With their domestic production commitments finalized, Canadian broadcasters went to Los Angeles May 20-25 to fill the balance of their fall schedules with U.S. programs presented at the annual Los Angeles Screenings.

For the most part, they stuck with the tried and true, and at least one Canadian representative was under-whelmed by the U.S. offerings.

‘I didn’t think the shows were spectacular,’ says Ellen Baine, VP programming at CHUM Television. ‘The quality was okay, but not great. WB and UPN shows were better than those offered by the major four networks. They seem to be putting more money into scripts. It’s a sign of maturity for the younger networks. Like Fox. It’s much better now than it used to be.’

CHUM picked up new seasons of The Bachelor and Monk and family dramas 7th Heaven and Everwood. It also picked up two new family dramas. Summerland (Paramount, airing on WB) is a one-hour family drama starring Lori Loughlin, who plays a free-spirited fashion designer whose life changes when she inherits her late sister’s kids.

Meanwhile, Jack & Bobby (Warner Bros., airing on WB) is a one-hour drama about two teenage boys, one destined to become president of the United States. The series stars Christine Lahti, Matt Long, Logan Lerman and Canadian Jessica Pare.

CHUM also picked up The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Warner Bros., airing in syndication), seasons three and four of America’s Next Top Model (Alliance Atlantis/CBS, airing on UPN), and the edited-for-mainstream television weekday strip of Sex and the City (Paramount/Rysher, airing on TBS).

For CHUM-owned Space: The Imagination Station, Baine picked up two Vancouver-shot series: Battlestar Galactica (Universal, airing on SCI FI Channel), a remake of the 1978 space series, starring Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell and Canadian Tricia Helfer, and The 4400 (Paramount, airing on USA Network), a limited six-episode series about the mysterious return of 4,400 people. The 4400, which features Francis Ford Coppola as a member of its producing team, stars Peter Coyote.

At CTV, renewals include the new seasons of American Idol and The O.C. The network also added new versions of existing shows, including CSI: NY (Alliance Atlantis, airing on CBS) and Law & Order: Trial by Jury (NBC Universal, airing on NBC).

From Paramount TV International, CTV bought the mid-season replacement drama Medium (NBC), a one-hour starring Patricia Arquette as a housewife with psychic abilities; Medical Investigation (NBC), a one-hour drama about a physician who solves medical mysteries; and the mid-season sitcom Related by Family (Fox), about a blended family.

From Warner Bros. International, CTV bought Dr. Vegas (CBS), a one-hour about a casino shrink, and Veronica Mars (UPN), a one-hour drama about a teenage detective.

CTV also shopped at Buena Vista International and picked up Kevin Hill (UPN), a one-hour about a hotshot attorney raising his niece. Desperate Housewives (ABC) is a primetime soap that CTV reps compare to Twin Peaks. They expect it to be their breakout hit of the season.

At Warner Bros., CTV picked up new series Athens (Fox), a one-hour about the intertwined lives of people living in a New England college town, and Commando Nanny (WB), inspired by the life of Mark Burnett. From Burnett, himself, CTV ordered the reality series The Casino (Fox).

‘There was a good crop of shows but no real break-out hits,’ says Adam Ivers, VP programming for Global Television. That, of course, didn’t stop Global from securing the longest shopping list of the Canadian buyers.

Global re-upped shows like Survivor, Without a Trace, 24 and Will & Grace.

Ivers points to Friends spin-off Joey (Warner Bros, airing on NBC), mid-season replacement reality boxing series The Contender (Mark Burnett Productions, airing on NBC), reality show The Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best (Bunim-Murray Productions, airing on Fox), The Practice spin-off Fleet Street (Twentieth Century Fox, airing on ABC) and House (NBC Universal, airing on NBC) as the prizes among this year’s new crop.

Other reality shows include the other boxing reality show The Next Great Champ (Endemol, airing on Fox); The Good Life (Endemol, airing on NBC), starring Paris Hilton’s mother Kathy; Biggest Losers, a one-hour show about weight loss; and Partner (Rocket Science Labs, airing on Fox), about Ivy League graduates vying for a job in a major law firm.

Global invested heavily in U.S. drama, including Blind Justice (Paramount, airing on ABC), a mid-season replacement drama about a blind detective; Hawaii (MGM, airing on NBC), a one-hour crime drama; House (NBC Universal, airing on Fox), a medical drama that shot its pilot in Vancouver; The Inside (Twentieth Century Fox, airing on Fox), a mid-season one-hour drama about a young federal agent undercover as a teenager; Jonny Zero (Warner Bros., airing on Fox), a mid-season one-hour about a convict-turned-federal agent; LAX (MGM, airing on NBC), a one-hour about the international airport in L.A.; Vancouver-shot one-hour drama The Mountain (Warner Bros., airing on WB), about a family-run ski resort; and sci-fi drama Revelations (MGM, airing on NBC), a mid-season replacement series about the Apocalypse.

Global is also picking up new animation, including American Dad (Twentieth Century Fox, airing on Fox), a mid-season replacement cartoon series about an edgy CIA agent; and Father of the Pride (DreamWorks Television, airing on NBC), a high-budget animation about the animals living on the Las Vegas estate of Siegfried and Roy.

Global’s comedy inventory includes the second season pickup of Arrested Development (Fox). Other new comedy half-hours include sitcom Center of the Universe (Warner Bros., airing on CBS), about an eccentric family; Kelsey Grammer Presents: The Sketch Show (Twentieth Century Fox, airing on Fox), a half-hour sketch comedy series; sitcom Listen Up (airing on CBS), starring Jason Alexander as a sports show host; and the Mel Gibson-produced sitcom Savages (NBC Universal, airing on ABC), about a dad who tries to tame his rowdy sons.

-www.chumlimited.com

-www.ctv.ca

-www.canada.com/globaltv