King of Kensington is reportedly ready for a comeback, of sorts, following the end of a long-running rights squabble that has kept episodes of the seminal Canuck sitcom off the air.

The Toronto Star reported Wednesday that CBC programming boss Kirstine Layfield has struck a deal that will put 56 of the series 65 ‘lost’ episodes back on air, leaving just nine on the shelf because of complications with music rights.

‘King of Kensington represents a moment of greatness in our history that would be nice to share with the next generation,’ says Layfield. The Ceeb has also signed a deal with Toronto’s Sun TV to air King reruns until the end of 2008.

The sitcom ran on CBC from 1975 to 1980 and starred Cancon icon Al Waxman as the owner of a variety store in the Kensington Market neighborhood of Toronto. The first three seasons have been unavailable for broadcast because of trouble with royalty fees. Fiona Reid, who starred as Waxman’s wife during those seasons, has pushed for a settlement and recently took her case to Layfield.