TORONTO – Buyers by the dozens gathered at the Carlu in Toronto this morning for CanWest MediaWorks official unveiling of its new 2005-2006 programming slate for the Global Television Network and CH.
"We are very excited about our exceptional slate of new programming this year," said Kathleen Dore, president, radio and television, CanWest MediaWorks. "With a diverse mix of new comedies and highly touted dramas, combined with a strong roster of returning hits and new Canadian programs, Global and CH are well positioned to be the destination in television entertainment this fall."
The roster of new one-hour dramas includes the highly anticipated Prison Break, the new Jerry Bruckheimer series E-Ring starring Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper, and the fantasy thrillers Fathom and Threshold. Also in the mix: Head Cases with Chris O’Donnell, the ensemble dramas Reunion and Sex, Lies and Secrets, and the crime dramas The Gate, Bones and The Closer starring Kyra Sedgwick.
Among the new half-hour comedy series are My Name is Earl starring Jason Lee, The War at Home starring Michael Rapaport, Out of Practice with Henry Winkler and Stockard Channing, How I Met Your Mother with Neil Patrick Harris and Kitchen Confidential.
The fall lineup also includes the new Mark Burnett series The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, which retains the format of the original series but is tailored to Stewart’s personality and brand identity.
Midseason shows include the comedies Emily’s Reasons Why Not starring Heather Graham, Seth Green as one of the Four Kings, and Old Christine with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Midseason dramas include The Loop and The Unit.
Joining the schedule this summer is the new police drama The Inside and the unscripted series The Cut, I Want to Be a Hilton, Princes of Malibu and Rock Star: INXS.
CanWest also emphasized its continued commitment to original programming.
New Canadian productions for the fall include the lifestyle programs House & Home with design expert Lynda Reeves and Debbie’s House with makeover maven Debbie Travis. New Canadian dramas include Falcon Beach and the sci-fi series ReGenesis. CanWest also announced plans for a new daily half-hour entertainment show that goes behind the velvet rope for insider coverage of all things to do with business of show.
NEW CANADIAN SHOWS
Falcon Beach
Filmed in the cottage community of Winnipeg Beach, the 13-part, one-hour series centres on a group of young people summering in the fictional lakeside resort town of Falcon Beach. It’s about summer. It’s about freedom.
It’s about young adults trying to define themselves for the life ahead. But it’s also about two worlds colliding – that of the summer cottagers and that of the townies who live and work in Falcon Beach year round. The cast includes Steve Byers, Jennifer Kydd, Ephraim Ellis, Melissa Elias, Devon Weigel and Eric Johnson. A co-production of Toronto-based Insight Productions and Manitoba-based Original Pictures,
House & Home with Lynda Reeves
House & Home TV is Canada’s longest-running and most respected design and decorating show, and host Lynda Reeves is well known for her advice to viewers on all aspects of design. Many of the show’s segments bring stories to life directly from Canadian House & Home magazine, giving readers a chance to meet the designers, homeowners and retailers featured in the monthly publication. Canadian House & Home magazine is one of Canada’s Top 10 consumer magazines and continues to grow at an impressive rate as it approaches its 20th year of publication.
ReGenesis
The 13-part one-hour, science investigation drama series focuses on a team of researchers as they seek the truth to the ethical, legal and moral consequences of scientific progress as they investigate questionable advances in biotechnology. The series stars Peter Outerbridge, Maxim Roy, Conrad Pla, Ellen Page, Greg Bryk, Dmitry Chepovetsky, Sarah Strange, Mayko Nguyen, Mishu Vellani and Mark Rendall. Produced by Shaftesbury Films for Astral Media’s The Movie Network and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central.
Debbie’s House
Debbie Travis, Canada’s leading design star is coming to Global next spring. In this new 10-episode, one-hour prime-time series, viewers will see Travis like never before. The indomitable Travis is on a mission…not only will she renovate houses, this time she’ll renovate lives.
Global’s New Entertainment Show (Title TBA)
Get ready for entertainment TV with a twist. Global’s new half-hour daily entertainment show goes behind the velvet rope for insider coverage of all things to do with business of show. Close-up interviews with today’s biggest names, rumour control on the latest gossip, and unique insights into celebrity secrets. Find out what the stars are up to and how they’re living their lives. Canada’s new entertainment show begins this fall.
NEW U.S. SHOWS
SUMMER
The Cut – CH
Designer Tommy Hilfiger hosts this 13-episode series that puts 16 fashion hopefuls in a SoHo loft and tests their fashion, business, sales and marketing skills. A team of guest advisers, known as the Style Council, will help Hilfiger decide which contestant should be cut each week. From former Survivor co-executive producer Craig Piligian.
