CanWest MediaWorks has unveiled the names, if not the time slots, for 15 new shows for its fall primetime lineups on Global and E! Overall, the broadcaster picked up four new series from Fox, four from CBS, three from NBC, two from ABC, and one each from The CW and the USA Network.

Of course, the announcement claims CanWest has got 15 of ‘the year’s most coveted new series.’ However, Starcom SVP/investment director Valerie McMorran says the CanWest picks are good, but by no means a complete list of the ‘most coveted’ offerings of the New York upfronts.

‘I don’t think, out of all the new shows, CanWest can say they got a lot of the ‘most coveted series.’ They got some.’ CanWest will officially unveil its 2007/08 primetime schedules in Toronto on June 6. CTV is hiding its cards until June 4.

CanWest picked up Bionic Woman, the high-tech remake from exec producer David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) and NBC, along with Journeyman, a romantic mystery about a San Francisco newspaper reporter who travels through time, and Life, a drama about a detective who goes back to work after getting out of prison. From the 18 shows revealed by ABC, CanWest only picked up two: Cashmere Mafia, the next four-woman drama to come from producer Darren Star (Sex and the City), and Women’s Murder Club, about four women — a detective, a district attorney, a medical examiner and a reporter — who solve murder cases.

More robust, at least in number, were the Fox and CBS shows to make CanWest’s list. From Fox, CanWest acquired: Back to You, starring Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) as news anchors at odds; the post-Hurricane Katrina police drama K-Ville, which could be slotted with Prison Break as a lead-in; Canterbury’s Law, about a rebellious female defense attorney played by Julianna Margulies; and New Amsterdam, about an immortal detective who stays young for centuries because of a spell that can only be broken when he finds his true love, which may lead in to House on Fox.

From CBS, CanWest grabbed: Cane, the Latin family saga starring Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue); Swingtown, the 1970s story of a Chicago family that discovers their neighbors share much more than recipes; Kid Nation, a reality-based series; and Viva Laughlin, the casino drama from exec producer Hugh Jackman.

CanWest also picked up The CW’s Life Is Wild, about a New York veterinarian who uproots his second wife and their children to move to a South African game reserve run by his father-in-law, and the USA Network’s In Plain Sight, with Mary McCormack living a secret life while working for the Witness Protection Branch, from exec producer Paul Stupin (Dawson’s Creek) and writer David Maples (Home Improvement, Huff).

McMorran’s take on the U.S. pickups’ hit potential? ‘I wouldn’t be bragging about getting Bionic Woman. Cane is probably their big catch to go up against Law & Order: SVU. Back to You? The cast has all the right elements and I think the stars will have good chemistry, but I wasn’t overly thrilled with the clip they showed. It seemed a little weak for that duo. Sam I Am with Christina Applegate showed a lot more promise.’

‘Cashmere Mafia didn’t wow us, although there’s maybe some promise there,’ says McMorran. ‘Lipstick Jungle seemed a lot closer to the Sex and the City concept. I was surprised CanWest didn’t get Big Shots, which would have been good to go up against ER.’

From Media in Canada