Posted Mon, 13 Feb 2006 CBC Arts
CBC Television has announced it is cancelling three prime-time dramas, Da Vinci's City Hall, The Tournament and This is Wonderland.
Despite critical acclaim for the long-running Da Vinci series and slightly kooky This is Wonderland, audiences had not responded to the programs, said Ruth-Ellen Soles, a CBC spokesperson.
"These are three programs that CBC believed in and attached significant resources to," Soles said on Monday. "Unfortunately the audiences for all three have been in steady decline and did not resonate with Canadians. These decisions are always difficult but they had to be made."
This is just another excuse from Soles, click on her link to read her reasons why the CBC doesn't participate in Canada's Amber Alert program if you need further proof of her outrages oppinions.
Wonderland, starring Cara Pifko as a young defence lawyer struggling with the confusing, often sad, side of criminal law at the Old City Hall courts in Toronto, was in its third season. Created by George F. Walker, Dani Romain and Bernard Zukerman and produced by Muse Entertainment and Indian Grove, it had been hailed for its insightful writing and for avoiding the stock law drama format. The final show is to air March 15.
Da Vinci's Inquest had been a highly rated prime-time drama for CBC, but when crusading coroner Dominic Da Vinci, played by Nicholas Campbell, won the election and moved to city hall to become mayor of Vancouver, viewers did not go with him. The Gemini-winning show, created by Chris Haddock, will have its final air date Feb. 28. It is in its eighth season.
Da Vinci had been averaging 394,000 viewers, Wonderland 376,000 and The Tournament 268,000. Da Vinci had lost about 40 per cent of its audience from its high point a few years ago.
The kicker is the fact that CBC has no plans yet to replace these shows. Hopefully CBC's newly hired executive director of programming Kirstine Layfield, isn't as incompinant has her predessor, or all the Canadian's who say "Canadian television is boring" will get their way .Our tube will be inindated with import 'clone' crap. Great another drama about talking ghosts or maybe CSI:Boise?
ACTRA, Canada's actors union, called the cancellations "a startling display of incompetence by irresponsible CBC brass" and blamed the CBC lockout last fall for causing declining ratings for all three shows.
"It was just a year ago that CBC's executive vice president Richard Stursberg proclaimed that 'only the CBC can be the cornerstone of a solution' to the crisis in Canadian drama. I'd like to know how Mr. Stursberg feels his cancellation of three acclaimed series without naming replacements is going to end the drama crisis," said Stephen Waddell, ACTRA's national executive director.
So would I love to hear Mr. Stursberg defend his myopic `vision`for the CBC.
Soles said CBC has a continuing commitment to Canadian drama and will be airing an increased number of hours of English-language drama next season. At this stage in the year, producers whose shows won't be renewed are notified, but the full schedule of programming to replace the cancelled shows won't be announced until later in the year, she said.
Soles denied the declining ratings were related to the lockout. "If you look at audience numbers, these shows had been declining before the lockout," she said.
This is complete bull doo-doo. The reasons why Canadian drama series have difficulty in getting comparable ratings to simulcast U.S. series is because they aren`t scheduled properly and they lack promotion. If you put a Canadian drama up against U.S juggernaught `Survivor` without any promotion except the occasional insert leading into a barrage of junk food ads, then of course the show doesn`t stand a chance.
Later,
Kenaz
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