There’s good news and bad news for Salter Street Films’ This Hour Has 22 Minutes. The good news is that 22 Minutes will go ahead for the 2003/04 season thanks to a ‘creative financing’ effort by broadcaster CBC and Alliance Atlantis Communications (Salter’s parent outfit). The bad news is costar Colin Mochrie won’t be returning with it.

The 22 Minutes anchor desk was in jeopardy of becoming nothing more than another exhibit in the CBC museum when the CTF announced its $25-million in budget cuts. 22 Minutes was not getting any of the significantly lessened LFP money.

According to Slawko Klymkiw, executive director of network programming for CBC, the creative financing to save the show was put together through additional spending by CBC and AAC, and thanks to an additional $12.5 million secured by Telefilm Canada in June.

‘Because of the $12.5 million that Telefilm got, it has put more money into a whole bunch of projects that we had significantly contributed to,’ says Klymkiw (unwilling to comment on just how significant a contribution was fronted). ‘When that was replaced, it freed up more money – if you look at the total money CBC had – that we could put against [22 Minutes].’

Klymkiw says some sacrifices had to be made to free up cash (the most notable perhaps is the turfing of the 22 Minutes New Year’s special), but it’s all for the greater good of the series’ continuation. He anticipates this kind of juggling act will not have to be performed next year.

‘We’re hoping this is an anomaly,’ says Klymkiw. ‘We hope that when the rules are changed again next year that we’ll be ready, whatever the rules are, to make sure 22 Minutes legitimately gets its fair shake of any CTF dollars.’

With the announcement, 22 Minutes heads into its 11th season on CBC and is likely to begin shooting near the end of the summer for a season premiere in October.

As for Mochrie, CBC spokesperson Ruth-Ellen Soles confirms published reports that he is no longer with the series, but adds the comedian will not be off CBC for long. Mochrie and the pubcaster are currently in talks for his CBC return in a new project.

Salter would not comment on Mochrie’s potential successor, but Klymkiw says the replacement will be announced ‘very soon.’

-www.cbc.ca

-www.allianceatlantis.com