Vancouver: CTV is swapping The Associates for The 11th Hour, the CBC has one new series planned, Global is skewing its focus again to reality TV and, overall, Canadian dramatic series has seen better days.

That’s the quick take on next year’s fall schedule as broadcasters in Canada finalize their commitment memos for producers lined up at the LFP and EIP troughs.

Poor ratings, and perhaps more importantly poor international sales, mean that the lawyer series The Associates will not be back for a third season on CTV. Instead, CTV is pinning hopes on 11th Hour, which is coproduced by Alliance Atlantis and cocreators Semi Chellas and Ilana Frank in Toronto.

Inspired by the way the feature The Insider handled the ‘story-behind-the-story’ at 60 Minutes, Chellas began a year ago to develop 13 one hours about a major television news magazine. As the series is her first foray into episodic television, Chellas began writing the scripts early and involved director David Wellington early in the process to get his input on the series’ development.

CTV is also bringing back Degrassi: The Next Generation with an expanded second season of 22 half-hours, up from 13 last year. The virtual Degrassi High School website, which went hand-in-hand with the first season, will continue this season and provide an outlet for the 40,000 registered fans to interact with the show.

And Cold Squad will return for 13 hours in its sixth and likely last season, says Bill Mustos, CTV’s senior VP of dramatic programming.

‘It’s getting tougher and tougher to get [Canadian series] made,’ he says. ‘The international environment is grim.’

Markets once strong for Canadian drama have dried up because they have been filled with more indigenous production or high-budget U.S. dramas and reality shows. International distribution advances have also dwindled, creating a business environment that is forcing major producers like AAC to cut their commitment to production next year.

‘We are having a hard time maintaining budget levels that we had for series two years ago,’ Mustos says, a situation made more challenging still with rising costs of writers, actors, extras and other hard costs. ‘It is possible to mount a show without an international sale in place, but you have to embark on production with the hope and understanding that the show will appeal to international markets. There is still an appetite for Cold Squad internationally, which means we didn’t have to cut back on the per-episode budgets [of about $1 million].’

At the same time, CTV is increasing its investment in MOWs, hoping that nine get through the funding maze at the Canadian Television Fund and Telefilm. Some of the titles greenlit include: Heroes, Champions and Villains (Galafilm), about Louise Arbour’s role as head of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and her pursuit of Slobodan Milosevic; The Mary Pickford Story (Muse Entertaiment) and The Odd Squad (Haddock Entertainment), about cops working Vancouver’s notorious Downtown Eastside

Last year, CTV financed seven MOWs.

At the CBC, a new cross-cultural drama series is being produced as part of a proposed slate that triggers 150% of the value of production last year, says Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of network programming. More titles mean a greater ability to meet the CBC’s goals of more Canadian content, he says.

The new half-hour comedy-drama series Escaping will be done in two languages and with two casts by Cirrus Productions of Montreal.

Children’s programming is also on the increase as the CBC works to fill its 1,000 hours dedicated to kids each year, says Klymkiw. The Blobheads and Poko are two new titles.

Other new-season production at CBC features four miniseries and eight MOWs along with the tried and true.

Vancouver-based coroners series DaVinci’s Inquest will go ahead with a fifth season of 13 hours. Calgary-made Tom Stone gets a second season of 13 hours. Made in Canada will return for a fifth season of 17 half-hours. Teen soap Edgemont gets a fourth season of 18 half-hours. This Hour Has 22 Minutes will get a tenth season of 22 half-hours plus a New Year’s Eve special. Likewise, Air Farce rolls out a tenth season of 22 half-hours plus a year-end special.

Veteran non-fiction programs The Nature of Things, Witness and Life & Times will offer independent producers opportunity to feed the public broadcaster.

‘Sixty percent of the pickups come from outside of Toronto,’ says Klymkiw.

Global is betting even more heavily this year on reality television, says Loren Mawhinney, VP of Canadian production, and may see results as early as this month.

Popstars: Boy Meets Girl (Lone Eagle) is 13 half-hours and No Boundaries, a 13-hour reality adventure show (Lions Gate Television), debut in March and their success could pave the way for more reality shows.

The docusoap Cirque du Soleil, about the lives of members of the famed Canadian circus, will be 13 hours. Global is also buying 30 regional documentaries, including six from B.C., six from Alberta, four from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, six from Ontario, and four from the Maritimes.

In more traditional drama, meanwhile, Global will bring back cop series Blue Murder for a third season of 13 hours. Syndicated series Andromeda is back for a third season of 22 hours and Mutant X is back for a second season of 22 hours. Global is doing no MOWs and Black Fly is cancelled.

‘We’re more into reality-based drama,’ says Mawhinney. ‘How do you find a Canadian series that strikes a similar cord with audiences[as Survivor]? Popstars came close.’

At Showcase, original productions such as Trailer Park Boys and David Paperny’s Kink get second seasons. Showcase is the second-window broadcaster for The Dice, erotica series Bliss and CBC series Foreign Objects.

-www.ctv.ca

-www.cbc.ca

-www.globaltv.com

– www.showcase.ca