terrorist infiltrations, cross-border police actions and trafficking in everything from enriched uranium to abducted children
- Heartland is a multi-generational family series set in the foothills of Alberta. The series follows the excitement, humour and drama of the Fleming family as members struggle to run a horse ranch — one that teeters on the edge of failure — that has been in the family for years
- Sophie follows the adventures and misadventures of a young, vibrant single mother who inherits a talent agency from her father and then loses her best client–followed soon after by her boyfriend
- No Opportunity Wasted will offer Canadians the chance to seize a life-changing opportunity. Based on the N.O.W. philosophy of Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan, NOW will encourage all of us to live each day as if we’ll never have another chance like it
ALL THE REGULAR FAVOURITES COMING BACK
Shows coming back to air include: Little Mosque on the Prairie, Test the Nation, Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister, The National (duh), Marketplace, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Rick Mercer Report, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, Dragons’ Den.
Curiously absent from the list of returning shows is Intelligence, but a CBC spokesperson tells me it’s not an omen — talks with the independent producer are still continuing.
CANCELLED SHOWS
Shows that are not coming back are:
- Venture (the stories about entrepreneurial success will move to Marketplace)
- Country Canada (the show, not the digital channel). It’s been on the air for 52 years in one form or another. Five people will be laid off in Winnipeg as a result of this.
- Moving On, covering disability issues — CBC says the production team “will remain intact” and will provide content to other shows. CBC official Jeff Keay explains: “We can cover these important issues more effectively by presenting that subject material through different programs, rather than one.”
- Jozi H
- Rumours will run as a strip (early evening) this summer, but it will not return to the fall schedule
- 72 Hours
- Opening Night. CBC’s Jeaf Keay: “We’re going to take a broad look at how we deliver arts and culture. We intend to remain the premier platform in Canada for this kind of arts programming.”
- Hatching Matching Dispatching (wasn’t in the schedule last year)
So. What do you think of the new shows, and of the shows that are leaving?
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Sorry to continue not hearing anything at all about This is Wonderland.
As for Jozi-H, I’d heard good things and wanted to get a look at it. Too late for that now…
[...] Terrorism drama among list of new CBC TV shows; Venture and Opening Night cancelled “Shows coming back to air include: Little Mosque on the Prairie, Test the Nation, Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister, The National (duh), Marketplace, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Rick Mercer Report, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, Dragons’ Den. Curiously absent from the list of returning shows is Intelligence, but a CBC spokesperson tells me it’s not an omen — talks with the independent producer are still continuing.” [...]
I think I was the person keeping Venture on the air.
I’m gonna miss it.
no really. I am.
They better not be pulling a fast one with Intelligence — too good not to be back!
I agree with Jimmy: the only news that matters to me is the renewal of Intelligence.
In the same dramatic vein, I’m intrigued by The Border.
And what of the third season of Doctor Who?
Country Canada is an excellent show & should not be cancelled. One of the main reasons I watch CBC is to find out information about people/places in the non-urban areas of the country. CBC should re-consider this decision.
I’m so excited about Heartland. I myself wrote a pilot set in Alberta on a struggling ranch, it’s the type of story I’ve waitied for so long for and I’m glad to see CBC has committed to such a show. Rural dramas have always done well in Canada–recall Road to Avonlea, North of 60, Beachcombers–so long as they’ll given at least a little bit of promotion.
I watched every episode of Jozi H and thought that it was an incredibly well-done drama. Unfortunately, CBC didn’t promote it well at all. I was the only person I knew who heard of the show. Sad to see it go.
I’m also a little bit disappointed to see Rumours go. Parts of it were good and it was probably one of the only sitcoms this past season I tuned into more than a few times. I watched Little Mosque too but I’m more a fan of TV dramas with ongoing storylines which is why I’m not so much of a sitcom person.
Intelligence was good two. I think the fact that it’s selling okay internationally bodes well for a renewal.
I’m so excited about Heartland. I myself wrote a pilot set in Alberta on a struggling ranch, it’s the type of story I’ve waitied for so long for and I’m glad to see CBC has committed to such a show. Rural dramas have always done well in Canada–recall Road to Avonlea, North of 60, Beachcombers–so long as they’ll given at least a little bit of promotion.
I watched every episode of Jozi H and thought that it was an incredibly well-done drama. Unfortunately, CBC didn’t promote it well at all. I was the only person I knew who heard of the show. Sad to see it go.
I’m also a little bit disappointed to see Rumours go. Parts of it were good and it was probably one of the only sitcoms this past season I tuned into more than a few times. I watched Little Mosque too but I’m more a fan of TV dramas with ongoing storylines which is why I’m not so much of a sitcom person.
Intelligence was good two. I think the fact that it’s selling okay internationally bodes well for a renewal.
I understand Doctor Who will return in the fall. The third series is currently airing in the UK. Shame it couldn’t be sooner.
Also a shame about Opening Night, which was the only major network show to the types of things it did.
The Border looks promising.
I really liked Jozi H’s mixture of South African, Canadian and American culture (and that the North Americans were on the outside looking in). Sadly it had a terrible time slot (Fridays at 9) and I missed the last few episodes.
Hmm, “Venture” being folded into “Marketplace.” What a great fit! “Venture’s” stories of the greatness of capitalism, married “Marketplace” stories of, um, the opposite.
The Cancellation of Moving On…yup…what CBC viewers will be doing moving past the CBC on the dail
Doctor Who Series 3 will be airing in June on the CBC. I dunno if that is true or not.
I went to http://www.dwin.org/blog/
Ratings are going to go through the floor for these shows.
They had better prop up radio then.
The New VP of Realities and so on have all their marbles in a few shows.
Have they not followed what happened to Birtian programming in BBC, their model for going down-market and being indistinguishable from private TV?
The CBC has released a statement to the Doctor Who Information Network about the summer airing of series 3 and the fall airing of the Torchwood spinoff series. See this: http://www.dwin.org/article.php?sid=206.
DWIN, as far as I understand, worked closely with the CBC during the airing of series 1, to the point that DWIN’s site was even linked on the CBC’s Doctor Who site.
Opening night will be sorely missed. I may not be much of an artsy myself, but it’s sad to see that some people think of the “arts” as movie celebrities and other non-performance subjects.
On the other hand, it’s good to see the Ceeb hasn’t shone itself away from drama. Now, if only they get it right this time and not cancel it after three seasons. What happened to long brothers like “Street Legal”?
not much new comedy… surprise surprise… what with rumors being a flop, and little mosque only being a success because it’s a corner gas clone (and i’m sure all the international media attention didn’t hurt), why would they bother to give the comedy dept. any more shows?
Does seem as though DWIN’s become the semi-official house PR firm for “Who-niverse” purposes, doesn’t it? Not that it doesn’t make sense: they’re based in Toronto, they’re dedicated to that franchise, and it saves the Corporation some work.
I wonder if any decision or deal’s been reached yet on The Sarah Jane Adventures?
Sorry to see Venture go, but I’m glad some of the stories for that show will still have a home. I was always in awe of entrepreneurs who had the spine to bring a TV crew with them along with all the stress of launching their business. I thought the Venture team always treated everyone involved with respect.
As for a terrorism drama, I won’t look at it even for 5 minutes. I could care less for a Canadian “24″ or anything else that tries to simplify and narrate for us such a heavily manipulated topic.
Too bad about Venture.
Don’t watch Market Place anymore as it has become too Wendy-fied for me; all sizzle, no substance like that Under-Dogs crap.