montreal: Call it the year of the thriller or the police drama, but Quebec network television has taken a decidedly modern turn.

The new season features a fresh crop of primetime tales of law and order, serial murder, and the demimonde of the undercover and underworld. New shows in the genre, originated on film with significant public financing, include 10-07, police code for a cop has fallen, Jasmine, featuring Montreal’s first black tv cop, and the controversial gangster versus secret agent series, Omerta, la loi du silence.

And again this year, it is programs from indie producers which highlight skeds at Radio-Canada, Television Quatre Saisons, the TVA Television Network and Radio-Quebec.

Here’s a thumbnail sketch of some of the new and returning shows on Quebec tv for the fall ’95/96 season.

Television Quatre Saisons

There has been a major overhaul of the primetime program schedule at tqs under the leadership of programming vp Vincent Leduc. Leduc has bet heavily on new shows from indie producers, and says he’s more than happy with the co-operation from Telefilm Canada and the new Cable Production Fund.

Filmed miniseries action at tqs includes 10-07 from Telefiction, a four-hour story about the police investigation of homosexual murders, and two highly anticipated miniseries, Innocence and Parents malgre tout.

Innocence is produced by Productions sda and penned by the hit writing team of Rejean Tremblay and Fabienne Larouche. It is described as a personal odyssey and suspense tale about a 60-year-old woman whose life unravels following the death of her husband.

Parents malgre tout, the maiden production from Productions Videotheme, is a dramatization about families seeking to adopt internationally. The Neofilms miniseries Misericorde is slated for rebroadcast this season.

According to Leduc, a new late-hour weeknight tqs talk/variety show hosted by former rbo talent Guy A. Lepage, is set to become the network’s flagship program. Avanti Cine Video is producing.

Coscient has a number of programs slated for tqs this season, including La Guerre des Clans, the Quebec version of Family Feud; Flash ’95, a live on-the-street look at Montreal entertainment; Rock Bud, a 30-minute profile of Quebec’s top rock stars; and a one-hour Sunday night variety show hosted by Sonia Benezra.

PGC Communications will produce a weekly one-hour show live in-studio featuring marathon comedian Jean-Marc Parent.

Leduc is especially keen on Aux frontiers du reel, Fox’s critically acclaimed The X-Files.

tqs will broadcast at least 30 Montreal Canadiens hockey matches this season, mainly on Wednesdays.

TVA Television Network

At tva, new programming vp Andre Provencher says he’s counting on new productions such as Jasmine, the Bloom Films/Verseau International police series, the miniseries Alys, and talented entertainer Gregory Charles to maintain the network’s number one position in primetime.

tva’s primetime programming kicks off evenings with Piment Fort, Quebec’s top comedy quiz show, hosted by Normand Brathwaite and produced by Avanti. Even more popular is the in-house tva quiz La Poule aux oeufs d’Or. This show is based on a tv concept from Loto-Quebec. Also on tap are new episodes of Fort Boyard, a Tele-Metropole-produced action/adventure game show.

The early word on Alys, the Telefiction miniseries on the life and times of cabaret singer Alys Robi, appears to be positive.

The Conceptel teleroman La tu parle, penned by Andre Dubois, unfolds in a tv station setting and is slated for a third season.

Soif de vivre is a new teleroman from Productions jbm about the highs and lows of the thirtysomething crowd torn between two awful ends – the selfishness of the babyboomers and the whining of the Gen-Xers.

Qui Vive is a specialized look at medicine produced by Verseau. Based on an original idea from Jacques Despins, the show puts a new, and sometimes provocative, spin on health issues by asking questions like: What was Maurice Duplessis’ secret illness?, or, Why do strippers have back problems?

Also on tap this season are reruns of the 13-hour historical drama Montreal Ville Ouvert, written by Lise Payette and produced by Avanti. This teleroman chronicles corruption in Montreal in the late 1940s.

Written by Sylvie Payette and produced by Productions Point de Mire, the top-rated teleroman Chambres en Ville is set to return for a seventh season.

Also from Point de Mire, the second season of Les Machos, a teleroman penned by veteran author Lise Payette (Dames de Coeur).

tva will also broadcast Quebec’s most popular public affairs show, Le Match de la Vie, hosted by the personable Claude Charron, as well as a new weeknight variety show hosted by actor/musician Gregory Charles. Other tva public affairs shows include j