Vancouver: Omni Film Productions is working on scripts for potential new seasons of Robson Arms and Alice, I Think for CTV, while developing a number of comedy and drama titles for CBC and CHUM.

The Vancouver prodco has delivered season two of its Robson Arms sitcom, coproduced with Halifax’s Creative Atlantic Communications, and is writing scripts for a potential third season, says exec producer Brian Hamilton, although he doesn’t expect word on a renewal until February.

‘Creatively, showrunners Susin Nielsen and Gary Harvey stayed the course,’ he says, though, ‘the comedic content of the show has been increased and we have a whole new exciting lineup of guest stars, including Leslie Nielsen.’

Daegan Fryklind (Cold Squad, Falcon Beach) joined the story department for season two, working with David Moses, who wrote and story edited season one.

Three scripts for a second season of Alice, I Think have also been written and delivered to CTV and The Comedy Network, says exec producer Gabriela Schonbach. Series creator Susin Nielsen wrote one, with others penned by Rob Sheridan (Corner Gas) and Fryklind.

Alice is coproduced with Slanted Wheel Entertainment in Toronto, and centers on a teen girl and her oddball hippy parents. It averaged an audience of just under 300,000 during its summer 2006 run, but despite the less-than-stellar numbers, Schonbach hopes they will get another shot.

‘The season two storylines are much stronger and have more action,’ she says. ‘We are tweaking the show, making it tighter and building on the characters that really shone in season one, while keeping the focus firmly on Alice.’

Meanwhile, Omni has a full slate of new titles in development, including Left Coast, a one-hour drama for CBC, starring Cameron Bancroft (Hockeyville) and Deborah Odell.

The fish-out-of-water project is a coproduction with creator and writer Michael McGowan (Saint Ralph), and follows a disgraced Toronto stockbroker and his three kids who reinvent themselves as cheese makers on a fictional hippy-infested island off Vancouver. CBC has ordered 10 scripts.

Omni has quite a few other irons in the fire with the pubcaster.

Shooting begins in March on the two-hour documentary West Coast Tsunami, about how science can provide warnings of earthquakes and tsunamis. Jerry Thompson is writer, director and coproducer of the $1.1-million project.

Omni is also developing Goode Manor for CBC, about the black sheep of a wealthy Vancouver dynasty who has to run a retirement home in order to inherit the family fortune. The sitcom is created by director/producer Jerry Ciccoritti (Lives of the Saints, Trudeau) and writer/director/actor Ben Ratner (Moving Malcolm).

A follow-up to the miniseries Dragon Boys, which recently aired on CBC, is also in the works as an MOW. Ian Weir is writing. Omni is also developing Debaters, a half-hour comedy competition based on a CBC Radio show in which comedians will debate news topics with moderator Shaun Majumder. Richard Side, creator and producer of the radio show, is partnering with Omni.

Omni is also developing a one-hour drama/comedy for CHUM called Dirty Work, created by Vancouver filmmakers Dwayne Beaver and James Dunnison, and recently shot a pilot for She’s Crafty, a hip do-it-yourself show hosted by Wendy Russell (who is also coproducing).