CTV orders new one-hour shows

From a media release:

CTV Orders Two, New One-Hour Original Pilots SAVING HOPE and STAY WITH ME

MuchMusic and CTV Order New One-Hour Drama Series HIGHLAND GARDENS

• From Suzette Couture and Pierre Sarrazin, legal drama STAY WITH ME follows an at-home mother turned lawyer
• From Ilana Frank, SAVING HOPE, a medical drama about the emotional minefield of a big city hospital
• From Epitome Pictures, drama HIGHLAND GARDENS follows aspiring Canadian hopefuls trying to make it in Hollywood

CTV announced today that it has ordered two, new one-hour original drama pilots for the network. Additionally, MuchMusic and CTV also announced today that they have ordered a new one-hour original drama series.

From the acclaimed Gemini award-winning producer Ilana Frank (THE ELEVENTH HOUR, Of Murder and Memory, ROOKIE BLUE) comes the pilot SAVING HOPE, a sexy, fast-paced drama set in a Toronto hospital that follows the lives of its doctors and staff and the complicated and courageous decisions that are made in the struggle to save lives. The second pilot, from the celebrated Gemini award-winning producing team Suzette Couture and Pierre Sarrazin from Sarrazin Couture Entertainment (The Man Who Lost Himself) is a new legal procedural. STAY WITH ME follows an at-home mother turned lawyer, who uses her wit and maternal intuition to find justice for her clients while navigating the shark infested waters of the law and trying to raise two daughters. The pilots begin production in Spring, 2011.

For MuchMusic and CTV and from the internationally acclaimed and Gemini Award-winning Epitome Pictures producing team of Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn (DEGRASSI) comes the six-episode one-hour drama HIGHLAND GARDENS (working title). Executive Produced and written by Martin Gero (Bored to Death, Young People F*cking), HIGHLAND GARDENS follows the ins and outs of an apartment-style motel in LA which draws aspiring Canadian hopefuls looking for a place to rest their heads while they chase their Hollywood dreams. Production is scheduled to begin in Summer 2011.

Today’s news follows CTV’s June announcement that it had picked up its entire slate of original Canadian scripted series for additional seasons, including FLASHPOINT, THE LISTENER, THE BRIDGE, HICCUPS, and DAN FOR MAYOR, among others.

SAVING HOPE centers on young, idealistic neonatal doctor Alyse Joy and her rival and one-time lover, flashy cancer surgeon Joel Gottlieb, as they take on the fundamental questions that define medicine today. Who gets to live, who gets to die, and why? The story goes into uncharted territory when the charismatic, inspiring and golden-tongued Chief of Surgery, Harris Coles, becomes a patient. Comatose, locked-in and unable to communicate that he’s aware of everything around him, Coles is the voice and the eyes that guide viewers through the world of SAVING HOPE. The drama, which is inspired by Ian Brown’s The Globe and Mail “Mount Hope” series based on stories from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, is written and created by Morwyn Brebner (ROOKIE BLUE) and Malcolm MacRury (DEADWOOD, CRASH & BURN) and executive produced by Ilana Frank of Thump Inc. (THE ELEVENTH HOUR, Of Murder and Memory, ROOKIE BLUE) and Lesley Harrison in association with CTV.

In STAY WITH ME, when unexpectedly ejected from her mommy cocoon by her husband’s infidelities, thirty-something Rowan Wilson picks herself up, dusts off her law degree and gets hired as a junior lawyer at the Toronto firm of Whitman, Goldman and Fiske. Rowan, the classic underdog, is sabotaged by the much younger other juniors, ignored by the senior partners and undermined by her formidable nemesis and former mistress to her husband, the lethally sexy, borderline-sociopathic lawyer, Ann. Will the sharks in the tank tear Rowan into bite-sized morsels? Or will they discover that when it comes to the law, Rowan’s perception and intuition can be a weapon more powerful than anything in their own arsenal? STAY WITH ME is written by Suzette Couture (The Last Templar, Haven) and executive produced by Pierre Sarrazin and Suzette Couture from Sarrazin Couture Entertainment (The Terrorist Next Door, The Man Who Lost Himself) in association with CTV.

Small fish. Big pond. Huge dreams. The sexy new drama HIGHLAND GARDENS focuses on six young Canadians as they try their luck in LA, pursuing celluloid and stardom, along with a few thousand other uber-motivated hopefuls. Moving into an apartment-style motel for displaced dreamers, each dubbed “most likely to succeed”, they all face the challenges and opportunities of a lifetime. Can they achieve their heart’s desire without selling their souls? The six-episode first season of HIGHLAND GARDENS will be showrun and executive produced by Martin Gero (Young People F*cking, BORED TO DEATH) and executive produced by Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stohn from Epitome Pictures (DEGRASSI) in association with MuchMusic. The series is funded by the CHUM Benefits Trendsetters and Risktakers fund.