I Want to Be a Hilton – GLOBAL
Kathy Hilton, former actress and mother of über-celebrity Paris, stars in this one-hour reality series in which 14 young contestants vie for the opportunity to live the glamorous lifestyle of high society. The contestants, after splitting into two teams, will compete on weekly challenges ranging from art and culture to beauty and fashion. At the conclusion of each episode, Hilton will meet with the losing team and will eliminate one candidate. The finalist will win an extravagant prize package and the opportunity to live the high life for a year.
The Inside – GLOBAL
From the producers of 24, this new drama centres on the FBI’s Los Angeles-based Violent Crimes Unit (VCU) and a rookie agent, played by Rachel Nichols, who is recruited to join the team despite her lack of field experience. She is unaware that she has been selected because as a child she was abducted and held captive, and the traumatic experience has afforded her unique insight into the mindset of both villain and victim The one-hour drama co-stars Peter Coyote, Jay Harrington and Adam Baldwin.
Princes of Malibu – GLOBAL
Set against the world of the rich and famous, this unscripted series goes inside the life of musician/composer/producer David Foster. While the career of the 14-time Grammy Award winner continues to soar, his two adult stepsons, Brandon and Brody Jenner, have moved back home into Foster’s luxurious 22-acre compound. Young, attractive and charming, the boys are enjoying the high life running up tabs at expensive restaurants, playing around all day, partying all night, and bringing hundreds of friends and strangers home with them. But Foster is putting his foot down. If Brandon and Brody want to keep living under his roof, they are going to accept some responsibilities and start paying their own way. If they don’t shape up, Foster is ready to take some drastic measures.
Rock Star: INXS – CH
Combining the world of rock music with unscripted drama, this performance competition from producer Mark Burnett will see a group of music contestants housed in a Hollywood mansion as they compete to be the lead singer of INXS, record a new album and embark on a world tour. Rocker Dave Navarro will be teamed up with Brooke Burke to oversee the contestants. The series will be broadcast three times weekly: Mondays (competitors’ relationships and activities); Tuesdays (performance competition) and Wednesdays (weekly results).
MIDSEASON
Emily’s Reasons Why Not
The half-hour comedy, based on the best-selling novel, stars Heather Graham as a 30-year-old publicist who tries to follow a set of self-imposed guidelines referred to as the "Reasons" to navigate her way through life. The series co-stars Nadia Dajani, Khary Payton and Smith Cho.
Four Kings
Four long-time friends share a New York apartment while trying to juggle the responsibilities of adulthood. The half-hour comedy stars Todd Grinnell, Seth Green, Kiele Sanchez and Josh Cooke.
The Loop
Set in Chicago, the drama focuses on a young executive at the corporate headquarters of a major airline who tries to find that perfect balance between working hard and playing hard. The series stars Bret Harrison, Eric Christian Olsen, Becki Newton, Philip Baker Hall and Mimi Rogers.
Old Christine
Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as a 35-year-old divorcee who has to contend with patronizing parents at her son’s school and the antics of her newly dating ex-husband. The cast includes Clark Gregg, Hamish Linklater, Trevor Gagnon and Emily Rutherford.
The Unit
This drama, from producers David Mamet and Shawn Ryan (The Shield), follows a team of special forces operatives who travel the world on undercover missions essential to national security while their families at home try to cope with their jobs and their secrets. The series stars Dennis Haysbert (24), Scott Foley, Robert Patrick, Regina Taylor, Max Martini, Michael Irby, Demore Barnes, Abby Brammell and Amy Acker.
FALL SEASON
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart – GLOBAL
The new series from Mark Burnett will retain the general format of the original series, but will be tailored to Martha Stewart’s personality and brand identity. The tasks will be centered on media, home renovation, entertaining, design, merchandising, technology and style. Stewart will bring her own sensibilities and creativity to the elimination process which will feature two of her most trusted colleagues who help her make the decision each week.
Bones – GLOBAL
Emily Deschanel stars as a forensic anthropologist who is called upon to assist with murder investigations because of her uncanny ability to read clues left in the victim’s bones. The one-hour drama co-stars Michaela Conlin, TJ Thyne, Jonathan Adams and David Boreanaz. The series is based on the experiences of forensic anthropologist and novelist Kathy Reichs.
The Closer – CH
Kyra Sedgwick stars as a CIA-trained police detective with a tendency to rub her colleagues the wrong way who transfers from Atlanta to Los Angeles to head up a special unit that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases. Created by the producers of Nip/Tuck, the series co-stars J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, Jon Tenney, Robert Gossett, G.W. Bailey and Tony Denison.
