TORONTO – “This is a significant step forward, and it’s only the beginning,” says Richard Stursberg, executive vice-president of CBC Television on the launch of this fall’s slate of programming.
“Over the next three years, we hope to increase by 50% the hours devoted to Canadian dramatic series, while increasing comedy by 10%. Our goal is to double the amount of prime time Canadian dramatic programming on CBC, delivering the high-quality, popular shows that Canadians want to see.”
CBC Television today announced a renewed commitment to high-quality Canadian drama, produced in Canada and made for Canadians. In the first of a multi-year strategy, Canadian viewers can expect a full season of the kind of entertaining, popular programming they want to watch, says the press release today.
Headlining this upcoming season is a mixture of specials and miniseries, including stories about some of Canada’s larger-than-life figures: Waking Up Wally: The Walter Gretzky Story, a movie based on Walter Gretzky’s best-selling book that tells the story of his struggle to regain his life and memory after a brain aneurysm; Trudeau, Pierre Elliott, the prequel to the hit Trudeau miniseries; René Lévesque, an exploration of one of Canada’s most controversial figures; The Tommy Douglas Story, which highlights the life of The Greatest Canadian; and Shania: A Life in Eight Albums, a chronicle of the rags-to-riches story of one of the world’s most successful singing stars.
Also featured in the upcoming season are: Canada- Russia ’72, a dramatization of a hockey game that helped shape this country’s identity; Above and Beyond, a miniseries that recounts a daring plan to deliver aircraft from Gander, Nfld. to the beleaguered R.A.F., helping to turn the tide of the Second World War; Hotel Metropolitan, a dark, comic tale of a hotel that acts as a gathering spot for culture high and low, celebrities, artists, tourists and fugitives; Dragon Boys, a thrilling miniseries that takes us into the fascinating and perilous world of Asian organized crime; and Il Duce Canadese, a dramatic and compelling account of the internment of Italian-Canadians during the Second World War.
Also new to CBC-TV’s fall schedule are shows that push both boundaries and conventions: Da Vinci’s City Hall, a gritty dramatic series featuring Nicholas Campbell as Vancouver coroner-turned-politician Dominic Da Vinci, now Vancouver’s flamboyant, free-speaking mayor, and What It’s Like Being Alone, Brad Peyton’s stop-motion animated half-hour comedy series about an orphanage full of freakish children.
“We’re opening the floodgates on Canadian drama,” adds Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of network programming for CBC Television. “And we’re putting it on the air when Canadians are watching TV – in prime time. We’re going to create excitement and momentum around Canadian drama like you’ve never seen before, by creating more and better shows that deliver compelling entertainment and attract great audiences.”
“Television is the most powerful storytelling medium in our society,” adds Stursberg. “And Canadians respond when they are offered distinctive, entertaining programming that is designed for them, that is rooted in their sense of humour, their values, their lives and their history. CBC Television offers them more of the kind of programs that Canadians want to watch, and watch in large numbers.”
Complementing CBC-TV’s new slate of specials, miniseries and series is CBC’s popular comedy lineup, which is back in full force with a new comedy hour on Tuesday nights featuring new seasons of Rick Mercer Report and The Tournament. As well, a new comedy special called Comedy Gold kicks off Comedy Week on CBC, which features the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Just for Laughs.
“One of the cornerstones of CBC’s television schedule is news and information programming. On the heels of the largest study ever conducted about how Canadians want to get their news, CBC Television and CBC Newsworld are readying a revitalized lineup of news and current affairs programming for the fall—one that addresses Canadians’ information needs better than ever, and reinforces CBC’s leadership as Canadians’ most trusted source for news,” adds the release.
And as always, CBC Television is where Canadians come for the best coverage of professional and amateur sports from Canada and around the world. This season, CBC Sports features the powerhouse CFL on CBC, culminating with the 93rd Grey Cup from Vancouver; Torino 2006 – The Olympic Games, figure skating; and, of course, NHL Hockey, when it returns, on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada.
“According to surveys, nine out of 10 Canadians think CBC English Television is an essential service,” concludes Stursberg, “that CBC-TV offers programs of high quality which they can’t find on other networks. We take this very seriously, and will continue to distinguish ourselves as the broadcaster that speaks to, for, and about the Canadian people, from every part of the country.”
