Canwest is looking to bolster its homegrown drama slate for its two conventional networks and Showcase Television with orders for four one-hour pilots, with a fifth pilot to follow within weeks.

Christine Shipton, SVP of drama and factual content at Canwest, says the quartet of pilots unveiled Oct. 16 has been in the development hopper for some time, and in large part dates back to the old regimes at Showcase and Global Television before the recent Canwest takeover of Alliance Atlantis.

Canwest commissioned a pilot for Shattered, a drama about a reclusive cop who uses his multiple personality disorder to solve crimes, from Entertainment One’s Blueprint Entertainment and Force Four Films.

Veteran showrunner Rick Drew (Lonesome Dove) penned the script for the pilot. Bobby Roth, a crack Canadian TV director in Los Angeles whose credits over 25 years include Prison Break, Criminal Minds and Without a Trace, will direct.

Shipton says Roth brings U.S. episodic experience to a creatively risky pilot. ‘It’s a complicated concept. The pilot will tell us if it works,’ she insists.

Also on tap from Canwest is Lost Girl, a pilot from veteran producer Jay Firestone’s newly created shingle Prodigy Pictures.

The series concept, based on a European comic book series and flowing from the pen of emerging writer Michelle Lovretta (Instant Star, Mutant X), finds a young heroine who contends with newly found supernatural powers.

‘Casting will be pivotal’ to the series’ success, Shipton maintains.

Also getting an order is Lawyers, Guns & Money, a drama from producer Whizbang Films and veteran writer Malcolm MacRury (Lives of the Saints, Deadwood). The pilot follows Jimmy Shea, a young claims adjuster who works in a world of insurance scams and criminal activity.

The pilot is set in post-industrial Hamilton, ON, but the series was originally developed at HBO stateside. When the U.S. pay channel released the project, Tara Ellis, VP of drama content at Showcase, leapt at the opportunity to develop it for Canwest.

Pedigree also figures in Clean, a drama about a rehab counselor in need of therapy for himself, from veteran playwright Adam Pettle. Producer Ilana Frank of House of Films has long groomed Pettle for scripted TV work. David Wellington, who worked with Frank on The Eleventh Hour and the miniseries Would Be Kings for CTV, is the director.

Shipton says Canwest is looking to shake up its development slate with dramas by either experienced TV writers or emerging writers with new voices who are paired up with experienced producers.

She adds that a decision on which pilots will go to series will be made in February. Shipton isn’t saying how many will move to the next stage.

Besides creative considerations, Canwest’s drama budget will also be a factor. That said, the network is flush with cash for indie production after it unveiled an Alliance Atlantis benefits package of $151 million to be spent over the next seven years.

The drama pilot order also comes as Canwest and Showcase appear top-heavy with half-hour comedies. These include Rent-A-Goalie, Kenny vs. Spenny and ‘da Kink in My Hair. Also upcoming is the Howie Mandel vehicle Howie Do It, a coproduction with NBC, and the animated primetime comedies Bob & Doug and Producing Parker.

CTV, by contrast, is more in the market for comedies, having just placed pilot orders for Hiccups and Dan for Mayor as it looks to repeat the success of Corner Gas, and after it found success on the drama development front with Flashpoint and also looks to do so with The Listener.

That said, Shipton says Canwest is still in the market for comedies.