A number of news outlets have reported that a four-alarm fire completely gutted the CTV Ottawa newsroom earlier this morning.

The CTV Ottawa studio building, located at 1500 Merivale Road, has suffered at least $2.5 million in damage.  The office building adjacent to the studio remains intact.  The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

As a temporary measure, CTV Ottawa will broadcast its news from the ‘A’ building in the Byward Market.  ’A’ Ottawa has not mounted local evening newscasts since March 2009.

CTV Ottawa’s news archives have been damaged.  It’s sad to see 49 years of history disappear like this.  CTV Ottawa can rebuild, but much of its history is now available only on VHS tapes, DVD-Rs and other consumer media.

The real tragedy is how negligent CJOH/CTV Ottawa has been in preserving its history.  If CTV Ottawa hasn’t backed up its archives, then it has lost an irreplaceable part of itself.  I’m not a Max Keeping fan by any means, but no one deserves to have his/her life’s work – 37 years for Keeping – literally go up in flames.  This is a truly sad day for Canadian television.

The Hollywood Reporter’s Etan Vlessing reports that The Ron James Show has been renewed for a second season.  CBC has also greenlit two new sitcoms, Men with Brooms and Insecurity.

Men with Brooms is based on the 2002 Paul Gross film, which tries to marry curling with blue-collar comedy.  The show will be produced by E1 Entertainment.  Insecurity will be mounted by Vérité Films, the company behind Corner Gas, Incredible Story Studio(s) and renegadepress.com.

The Men with Brooms pickup doesn’t surprise me, but it does bother me.  The film’s not that great, and I’d like to know how the hell a working-class male sitcom can be set around curling.  If Men with Brooms turns out better than a dreary, middle-of-the-road dramedy, I’ll eat Sugar Sammy.

I gave a pass to The Ron James Show’s premiere, but the show is so aimless.  The Ron James Show has no format beyond “monologue, sketch, monologue, sketch, cartoon segment, Ron James utters polysyllables.”  Does The Ron James Show have a target audience?

The Ron James Show’s not terrible, but it’s not good enough to warrant a second season.  Its ratings are fair-to-middling.  CBC should have greenlit Guerilla Monsoon and kept Ron James to specials.

DECODE Entertainment and Video Service Corp. will release two-DVD sets of The Latest Buzz and Naturally, Sadie.  The sets will street on May 11, 2010, with an MSRP of $14.98 CDN.  Both sets are “producers’ choice” best-ofs.

Naturally, Sadie (2005-07) should be familiar to American audiences, as it aired on Disney Channel for three seasons.  The Latest Buzz (2008- ) aired on Family Room HD until that channel ceased operations January 20, 2009.

The Latest Buzz will air its third season in Canada March 2010, on Family Channel.  Naturally, Sadie aired on Family from 2005-07.

While I’m not fond of compilations, it’s nice to see DECODE Entertainment release its childrens’ titles.  I’ve a hunch Naturally, Sadie will sell the best, considering it was on Disney Channel and is still relatively fresh.  I’m not sure about The Latest Buzz’s DVD sales prospects.

At least DECODE’s getting the titles out.  Meanwhile, You Can’t Do That on Television gets older and still doesn’t have a DVD set.  There’s something disconcerting about that.

Playback Online reports that CityTV has renewed Conviction Kitchen for a second season.  The Cineflix Productions show debuted on CityTV September 13, 2009.

Felons appearing on Conviction Kitchen (note the title’s double meaning) try to establish a high-end restaurant in three weeks, with no prior culinary experience.  Marc Thuet is co-owner/executive chef, while Biana Zorich is his business partner.  The show is at once a social experiment and promotion for Thuet’s businesses.

According to NOW Magazine, Conviction Kitchen’s second season will shoot in Vancouver this April.  The show airs in America on Discovery Networks’ Planet Green.

I normally don’t post news about reality television, but Conviction Kitchen is surprisingly good for its genre.  The show’s emphasis is on how a restaurant is actually run.  Thuet stuns, kills and skins a sheep in the first episode.  Conviction Kitchen does not go for the glamour.

Knowing CityTV’s track record, I give Conviction Kitchen its sophomore season before it’s thrown onto the junk heap with The Collector, Blood Ties, Less Than Kind and Ed the Sock.  I have no idea how Murdoch Mysteries remains on that network.  I’m assuming a blood pact with Baal.

6teen will air its two-part final episode February 11, 2010, at 8:00 PM ET/PT.  The series has aired on Teletoon since 2004, albeit in staggered seasons.  In America, 6teen aired on Nickelodeon before moving to Cartoon Network in 2008.

Three new episodes will air before the series finale, starting at 6:30 PM ET/PT.  While it’s nice to see a proper sendoff for 6teen, five new episodes back-to-back smells of a burnoff.

No new 6teen episodes have aired since November 2009, so Teletoon has washed its hands of the show.  Four seasons on that network isn’t half bad.  I tolerate 6teen a lot more than Wayside, World of Quest and Stoked.

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According to Tiffany Astle of Holmes Creative Communications, The Dating Guy will debut on Teletoon September 2010.  HCC does PR for marblemedia, the company producing The Dating Guy.  Teletoon has the final say in scheduling, so The Dating Guy’s airdate is not set in stone.

In America, The Dating Guy has been renewed for a second season on HDNet.  No second-season premiere date has been set.  I don’t get the logic of a Canadian show debuting in America a full season before it debuts in its home country, but whatever.

My guess is that Teletoon’s stockpiling shows for Teletoon Detour and Teletoon at Night.  It’s not a bad strategy, better than debuting one or two shows a year and hoping for the best.  I wish next season wouldn’t come at the expense of this season, but baby steps.

CTV will debut its two post-Corner Gas sitcoms, Hiccups and Dan for Mayor, March 1, 2010.  Hiccups, the Brent Butt/Nancy Robertson sitcom, will air at 8:00 PM ET/PT.  Dan for Mayor, Fred Ewanuick’s chance at sitcom notoriety, follows at 8:30 PM ET/PT.  The shows serve as lead-ins for Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.

CTV’s scheduling of Hiccups and Dan for Mayor is quite logical.  I’m assuming middle-of-the-road humour for both shows, which isn’t a bad thing if either show does well.  At least Hiccups and Dan for Mayor are paired with the right shows on the right night.  Nice one, CTV.

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The Bridge will debut Friday, March 5, 2010 on CTV.  The two-hour debut will air 9:00 PM ET/PT, The Bridge settling into the 10:00 PM ET/PT hour March 12.  Battlestar Galactica’s Aaron Douglas is the marquee name.  The Bridge is a police procedural told from the union leader’s perspective.

American partner CBS has not yet scheduled The Bridge.  There’s a website, but no airdate.  This has led to at least one article wondering when CBS will air this and 18 Flashpoint episodes.

I might watch The Bridge for URBMN, although cop dramas are to this era of television what westerns are to the early 1960s.  At least CTV’s airing the show.  The Bridge could be Flashpoint, or it could be The Unusuals.  I’ll only judge the show after it airs.