The roster also includes the family sitcom 18 to Life and the father-son private-eye series Republic of Doyle

Source: Globe and Mail

On a high from improved ratings this fall, CBC-TV threw a laid-back winter launch yesterday to introduce new and returning programs that will make their debut on the public broadcaster in January.

Coming off the network's strongest season in five years, CBC Television's general manager Kirstine Stewart unveiled a prime-time schedule that boasts a roster of new comedies such as the family sitcom 18 to Life , the father-son private-eye series shot in Newfoundland Republic of Doyle , and an outrageous, eight-part murder mystery from the Kids in the Hall, called Death Comes to Town , which wrapped filming recently in North Bay.

“Our goal is to differentiate our programming from conventional broadcasters,” Stewart said in an interview after the presentation. “And we do that almost by sheer volume and the quality of Canadian programming that we do.

“A lot of the competition – whether CTV or Global – while they certainly get involved in Canadian programming, but not in a large way in prime time. We can give more Canadian drama, a lot more comedy and more reality-type programming in prime time than the conventionals do.”

Stewart also disclosed yesterday that an eight-part series, Pillars of the Earth , featuring Gordon Pinsent, will air on CBC in the winter of 2011. A Canada-Germany co-production, Pillars of the Earth , based on Ken Follett's book, is currently shooting in Romania.

On hand at the CBC yesterday were the five members of the Kids in the Hall – Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Dave Foley, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson – who came to support the comedy, which centres on a character named Death (McKinney) who gets off a bus and wreaks havoc in a small Canadian town.

Billed by creator McCulloch as “ Corner Gas meets Twin Peaks ,” it airs Jan. 12. Yesterday, the kids said they were glad to be returning to the public broadcaster, where their original show premiered in 1988.

Allan Hawco, creator and star of 12-part Republic of Doyle , flew in from Newfoundland, where he has now wrapped the 10th episode, which guest stars Victor Garber. Other episodes, he added, will feature Pinsent, his daughter Leah, Shawn Doyle and Mary Walsh, to name a few. “I'm also trying to recruit Rick Mercer,” added the 32-year-old St. John's native. “And I've written three roles for [ Canada AMco-host] Seamus O'Regan [another native of Hawco's home town]. But it just hasn't worked yet. Basically, I am going to hijack everyone I know in the business at some point.”

In March, hockey fans will get an honest look at Don Cherry's life in the minors – “which is not pleasant, believe me,” Cherry said – and the toll that took on his family, particularly his wife, Rose (now deceased).

The brain child of Cherry's son, Timothy Cherry, called Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story , the two-part movie stars Jared Keeso ( I Love You Beth Cooper ) and follows the bombastic Cherry from the small leagues to his ascension to commentator on Hockey Night in Canada .

“At first, I didn't want to do it,” Cherry said. “But my son kept after me for three years. In the movie, I don't look like much of a hero. But I did it because I saw that it was a tribute to Rose. I've seen part of it, and it was very sad. It was tough to watch because it showed how selfish I was. I was a selfish guy.”

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