Despite the demise of series Harsh Realm and Millennium, Chris Carter will be back in Vancouver to do an X-Files spin-off called The Lone Gunmen, based on the popular conspiracy theorist characters created by Dean Haglund, Tom Braidwood and Bruce Harwood.

The one-hour for Fox is described as a light drama and reaffirms Carter’s commitment to the Vancouver production community.

For Canadian productions, Feb. 15 was the deadline for the first round of ctf applications so broadcasters have firmed up series orders.

Positive reviews by cbc brass and early sales success at natpe sparked a renewal of teen soap Edgemont Road even though it won’t air its first episode until the fall.

Writer/producer Ian Weir confirms a second order of 13 half-hours will go into production as early as October with a per-episode budget of about $230,000. The series chronicles the lives of 15- and 16-year-olds in a Vancouver suburb.

Vancouver distributor Forefront Releasing has a signed sale with rtl in the Netherlands (which previously aired the Forefront series Madison), and is trying to seal deals with broadcasters in Germany, Great Britain and Fox Family in the u.s.

Edgemont Road producer Omni Films, meanwhile, has another season of Champions of the Wild secured for Discovery Channel.

These Arms of Mine producer Phil Savath says cbc has asked for another seven episodes, with six eps in the can awaiting a fall airdate. The additional episodes in the series about life and love in Vancouver will go into production this summer.

As reported in the last issue, cbc’s Da Vinci’s Inquest is on track for a third season of 13 episodes and ctv’s Cold Squad is set to do an expanded 20-episode season four.

Phyllis Platt, executive director, arts and entertainment at cbc, confirms the 2000/01 season will feature ‘three big dramas’ in primetime – Da Vinci, These Arms and Wind At My Back – the same number as last season, despite recent news of budget shortfalls at the Corp.

But Platt says part of the reason the cbc can air the same number of series, with 13 eps as the standard order, is because the pubcaster took full advantage of its guaranteed access to 50% of the ctf, before that guarantee disappeared.

Although cbc has taken what Platt calls the ‘tough’ steps of canceling Nothing Too Good For a Cowboy and Riverdale, Platt had good news on a long list of pickups. This Hour Has 22 Minutes will be back – likely for 22 x 30 – as will 13 half-hours of Made In Canada, both from Salter Street. Drop The Beat (aac/Back Alley Films), now airing its first season, has an order for 13 more half-hours for fall. With Twitch City set to return to the public airwaves in March, Platt says no more are on order ‘for the time being.’ (cbc had a second season of Pit Pony in inventory, so that will air this coming fall.)

On the tween front, Platt is scheduling a single season (13 eps) of the MicroTainment series Daring and Grace, plus returning stalwarts Street Cents and Jonovision.

Scoop and Doozie, the Vancouver-made cbc series for kids, has been cleared for a third season, 13 15-minute episodes. Other returning kids series include Rolie Polie Olie and Little Bear from Nelvana, plus Sesame Park Snippets.

Magician’s House by Forefront Entertainment in Vancouver will be back as six half-hours for the bbc and two 90-minute mows for ctv, TMN-The Movie Network, Superchannel and Radio-Canada. ctv will also air D’Myna Leagues, a kids animated series by Vancouver-based Studio b about baseball-playing birds.

ctv, meanwhile, has canceled satire Double Exposure by Bob Robertson and Linda Cullen. Instead, like the cbc, ctv will air a series involving improvisational comedy.

cbc has signed on as broadcaster for the Irish/Canadian coprod mega-series Random Passage, which Platt says may run to eight one-hours, with John N. Smith set to direct. And there’s a go-ahead for a one-off, two-hour police drama called Chasing Cain to be produced by Bernie Zukerman (The Sleep Room, Conspiracy of Silence), airdate tba.

The Vancouver office of Dufferin Gate will again be the service producer on Hollywood satire series Beggars & Choosers for Showtime and Bravo! The first of 22 hours begins production with last season’s cast on March 27. First Wave and Stargate were renewed as part of their multi-season orders.

Question marks still hang over the Peace Arch Entertainment series So Weird, wic’s Higher Ground, Paxnet’s Hope Island, mgm/Trilogy’s The Outer Limits and Paramount’s Seven Days.

Of course, with pilot season just weeks away, there are a lot of potential new series being shopped around.

In Vancouver, the rumor mill is very busy with new shows.

For example, Gene Roddenberry’s series Andromeda is moving toward a production date in Vancouver. Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) is touted for the lead in the space travel series.

Trilogy (producer of Outer Limits and Trilogy) is considering for March a series pilot for a show called Breaking News. Also this spring, production could begin on a Warner series called Dead Last and an nbc pilot tentatively called Ed.

Columbia TriStar is proposing a series pilot called Going to California and Spelling/upn is preparing a new horror series with the project name Hospital. abc is shopping the series pilot called Wilder Days.

Syndicated series The Immortal is also in the works for the West Coast.