When I published an article about Tangled (CBC: CBC/Shaftesbury Films/Colossal Entertainment/Salient Point Productions Ltd., 2010) last week, I figured it would get a slightly above-average number of readers for a day, then flatline.  Pilot news and reviews generally don’t do well on URBMN, with the exception of B Team.

Tangled is by far the most-searched-for program this month on URBMN.  The article promoting Tangled has 13 comments (not including mine) so far.  Think about it – thirteen comments for a pilot aired in the dead of summer.  I’m usually lucky if one person gives a tinker’s piss about an unsold pilot on CBC, never mind thirteen.

Tangled is the sort of show that fits with CBC’s desired female demographic, yet can also attract a decent male audience.  Aside from the budgetary restrictions that can hobble a show like Tangled, I have no idea why CBC would reject this.  Foreign references are copious, but The Tudors gets away with worse.

Sarah Wayne Callies is Sally or Chloe – it depends on which part of her life one follows.  A sham marriage is planned around Sally/Chloe and Nick Hobbes (Bill Ward.)  Hobbes is seen as a rogue freelancer/former CIA golden boy stealing intel from Sally/Chloe’s employer, the North Atlantic Intelligence Agency (NAIA.)  NAIA is also trying to nail down main antagonist Oleg Gasparian.

Needless to say, there are the twists and turns common to an espionage show.  It’s all familiar stuff, but Tangled at least couches the espionage in proper human drama.  As a pilot, Tangled gives viewers a reason to care about Sally/Chloe’s life, convoluted as it is.

Callies is a bit stiff and monotonous as Sally/Chloe, but serviceable enough as a lead.  Ward plays Hobbes almost effortlessly.  Leslie Hope plays Sally/Chloe’s sister Marlene rather well, understandably miffed that Sally/Chloe has been playing dead for twelve years.  Hope doesn’t have a big part in the pilot, but she makes the most of her role.

I’m not exactly fond of the acting in Tangled.  The acting is a bit underplayed in general, aside from Ward’s character and a few minor characters I can’t name.  At the same time, the balance of action and drama sells Tangled.  Had Tangled made series, I’m sure it would have found its own level.

This isn’t the best pilot I’ve seen on CBC in 2010.  The Cult ranks highest on my list, for its excellent acting and choice of subject matter.  Tangled is still very good, better than the bet-hedging of the concept would suggest.  I sincerely hope Shaftesbury Films sells the series to another network or cable channel.

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.

As mentioned on APTN’s Twitter account, Blackstone will receive an eight-episode season.

Neither APTN nor Prairie Dog Film & Television have officially announced the series order, aside from APTN’s Twitter post.  No time or date has been set for Blackstone‘s series premiere.

Blackstone was one of the potential series in APTN’s Pick a Pilot project.  In my opinion, it is the best pilot to come out of that project.

Blackstone‘s pilot has good dramatic tension and incites controversy.  I’ve wanted for this show to become a series since it first aired.  Blackstone focuses on political corruption at a First Nations reserve, which is a tough subject to handle without being alarmist or heavy-handed.

I hope Blackstone isn’t watered-down from its pilot.  I’m honestly looking forward to it more than any other Canadian drama of 2010-11.  Blackstone has the potential to really mean something.

Addendum (July 12, 2010) | The media release for Blackstone, which has just been released, states that the show will air on both APTN and Showcase come “early 2011.”  No word on whether Blackstone will be simulcast.

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Wolf Canyon‘s fate is less clear than Blackstone‘s.  According to Wolf Canyon co-creator and writer Tim Stubinski, APTN has passed on Wolf Canyon as the sole first broadcaster of the series.

This doesn’t mean Wolf Canyon is dead.  Tricon Films and Television currently distributes the property, and is trying to sell other broadcasters on its merits.

APTN might air Wolf Canyon in a shared-first-window or second-window capacity.  In layman’s terms, APTN will team up with another network/cable channel or air Wolf Canyon secondhand.  Stubinski chalks this decision to “economics.”

Wolf Canyon made a killing at the 2010 Leo Awards.  The show won five of seven Leos, winning in every category it was nominated in.  The Leos apply to shows and films shot in British Columbia.

I’m sure Wolf Canyon will find another broadcaster.  Kevin Sorbo has his fans, while the Leos help the show’s cause.  WC even has a respectable rating on IMDb.  This show will find a home.

