How much singing and dancing can audiences stand? Prepare to find out as CTV and CanWest roll out mid-season schedules light on scripts and heavy on reality, while CBC makes its move with Cancon dramas like jPod and The Border. All of which raises the question:

Who has the best mid-season shows?

I would say ABC’s lineup – Cashmere Mafia, Supernanny and Dance Machine – looks ripe for some guilty-pleasure viewing, although I have to say I’m also keen on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. I think Gene Simmons has a good shot. He is on a postage stamp, after all.
Naoko Kumagai
Director, The Contest

CTV has very, very little change to their schedule, so I would say they are going to end up winning in this deal. They’ve got Law & Order coming back with new episodes. They’ve got Medium, they’ve got Lost, and they’ve got a new show called Eli Stone, which is actually kind of interesting.

They’ve definitely got the top reality. They’ve got Idol, and they’re also going to have Dance War, with two of the judges from Dancing with the Stars, which is great for them, because people will definitely watch that.

CBC is going to play an important role. If they position [their new dramas] properly, then they’ll be laughing, because people will get sick of reality. Not everybody likes reality like me, obviously. The buzz is as much buzz as CBC ever gets…It’s up to them to advertise. Sophie looks very good.
Kim Dougherty
Associate director of broadcast, OMD Toronto

We need some new Canadian TV shows [that] will be playful, smart, and fun like HBO’s Flight of the Conchords, focusing on the crazy lives of our young heroes. CBC’s jPod and Sophie look like great candidates for this. Looking forward to checking out The Guard on Global, Sophie on CBC, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on CTV.
Chris Cuthbertson
Writer/producer/actor, A Bug and A Bag of Weed