Canadian Upfronts and Fall Schedules 2019-20

[Sal]

Originally Posted by DSfan

I also was flipping through the channels the other day and noticed the same.

Quite the surprise randomly seeing The Facts of Life on MTV Canada. For the non-Canadians, I want to elaborate on why: 1) MTV Canada, in terms of sitcoms, has really only been airing things like Friends and The King of Queens - recent, very standard, popular sitcoms. They have not to my recollection at any time aired 1980's era sitcoms (someone correct me if I'm wrong). 2) The Facts of Life does not air on any sister networks (so it's not like how in the US all the Viacom networks share stuff and it's not a total surprise when something just pops up). Maybe CTV Throwback online has the show but I don't check that so not really sure.

The weirdest part of this whole thing is that the show doesn't appear on the regular MTV Canada schedule starting in September, so what is the deal with this? Similarly, Married with Children does not appear on the MUCH fall schedule (https://www.tvpassport.com/tv-listin...wMIezUBWU8Adi8). I have been using that website to scroll through the various networks and see what their fall schedules are.

MUCH, much to my surprise, now has Seinfeld airing at 4-5PM and same episodes again from 8-9PM. Their schedule looks like the Comedy Network, only 1 hour of music related programming from 12-1PM and mainly sitcoms or comedic programming of some sort otherwise as opposed to before there was more reality type stuff or things like that.

Very interesting to see The Nanny and Who's the Boss suddenly come to the MTV Canada schedule.

Sal, do you have info on these new CTV networks that will be coming? Curious what's going on with these comings and goings of 80s/90s sitcoms on MUCH/MTV Canada and if this is a sign of things to come.

I wish I got CHCH in Montreal...

CHCH is available in Montreal through the following cable providers:


Bell Satellite TV - Channels 218 and 1057 HD

Bell Fibe TV/Bell Aliant - 211 and 1211 HD (my cable provider in Ontario)

Videotron - Not available

Shaw Direct - 36 and 345


If you watch CHCH during this week, you will notice during the commercial breaks that they are running a nice little promo for their retro shows featuring brief clips of each show that will be on in the fall, ending with "Gidget" (Sally Field) waving and saying "Toodles!" to the audience. If you watch it very closely you may also notice Robin Williams in his Mork outfit. That leads me to believe that "Mork and Mindy" may return to the retro lineup soon, possibly sometime in October. I will keep you posted on that when it happens.


I wish I can give you good news like that regarding CTV's new specialty channels but I can't. Comedy Gold is now gone and best left forgotten as are the marathons that ended yesterday on both MTV and MUCH. Both shows that were featured in the marathons, "Married With Children" and "The Facts Of Life", can be streamed for free along with many other great series on the CTV Throwback web page, which this week introduced "One Day At A Time" to its list of classics. You can find more info on CTV Throwback here:


CTV Throwback Home Page

Sitcoms Online - Forum Page - "CTV Throwback Thursdays"


The 4 new CTV Specialty channels will debut on Thursday Sept. 12, which is in less than 2 weeks. The programming will be sadly similar to that which was contained in the channels that they replaced. The new schedules were introduced yesterday and I have downloaded them for you in PDF form, but first a little info about each of them:

CTV Life was first called Gusto and it features lifestyle and reality programs as part of its schedule. In other words, it's fairly boring unless you like watching gourmet chefs swear a lot so I'll skip it.

CTV Sci-Fi was known as SPACE and will be home to various science-fiction and supernatural series that the cast of "The Big Bang Theory" was always making jokes about during each episode. It will be Canada's home for all of the "Star Trek" series, including the original best-loved show that spawned the world-wide franchise, and its newest entry "Star Trek: Picard" plus other sci-fi series like "Pandora", "Andromeda", and "Supernatural" as well as the original "Twilight Zone" with Rod Serling Monday to Wednesday at 8 pm.

