Tangled, the Shaftesbury Films pilot starring Sarah Wayne Callies and Leslie Hope, will air on CBC July 21, 2010 at 9:00 PM ET/PT.  As mentioned earlier on this site, CBC has passed on the pilot.

CBC’s website summarizes the show’s concept as a spy attempting to “remake herself and rediscover her own humanity, even as the bullets fly.”  It’s a female-oriented series, but CBC rarely mounts action shows.  It will be interesting to see how Tangled works on television.

Sarah Wayne Callies will soon appear on AMC’s The Walking Dead, a television adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s long-running zombie comic.  Callies will play Lori Grimes, wife of lead character Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln.)

As for Hope, she guest-stars as Kristina Frye on The Mentalist every so often.  She also appears on Lifetime Movie Network’s Seven Deadly Sins.  Both actors have their fans, so I see at least a torrent for Tangled.

Aside: if Tangled had made series, it would have had to change its name.  Disney will soon debut a film with a similar title.  Maybe Tangled should have changed its name to Being Alias.

Let’s keep this short and sweet.  Michael Seater/Stacey Farber sitcom 18 to Life will air on American networklet The CW.  A two-episode block will air from 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT every Tuesday for six weeks, starting August 3, 2010.

18 to Life was originally set for both ABC and CBC.  ABC bowed out after the pilot, leaving CBC to go it alone.  An average of 553,000 viewers watched 18 to Life in first run on CBC earlier this year.

I’m a bit surprised The CW will air 18 to Life, even if it is filler for a relatively minor program service.  18 to Life hasn’t drawn great ratings for CBC Television.  Then again, The CW’s normal summer ratings suck, and The CW needs a low-cost summer strategy beyond reruns of The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl.

I like how American sites and magazines note how four Canadian shows will grace American network prime-time schedules this summer.  It’s cheaper for an American network to buy a Canadian program than to launch an American one.  American cable’s learned to live with this reality for years, and it still puts out series like White Collar and True Blood.  What’s the big deal?

Teletoon introduced its 2010-11 lineup today, with a big shiny media site and everything.  This post will cover only Teletoon at Night.

The biggest change for TaN is that Teletoon Detour has been phased out completely.  Teletoon at Night was introduced in 2009 as a place for less raunchy adult-oriented shows, sort of a gateway to the Detour.  The shows common to Teletoon Detour have largely been moved past midnight, mimicking [adult swim]‘s format.

Acquisitions for TaN include the FX animated spy spoof/Frisky Dingo variant Archer, a new season of American Dad and new episodes of Robot Chicken.  Original programs include 26 episodes of The Dating Guy, plus nine of the ten Teletoon Pilot Project entries.

I notice that the Teletoon Detour at Night Pilot Project is missing The Wireless Family.  Commenters on Canadian Animation Resources have pretty much slammed that pilot, as has Mike Valiquette.  I recall the comments on the Teletoon Detour website ravaging the show, though it wasn’t as hated as Drop Dead Gorgeous.

If Teletoon isn’t airing The Wireless Family due to extreme negative reaction, I’ll understand.  I assume the slight has more to do with The Wireless Family being a French-language show dubbed into English, the only Pilot Project show carrying that distinction.  Either way, I doubt the average viewer notices or cares.

From looking at the media site, Teletoon will not air new episodes of Metalocalypse, The Venture Bros. or Futurama this fall.  This frustrates me.  The Venture Bros.‘ fourth-season DVD (well, Season 4 Volume 1) will come out October 26, 2010.  Futurama just made a triumphant return to Comedy Central.  Canadians want these shows, believe me.

I honestly hope Teletoon at Night is withholding shows for winter.  I’m glad Archer is on Teletoon, but the overall schedule is thin.  At least Teletoon at Night is airing new material this year.  I don’t think I could bear the possibility of more Quads!

Canadian Comedy Shorts (The Comedy Network: twelfth season premiered Sunday, July 11, 2010, 10:30 PM ET/PT) is another of those series that I think CTVglobemedia is burning off, not that CTVgm will admit to this.

The copyright date for the new shorts compilation says 2009.  It’s summer, you know?  Unsold pilots bloom.  Reality television is in season.  Programs are dumped onto schedules seemingly at random.  At least CCS isn’t as bad as Upload Yours, which is like saying rectal itch is better than a coma.

