No objections here to a couple of flashy new imports in CBC’s fall offering of scripted shows, so long as the network doesn’t neglect its homegrowns.

Of the newbies, the most hucksterism at the Ceeb’s peppy fall launch was reserved for the 10-part series The Tudors, focusing on the exploits of a randy young Henry VIII. The project is an Irish/Canadian copro that has already aired on Showtime in the U.S. to solid but not spectacular reviews. It was rather embarrassing how the Ceeb underlined The Tudors’ sexual content at the upfront, just in case however many media buyers in the crowd didn’t get the message of ‘Sex sells, and this show has lots of sex!’

Some question what business this mostly foreign show has on our public broadcaster in the first place. To suggest this 16th century monarch is part of Canadian history would be lame. Cancon on the project, in addition to the Ceeb’s investment dollars, includes the involvement of prodco Peace Arch Entertainment; performers Henry Czerny and Kris Holden-Ried; a couple of episodes helmed by Alison Maclean; and post-production done in Toronto.

The network’s other U.K. drama import this fall is Torchwood, a well-received Dr. Who spinoff that has something to do with investigators using alien technology to solve crime. 

We shouldn’t get too caught up in the minutia of Cancon points here. If part of what the Ceeb does is bring Canadian viewers edgy, quality drama from overseas, then that is of benefit to Canadian viewers, and differentiates it from the simulcasting private networks, which may as well wrap themselves in Betsy Ross’ most famous sewing project.

Scripted TV, as we all know, is an expensive undertaking that often does not yield the audiences required to sustain it. The Ceeb understands this as well as anyone. Last fall, it stumbled out of the gate with the likes of Rumours, Jozi-H, Intelligence and the mini October 1970. These shows did not lack for quality, but nonetheless struggled to find audiences.

In some of these cases, the new regime at the Ceeb displayed little interest in effectively promoting shows greenlit by its predecessors, although there is never a definitive answer as to why a series doesn’t catch on. Of last fall’s new scripted series, only Intelligence gets another shot this fall. (The West Coast crime drama had next-to-no profile at the fall launch, as negotiations went long among the Ceeb, producers Haddock Entertainment, and Showcase, which is now also assuming some of the risk.)

Despite an inaugural season average of only 304,000, Intelligence remains on the sked because CBC has faith in Chris Haddock, with whom it enjoyed a number of strong years with Da Vinci’s Inquest. CBC exec director of network programming Kirstine Layfield says the network believes Haddock can retool the series for greater commercial appeal.

The Tudors, with its historical subject matter and royal canoodling aplenty, comes with that appeal built in, making it a safe bet for audiences here, in the U.K., the U.S., and beyond.

For those who like their Cancon more front-and-center, there is the drama Heartland, in which a family struggles to run a horse ranch in the Rockies. Here the Ceeb hopes to have a family hit on its hands even remotely akin to Road to Avonlea, which ran for seven smash seasons in the same Sunday 7 p.m. timeslot. 

Meanwhile, St. Urbain’s Horseman, an adaptation of the Mordecai Richler novel, fulfills the Canadian culture mandate. It might be surprising to find a miniseries on the caster’s slate, especially when Layfield and network head Richard Stursberg have been vocal about less of these ‘event’-type programs and more hit series like the returning Little Mosque on the Prairie, but this, along with Heartland, went into development back in the Slawko Klymkiw days.

We know the Ceeb will put a lot of push behind The Tudors – it has already begun to do so. But we’ll see what it does to attract eyeballs to the old-school Canadiana of Horseman. If the pubcaster can’t do better than it did with last fall’s offerings, then the show’s $7.5-million budget, backed by the CTF and Joe Taxpayer, will slip down the drain.

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I am very pleased to announce that Suzan Ayscough has joined the Playback team as special reports editor. Many of you will be familiar with Suzan from her stints as communications head at Alliance Communications, Cinar Corporation, and Telefilm Canada. She also worked for Variety and cowrote Hollywood North: Creating the Canadian Motion Picture Industry with Michael Spencer, and was a producer on the pilot of the aforementioned Heartland.

I am thrilled to have someone on board with such a depth of industry knowledge, and Suzan says she is glad to be back on the ‘other side’ of a press release. Our strong team has just gotten stronger.