Best news of the week" CTV's Cardinal is coming back for two more seasons.
And Cardinal may be the wave of the future for Canadian TV drama.
The first season ends tonight at 10 on CTV and ran a short term of just seven hourlong episodes.
But audience reaction was fierce: so CTV has ordered two more "cycles" of six hours each.
In the past a Canadian TV series like the currently running Saving Hope would glide along with 13 hours and try competing against the U.S. imports of 22 hours per season.
I think Cardinal works because it is unrelentingly Canadian --it was photographed in Sudbury and North Bay. Although Billy Campbell (The Killing) is American Karine Vanasse is from Quebec and other key parts are played by Canadians.
Based on Gilles Blunt's 2000 novel Forty Words For Sorrow the story has cops Campbell and Vanasse figuring out that there was a serial killer in their community.I thing what made the story was the beautifully austere landscape which always seemed so threatening, menacing.I thought Campbell finely cast --I first interviewed him on the set of Dynasty way, way back and we reconnected on the set of Once And Again where he blurted out --"I really hate this character!".
Maybe so but he aced that guy and does so again here.
In past years Canadian TV has been too quick to ditch concepts that were not entirely working.
I'm thinking of CBC's attempts to float a series set in the Eastern Townships starring Nathaniel Parker. Iy was abandoned after one TV movie.
The success of Cardinal comes from the immaculate adaptation by Aubrey Nealon and Daniel Grou's sturdy direction.
The series has already been sold to BBC meaning it must be very good indeed.
You can check out the seasonal finale wednesday night at 10 on CTV.
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