Cogswell (Diane) | Cogswell (Diane) is a filmed version of a one-person monologue by Stephanie Domet.  I have no idea what it’s doing on a show called Canadian Comedy Shorts.  Cogswell (Diane) is a decent monologue, but there’s nothing but dry humour in a piece where a woman talks about living in a low-rent neighbourhood.  This piece belongs on Bravo! or CBC.

Cogswell (Diane) kicks off an odd trend for Canadian Comedy Shorts this year.  I’m not sure if CCS has aired reruns its past few years, but Cogswell (Diane) is from 2006.  Wouldn’t a better idea be to debut clips for a season premiere?  Maybe it’s me.

The Woodsmen: “Potato Cult” | CTV publicist Sara McLaren tells me this season of Canadian Comedy Shorts features a mix of acquired shorts, all-new items and reruns.  ”Potato Cult” is a rerun from 2006.

The Woodsmen is a very [adult swim] sketch.  Random things happen.  The production values are almost nil.  Hell, The Woodsmen uses Syncro-Vox-esque moving mouths over largely static “animation.”

Frankly, this series tries too hard for an Aqua Teen Hunger Force/Sealab 2021 vibe.  I’m turned off by it.  Even [adult swim] deviates from the absurdist formula with The Venture Bros., The Boondocks and Squidbillies.

I know I’m referencing Squidbillies, by the way.  That show’s about southern American rednecks.  What is The Woodsmen about?  Wasting money?  Potatoes?  Help me out here.

Holy War Dance Party | This is a two-and-a-half-minute song about…well, the title gives it away.  Here’s the Youtube link and the link to the Holy War Dance Party site.

The HWDP Youtube link has earned around 45,000 views over three years.  It’s caught on somewhat, though HWDP is nowhere near the level of Powerthirst.  Dancing for peace is nowhere near as fun as having gratuitous amounts of energy.  Holy War Dance Party should have been made with real lightening.

From the Desk of Ron Sparks: “CN Tower” | From 2004.  Why does The Comedy Network need to air something from more than half a decade ago?  I like Ron Sparks, but I hate rehashes of material this old.  At least Video on Trial, Ed the Sock and Life’s a Zoo.tv have kept Sparks in blow.

From the Desk of Ron Sparks‘ concept is simple.  Sparks writes fake letters to real addresses.  Here, Sparks wants to jump off the CN Tower in a superhero costume.  The piece is slight but entertaining.  I’ve seen better and worse from Ron Sparks.

Check Up | Nathan Fielder saves this CCS episode with his awkward comedy.  Fielder goes to the doctor for a checkup.  Everything is fine until the doctor wants to check his prostate.

The sketch idea isn’t new, but Fielder sells fear very well.  No sane man wants a male doctor to touch his meat and two veg.  It’s one of the few evergreen societal taboos.  In lesser hands, Check Up would be cheap comedy.  In Fielder’s hands, mundane awkwardness is made an art form.

Nathan Fielder now writes for Important Things with Demetri Martin.  I wish Canada would find a use for Fielder beyond nailing him to the side of This Hour Has 22 Minutes.  The Comedy Network has given him an hour-long special, which isn’t enough.

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Yikes.  Four segments from 2007 or earlier?  Seriously, how does The Comedy Network swing that?  ZeD showed its share of older clips, but at least it had the good sense to air quality shorts like Flying Saucer Rock’n'Roll.  That was ZeD‘s thing.  It was free-form television.  Canadian Comedy Shorts isn’t.

Maybe I don’t understand CCS‘ format, having watched it for the first time in 2010.  It’s just lazy to build a program over one newish clip and four older ones.  Two or three new clips an episode, fine.  A clip from 2004?  That’s like Teletoon airing Quads! in 2009.

I hope CCS’ next episode improves from the season premiere.  I’d like to see more than one new short per episode.  I don’t even care if one-or-two-year-old shorts are shown.  I just don’t like when CCS shorts are used as blatant filler.  I don’t know who would.

Durham County‘s second season will come out July 27, 2010 through Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada.  The TMN/Movie Central series’ second season sees forensic psychiatrist Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes) join newly-appointed homicide detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon) as they solve crimes.