CTV Sci-Fi - Shows


CTV Drama was called Bravo but they won't be hearing "Bravo!" from me anytime soon because their lineup is so awful that it hardly bears talking about. It is basically a bare-bones lineup or, should I say, a bare "Bones" lineup, littered with only a handful of drama series and movies during the mornings. Those series which will get repeated endlessly throughout the week are: "Flashpoint", "Criminal Minds", "House", "Bones", and "The Closer". That's it. There's nothing else. They do fit in a few new shows during the evening like "All Rise" but in the daytime there's a lot of repetition which can make your head spin if you watch it for too long.



CTV Comedy is supposed to be The Comedy Network under a different name but it's really the same channel with a lot of the same shows, some of which will get repeated a lot, like "The Big Bang Theory", but, thankfully, not to the same obscene degree that CTV Drama treats their shows. The one new series to look forward to will be the "Mad About You" reboot later this fall. The older series that are coming on board include "Corner Gas", "Friends", "Seinfeld", and "The Office", with contemporary shows such as "Fresh Off The Boat", "The Goldbergs", "Just For Laughs", "The Big Bang Theory", and even "Young Sheldon" once a week (for now) rounding out the lineup.

The bad news here is that CTV Comedy will not have "Married With Children" or "The Facts Of Life" and neither will the channels that carried them this week, MTV and MUCH. One quick look at their schedules and that of their sister station E! (all shown at the bottom of this page) and you might think that you are looking at spinoffs of CTV Comedy. They will each carry a new comedy series called "Ridiculousness" which I have never heard of and don't intend to watch but it will be on a lot! Another "lowlight" from this group will be MTV showing "Who's The Boss?" on Saturdays from 1 to 7! That's 6 straight hours! Maybe they could rename that station "CTV Torture"!


Series appearing on each station:


CTV Comedy - Corner Gas, Friends, Seinfeld, The Office, the new Mad About You, The Big Bang Theory, Fresh Off The Boat, The Goldbergs.

MTV - Relic Hunter, Flashpoint, The Nanny, Corner Gas, Ridiculousness, Jersey Shore, Who's The Boss?, Friends.

(Jersey Shore??? Now that's Ridiculousness!!)

MUCH - Ridiculousness, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, American Dad, South Park, Cash Cab, and Tosh.O.


E! - Baywatch, CSI Miami, Major Crimes, Flashpoint, Total Divas, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Celebrity Style Story, The Shocking Truth.


The real shocking truth is that this is the best that these channels can come up with for their fall schedules. It is very sad indeed. For me, I'll just continue to stick with CTV Throwback and CHCH and be thankful for what they have.

[DSfan]

Thanks for the info Sal! What a depressing lineup indeed for all of these new channels. It's pretty much all the same stuff being recycled over and over again between the same channels. Oh well.

And I subscribe to Videotron haha, the only one without CHCH on the channel package. Unfortunate.

[KatieAnn]

So CTV is just changing the names of the channels but not changing much of their programming. Pretty disappointing fall schedules.

[Sal]

I found this on my e-mail but somehow it didn't make it on this page so I will post it myself and then respond to it:

Originally Posted by KatieAnn

CHCH Update

"Starsky and Hutch" ends it's run on Monday September 23. "St. Elsewhere" begins airing on Tuesday September 24 at 2pm.

"Gidget" ends it's run on Friday September 28. It's also the last day that "Who's the Boss" airs.

Beginning on Monday September 30 "The Facts of Life" moves to the "Gidget" time slot at 11:30am, and "Hill St. Blues" begins airing at 4pm.

First of all, thank you for the info Katie Ann. I'm glad to pass it on to everyone.


I'm going to feel sad to see "Gidget" leave the schedule just as I was starting to like it and get into it. This was a surprisingly good series for one that only lasted one season.

The changes mentioned above are only the beginning. In the next couple of months, "The Facts Of Life", "The Jeffersons", "One Day At A Time", and "Cheers" will also be airing their final episodes and only "Cheers" will be expected to continue with Season 1 resuming Mon. Sept. 30. As of now, I have no idea what might be coming next although I'm fairly sure "Mork and Mindy" will end up somewhere. I would put it in the 11:30 am "Gidget" slot once "The Facts Of Life" ends. We'll see what happens. Until then, here is their fall preview promo with highlights from all the new shows. It's a lot of fun to watch!

