Here's what I picked up at the CTV fall press rumble:
*** Lloyd Robertson tells me he's just about finished writing his 300
page biography due out for Christmas release. We go way back to the
early 1970s and I asked him if he included the anecdote of the day
during the CBC press tour in 1977 when CBC news head Knowlton Nash
announced "I've just lost my Mr. Clean"--it was the day Robertson
defected to CTV.
*** Brian Williams says he'll rise above the criticism leveled at him in
Richard Stursberg's recent memoir of life at the CBC. Always the classy
guy, Williams is concentrating on getting the act together for his
coverage of the Summer Olympics in London which he says could be one of
the biggest ever ratings wise.
*** Executive producer and co-creator of the Degrassi franchise, Linda
Schuyler reports that sometime in the new season Degrassi will hit over
400 episodes. After all the perennial winner has been around for
decades. "What still irks me is my series Riverdale which could still be
going on CBC but we needed more money. It should have run daily in the
7:30 p.m. slot --where Coronation St. is now and it could have been just
as big a hit."
As far as CTV's fall goes it's business as usual. Now firmly grouped
under the Bell Media banner, there are actually two networks CTV and the
"B" franchise, CTV Two.
CTV program president Phil King can deservedly crow that "We just simply
did not have a lot of holes in our schedule that we had to fill."
In fact CTV has but one new American series The Mob Doctor. Also snapped
up are three new half hour comedies Anger Management with Charlie
Sheen, The New Normal with Ellen Barkin and the Neighbors with Jamie
Gertz.
CTV Two has three new U.S. dramas: Nahshville best described as a
country variant on Smash, Emily Owens. M.D. starring Mamie Gumer (Meryl
Streep's gifted daughter) and a new version of The Green Arrow retitled
Arrow featuring Torontonian Stephen Amell.
Of the 18 hours of ptime time CTV has 16 1/2 hours simulcast with the
American networks meaning CTV ciould be in some sort of identity crisis.
Canadian shows include the valuable franchise W5 with Robertson, the fifth and final season of Flashpoint.
CTV seems to have ditched an earlier promise to rebuild its Canadian
sitcom traditions after the cancellation of both hiccups and Dan For
Mayor.
However CTV will have a new Canadian made medical drama Saving Hope which debuts next week and looks promising.
CTV Two will show new episodes of the Toronto made The Listener Saturday nights this fall.
The decision to close down Flashpoint after five seasons and 75 episodes
was made by executive producer Bill Mustos who said the show will end
on a high note with a two hour finale. Flashpoint was one of the few
Canadian series (Due South) is another) to have broken onto American TV
network schedules --CBS ran it on Fridays for several years.
"Usually producers do not have the luxury of deciding when a series
ends," Mustos said --CTV had requested a sixth season. Co-star Hugh
Dillon said he hoped to work again with Enrico Colantoni who has become
his best bud.
Jordana Spiro of the new series The Mob Doctor said she's actually seen
mobster John Giotti walking around Manhattan on occasion--it's the sole
new U.S. series to get on the CTV main schedule.
Hayden Panettiere who stars as the bitchy newcomer in Nashville said
growing up in the business she had seen people like the one she's
playing and understands where that meanness can come from. Co-starring
is Connie Britton as a country legend battling the years and the
competition from Panettiere's character.
Also present at the launch were blonde and buxom Megan Hilty from Smash
which returns to CTV midseason and Shemar Moore from the ratings
evergreen Criminal Minds.
And to counter suggestions from rival networks that CTV is geared for
the over 55 crowd CTV's King showed a graph indicating it remains far
ahead as the network of choice for viewers 18 to 34.
A week ago, it was announced that SNSD would make an appearance on Japanese music program ‘Music Station’, to perform the Japanese version ...
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Here's what I picked up at the CTV fall press rumble: *** Lloyd Robertson tells me he's just about finished writing his 300...
