CBC looks to the past for a future hit
Canada’s public broadcaster is mining the past for its fall TV season, much like American networks.
But apart from the already announced reboot of Street Legal, the new CBC season appears to be light on bankable content and marquee names — at least compared to the impressive slate launched last year, which included Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace starring Sarah Gadon, a legal drama starring Kristin Kreuk, and new shows from Allan Hawco ( Republic of Doyle) and Mike Clattenburg ( Trailer Park Boys).
The CBC announced its key fall shows to the public Thursday, with Street Legal at the top of the heap. The legal drama premiered on CBC in 1987 and ran for eight seasons, making it the longest one-hour scripted drama on Canadian television until it was beat by another CBC show, Heartland, in 2014.
“In a sea of choices when people can sit in front of their television and spend 20 minutes just flipping channels. I’m hoping that viewers will come to the CBC where you will find comedy, documentaries, drama, news, and they will all be Canadian,” said Heather Conway, CBC executive vicepresident of English services, in an interview.
That job has become increasingly difficult: Conway pointed out that the budget of a Netflix series such as The Crown, which has reported costs of $130 million U.S. ($168 million) would be equivalent to the entire CBC budget for programming, not includ- ing news.
“That’s astonishing when you think about it,” says Conway. “But that’s the reality in the marketplace today.”
Conway has been largely successful in getting the broadcaster to take more risks dramatically. But she will have to see what direction incoming CBC/Radio-Canada president Catherine Tait wants to go when she arrives on the job in July. Tait comes from a film and TV producing background.
“She stressed that it’s never been more important to have a strong public broadcaster,” said Conway, who had a dinner meeting with Tait recently. “She is definitely excited for the future.”
Will that future mean more reboots? American networks have been quick to make a buck off ancient intellectual property, including ABC’s Roseanne and CW’s Dynasty, but Canadians, and especially the public broadcaster, have been slow to catch on.
Back with Street Legal is Olivia Novak (Cynthia Dale), who we revisit 25 years later. Olivia is forced out of her swanky Bay Street firm after infighting and a clash of egos, according to new plot details emerging from the CBC’s “upfront” presentations.
Dale’s character will join a boutique firm of social-activist lawyers, the next generation of Street Legal barristers, where she is part of a class-action lawsuit against Big Pharma over the opioid crisis. Production is expected to begin this fall.
The CBC, the first of the mainstream broadcasters to announce its season preview, unveiled including new series, including: Cavendish The new original comedy is to premiere in winter 2019. Mark Little and Andrew Bush, founders of acclaimed sketchcomedy troupe Picnicface, merge small-town life with touches of the absurd and the supernatural in Prince Edward Island. Coroner The new drama, scheduled for winter 2019, is created by Morwyn Brebner ( Saving Hope) and inspired by the bestselling series of books by M.R. Hall. A newly appointed coroner — a former emergency-room doctor who suffers from clinical anxiety — investigates suspicious deaths, which are based on real-life cases. Diggstown Marcie Diggs is a star corporate lawyer who reconsiders her priorities after her beloved aunt commits suicide. Landing at a legal aid office in Dartmouth, N.S., Marcie is driven by one thing: “To never again allow innocent lives to be destroyed by the justice system.” Noteworthy is that this will be the first Canadian series by a mainstream network to feature a Black female lead character. The original drama premieres in winter 2019. Northern Rescue The drama premiering in late fall 2018 stars William Baldwin (brother of Saturday Night Live Donald Trump surrogate Alec Baldwin) and Kathleen Robertson (from the original Beverly Hills, 90210). After the death of his wife, John West (Baldwin) packs up his three children and moves to his small northern hometown to work at a search-and-rescue service. It’s co-produced by CBC, Netflix and Resident Evil honcho Don Carmody in Parry Sound, Ont. Unspeakable A CBC limited series looking at the tainted-blood scandal in the 1980s that became one of Canada’s biggest medical tragedies. Based on Bad Blood by Vic Parsons and The Gift of Death by Andre Picard.