Music: {allcanada} Citytv unveils fall TV schedule

Monday, May 30, 2011

{allcanada} Citytv unveils fall TV schedule

With Canada's Got Talent as one of its signature new shows, the overriding message Rogers want you to hear is, Citytv's Got Momentum.

The announcement of new original Canadian shows Canada's Got Talent and Secret Millionaire Canada highlighted the Citytv upfront presentation in Toronto on Monday.

Coupled with an aggressive list of U.S. acquisitions, Rogers-owned Citytv kicked off the Canadian upfront season - when Canadian networks present their fall schedules to advertisers - with a loud bang.

Reality series Canada's Got Talent and Secret Millionaire Canada are Canadian versions of formats that already exist elsewhere. Canada's Got Talent is earmarked to air in the spring of 2012, while Secret Millionaire Canada still is in the early planning stages.

Canada now joins more than 40 countries worldwide with original Got Talent productions. Citytv also airs America's Got Talent, which kicks off its new season on Tuesday, May 31.

Meanwhile, for the coming 2011-12 TV season, Citytv has added six new dramas, five new comedies and four newly acquired series.

The new dramas include The Playboy Club, Terra Nova, Revenge, Person of Interest, Scandal (mid-season) and Alcatraz (mid-season). Citytv also plucked existing drama Private Practice from previous Canadian rights-holder CTV.

The new comedies are 2 Broke Girls, Suburgatory, New Girl, Last Man Standing and Apartment 23 (mid-season). Citytv also acquired Raising Hope from previous Canadian rights-holder Global, and The Middle from CTV.

Citytv will air Shameless - the edgy Showtime series that already has aired in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central - at mid-season (with a fairly heavy edit, we assume!).

Citytv already is the home of returning comedies Modern Family, Cougar Town, 30 Rock, Happy Endings, How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Parks and Recreation and Community; existing dramas Murdoch Mysteries (a Canadian series that returns on June 7), Body of Proof and Fringe; and reality series The Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

All together, it's an ambitious Citytv roster, and from a business standpoint, it certainly can be seen as a shot across the bows of Global and CTV.

For the upfront presentation, Citytv brought in series stars Elisha Cuthbert, the Canadian actress who plays Alex on Happy Endings, and 12-year-old Rico Rodriguez, who plays Manny on Modern Family.

Happy Endings will be in the plumb time slot following Modern Family next season, both on ABC and on Citytv.

"It's exciting," Cuthbert said. "To be lucky enough to take over after Modern Family for us is the perfect place to be. That means more viewers and it hopefully will give us some more fans next year."

Rodriguez said he tries to be "as normal a kid as I can" despite the success of the Emmy Award-winning Modern Family. In fact, he spends some of his off-time working at his dad's tire business in Texas.

"I tell my dad, 'I just want to be a regular kid today. Don't tell anybody I'm from Modern Family,' " Rodriguez said. "I say, 'If they notice me, let them notice me, but I'll be working today, I'm going to get my hands dirty.' "

Beth Behrs from 2 Broke Girls and Henry Czerny from Revenge also were on hand in Toronto for the Citytv upfront.

The Rogers presentation featured a tape message from Alec Baldwin of 30 Rock, who said watching his show on Citytv was "as Canadian as poutine and a gun registry."

In addition, Rogers announced Monday that it will be launching CityNews Channel - a 24-hour, interactive, local news channel - in Toronto this fall.

Some shows will succeed and some will fail, as always is the case, but there's a lot of buzz at Rogers and Citytv. Your move, Global and CTV.