A media release from CBC:
CBC Television today announced its fall 2007 television schedule, featuring new home-grown drama, a riveting historical epic, a strengthened sports offer, great new reality shows, as well as the return of the best shows from last year.
Among the many new shows that Canadian viewers can look forward to: the much-anticipated, sweeping and sexy historical miniseries The Tudors, which documents the life of a young Henry VIII and stars Jonathan Rhys-Myers and Henry Czerny; veteran TV personality Phil Keoghan of The Amazing Race gives Canadians the chance to ditch the excuses, face their fears and seize a life-changing experience in No Opportunity Wasted (NOW); Heartland, a gripping family drama set in the Alberta Rockies; Mordecai Richler’s St. Urbain’s Horseman, the first television miniseries of a Richler book, starring David Julian Hirsh, Elliott Gould and Andrea Martin; Triple Sensation, a nation-wide search for Canada’s next stars – the most promising young performers from 16 to 26 who can act, sing and dance; and a groundbreaking documentary series on the geology of Canada from The Nature of Things – Geologic Journey.
Following last season’s smash success, international sensation Little Mosque on the Prairie returns for a second season and 20 episodes, with the residents of Mercy in a whole new set of hilarious situations. Chris Haddock’s critically acclaimed and gripping drama series Intelligence also returns with stars Ian Tracey and Klea Scott. After a successful 2006 fall-season debut, Dragons’ Den returns with 10 new one-hour episodes, giving aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of wealthy business people – the Dragons. A feisty new Dragon, Arlene Dickinson, President and CEO of Calgary-based Venture Communications, joins the panel this season. The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos also returns for a new season of guest interviews, musical performances and news served straight up.
“We’ve built a schedule that delivers something for everyone,” said Kirstine Layfield, executive director of network programming, CBC Television. “From Little Mosque on the Prairie to Test the Nation, from our all-new reality show No Opportunity Wasted to long-standing favourites like Rick Mercer Report, we’re really excited about what’s coming this Fall.”
I’m glad CBC decided to give Intelligence a second chance. It is a well-written drama and hopefully can gain a better following than last year.
The show I’m really excited about is Heartland. It’s been a while since CBC produced a rural Canadian drama series. Some of Canada’s biggest television success stories have come from shows with a rural Canadian setting–Little Mosque, North of 60, Road to Avonlea, The Beachcombers, The Littlest Hobo, The Campbells, Corner Gas, Wind At My Back and the list goes on…even urban Canadians are drawn to such shows because really and truly, rural Canada contains what most Canadians romanticize about regarding our country–beautiful landscapes, history, old-style culture and tradition, smalltown life etc. Rural Canada has an identity to it that is easily distinguishable to that of American identity which gives television shows set in rural Canada a distinct flavour which interests Canadians–both urban and rural–to watch.
Also, it’s nice seeing a series set in a prairie province for once.