CHCH Retro - Fall Preview 2019

[KatieAnn]

Yeah, I think I was editing that comment but ended up deleting it from the page instead.

I have to agree about "Gidget." I have also started to get into it, but I can also see why it didn't last more than one season.

I'd like to see CHCH air new programming but I've actually been missing "Soap" and "Barney Miller" so I wouldn't mind seeing those shows back on the schedule.

[KatieAnn]

Schedule Update - for Silver Screen Classics

Beginning on Monday September 30, 2019, Silver Screen Classics has added "Lost in Space" and "Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea" to it's weekly schedule.

"Lost in Space" will air at 12pm and repeat at 10pm the same day.

"Voyage" will air at 1pm and repeat at 11pm the same day.

On Saturday October 5th and Sunday October 6th "Batman" is scheduled to air at 12:30pm and 1pm and repeats at 8pm and 8:30pm and the following morning at 3:30am and 4am. It's also on the schedule for the following weekend, same times.

I've seen no indication of how long this schedule change will last.

All times are EST.

[Sal]

Originally Posted by KatieAnn

Schedule Update - for Silver Screen Classics

Beginning on Monday September 30, 2019, Silver Screen Classics has added "Lost in Space" and "Voyage To the Bottom of the Sea" to it's weekly schedule.

"Lost in Space" will air at 12pm and repeat at 10pm the same day.

"Voyage" will air at 1pm and repeat at 11pm the same day.

On Saturday October 5th and Sunday October 6th "Batman" is scheduled to air at 12:30pm and 1pm and repeats at 8pm and 8:30pm and the following morning at 3:30am and 4am. It's also on the schedule for the following weekend, same times.

I've seen no indication of how long this schedule change will last.

All times are EST.

Thank you for the update, Katie Ann! Always appreciated!

To answer your question, I would not know how long this will last but since none of the 3 series lasted very long I would think they will go on until Christmas and then some new shows will show up, just like with CHCH.


And now for a real pleasant surprise that I was not expecting at all that will be great news for classic drama fans:


In the last year, Canadian cable systems have introduced a new US specialty channel called RIDE TV which is an all-Western-themed channel filled with shows dealing with horse races, equestrian and dressage events, and various reality series dealing with the equestrian world. By some miracle, they have somehow found enough space on their schedule to show the classic series "Bonanza" which can be found every day at 8 and 9 am.

It's offered in Canada on Bell Fibe TV Ch. 531/1531; Optik TV 970; and Eastlink 639. If you don't have any of these, you can see the first 2 seasons online on their RIDE TV GO page:


RIDE TV - Bonanza - Seasons 1 and 2

[KatieAnn]

I think I'd like RIDE TV even without Bonanza, but that's definitely a plus.

Thanks for the info.

[KatieAnn]

CHCH Update

According to TVPassport TV listings, the final episode of "The Partridge Family" airs on Monday October 28, 2019 and will be replaced by "The Monkees" beginning on Tuesday October 29, 2019 - 1:30pm EST.

[Sal]

Originally Posted by KatieAnn

CHCH Update

According to TVPassport TV listings, the final episode of "The Partridge Family" airs on Monday October 28, 2019 and will be replaced by "The Monkees" beginning on Tuesday October 29, 2019 - 1:30pm EST.

Thank you as always Katie Ann...but that's not all!!


The month of November will see many other changes to the CHCH lineup as many series will be ending and others will be returning, including "The Monkees" which began this week. Here's the official rundown:


10:00 am I Love Lucy (returns Thu Nov. 28)(replaces "I Dream Of Jeannie")

10:30 Bewitched
11:00 Laverne & Shirley

11:30 Hogan's Heroes (returns Thu Nov 14) (replaces "The Facts Of Life")

12:00 pm The Wonder Years

12:30 Mork & Mindy (returns Fri Nov 22) (replaces "One Day At A Time")

1:00 The Jeffersons (final season)

1:30 The Monkees (returns Mon. Oct.28) (replaces "The Partridge Family")

Everything else from 2 pm to 6 pm remains the same for now.

Happy Halloween and I hope you enjoy these new treats that are coming this month!