E-Ring – GLOBAL
From award-winning executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer comes this drama that takes viewers inside the Pentagon. From intelligence gathering to war room debate to special ops in the battlefield, the drama looks at the life-and-death decisions that can relate to a single soldier or to the fate of the entire world. The series stars Dennis Hopper, Benjamin Bratt, Aunjanue Ellis, Leonor Varela, Joe Morton, Robert Joy and Gabriel Olds.
Fathom – CH
A new form of sea life begins popping up all over the world, from the South Antarctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico. While the aquatic creatures look innocent, something more unusual may be afoot, which leads a group of scientists and fishermen to begin an investigation to find out what really lies beneath the sea. This unpredictable, action-packed one-hour drama stars Lake Bell, Jay R. Ferguson, Rade Serbedzija and Carter Jenkins.
The Gate – GLOBAL
Created by Josh Berman (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), this one-hour drama centres on a San Francisco detective and his rookie partner who investigate bizarre crimes as part of the city’s Deviant Crime Unit. Meanwhile, he’s fighting his own demons and she has a hidden agenda. The series stars Johnny Messner, Marguerite Moreau and Chi McBride.
Head Cases – CH
Chris O’Donnell stars as a promising young attorney who has a nervous breakdown. Along with his outpatient buddy, played by Adam Goldberg, a lawyer with anger management issues, the two form a partnership to help fight for underdogs and to keep each other on track. The one-hour unusual character drama co-stars Krista Allen, Jake Cherry and Rockmond Dunbar.
How I Met Your Mother – CH
This ensemble comedy is told from the point of view of a man looking back on his single life from 20 years in the future, as told to his two teenaged children. The half-hour comedy stars Josh Radnor, Jason Segel, Alyson Hannigan and Neil Patrick Harris. The flashback segments are narrated by Bob Saget.
Kitchen Confidential – GLOBAL
Based on renowned chef Anthony Bourdain’s best-selling autobiography, this half-hour comedy from executive producers Darren Star (Sex and the City) and David Hemingson (Just Shoot Me) stars Bradley Cooper as a once-brilliant chef who after hitting rock bottom is given the chance to head up a top New York restaurant. In order to succeed, he must hastily assemble a crew of former colleagues. The series co-stars Owain Yeoman, Nicholas Brendon, John Cho, Jaime King and Bonnie Somerville.
My Name is Earl – CH
A bully and low-rent crook (Jason Lee) wins the lottery and decides to right the wrongs from his past with hilarious consequences. This single-camera, half-hour comedy co-stars Jamie Pressly, Ethan Suplee and Nadine Velazquez.
Out of Practice- CH
This half-hour comedy stars Christopher Gorham as a couples’ counsellor whose overachieving doctor-parents, played by Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler, don’t always respect his choices. The series is directed by Kelsey Grammer and written by Frasier writers Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd. Ty Burrell and Paula Marshall co-star.
Prison Break – GLOBAL
A structural engineer gets himself arrested and put in prison so he can help his brother who is on death row for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Once inside, the new inmate aligns himself with a disparate group of prisoners and hatches an elaborate plan to break his brother out of prison. The edge-of-your-seat one-hour drama stars Michael Scofield, Dominic Purcell, Peter Stormare and Robin Tunney.
Reunion – CH
The bond between six friends is told over a 20-year span that begins with their high school graduation in 1986. Played out year by year, each episode focuses on an important event and culminates in a season finale when the friends meet again at their 20th reunion, minus one who has died. Part drama, part mystery, this sentimental one-hour series stars Will Estes, Sean Faris, Alexa Davalos, Amanda Righetti, Dan Annable and Chyler Leigh.
Sex, Lies and Secrets – GLOBAL
This hour-long ensemble drama centres on a group of twentysomethings living in a hip Los Angeles neighbourhood. The series stars Denise Richards, Eric Balfour, Lauren German, Omar Miller, Tamara Taylor and James Stevenson.
Threshold – GLOBAL
When an extraterrestrial craft lands in the Atlantic Ocean, a team of experts is assembled to deal with all the possible outcomes. This spine-tingling one-hour drama stars Carla Gugino, Charles S. Dutton, Brian Van Holt, Robert Patrick Benedict and Brent Spiner
War at Home – GLOBAL
This half-hour comedy series goes into the heads of a family with three teenaged kids through the use of a confessional space where they each divulge what they can’t reveal to each other. The cast includes Michael Rapaport, Anita Barone, Lyle Sullivan, Kaylee Defer and Dean Collins.
www.canwest.com
