Retro TV? Try CBS or digital or CW’s Canadian shows

Staring at the tangled TV universe, some people have a plea: Can’t this just be like it used to be?
It can. That’s why we have CBS …. and digital channels … and, especially, Canada.
Sure, Canada can annoy us when it sends wildfire smoke or winter wind or hockey. But it’s also full of nice people and easy-to-digest TV shows. Now a fresh batch is coming to the CW mini-network.
That starts Friday (July 7), with the second season of “Family Law” starting at 8 p.m. and the first of “Moonshine” at 9. They’re light dramas, pleasant-enough detours from a summer of reality and reruns.
Canadians also give CW a reality show (“Great Chocolate Showdown”) on Aug. 5 and five shows (two dramas, three comedies) this fall. Most – like Canada itself – might feel like a comfy step into the past.
Certainly, the shows now dominating American attention are splendid. Few series, past of present, can match “Succession” or “Lucky Hank” or “Better Call Saul” or “Yellowjackets.”
But those have complex characters and serialized stories. Viewers must focus on each episode. Sometimes, they long for shows with straight-forward, self-contained stories. Not to worry; there’s:
— CBS, which has stuck to self-contained episodes — crime shows, mostly, plus a few comedies. That approach has worked well: If you only consider total viewers (and you eliminate football), CBS had 11 of the top 14 shows this season; the only exceptions were NBC’s three Chicago shows.
— Digital channels. They vary in every market, usually as sub-channels to local stations. They include Antenna, Catchy Comedy, FETV, Get TV, Grit, Heroes & Icons, MeTV, Start TV, Story TV, This TV and more. They’re stuffed with older shows, some great (“All in the Family” on Catchy, “Star Trek” shows on H&I) and some not (“Beverly Hillbillies” on Me).
— Canadian shows. We’re not talking about the shows that are launched by American producers, but filmed in Canada to save money. We mean ones that start with Canadian companies, then add the U.S.
A few – “Due South,” “Orphan Black,” “Anne With an E,” “Schitt’s Creek” — have been brilliant. Many have been solidly watchable. They have excellent actors (trained in the British style) and solid technical people (honed by all those U.S. shows filmed up there). And they’re usually in English.
A few of those shows have been grabbed by a big network – “Rookie Blue” on ABC, “Flashpoint” on CBS, “Transplant” on NBC, etc.; others have gone to cable or streamers. The relentlessly adequate “Murdoch Mysteries” has lasted 16 seasons, often on cable’s Ovation and streaming’s Acorn.
Now three factors have propelled them: “Schitt’s Creek” scored big … The CW got new owners, not interested in expensive sci-fi … And the writers’ strike left everyone short of new, scripted shows.
Brad Schwartz – who previously brought “Schitt’s Creek” to the U.S. — was put in charge of CW, assigned to find lower-cost shows. That will include two Canadian nights this fall and Fridays now.
The shows have a few Canada natives who are familiar to Americans: Jennifer Finnigan, the “Moonshine” star, has done lots of comedies, plus the intense “Tyrant”; Victor Garber, the “Family Law” co-star, was a regular on “Alias” and “Legends of Tomorrow” and has even done musicals.
Mostly, however, these are people who are new to many Americans; they have talent and are working with interesting-enough concepts.
In “Family Law,” Jewel Staite is a recovering alcoholic who salvaged her law career by working for her dad (Garber), alongside two half-siblings. After three marriages, he now has a girlfriend who manages to alienates everyone. That provides a sometimes-humorous backdrop to lightweight cases.
And in “Moonshine,” Finnigan is a Manhattan architect, taking her two teen-agers to her family’s rundown Nova Scotia resort for her aunt’s funeral. Naturally, there are secrets, schemes and surprises; some are life-changing, but most offer a Canadian sort of pleasant charm.