CTV lineup relies heavily on proven winners

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This article was published 04/06/2010 (5959 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it — that seems to be the philosophy employed by CTV in preparing its 2010-11 prime-time schedule.

The Canadian network unveiled a new-season lineup that arrives this fall with only five new series in the mix, along with a few additions that are already successes on U.S. networks and the usual broad assortment of simulcast-ready returning American imports.

The relatively stable schedule is not surprising, given that CTV owned the rights to seven of the nation’s 10 most-watched shows during the just-completed 2009-10 TV season, including Grey’s Anatomy, Criminal Minds, American Idol (both the performance and results shows ranked in the Top 10), The Amazing Race, CSI: New York and The Mentalist.

Global owned the other three spots — Survivor (Canada’s favourite prime-time show), House and NCIS.

CTV’s fall schedule, which was announced Thursday in Toronto, has the new ABC drama No Ordinary Family in its Tuesday lineup; the series stars Michael Chiklis (The Shield) as the head of a family that develops paranormal abilities after surviving a plane crash in the Amazon jungle.

On Wednesdays, CTV will air two new shows — The Defenders, a lighthearted CBS legal drama starring Jerry O’Connell and James Belushi, and Law & Order: Los Angeles, a California-based spinoff of the enduring NBC cops/courts franchise.

On Thursdays, CTV will introduce $#*! My Days Says, a CBS sitcom starring William Shatner, and on Fridays, CTV will add Blue Bloods, a new CBS drama starring Tom Selleck as the head of a multi-generational family of New York City cops.

Two of the new titles, The Defenders and $#*! My Dad Says, will not premiere until after So You Think You Can Dance Canada finishes its summer/fall run.

Without a doubt, one of CTV’s most-hyped fall premieres will take place outside of prime time — the network has acquired the Canadian rights to The Conan O’Brien Show, the former Tonight Show host’s new late-night program that will air in the U.S. on the Atlanta-based cable superstation TBS.

Among the returning U.S.-network shows being added by CTV this fall are Undercover Boss, Castle, The Big Bang Theory and Human Target. CTV’s list of returning titles also includes CSI: Miami, Dancing With the Stars, Law & Order: SVU and C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation.

Homegrown titles returning to CTV later in the 2010-11 season include Flashpoint, The Bridge, The Listener, Hiccups and Dan For Mayor. One new Canadian co-production, the historical drama The Borgias, will also premiere later in the season.

CTV also announced Thursday that it has acquired the rights to The X Factor, the Simon-Cowell-produced talent competition slated to premiere on Fox in the fall of 2011.

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Rogers/Citytv also announced its plans for 2010-11 this week in Toronto, unveiling a schedule that includes four new imported titles.

Citytv’s Monday lineup has The Event, an NBC thriller starring Jason Ritter as a man whose search for his missing fiancée uncovers a major government scandal, and Chase, a Jerry-Bruckheimer-produced NBC drama that follows members of the U.S. Marshals service.

On Wednesdays, Citytv will air Undercovers, a sexy drama from J.J. Abrams (Alias, Fringe) that follows a pair of married CIA agents, and The Whole Truth, another Bruckheimer offering, this time focused on lawyers and courtrooms.

Citytv’s list of returning titles includes How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Parenthood, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Community, 30 Rock, Fringe, Hell’s Kitchen, Murdoch Mysteries, Glenn Martin DDS and Law & Order: UK.

brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca