Here’s a fast rundown of what’s in store from Canada’s major specialty tv channels for fall.
Bravo!
This season’s Great Performances lineup includes vintage episodes of Frank Sinatra’s ’50s tv series, as well as another program from that same era, Chrysler Canada Variety Shows, featuring performances by the likes of Edith Piaf and Liberace.
Appointment With Music, on Tuesday nights, will air Whole Notes, a new show that takes a look behind the scenes of the classical music world. Workshop, a new series on making theatre, will be a highlight of Wednesday night’s Appointment with Drama.
For Humphrey Bogart fans, there’s a series of the hard-boiled star’s finest films scheduled to run all through the fall.
CBC Newsworld
Newsworld plans a number of changes, among them the launch of a brand-new morning program. Other new additions include: Newsworld International, a daily look at global events; Newsworld Reports, with host Alison Smith, which goes in-depth on the day’s top stories; Absolutely Canadian, featuring documentaries from the cbc’s regional bureaus; and The Canadian Investor, a weekly exploration of the Bay Street world.
CTV Sports Net
ctv’s new regional sports network is set to hit the air in October. The service will offer coverage specially tailored to viewers in the country’s four separate regions: Pacific, West, Central and East.
The jewel in the network’s crown is, of course, its National Hockey League coverage. CTV Sports Net will carry 44 nhl games, including 14 playoff matchups. Sunday-night junior hockey broadcasts will also figure prominently in the schedule.
Other highlights of the Sports Net lineup include nba basketball, World Curling Tour coverage, pga golf and Alpine World Cup skiing.
Discovery Channel
New additions to Discovery’s lineup of adventure, science and technology and nature programming include:
Challenge of the Seas, a series about the wonderful world of marine life, hosted by Ted Danson.
Grand Illusions, which traces the history of magic from ancient Egypt to Siegfried & Roy.
Life Space, an examination of humanity’s future in space.
Vets in Practice, a bbc documentary series about the world of veterinarians, which reportedly had British viewers ‘hanging off the edge of their seats.’ (Read into that what you will.)
Watch out, too, for theme weeks such as Africa Week, Stunts Week, Genius Week and the inevitable Shark Week.
HGTV Canada
The home and garden channel has made some notable renovations to its schedule, adding programs such as:
Canadian Gardening, a series for the green-thumbed, hosted by Canadian Gardening magazine editor Liz Primeau.
Just Ask Jon Eakes, offering advice from Canada’s favorite professional handyman.
Before & After, which takes viewers through home remodeling projects, from start to finish.
The Good Life, which introduces viewers to ‘couples and families…who have set goals, taken risks and made sacrifices in order to live the life they want.’
History
Television
History plans several additions to its current mix of movies, documentaries and original programs for 1998-99 – among them The Sexual Century, the story of ‘how our most private act became a public phenomenon’; Profiles, which spotlights some of the century’s most notable historical figures (from Charlie Chaplin to Charles de Gaulle); and History Bites, a sketch comedy show starring Rick Green (The Frantics).
Special events will include the three-part documentary series The Devil: An Unauthorized Biography, and a broadcast of the epic mini-series Roots.
Life Network
New this fall: more shows about…well, um, life. Among the additions to the schedule:
Trendspotting, a ‘high-energy’ show that promises to keep viewers on top of what’s hot in design, fashion, lifestyle and travel.
The Tourist, in which Canadian comic Rick Bronson reveals the art of the affordable vacation.
Mrs. Greenthumbs, which offers gardening advice from ‘horticultural raconteur’ Cassandra Danz.
Inferno! Yes folks, fire is back, and it’s hotter than ever. This Canadian-made documentary series reveals everything there is to know about man’s flaming friend.
MuchMusic
Highlights of the music station’s fall schedule include Storytellers, a series profiling singer/songwriters such as Sarah McLachlan and Billy Joel, and The Ed Sullivan Pop and Rock Classics, which features historic performances from the beloved u.s. variety show.
Viewers can also expect 10 more of Much’s live Intimate & Interactive broadcasts, along with specials such as the annual MuchMusic Video Awards, Party in the Park for the Princes Trust, and the documentary Jimi Hendrix: The Band of Gypsys.
Outdoor Life Network
oln promises more in the way of ‘extreme sports, challenging expeditions, daring adventures, elusive fish and untamed nature,’ for those who believe that life should be lived outside and on the edge. (Which begs the question: If you’re living life outside and on the edge, when exactly are you home watching television?)
Schedule highlights for 1998-99 include Alpine Ski World Cup broadcasts, coverage of world-class snowboarding events, the channel’s daily ‘extreme sports’ block Rush Hour, and new episodes of the backpack travel show Lonely Planet.
Showcase Television
New series joining the Showcase lineup this season include the soapy teen series Party of Five, the British crime dramas Cracker and Prime Suspect, and the Canadian-made action shows Once a Thief and Counterstrike. Also on the way is an original series – tentatively titled Betaville – which promises to explore the clash between high technology and humanity in a utopian society of the not-too-distant future.
bbc productions figure prominently among Showcase’s planned miniseries and specials. Coming this season are new adaptations of work by crime writers Minette Walters and Lynda La Plante, as well as the gritty urban drama Looking After Jo Jo, starring Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty).
Space: The Imagination Station
A number of new series will join stalwarts such as The X-Files and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on the sci-fi channel this fall. Among them: First Wave, a Canadian-made series that sounds a whole lot like that ’60s chestnut The Invaders; Invasion America, a DreamWorks-produced animated show that sounds a whole lot like that ’60s chestnut The Invaders; the video game spin-off Mortal Kombat: Krusades, which doesn’t sound remotely like The Invaders; and Highlander: The Raven and The Crow, which sound a whole lot like each other.
Teletoon
The animation station has added three new Canadian-made shows to its fall schedule: Blake and Mortimer, an adventure series based on the ever-popular Belgian comic book; Nanook, about an Inuit boy’s quest for his missing father; and Animania, a collection of animated shorts from the National Film Board.
New adult shows include Ralph Bakshi’s cyberpunk anthology series Spicy City, and Spawn, based on the cult comic book.
For its family block, Teletoon has picked up an extensive selection of titles from Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network – among them Tazmania, Josie and the Pussycats, Ghost of Scooby Doo, and the offbeat Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
Treehouse TV
Bears! Bears would appear to be the big fall programming trend on this service for preschoolers. There’s Bear in the Big Blue House from Jim Henson Television, St. Bear’s Dolls Hospital, starring a large cast of adorable toys, and the animated Little Bear. Also joining the channel’s lineup of non-threatening programs are Open Sesame, a ‘best of Sesame Street’ compilation, and Funny Farm, a series of five-minute shorts for little tykes.
Vision TV
Vision, the channel devoted to matters of faith and spirituality, is celebrating its 10th anniversary in September.
Highlights of the coming season include: The Uncommon Touch, writer Tom Harpur’s look at the coming revolution in medicine; the upbeat Death: A Personal Understanding; Absolute Truth, a history of the Catholic Church since Vatican II; and Through Young Eyes, which follows a group of First World teenagers on a journey to Africa.
Women’s Television
Network
New additions to the wtn lineup for fall include:
Donny & Marie: The well-scrubbed siblings bring their toothy smiles to this daytime talk and variety show.
Intimate Portraits, a u.s.-made biography series.
Mind Body Spirit, a weekly exploration of health and wellness issues.
WTN Weekdays, a new daytime series that puts the spotlight on home, fashion, beauty, health and entertainment.
YTV
The youth channel continues its mission to keep the kids off the street and in front of the set, where they belong. Among the new series for fall are:
Warp, a pop-culture magazine show.
Shadow Raiders, a new computer-animated program from the producers of ReBoot.
Animorphs, a live-action show about five teenagers battling an alien invasion.
Worst Witch, a comical look at life at Miss Crackle’s Academy for Witches.
Also in this report:
– New season triggers sense of deja vu: Of the slew of new shows, there’s hardly anything that’s new or original, and only two or three that will survive the year p.B3
– High-priced promos better than the shows: Steve Meraska reports from the u.s. launches of the new fall shows p.B7
– Coming attractions: A satanic bounty hunter, a womanizing opera star and a selfless agency guy — just three of the wacky characters making an appearance this fall p.B8
– Toronto market shaped by dramatic developments: Regionalization of country’s biggest market has made it too expensive for Toronto-only clients to buy conventional channels p.B13
– Vancouver’s environment is anything but usual: Choosing the right show just the first step for beleaguered buyers B.14
– Change is the word on Quebec schedules p.B16
– Specialty services have come of age: Gains made at the expense of conventional broadcasters p.B19
