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.

Kevin Newman recently announced on his Twitter account that August 20, 2010 will be his last day as Global National anchor.  Newman has anchored the half-hour newscast since its debut on September 3, 2001.

Newman has been active in television broadcast news since 1981, initially in an on-air role for Global Toronto’s Sportsline.  Newman’s anchor credits include ABC’s World News Now (1994-97), Good Morning America (1996-99) and CBC’s Midday (1992-94.)

Newman’s Twitter post mentions “rest and renewal,” a sentiment The Canadian Press parrots.  I honestly think Newman means this.  He’s managed morning, afternoon, evening and late-night news shifts, picking up two Geminis, two Emmys and a Peabody in the process.  What’s left for the 50-year-old to do?

I don’t think Newman should return to news anchoring.  CTV News is too stuffy for his personable approach.  Nothing can save CBC News, now that it’s embraced superficiality.  American television news is mediocre at best.

Either Kevin Newman’s leaving Global at just the right time, or he’s leaving North American network journalism at the right time.  He’s a talking head, but a damned professional one.  Personally, I’ll miss Newman.

Sorry for lumping stories in like this.  I usually don’t, but Canadian television news hasn’t been this active since URBMN began talking about these shows back in 2008.  I’ve fallen behind a bit.  Apologies if you’ve read this before.

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Rookie Blue, the cop show formerly known as Copper, will debut Thursday, June 24, 2010.  The show will air on both Global and ABC at 9:00 PM ET/PT.

Rookie Blue focuses on five newbie cops learning the ropes in the generic world of “big-city policing.”  It is unknown whether the show will contain vomiting.

Rookie Blue is an odd name for a show.  Copper, while generic, makes more sense.  I guess ABC and Canwest are banking on people remembering NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues.  This show has never had a good name.

Yeah, yeah, Cra$h & Burn, but that’s different.  See, the character’s named Jimmy Burn, and he’s an insurance claims adjuster.  The title fits the show.  What Canwest and ABC have done is swap ambiguities.  It’s like taking Cybersix and calling it A Girl and Her Panther.

I don’t have high hopes for Rookie Blue.  One doesn’t schedule a surefire hit in the middle of June.  At least the show’s out.  I hope it gets promoted.

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Living in Your Car will debut on HBO Canada Friday, May 7, 2010, at 9:30 PM ET/MT.  The show follows Steve Unger (John Ralston), a business executive charged with fraud, obstruction and racketeering.  After cutting a deal to escape prison time, Unger loses everything aside from his sedan.  This explains Living in Your Car‘s title and premise.  See how this works, Canwest?

Here’s a ninety-second preview of Living in Your Car.  Star John Ralston might be more familiar to viewers as Derek Venturi’s father on Life with Derek.  He also played Ming the Merciless on the 2007-08 Flash Gordon reboot.  Ralston gets around.

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Continuing with the subject of HBO Canada, NSI Canada has announced that Less Than Kind will get a third season.

It’s not a detailed story, and HBO Canada hasn’t formally announced a third season for Less Than Kind.  At the same time, I can’t see why the National Screen Institute would falsify the renewal of a show it helped develop.

Congratulations to Less Than Kind.  I thought the show would die after its second season.  It’s not often that I can write about a Canadian show’s renewal, rather than its untimely death.

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Two upcoming shows in the pipeline: CTV/Bravo!/Showtime’s The Borgias and Showcase’s Lost Girl.  Lost Girl is set to debut “Fall 2010″ (*snort* heard that one before), while The Borgias will air in 2011.

Lost Girl is in production.  It’s about a succubus on a path to self-discovery.  The Borgias, which is still in pre-production, is about the Italian/Spanish House of Borgia and its path to self-destruction.  I’m sure sex will feature heavily in both shows.

The Borgias‘ cast includes Colm Feore, Jeremy Irons and François Arnaud.  Director/screenwriter Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Ondine) will write and direct The Borgias‘ first two episodes.

The Borgias intrigues me.  I hate The Tudors with a passion, but this show might be different.  Neil Jordan might focus The Borgias more on politico-religious themes than trying to sex up history for a premium-cable audience.  As long as François Arnaud doesn’t eat up scenery like Jonathan Rhys Meyers, the show will do fine.

I’m not as sold on Lost Girl.  It comes across as a gender-swapped Blood Ties.  If the show is a detective drama WITH DEMONS!, I’m bailing.

Horror, fantasy and sci-fi themes are invading mainstream television with increased regularity.  Supernatural, The Secret Saturdays, Ugly Americans, True Blood, Dead Set, Being Human…it gets to be a bit much after a while.

I’m not saying Lost Girl will suck, but the show might get lost in the shuffle.  Add to that Canwest’s wanting to turn its cable channels into virtual Global clones…on second thought, I don’t want to think about that.  I value my sanity.  I hate Canadian television so much.

Canwest Broadcasting and Lone Eagle Entertainment have announced an English-Canadian version of Wipeout.  The Endemol Group format has contestants run obstacle courses that aren’t cribbed from Takeshi’s Castle and Sasuke, oh no.  No further details about Wipeout Canada have been announced, aside from a 2011 airdate.