Keep in mind, Blackstone hit big at the 2010 Rosie Awards, winning in five categories.  The Rosies are to Alberta what the Leos are to British Columbia.  Whatever APTN’s doing, it’s working.

The Movie Network and Movie Central have recently announced their 2010-11 production slate, with three renewals, three new series and two original films.  Renewed shows include Living in Your Car (second season), Call Me Fitz (second season), and Less Than Kind (third season.)  Call Me Fitz is an odd renewal, as the show hasn’t even debuted yet.

New shows and original films include:

Just For Laughs: Funny as Hell (working title), which is essentially the Just For Laughs gala with digital shorts bunged onto the side.  On the plus side, Jon Dore’s the host, so his wraparound segments might actually be entertaining.

Skins, a Canada/UK remake of the E4 series about teens surviving their two years in sixth form.  Yes, this is the show that will air on MTV.  Toronto will stand in for Baltimore.  Isn’t that great?

The Yard, a Whizbang Films series sold as The Sopranos on the playground.  I assume this is an adult-oriented series, considering Michael Mabbott’s pedigree and the fact that it comes from the production company behind Cra$h & Burn.  I’m cautiously optimistic about this one.

Sleepyhead and Scaredycat, two feature-length Canada/UK co-productions.  The films are adaptations of Mark Billingham’s first two Tom Thorne detective novels.

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Call Me Fitz is set to debut September 2010.  All other new shows will debut sometime in 2011.  All returning shows will air their new seasons in 2011.  No word on whether the shows will air on TMN/MC or HBO Canada.

The only new all-Canadian show in TMN/MC’s 2010-11 production slate is The Yard.  Why isn’t Skins set in a Canadian city, anyway?  Are Canadian teens all that different from American teens?  Also, why Just For Laughs?  Does Canada need to see abbreviated versions of well-known standup acts that badly?

At the same time, I like TMN/MC.  The premium-cable duopoly helps, but The Movie Network and Movie Central have launched a number of successful shows over the years – ReGenesis, Durham County, Living in Your Car, The Outer Limits (1995), Slings and Arrows and Sanctuary.  That’s not a bad legacy.

I like the 2010-11 production schedule – there are four new shows for 2010-11, a few returning shows, and no obvious burnoffs.  Add in some returning shows, including Durham County, and that’s as stable as television gets in Canada.

That said, I hope The Yard is as good as its premise will allow it to be.  The idea sounds fun, and more in keeping with how kids actually act.  Hell, Disney’s Recess is just kids reacting to totalitarianism.  How far off the mark could The Yard be?

Sometimes the best programs on CBC Television are the pilots aired once, then dropped in the middle of the harbour.  The Cult (CBC: New Kingdom Productions Ltd./Crescent Entertainment/Big Dog Productions/Chokolat Inc./ITV?, 2008) is one such program, a drama unlike anything else currently on CBC.

Nathan Fall (Henry Czerny) is determined to retrieve his daughter Rachel (Alexia Fast) from the Apostles of the Second Son, a cult perverting(?) Christian mythology.  Nathan has not seen Rachel for five weeks, as he and soon-to-be ex-wife Evelyn (Torri Higginson) have neglected her.  Nathan plans to infiltrate the cult, which sells itself on television as New Eden.

The Cult also focuses on the life of Lucas (Richard Harmon), a teen living in what looks like a halfway house.  He notices the commercial for New Eden, of which Rachel is its figurehead.  Lucas is not initially aware of how New Eden will soon control his life.

Soon, Rachel speaks to Lucas through the television.  Lucas eventually sees rain and fish fall from inside the halfway house.  Could Rachel really be the second coming of Mary, Mother of Jesus, or is Lucas suffering from mental disabilities?  The Cult doesn’t answer this question, not that first episodes of serial dramas ever do.

The best thing about The Cult is that the show is ambiguous about Apostles of the Second Son’s intentions.  Apostles of the Second Son has allegedly been around since Christianity itself.  Outsiders who reveal the Apostles’ existence, like Dr. Frank Hollingshurst (Vincent Gale), tend to die.  The Apostles like to cover the bases for when the Rapture comes.

There’s been mention at TV, Eh? of The Cult, albeit confined to comments on a Republic of Doyle piece.  One commenter wonders why The Cult was passed up for Republic of Doyle.

