It’s almost time for summer season, the period in television where reruns abound, and Canadian filler peeks its weird little head.  Among the highlights relevant to CTV’s CanCon:

• Flashpoint returns for a fourth season on Friday, June 17, at 8:00 PM ET.  CTV claims a date-and-time simulcast with CBS.  ”Encore” episodes currently air Fridays at 9:00 PM ET.
• Comedy Now! will begin its thirteenth season Saturday, June 4, at 10:00 PM ET.  No further information has been given; I am presently looking into that.
• Dan for Mayor‘s second season premieres Sunday, June 5 at 7:30 PM ET.
• Hiccups‘ second season will have its first three episodes air Monday at 8:00 PM ET, starting May 30.  The show will then move to Sundays at 8:30 PM ET, starting June 19.
• The Borgias will make its CTV broadcast debut Tuesday, June 21, at 10:00 PM ET.
• So You Think You Can Dance Canada‘s fourth season returns Monday, June 20 at 8:00 PM ET.  The results shows begin Tuesday at 8:00 PM ET, starting July 5.

Being Erica and Flashpoint are currently in production on their third seasons.  Flashpoint currently airs on CTV and CBS, while Being Erica airs on CBC and SOAPnet.

CTV has not officially renewed Flashpoint for a third season, but it’s obvious the show will be back.  Its Canadian ratings are strong, so a third season is assured.

CBC won’t announce the bulk of its show renewals until May, although Bill Brioux has hinted at renewals for 18 to Life and Being Erica.  Being Erica‘s second season was watched by an average of 582,000 Canadian viewers.

The Cultural Post first mentioned production on Flashpoint‘s third season, while TCP and Mike’s Bloggity Blog have hinted at a renewal order for Being Erica.  The Cultural Post has Ontario Media Development Corporation’s ‘In Production’ page to back its claims up.  Mike’s Bloggity Blog has…”a very reliable email.”  Can you guess which site I actually respect?  Go on.  Guess.

As an aside, does CBC Television know how to cancel a show?  Despite poor-to-fair ratings, I doubt CBC will touch its comedy festivals, 18 to Life or Little Mosque on the Prairie.  When Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town can’t do better than The Rick Mercer Report‘s Friday rerun, something’s terribly wrong with the network.

EDIT (April 27, 2010) | Being Erica doesn’t start shooting its third season until May 17, while Flashpoint has been shooting since January 13, 2010.  I apologize for not clarifying this detail.

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.

Wow, eight episodes and Make or Break TV has finally figured out how to do a proper transition!  That’s good.  The “would Show X stay on for another year” lead-outs came across as forced.  It’s about time MoBTV improved its transitions.

EZ Streets showed characters in shades of grey, told intricate stories and had great cinematography.  It featured Joey Pants, d/b/a Joe Pantoliano.  It had the full backing of Anita W. Addison and Leslie Moonves, two powerful CBS executives.  Les Moonves was the president of CBS Entertainment in 1996, so he obviously felt EZ Streets was going to hit big.

CBS didn’t know what it was doing with EZ Streets.  EZ Streets‘ two-hour pilot, sensibly aired after an episode of Touched by an Angel on October 27, 1996, earned limbo-low ratings.  The second episode, aired three days later, fared just as well.  CBS overreacted, killed the show and relaunched it in the spring of 1997.

More great scheduling followed, as EZ Streets – a show where every episode is crucial to its overall plot – picked up where it left off.  The ratings improved, but not enough to justify the effort spent on EZ Streets.  Paul Haggis’ brainchild died its second death after six more episodes.

This episode of Make or Break TV is not as good as last week’s, as Haggis and Gene Stein are not nearly as fun to listen to as Savage Steve Holland.  Luckily, MoBTV doesn’t have to sell EZ Streets like it did The New Adventures of Beans Baxter.  To be honest, the show sells itself.

Haggis has had a spotty career as a showrunner – he created Due South, a Canadian/American co-production.  It lasted two inglorious years on CBS but fared better on Canadian network CTV.  Family Law eked out three seasons on CBS from 1999 to 2002.  Michael Hayes lived out the 1997-98 season, but didn’t salvage David Caruso’s career as CSI: Miami would years later.

Haggis returned to television after winning the 2006 Best Picture Oscar for Crash.  The Black Donnellys would last six episodes on NBC before being relegated to NBC.com.  Haggis’ newest show, Crash, is the first original scripted drama for pay TV service Starz.  Time will tell how that series fares.

Perhaps Haggis can’t run a show to save his life.  He’s been at the helm of many niche shows, but his main claims to fame are EZ Streets and co-creating Walker, Texas Ranger.  He plays down that part of his career, but creating a well-liked Chuck Norris vehicle is nothing to sneer at.  If anything, he should be playing down his scripts for Heathcliff and The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour.