On Tuesday morning, Corus Entertainment unveiled its 2020/21 specialty TV programming slate for fall, leading into the new year.
Corus Entertainment’s lineup features new series and long-standing hits, including 43 new and returning Canadian original series and movies.
Corus also nabbed 16 of the top 20 entertainment specialty programs in the fall, including Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty, HISTORY®’s The Curse of Oak Island, Showcase’s Batwoman and many more.
This year, Corus Studios greenlights seven new series and boasts 13 returning hits across Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada and HISTORY.
“Corus is proud to be the leader in exceptional entertainment content across our powerful specialty portfolios, offering compelling unscripted series, charismatic dramas, perennial hits and brilliant family-friendly shows,” said Troy Reeb, executive vice-president, broadcast networks at Corus Entertainment.
“While the broader television industry has been hit with unprecedented challenges this year, Corus is in the enviable position of having fall schedules jam-packed with fresh, new content – rich with remarkable storytelling and characters that are set to entertain and inspire viewers across the country.”
Corus Entertainment presents its 2020/2021 roster of new and returning series, including Canadian content, across its specialty networks below.
Food Network Canada
Food Network Canada greenlights 11 new and returning Canadian original series.
New series
Bakeaway Camp with Martha Stewart (Fall 2020)
Six home baker campers brave the outdoor elements for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perfect their skills under the watchful eye of host Jesse Palmer, baking mentor Martha Stewart and her camp counsellors, baking experts Carla Hall and Dan Langan. Equal parts baking boot camp and camp-inspired games and challenges, the bakers compete in two rounds, with the most impressive baker of the first heat getting a one-on-one mentoring session with Martha in her home kitchen. The baker that displays the least progress will pack their bags and head home, and the last camper standing wins a bake-tacular kitchen filled with appliances worth $25,000.
Big Time Bake (fall 2020)
Buddy Valastro is now judging some of the best bakers from across the country to the test in a nonstop dessert competition. With only six hours, the competitors must bake creative cookies, decadent cupcakes and a showpiece cake all inspired by a surprise theme. The clock never stops, even during the judging, as Buddy and the guest judges visit each baker’s station every two hours to taste and critique their sweets. Buddy and two rotating expert judges, including Nacho Aguirre, Ralph Attanasia, Zoe Francois, Tregaye Frasier, Dan Langan, Lorraine Pascale, Aarti Sequeira, Thiago Silva and Kristen Tomlan will determine the baker’s item on the bottom of the batch and will send them home without finishing their remaining items.
Chopped: Beat the Judge (fall 2020)
Can Chopped champions beat Chopped royalty? In this first-of-its-kind battle, fearless returning winners compete for a chance to face off against illustrious Chopped judges. The champ who makes it to the Beat Alex round stands to win major bragging rights if they can turn a gooey cake and savoury morsels into a $10,000 dessert. The round ends on a chaotic note, leaving everyone wondering how the final dishes from Alex and her challenger will turn out.
Bake or Break (spring 2021)
In Bake or Break, renowned pastry chef, chocolatier and entrepreneur Steve Hodge throws a lifeline to struggling bakery businesses. Using his world-renowned baking skills and business acumen, Steve reinvigorates and inspires the bakery owners in need while style guru Tiffany Pratt reimagines the tired, uninspired spaces. Together they get these businesses turned around and back on track.
Cheese: A Love Story (spring 2021)
Cheese: A Love Story is an exploration and celebration of one of the world’s most beloved foods through the lens of an extreme cheese lover – a cheesy champion on a journey to uncover why this magical food brings so much pleasure to so many around the globe. Host Afrim Pristine, the world’s youngest maître fromager (cheese master), hits the road in search of the most fascinating cheese-centric adventures, digging into the characters, cheesemakers and chefs behind the world’s most noteworthy cheesy creations.
Returning series
Beat Bobby Flay (Fall 2020)
On Beat Bobby Flay, skilled chefs compete for the opportunity to cook against culinary master Flay. The action starts with two talented cooks going head to head in a culinary battle, and the winner proceeds to round two for the ultimate food faceoff against the famed chef.
Big Food Bucket List (fall 2020/winter 2021)
In Season 2 of Big Food Bucket List, host John Catucci is back to take viewers on a brand-new food adventure across North America as he checks buzzworthy, crazy, delicious food off his bucket list. In each episode, Catucci visits the restaurants behind these must-eat meals and hits the kitchen to learn how the chefs make their mind-blowing creations.
Carnival Eats (fall 2020)
Carnival Eats brings you the most popular attraction of any carnival or fair — the food. Host Noah Cappe is back on the hunt for the most mouth-watering and outrageous foods famously found at fairs and amusement parks.
Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (fall 2020)
Host Guy Fieri takes a cross-country road trip to visit some of America’s classic “greasy spoon” restaurant diners, drive-ins and dives that have been doing it right for decades. These days they’re booming again, being run by a whole new generation of owners, and catering delicious homemade food both to baby boomers and a slew of younger fans as well.
Other returning series include Duff Takes the Cake, Guy’s Grocery Games, Restaurant: Impossible, The Great Food Truck Race, Wall of Chefs, Fire Masters, Great Chocolate Showdown, Junior Chef Showdown, The Big Bake and Top Chef Canada.
HGTV Canada
New series
Family Home Overhaul (fall 2020)
Join HGTV Canada in its quest to pay it forward in a heartwarming new series, Family Home Overhaul. In each episode, host Cheryl Hickey introduces a family that has been nominated by their community for always giving back despite any hardships they personally encounter. Together with Hickey, 14 of HGTV Canada’s top contractors and designers pair up to meet the family, tour their property and learn exactly what is needed to transform this family’s life in their home.
Help! I Wrecked My House (fall 2020)
Help! I Wrecked My House showcases Jasmine Roth and her team as they help overzealous homeowners fix their do-it-yourself disasters. Each episode follows along as the failed reno project gets a reset and is customized with Jasmine’s signature style of beautiful yet functional design elements tailored to each client.
Rock Solid Builds (fall 2020)
Located on the easternmost part of North America, Newfoundland, Rock Solid Builds takes viewers on a construction journey like no other. The new series follows Randy Spracklin, a third-generation builder who now runs the family business. Working year-round, Spracklin and his crew battle the harsh weather, rugged terrain and unpredictable challenges in order to get the job done.
Selling the Big Easy (fall 2020)
Real estate professional Brittany Picolo-Ramos and her team make house hunting fun as they take an enthusiastic approach to buying and selling elegant and historic properties in New Orleans.
Farmhouse Facelift (winter 2021)
In Farmhouse Facelift, Billy, a craftsman contractor, and Carolyn, a designer, tackle the toughest farmhouse renovations for their clients, bringing stunning designs and customized modern conveniences to each new project.
Returning series
Celebrity IOU (fall 2020)
Celebrity IOU is an HGTV series where Hollywood A-listers express their deep gratitude to the individuals who have had a major impact on their lives by surprising them with big, heartwarming home renovations that bring everyone to tears. The star-studded, uplifting series, features the network’s immensely popular twin brothers Drew and Jonathan Scott as they help each award-winning celebrity with a special renovation.
Love It or List It (fall 2020)
When a house no longer feels like home, homeowners are left with a big financial and emotional question: renovate or sell it? Love It or List It helps fed-up homeowners decide. In each hour-long episode, realtor David Visentin and designer Hilary Farr compete for the homeowners’ final decision to stay or go.
Christina on the Coast (fall 2020)
Flip Or Flop’s Christina El Anstead is expanding her design business, pairing up with homeowners whose dated coastal properties need a fresh, new, high-end look. In each episode, she’ll transform a client’s home into a showplace.
Island of Bryan (winter/spring 2021)
Season 2 of Island of Bryan ended with Caerula Mar Club open for business, leaving the audience excited for the next chapter of the Baeumlers’ great adventure. Season 3 picks up in the midst of a pandemic that has had an enormous impact on the hotel. With the next phase of construction underway, the Baeumlers put the finishing touches on the hotel to reopen the doors to guests. Will all of their blood, sweat, and tears result in a successful hotel business? In the midst of all of this, they work on establishing a new home base for the family.
Other returning series include Home Town, Property Brothers: Forever Home, $ave My Reno, Scott’s Vacation House Rules and Backyard Builds.
HISTORY
New series
Big Timber (fall 2020)
Big Timber follows the dangerous work of logger and sawmill owner Kevin Wenstob as he and his crew go to extremes to keep the family sawmill, and their way of life, alive. Wenstob is logging a remote timber claim high up the steep, rugged slopes of Klitsa Mountain, deep in the majestic heart of Vancouver Island.
Fight to the Finish (fall 2020)
Marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Fight to the Finish features the first-hand accounts of the Canadians who fought in the worst war in human history. Raw and personal experiences of the terror, pride, horror, excitement, friendship and loss, told through the eyes of the people who fought it, and seen the way they saw it — in colour — putting viewers inside the action and making the war come alive for a new generation. Fight to the Finish is a definitive account of Canada’s greatest war and a tribute to the Canadians who helped rid the world of fascism.
Grant (fall 2020)
Grant tells the remarkable and quintessentially American story of a humble man who overcomes incredible obstacles, rises to the highest ranks of power and saves the nation not once, but twice. With a seamless blend of dramatic scenes, expert commentary and beautifully enhanced archival imagery, this three-part miniseries uncovers the true legacy of the unlikely hero who led the nation during its greatest tests: the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Swamp People: Serpent Invasion (fall 2020)
The Florida Everglades are under siege. An invasion of Burmese pythons is decimating this natural wonder of the South. Entire species of animals are being wiped out. Aggressive, ravenous and incredibly fast-breeding, these pythons have no natural predator to stop them… except for man.
The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch (fall 2020)
Gaining full and unprecedented access to one of the most infamous and secretive hotspots of paranormal and UFO-related activities on earth, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch will feature a team of scientists and experts who will conduct a thorough search of this infamous 512-acre property located in Utah’s Uinta Basin. They will attempt to find out the truth behind more than 200 years of mysteries — involving everything from UFO sightings and paranormal activities to animal mutilations and Native American legends of a shape-shifting creature known simply as “The Skinwalker.”
Backroad Truckers (winter 2021)
Welcome to the crazy world of “hot-shot truckers” — a special breed of independent truckers who will haul anything, anywhere, at any time. This unscripted series follows two rival families and their crews as they tackle some of the most harrowing roads and dangerous off-road locations of northern B.C. in their custom ‘monster’ trucks.
Returning series
Mountain Men (fall 2020)
This season on HISTORY’s Mountain Men, the stakes skyrocket for the men and women of the mountains as they all face major turning points in pursuit of their proud and independent way of life. Plus, one of the series most beloved characters says a final goodbye as he heads off to conquer new uncharted lands.
Salvage Kings (spring 2021)
The salvage team at family-owned Priestly Demolition is back for another season. Ted, Justin and the team race against the clock to recover historic objects from buildings on the verge of demolition in this explosive series. Season 2 brings new faces, a new salvage yard, more treasure hunting and more one-of-a-kind discoveries with amazing stories to tell.
Vikings (2020)
Season 6 returns following the battle between brothers that has left Bjorn victorious and a hero to the people who have been under the tyrannical rule of Ivar for so long. As the new leader of Kattegat, Bjorn struggles to fill his late father’s shoes as king while facing several dilemmas and wrestling with the idea that power overshadows morals. Meanwhile, Ivar, searching for a new path to separate him from his past, is seen travelling along the Silk Road, eventually leading him to Russia. He meets his match in Prince Oleg (Danila Kozlovsky), a ruthless and unpredictable Russian ruler, who shocks even Ivar with his merciless actions.
Other returning series include Ancient Aliens, Forged in Fire, Lost Gold of World War II, Rust Valley Restorers, History Erased and The Curse of Oak Island.
National Geographic
New series
Barkskins (fall 2020)
Based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Annie Proulx, Barkskins follows a disparate group of outcasts and dreamers battling to escape their pasts while navigating the brutal frontier hardships, competing interests and tangled loyalties at the crossroads of civilization: the New World.
Race to the Centre of the Earth (fall 2020)
Race to the Centre of the Earth is an adrenaline-fuelled global competition that pits four teams against one another in a nonstop sprint across the globe for a US$1-million prize. The eight-part series, created by the producers behind the show The Amazing Race, is an extreme non-elimination competition that follows four groups of adventurers, each starting from different corners of the earth, as they race to a buoy holding a $1-million prize. Each team is challenged with navigating through its route, offering unique terrains, climates and cultures as the team makes its way to a central location. The teams will face untamed jungles, frozen arctic, arid deserts, bustling cities, treacherous mountains and vast oceans to reach the location where all four routes intersect. The first team to arrive at the buoy claims it all.
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (winter 2021)
Trafficked explores the complex and often dangerous inner workings of the global underworld —smuggling networks and black and informal markets. Each investigation embeds with journalist Mariana van Zeller on a mission to understand a specific black market and the lives of the smugglers and outlaws who run it.
Returning series
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (Fall 2020)
Gordon Ramsay laces his boots, grabs his knives and buckles up as he hits the road again in the second season of Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted. Ramsay feasts his way through Tasmania, South Africa, Indonesia, Louisiana, Norway, India and Guyana, venturing even more off-grid and off-recipe to explore global cuisines.
Secrets of the Zoo: Tampa (fall 2020)
Secrets of the Zoo gives unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to one of the nation’s largest and most popular zoos: the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. With 2,000 employees, 10,000 animals, 6,000 veterinary cases and more than 100 animal births each year, Secrets of the Zoo tells the dramatic, heartwarming and often hilarious stories of the wildlife and wild people that it takes to create a loving and healthy landscape for the animals and animal lovers alike.
Running Wild with Bear Grylls (winter 2021)
The new season of Running Wild with Bear Grylls includes a new celebrity lineup of adventurers and will transport viewers across remote locations in the U.S. and around the world, where celebrities will push beyond their limits to see if they can endure the harsh landscapes in their high-octane, action-based, fear-tackling journeys.
Other returning series include Genius: Aretha, The Incredible Dr. Pol and Dr. Oakley: Yukon Vet.
Slice
New series
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City
This year, the franchise has garnered over 5.5 million viewers to date, and now welcomes the highly anticipated addition of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, coming soon.
W Network
New series
Devils (fall 2020)
Devils is an international thriller that follows Massimo Ruggero (Alessandro Borghi) the charismatic yet ruthless head of trading at NYL, one of the world’s most important investment banks, and his mentor, NYL’s CEO Dominic Morgan (Patrick Dempsey). After Dominic appoints another colleague over Massimo following a bitter promotion battle, Massimo finds himself named prime suspect in a murder investigation. Fighting to clear his name, Massimo becomes involved in an intercontinental financial war and is forced to choose between supporting Dominic and going up against him.
Intelligence (fall 2020)
Intelligence is a workplace comedy set in the U.K.’s Government Communications Headquarters, where they tackle international and domestic cyber crime from a desktop. When a pompous maverick NSA agent Jerry Bernstein (David Schwimmer) comes over from the U.S. to join the team, he enlists
an inept and tactless computer analyst Joseph (Nick Mohammed) in a power grab that threatens to disrupt the team’s ability to combat cyber terrorism.
Why Women Kill (fall 2020)
From the creator Marc Cherry, Why Women Kill details the lives of three women living in three different decades: a housewife in the ‘60s, a socialite in the ‘80s and a lawyer in 2019, each dealing with infidelity in their marriages. The series will examine how the roles of women have changed, but how their reaction to betrayal has not. The first season stars Lucy Liu, Ginnifer Goodwin, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Jack Davenport, Sam Jaeger, Reid Scott, Alexandra Daddario and Sadie Calvano with recurring guest stars Leo Howard, Alicia Coppola and Katie Finneran.
Returning series
The Good Fight (fall 2020)
Season 4 of The Good Fight finds Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart navigating a very different landscape. After they lost their biggest client, Chumhum, and their founding partner’s name was tarnished, Reddick, Boseman & Lockhart was forced to accept an offer by a huge multi-national law firm, STR Laurie, to become a small subsidiary. Suddenly, all of their decisions can be second-guessed by the giant firm that is literally on top of them.
Charmed (2021)
In the second season of Charmed, the Charmed Ones, Melanie (Mel) Vera (Melonie Diaz), Maggie Vera (Sarah Jeffery) and Macy Vaughn (Madeleine Mantock) are thrust into a new world order unlike anything they’ve ever imagined. After the tragic loss of their mother in Season 1, the three sisters came together to discover they are formidable witches, and under the guidance of their White Lighter Harry (Rupert Evans), the Power of Three successfully stopped the impending apocalypse. But saving the world is a tall order, especially when you’re not even sure what your place is in that world and now the whole magical community is looking to you.
New movies include Learning To Love Again, My Birthday Boyfriend, Vintage Hearts, W Network’s Movie Date, Inn for Christmas and Starring Christmas.
Other returning series include Nancy Drew and Outlander.