This being Durham County, both characters are weighed down by heavy emotional baggage.  Verrity is coming to terms with the drowning death of her daughter.  Sweeney’s family has pulled apart, due to the aftereffects of his dealings with serial killer Ray Prager.

The second season, like the first, is six episodes long.  Somehow, Anchor Bay has pulled a two-disc set out of this.  Go figure.

The amazon.ca sales rank for Durham County‘s second season is very high.  As of the time I write this, Durham County‘s second season ranks #19 in DVD sales.  Earlier today, it was #15.  Granted, this is amazon.ca and not amazon.com, but I am referring to the mainstream DVD sales chart.  A top 20 ranking there is impressive.

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TVShowsonDVD.com mentions Being Erica‘s second-season set, available on DVD September 14, 2010 through E1 Entertainment.  The three-disc set will contain the standard set of extras – bloopers, deleted scenes, audio commentaries and webisodes.  Of note, the webisodes are termed “Erica’s Weblogs.”

I apologize for not going into as much detail with Being Erica‘s format, like I have with Durham County.  Ostensibly, Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) continues to delve into her past to find out the points where her life has gone pear-shaped, but the writers are smart enough to skew the format so that it doesn’t grow stale.

Granted, I’m going by what I’ve read, since I don’t watch the show.  Being Erica has a sizable fanbase, helped by its American run on the soon-to-be-shitcanned SOAPnet.  The general consensus is that Being Erica is the only realistic series about a woman in her thirties.  Basically, Being Erica is to older women what the Degrassi franchise is to high school.  Odd how Canada needs compare-and-contrast to succeed overseas, but I don’t pretend to understand cultural attitudes.

Alliance Home Entertainment’s TV-on-DVD schedule is beginning to make me sick.  Among the new titles announced since my last post on this topic, six days ago:

Andromeda: Season 3 (September 14, 2010)
BeastMaster: Season 3 (September 21, 2010)
Earth: Final Conflict: Season 4 (September 28, 2010)
F/X: The Series: Season 1 (September 28, 2010)
Lexx: Season 4 (September 21, 2010)
Mutant X: Season 2 (September 28, 2010)

That’s six titles announced in a week.  The syndicated programming well is being drained faster than The Flash on heroin.

I knew F/X: The Series would soon come out.  To be honest, I tolerate that series more than the others mentioned in this post.  F/X: The Series is a cut-rate Mission: Impossible, but one gets sick of Kevin Sorbo and Daniel Goddard after a while.  Hell, I’m amazed I remember the name Cameron Daddo.

I’m curious to know where Alliance goes from here.  What’s next?  The Crow: Stairway to Heaven?  North of 60?  Night Heat?  Ray Bradbury Theater?  All signs point towards drama, the 1980s, comedies…anything beyond the fare Alliance is currently offering.

Seriously, Alliance, put Night Heat on DVD.  That show has a good reputation and a solid, if aging, fanbase.  Hey, Alliance Home Entertainment thinks TekWar will sell, so why not Night Heat?  That said, I expect The Adventures of Sinbad to come out by November.

After three episodes, Rookie Blue has been given an early second-season order by both Global and ABC.  The Tassie Cameron series has been given the order after strong overall ratings over three weeks.

In Canada, Rookie Blue debuted to what Global terms “2.1 million viewers,” though the preliminary viewership was closer to 1.8 million.  The show followed this up with 1.4 million viewers on Canada Day, and 1.7 million viewers on July 8.

Meanwhile, American figures are strong enough that Rookie Blue is ABC’s highest-rated new summer drama series in six years.  It’s Canada’s most popular crossover hit since Flashpoint, which is produced by…Tassie Cameron.  Imagine that.

Canwest is being disingenuous about the “critics’ accolades” it mentions in the Rookie Blue press release.  Metacritic gives the show a 52/100, with a user score of 5.1/10.  The critics are more kind to ABC’s Boston Med and BBC America’s The Choir.

I’m actually surprised Rookie Blue has staying power.  Meanwhile, The Bridge has died over at CBS.  Gee, I wonder why a well-promoted Thursday night show has better traction than a show CBS can’t wait to burn off on Saturday nights?  Americans must not get The Bridge.  Yeah, that’s it.  That sounds like a plausible enough excuse for failure.