This isn’t the first version of Wipeout to hit Canadian shores.  Wipeout Québec, which debuted in 2009, currently airs thrice-weekly on V.  This has previously been mentioned by Steve Faguy, who points out the basic flaw in the Wipeout Canada press release.

I have a feeling Wipeout Canada will be cut-rate, given Lone Eagle Entertainment’s game show past.  The company is going from You Bet Your Ass, Inside the Box and Game On to Wipeout Canada.  Wipeout is a far cry from dinky podiums and a slumming Stewart Francis.

Wipeout Canada is a better fit for GameTV, which needs higher-profile shows than Love Handles and, uh, Supermarket Sweep.  GameTV is such a quaint channel.  Reruns of The Mad Dash and Just Like Mom sound far more appealing than a second season of Carlawood.  Maybe it’s just me.

18 to Life‘s (CBC: premiered January 4, 2010, 8:00 PM ET/PT) grand concept is simple.  Two 18-year-olds marry on a dare.  One family’s conservative, the other liberal.

It’s a standard, well-worn sitcom premise, but 18 to Life at least does something with it.  While the first episode has problems, 18 to Life has the promise most debuting CBC shows don’t.

Stacey Farber is merely okay as Jessie Hill, while Michael Seater nails awkwardness very well as Tom Bellow.  They’re veterans of Canadian kids’ television, Farber playing Ellie Nash on Degrassi: the Next Generation and Mary on Dark Oracle.

Michael Seater’s big role was as Derek Venturi on Life with Derek, although he’s been on Strange Days at Blake Holsey High, The Zack Files and ReGenesis.  Both Farber and Seater can handle adult roles, although 18 to Life feels like an aged-up teen drama at times.

As Tom’s father Ben Bellow, Peter Keleghan doesn’t stray from the aloof authority figure he’s made a trademark.  Ellen David isn’t horrible as mother Judith, but she and Peter don’t have good chemistry.  Maybe it’s due to them playing conservatives, although Keleghan only breaks out of Jim Walcott Mode when he’s doing voiceovers for Ruby Gloom and Producing Parker.

Angela Asher and Alain Goulem are better as Tara and Phil Hill.  They actually complement each other, making for a believable married couple.  They’re right for their roles the way Keleghan and David aren’t.  The Hills and the Bellows initially fight, but decide to work together in order to destroy the dare-based marriage.

18 to Life‘s chief strength is that it’s slicker than the average CBC sitcom.  There’s the usual awkwardness common to Canadian sitcoms, but 18 to Life doesn’t incessantly tell the viewer how Canadian and open-minded it is.

18 to Life isn’t that funny, but it’s not actively bad.  It’s miles beyond whatever Little Mosque on the Prairie‘s trying to be.

18 to Life is the only show that could do well for CBC Television this winter.  Michael Seater has had prior exposure on the Disney Channel, thanks to Life with Derek.  TeenNick won’t let Degrassi: the Next Generation die.  If nothing else, 18 to Life is aiming for a specific demographic.  That’s something I can’t say for Republic of Doyle.

Warning: mild spoilers.

Defying Gravity (CTV/’A’/ABC, two-hour premiere August 2, 9:00 PM ET/PT; in regular timeslot starting August 9, 10:00 PM ET/PT on CTV/ABC; premieres August 7, 8:00 PM ET on SPACE) is an anomaly in the world of prime-time Canadian content.  The creator of the show, James D. Parriott, has run or co-run shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Sons of Anarchy and Ugly Betty.  He created Misfits of Science, Voyagers! and Forever Knight, so his sci-fi credentials are solid.

Michael Edelstein, meanwhile, was one of the original Desperate Housewives executive producers.  Less excitingly, he executive-produced Hope & Faith and Threat Matrix.

On the Canadian side, Omni Film Productions has produced such shows as The Odyssey, Edgemont, Alice, I Think and Robson Arms.  Defying Gravity is not as Canadian as The Listener, but it’s not quite an American show filmed in Vancouver to save money.  On the sliding scale of CanCon, Defying Gravity floats near the middle.

Defying Gravity has been publicized by Parriott as Grey’s Anatomy in space, which has birthed a million unfunny Grey’s Astronomy jokes.  The show also takes a strip off Virtuality‘s “reality show in space” concept.  It’s an attempt to make science fiction appeal more to women, or at least that’s the excuse offered.

The excuse is insulting.  Defying Gravity tries to balance sci-fi with relationship drama.  Big deal.  Doctor Who, Being Human and Torchwood do it.  Any space opera worth shit is about compelling characters mixed with exciting action.  Sadly, Defying Gravity doesn’t hit the ground running, due to its insanely slow pace and familiar characters.

Maddux Donner (Ron Livingston) narrates the series, he of the “left crewmembers to die and needs to atone” backstory.  Zoe Barnes (Laura Harris) is carrying Donner’s baby – maybe – after a one-night stand, and could be gay.  Ted Shaw (Malik Yoba) is married to Eve Weller-Shaw (Karen LeBlanc), yet had a pre-launch affair with Jen Crane (Christina Cox).

