From Twitter (sigh) comes news that Murdoch Mysteries season 5, which was previously going to air on Citytv, will air on CBC this fall. More details are expected tomorrow. CBC had picked up a sixth season after Citytv announced it would end production after season five.
It’s upfront season now, both in the United States and Canada. Attention turns to which Canadian dramas and comedies survive into 2012-13. There are already surprising cancellations, such as SPACE dropping Todd and the Book of Pure Evil after its second season, though TBPE‘s producers wish to keep the show alive. The Comedy Network’s Picnicface is also among the cancelled, and Picnicface troupe members won’t take this cancellation lying down.
Todd and the Book of Pure Evil creator/showrunner Craig David Wallace recently admitted that the show’s SPACE ratings weren’t high enough for the channel to approve a third season. Its runs on MuchMusic and The Comedy Network, a run on American horror cable channel FEARnet, plus its DVD releases on both sides of the border, suggest that it still has a healthy audience. When Todd and the Book of Pure Evil‘s first season was rerun on The Comedy Network last summer, TBPE was that network’s top Canadian show.
Picnicface, another Bell Media cull, earned soft ratings in first run…but that might be due to The Comedy Network’s practice of reairing the same episode multiple times a week, as CanCon filler. On YouTube, videos from Picnicface‘s first season regularly earn 20,000 or more views. A couple have more than 100,000 views. Stupidly, those videos are geoblocked for non-Canadians.
The Canada Media Fund alloted Picnic Pictures Inc. $624,000 for Picnicface‘s thirteen-episode first season. (PDF) Even if the CMF money is a fraction of Picnicface‘s budget, it’s still a low-budget show. By comparison, the Canada Media Fund alloted $5,415,000 to Todd and the Book of Pure Evil‘s second season. (PDF) TBPE is the bigger risk, and is harder to defend on a purely financial level.
On the flip side, I can’t think of any current shows in TBPE‘s genre, adult-oriented horror-comedy set in a high school. TBPE arguably takes Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s lead, yet TBPE is more rooted in horror conventions, metal, and being the anti-Degrassi. There’s almost nothing else like it in Canada. Bite’s The Cutting Room is a horror-comedy series, but comparing it to TBPE is like comparing apples and a lawnmower.
I think Bell Media underestimates the interest in Picnicface and Todd and the Book of Pure Evil. Canadian shows do fall through the cracks sometimes. One only needs to look at Combat Hospital‘s cancellation to figure that out – 1.5 million viewers in Canada, yet the show was done in by high costs, and a weak American showing on ABC. Luckily, some Canadian shows find life after death – Shaw Media/Showcase’s Endgame underperformed on that channel last year, and has since found a more receptive home on Hulu – enough that Hulu might commission its second season.
A sub-billion-dollar PBIT, on $3.7 billion in 2011 revenues, suggests that Canadian broadcasters are in decent shape. At the same time, killing shows like Todd and the Book of Pure Evil and Picnicface after one or two seasons does nothing for the Canadian television industry. It might not be obvious now, but these shows could be to the 2010s what Trailer Park Boys and Corner Gas are to the 2000s.
From a media release:
CANADA’S GOT TALENT WELCOMES CANADIAN POP-ROCKERS HEDLEY TO PERFORM IN THE EAGERLY-AWAITED LIVE RESULTS, MAY 14
As announced earlier on Citytv’s Canada’s Got Talent, multi-platinum selling, pop-rock group Hedley will take the stage by storm for the much-anticipated Live Results on Monday, May 14. Hedley joins previously announced America’s Got Talent runner up Jackie Evancho on the list of performers for the finale.
Signed to Universal Music Canada, since forming in 2004, Hedley – comprised of singer/songwriter Jake Hoggard, guitarist Dave Rosin, bassist Tommy Mac and drummer Chris Crippin – have achieved tremendous success in the Canadian pop music industry with a string of #1 hits (including “Invincible,” “Perfect,†“Never Too Late,†“For The Nights I Can’t Rememberâ€) and performing at countless sold-out shows across the country. The 15-time Juno nominated group recently took home the 2012 Juno Award for Pop Album of the Year for their new, Certified Platinum album Storms. A full-length, concept album, Storms is a cohesive work of melodic inspiration, drawn from the real lives of its creators and it is already striking a chord with fans both new and old. The record’s touching first single “Invincible†has proven to be the group’s fastest-selling digital track of all-time. Hedley is currently touring on their 2012 Shipwrecked Tour, bringing their raw talent and emotionally charged performances to audiences all across Canada.
In addition to tonight’s announcement about Hedley’s appearance in the finale, the Canada’s Got Talent semifinal performances came to an end, as the last six semifinalists took the stage earlier this evening on Citytv. The final group of semifinalists competing for the viewers’ votes were: Aygul Memet (Toronto), Broken Dance (Mississauga, ON), Francelle & Matt (Dieppe, NB), Jack Ettlinger (Toronto), Laheeb Quddusi (Devon, AB), and Marianne Demers (Sainte-Julie, QC).
Canada’s Got Talent, Citytv – “Semifinal Week Six – Performance Show”
In the final week of semifinals, six acts take the stage in hopes of securing enough votes to propel them into the final round. This week’s performers include: circus performer Aygul Memet; dance group Broken Dance; singing duo Francelle Maria & Mathieu Leger; singer Jack Ettlinger; impressionist Laheeb Quddusi; and singer Marianne Demers.
The Firm, Global – “Chapter 16”
Mitch and Ray make dangerous decisions in an effort to expose Kevin Stack and Noble Insurance. With Stack and Alex Clark working hard to evade justice, Abby finds herself at the center of the case.