I grant Republic of Doyle its existence, although I haven’t revised my thoughts on the show since its first episode.  Keeping RoD in mind, why would CBC pass on The Cult?  I see no reason why The Cult couldn’t work as a series, especially when Henry Czerny’s the lead actor.

Maybe I’m overhyping a pilot that has fallen through the cracks of government-aided obsolescence.  It happens.  Show co-creator Angus Fraser is responsible for The Movie Network/Movie Central’s 2005 series Terminal City, and it would be nice to see more Fraser on Canadian television.

Jeff Spriet and James Wilkes’ 11 Cameras was dumped on CBC’s summer schedule in 2006, and that show is surprisingly good.  The Cult‘s three creators can obviously spin something watchable, so why not let them do it?  Does Debbie Travis need a feel-good reality show so badly?

According to a VSC new release e-mail sent to retailers, The Border‘s third (and final) season will be out on DVD August 10, 2010.  The three-disc set will have an MSRP of $29.98 CDN.  Extras will include “Character Psychology Sessions” and “Behind the Scenes with Graham Abbey.”  The series finale will contain director and cast commentary.

The first two season sets of The Border will have their prices reduced to MSRP $19.99 CDN.  There are no mentions of Blu-Ray releases, at least according to the e-mail.

It should be noted that the release date isn’t final, as there is no formal press release for The Border‘s third-season set.  Hopefully, VSC won’t announce the third-season set a week before it streets, like it did for the second season.

CBC recently cancelled The Border after three seasons, due to less-than-stellar ratings on Thursday nights.  The show even ended on a cliffhanger.

Maybe the director and cast commentaries will reveal the reasons behind the cliffhanger.  The Border‘s days were numbered when it was moved to one of CBC’s worst-performing nights.  Then again, doing poorly on CBC Television doesn’t automatically mean cancellation.  They’re still making Little Mosque on the Prairie, so figure that one out.

The Border has been cancelled by CBC after three seasons.  Etan Vlessing first mentioned the cancellation through The Hollywood Reporter on February 26.

CBC scheduled the third season of The Border after Doc Zone.  Doc Zone is a perpetually low-rated documentary block.  It’s a weak lead-in, despite Doc Zone being one of the most underrated hours on CBC.

The Border has never attracted great ratings.  An average of 700,000 viewers is decent for CBC, but The Border has never been a breakout hit.  This isn’t like CBC killing jPod or Wild Roses, now.

As for Republic of Doyle, the ratings are decent enough for renewal.  The show has dipped to around 500,000-600,000 viewers by now, but so has 18 to Life.  RoD‘s where The Border was two seasons ago.

As a result of Republic of Doyle‘s renewal, Shaftesbury Films’ Tangled will not make series.  Sarah Wayne Callies and Leslie Hope are in the pilot, at least according to an EW.com interview.

Callies is best known for her role as Dr. Sara Tancredi on Prison Break (2005-09.)  Hope is best known as Teri Bauer on Fox ratings behemoth 24 (2001-  .)  Hope also played Lisa Cohen on ABC’s short-lived Line of Fire (2003-04.)

I suspect Tangled will be tossed into a June timeslot of doom, a fate met by most unsold CBC pilots.  I’d rather see Jack Bauer’s dead wife and Dr. Tancredi‘s severed head than a Leah McLaren biopic.  Wouldn’t you?

Cra$h & Burn, Showcase’s first stab at an hourlong drama series, will partner with BBC Worldwide for international distribution of the show.

Cra$h & Burn will feature at the 2010 BBC Showcase, where potential broadcast and cable suitors will eye its nine-and-a-half hours.  Creator Malcolm MacRury and star Luke Kirby will attend the event.

Cra$h & Burn has just completed its first season on Showcase.  I wasn’t too high on the show when it debuted, but Cra$h & Burn has become very good in recent weeks.

The show has become more-or-less straight drama with comedic flourishes.  The writing is gutsy enough to (mild spoiler, kids) write off Dan Duran’s character near the end of Cra$h & Burn‘s first season.  It’s become a good fit for Showcase.

The deal with BBC Worldwide strengthens the show’s chances for renewal.  I hope Showcase isn’t stupid enough to cancel Cra$h & Burn, or put it up on blocks like it has Testees.  Speaking of which, whatever happened to Shattered?