Nadia Schilling (Florentine Lahme) is competing with Zoe for Donner’s affections.  Ajay Sharma (Zahf Paroo) goes batshit insane in the first half of the pilot despite being the most psychologically stable of the Antares crew, and so on, and so forth.

Livingston makes for an entertaining Donner, while Malik Yoba is decent as Shaw.  Dylan Taylor’s character, the geeky porn enthusiast Steve Wassenfelder, could be the dark horse of the ensemble given time.  If nothing else, the main characters are engaging in the way that The Listener‘s Craig Olejnik wasn’t.

The main problem with Defying Gravity‘s pilot is that the science fiction and soap opera elements are not blended in very well.  The crew’s backstories are a little too pat and the show is too earnest to be “sexy.”  Defying Gravity isn’t actively horrible, but it’s obviously picking and mixing genres in an attempt to chart its path.

At the same time, Defying Gravity tries for more dramatic depth than the pilot can handle.  A Ganesa figure, placed on the Antares by Sharma at the end of the pilot’s first half, is obvious symbolism.  Defying Gravity is playing the field, attempting to be plausible sci-fi while dealing in “who fucked whom” tales.

The second half of the pilot is better-handled than the first.  There is some sex, but Defying Gravity keeps the focus on non-sexual relationships between the Antares crew.  That’s what I find interesting about the series.  I don’t care about the libido-killing HALOS suits or the attempts to ape Lost.  Gimmicks like that won’t ensure the show’s success.  Well-written characters will.

As it is, Defying Gravity is ABC’s Greatest Hits in Space.  I actually think ABC is doing the right thing in giving the show an early August timeslot, as the show could blow up right as the fall season hits its stride.  Parriott has his DNA all over ABC, so the network’s going to give him some attention.

If Defying Gravity fails, big deal.  Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy are still going concerns, although Ugly Betty is on life-support at this point.  Canadian television can still pin its Yank-baiting hopes on The Bridge and Copper, since cop procedurals are as numerous as copies of Super Mario Bros. 3.  As for Edelstein…eh, maybe he’ll revive Brandy and Mr. Whiskers as a sex-filled romp.  It couldn’t be worse than Wipeout.

It’s hard to believe, but Mike Judge has been a continuous presence on television since the early 1990s.  In 1993, Beavis and Butt-Head began its often controversial run on MTV.  As that show ran down in 1997, Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky were hard at work on King of the Hill.

It’s a toss-up as to which show Judge will be better remembered for, but his future is in The Goode Family (ABC/CityTV: premieres May 27, 9:00 PM) now.  I’m not sure it’s a good move for him.

As spotty as King of the Hill was near the end of its run, the show made fun of everyone’s insecurities and character flaws.  I see that in The Goode Family, but in a blunter and less intelligent fashion.  The Goode Family is just King of the Hill with thematic sightlines aimed at the politically correct.

Gerald Goode (Judge) is just David Van Driessen from Beavis and Butt-Head, much as Hank Hill was initially Tom Anderson with hair.  He has a wife named Helen (Nancy Walls), but there’s not much to the two characters aside from white liberal guilt.  They’re the most boring characters on their own show, which is not a good sign.

Ubuntu (David Herman) is the Goodes’ near-mongoloid adopted son, originally from South Africa.  The Goodes wanted to adopt a black baby, but neglected to mark the appropriate race box on the adoption form.  Bliss (Linda Cardellini) is a relatively normal teenager, wary of her parents intruding into her personal life.

In keeping with King of the Hill‘s subversive tradition, neighbour Ray Johnson (Gary Anthony Williams) is a black redneck/NASCAR fan.  Che is the Goodes’ “vegan” dog, who eats the neighbourhood pets away from the Goodes’ purview.  Charlie (Brian Doyle-Murray) is Helen Goode’s father, as conservative as Helen is wannabe liberal.

The cast is well-rounded, but there’s something troubling about all the one-note characters.  Brian Doyle-Murray is great as Charlie, and he’s given less screen time than the dog.  Ubuntu is at this point grunt stupid.  How is The Goode Family going to flesh his character out?  Also, does the show really need a pet?  King of the Hill at least had the good sense to keep Ladybird way in the background as it focused on Bill Dauterive and John Redcorn III.

The use of one-second gags might be the worst thing about The Goode Family.  Mike Judge’s shows are great at dialogue and character interaction.  King of the Hill lasted thirteen seasons for that reason.  Even when Beavis and Butt-Head were making fun of music videos, they were reacting to the world at large.

The Goode Family‘s first episode is reminiscent of The Critic, betraying Judge’s strengths for easy “What Would Al Gore Do?” jokes.  A subplot about purity rings was worked to better effect on South Park‘s thirteenth-season premiere, and South Park has the shorter lead time.  Judge is capable of far better than purity ring bashing.

I can only see a decent run for The Goode Family if it develops as King of the Hill did.  There are worse animated shows on TV – the latest episodes of Bob and Doug are complete shit – but this show is disappointing coming from Judge, Altschuler and Krinsky.  If ABC stays with The Goode Family past the summer, I’ll be amazed.