Dan for Mayor‘s second season – which premiered Sunday, June 5 at 7:30 PM ET – mirrors Dan Phillips’ run for the mayorship of Wessex, Ontario.  Dan didn’t really “win” the election so much as survive it.  Dan for Mayor‘s second season is the result of an almost-across-the-board renewal of CTV’s 2010-11 output, as DfM‘s mid-season decline didn’t do the show any favours.

Fred Ewanuick is a survivor himself.  The Vancouver native is best known for playing Hank Yarbo on Corner Gas (2004-09.)  For three seasons, he was Nick Papathanasiou on CTV’s Robson Arms (2005-08.)  Regardless of what one thinks of Dan for Mayor – the show splitting off into “good” and “shit” camps, with little inbetween – Ewanuick deserves his Dan for Mayor starring role.  Given his early background and acting career, Ewanuick’s taken the long road to television infamy.

The most major news first: Lloyd Robertson’s last-ever newscast will be September 1, 2011.  Nothing’s going to top that, so here’s some news from the past two days that I haven’t covered yet.

It’s upfront week.  The major Canadian media companies want to reveal their new wares, mostly American, to the overfed masses.  To that end, most of this article is about The Comedy Network, and unrelated to the fall 2011-12 season.  CTV’s unloading its big guns Thursday, but at least one major news story has already been offed.

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.

I realize the first two pieces are from last week, but news has been slow lately.  CTV announced two pilots and a series order on Thursday, December 9.  The two hour-long CTV pilots are Saving Hope, a medical drama set in Toronto, and Stay with Me, about a lawyer/stay-at-home mother.  Ilana Frank’s Thump Inc. is behind Saving Hope, while Sarrazin Couture Entertainment is behind Stay with Me.

In addition, CTV and MuchMusic have ordered six one-hour episodes of Epitome Pictures’ Highland Gardens, a show about young Canadians trying to make it in Hollywood.  Epitome Pictures is best known for Degrassi: the Next Generation/Degrassi and Instant Star.  The showrunner is Martin Gero, a man best known for Stargate Atlantis, Young People Fucking and HBO’s Bored to Death.

I can safely say I am not interested in the two CTV pilots.  As someone commented at TV, Eh?, they read like St. Elsewhere and The Good Wife.

Highland Gardens sounds similarly generic, but Gero could make something out of the premise.  Likewise, Malcolm MacRury’s attached to Saving Hope, which probably means Cra$h & Burn is dead in the water.

I’m not going to complain about the three new projects, given that they won’t make air until at least the 2011-12 season, but CTV isn’t much for originality.  At least CTV’s not ripping off $#*! My Dad Says yet.

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CityTV’s midseason slate includes the second season of My RONA Home (Sunday, April 3, 2011: 9:00 PM ET) and the fourth season of Murdoch Mysteries (Wednesday, March 16, 2011: 10:00 PM ET.)  Airdates and times are, of course, subject to change.

CityTV’s midseason is stuffed full of American shows and Law & Order: UK.  I don’t want to dog CityTV, but when did it become the most conservative networklet in Canadian television?  Most of the prime-time schedule consists of NBC and ABC shows not nailed down by Shaw Media or CTV.  Murdoch Mysteries is being rerun in two different timeslots.

I’m not going to blame Rogers entirely for the channel rot, as CityTV has been on a slow, steady decline since the tail end of the CHUM Television era.  At the same time…My RONA Home and Out There with Melissa DiMarco reruns?!  I honestly can’t believe we’ve come to this point.

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CTV will debut one show in the beginning of January.  The Marilyn Denis Show‘s first episode will air Monday, January 10, 2011, at 10:00 AM ET/PT.  In addition, The Listener‘s second season will premiere Friday, January 28, 2011, at 8:00 PM ET/PT.

Flashpoint has a “mid-season premiere,” which is a fancy way of saying holiday specials are over for another year.  The show returns Tuesday, January 4, 2011, at 10:00 PM ET/PT.

Not to be outdone in the CanCon department, Global has…given a second window to Haven.  The first-season premiere airs Friday, January 21, 2011, at 9:00 PM ET/PT.  Yes.  One show, and it’s imported from Showcase.

Seriously, news like this makes me wonder why the hell I do URBMN.  I understand the limitations of Canadian television, but Canadian content laws need to be tightened up when networks like Global and CityTV whittle the CanCon stick down to a shiv.  This country is just now inching to the point where our shows are becoming Americanized.

Meanwhile, Shaw Media is continuing the Canwest practice of slapping a show across five or six channels.  It boggles the mind.  Oh, well.  Enjoy Bob’s Burgers and Winter Wipeout.

This is one of the better stories I’ve posted on URBMN.  A Picnicface television series, imaginatively titled Picnicface, has been added to Breakthrough Films & Television’s website.  Both Breakthrough and The Comedy Network are responsible for the series.

Breakthrough announces Picnicface as “in keeping with the great tradition of Canadian sketch comedy shows like SCTV or Kids in the Hall.”  While I’m not sold on Breakthrough’s hype, Picnicface have gained their own measure of notoriety.

Both Sugar Sammy Live in Concert: Direct from Montreal and Dan for Mayor‘s first season will be released on DVD by Video Service Corp., on Tuesday, January 18, 2011.  Dan for Mayor‘s season set contains two discs, while Sugar Sammy Live in Concert has one.

More About Super Paki for Mayor

The second season of Spectacle: Elvis Costello with… will come out on DVD and Blu-ray December 14, 2010.  The two-disc set is being released through VSC.  All episodes are extended from their original CTV/Bravo! broadcasts.

Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…‘s second season includes interviews with Neko Case, Sheryl Crow, Ron Sexsmith, Jesse Winchester, Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson, Allen Toussaint, Levon Helm, Bono and The Edge of U2, John Prine, Lyle Lovett and Ray Lamontagne.

Bruce Springsteen rates a two-part interview.  Mary-Louise Parker of Weeds even interviews Costello in one episode.  Spectacle: Elvis Costello with…‘s second season is seven episodes long, which makes the high-profile guest appearances all the more impressive.

Special features include a behind-the-scenes documentary, mounted by Spectacle executive producer David Furnish.  Spectacle‘s DVD and Blu-ray releases will also contain bonus songs, not a surprising extra for a music-oriented talk show.

I’m not sure how well Spectacle‘s second season will sell.  Spectacle‘s second season aired Saturdays at 10:00 PM ET on CTV.  That’s a traditional death slot for any show.  Mind you, Spectacle also aired Sundays at 8:00 PM ET on Bravo!, but CTV’s the commercial draw.

Frankly, it’s a minor miracle that 20 episodes of Spectacle were produced in the first place.  Elvis Costello is a good interviewer, but the show’s middle-of-the-road guests might have prevented this show from becoming more than niche.  If Spectacle comes back for a third season, I’ll be amazed.