Showcase
New series
Bulletproof (fall 2020)
Created by and starring Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters, Bulletproof is an adrenalin-fuelled action show that follows undercover cops Pike and Bishop as they chase down hardened criminals in London’s East End. Bonded by their strong moral code, they are always determined to get results, even if it means taking matters into their own hands
Interrogation (fall 2020)
Starring Peter Sarsgaard, Kyle Gallner, David Strathairn, Kodi Smit-McPhee and special guest star Vincent D’Onofrio, Interrogation is based on a case that spans more than 20 years, in which a young man was charged and convicted of brutally murdering his mother. After being sentenced to life in
prison, he continued to fight to prove his innocence. Each episode is structured around interrogations informed by real police case files.
No Activity (fall 2020)
No Activity is a comedy series from Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Funny Or Die. In what should be a high-stakes sting operation, No Activity celebrates the mundane. Set against the world of a major drug cartel bust, the series follows two low-level cops who have spent far too much time in a car together, two criminals who are largely kept in the dark, two dispatch workers who haven’t really clicked, and two Mexican tunnellers who are in way too small a space considering they’ve only just met.
Strange Angel (fall 2020)
Strange Angel follows Jack Parsons, a brilliant and ambitious blue-collar worker of 1930s Los Angeles who started as a janitor at a chemical factory but had fantastical dreams that led him to birth the unknown discipline of American rocketry. Along the way, he fell into a mysterious world that included sex magic rituals at night, and he became a disciple of occultist Aleister Crowley.
Tell Me A Story (fall 2020)
Tell Me A Story takes the world’s most beloved fairy tales and reimagines them as a dark and twisted psychological thriller. Set in modern-day New York City, the first season of this serialized drama interweaves The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel and Gretel into an epic and
subversive tale of love, loss, greed, revenge and murder.
Returning series
Absentia (fall 2020)
After the dramatic events of Season 2, Emily Byrne (Stana Katic) is serving out the final days of her FBI suspension while working hard to be the best possible mother to Flynn. Everything is upended when an international criminal case hits too close to home, threatening the family she is so desperately trying to hold together. Emily and her husband, Special Agent Nick Durand (Patrick Heusinger), can’t help but intervene, and Nick’s life is endangered.
The Sinner (2021)
Bill Pullman stars as Detective Harry Ambrose in the hit crime anthology The Sinner. From UCP, each self-contained season follows Detective Ambrose as he investigates a mysterious crime that seemingly defies explanation. Executive produced by Jessica Biel, the critically-acclaimed thriller has earned multiple award nominations, including an Emmy® nomination, two Golden Globe® nominations, and a Screen Actors Guild Award® nomination.
Adult Swim
Returning series
Bob’s Burgers (fall 2020)
Bob’s Burgers returns for a landmark 10th season. The series follows Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and his ever-quirky family who together run the restaurant Bob’s Burgers. Season 10 will feature its annual holiday-themed episodes and all-new and returning guest voices, including Megan Mullally, Billy Eichner, Jenny Slate, Sarah Silverman, George Wallace, Sharon Horgan and more.
The Eric Andre Show (fall 2020)
The Eric Andre Show, the late-night anti-late-night talk show breaking the “talk show” mould by deconstructing and redefining the late-night interview. Quickly devolving into chaos as its inept host Eric Andre, along with his apathetic co-host Hannibal Buress, subvert all late-night conventions.
Other returning series include Family Guy, Gemusetto Machu Picchu, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, Lazor Wulf, Tigtone and Archer.
YTV
New series include Ollie’s Pack, The Dog & Pony Show, Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan, PC Children’s Charity Presents Kid Food Nation, The Hardy Boys and Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years.
Returning series include The Casagrandes, Top Elf and Are You Afraid of The Dark?.
Teletoon
New series include Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs and Looney Tunes Cartoons.
Returning series include Bakugan®: Armored Alliance™, Total Dramarama, DC Superhero Girls and The Tom and Jerry Show.
Treehouse
New series include Toon Bops, The Not-Too-Late-Show with Elmo and Pikwik Pack.
Returning series include Esme & Roy, Ranger Rob, Miss Persona, Sesame Street and Thomas & Friends.
Disney Channel Canada
Returning series include Bunk’d, Gabby Duran and the Unsittables, Sydney to the Max, The Owl House, Amphibia and Raven’s Home.
Disney Junior
Returning series include Puppy Dog Pals, Mira, Royal Detective, Vampirina, Fancy Nancy, Gigantosaurus and Muppet Babies.
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Global News, Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada, HISTORY, National Geographic, Slice, W Network, Showcase, Adult Swim, Teletoon, YTV, Treehouse, Disney Channel Canada and Disney Junior are properties of Corus Entertainment.