CBC is moving forward with a TV series based on an award-winning Canadian novel while scuttling plans to make an English version of one of Quebec’s biggest hits.
The Hollywood Reporter and publisher Random House Canada confirmed the public broadcaster greenlit a six-episode order for Best Laid Plans, which is based on Terry Fallis’s Stephen Leacock Award and Canada Reads winner. The novel tells the tale of Daniel Addison, a burned-out political strategist who wants out of his profession so badly that he aligns himself with an unelectable candidate. The candidate becomes unexpectedly popular with voters.
Best Laid Plans is written by Susan Coyne (Slings & Arrows) and Jason Sherman (The Listener). THR says the project is scheduled to run prior to CBC’s coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Meanwhile, the network has decided not to go forward with an English version of 19-2, Radio Canada’s top cop series in Quebec.
Last month TV Guide Canada reported that a pilot starring Jared Keeso (Keep Your Head Up, Kid: The Don Cherry Story) and Adrian Holmes (Primeval: New World) was shot in Montreal last fall.
The second season return of 19-2 on Jan. 28 attracted 1.5 million viewers, an impressive feat in a province of just over 8 million people. Claude Legault and Réal Bossé star as partners Benoît Chartier and Nick Berrof, two patrol officers on Montreal’s Metropolitan police service.
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