The Bachelor for seniors? Here are the buzziest shows airing on Canadian TV in the next year | CBC News

Another year, another endless buffet of television to choose from — but it sounds like there are plenty of gems to look forward to over the next 12 months.

CBC, Corus, Bell and Rogers hosted their upfront events this month, sharing their slates of upcoming TV shows in various stages of production that will air on Canadian networks and streamers during the 2023-2024 season.

From quirky Canadian comedies to splashy franchise spinoffs, CBC News has compiled a list of what to look forward to on TV in the coming year.

Allegiance

From the same creator as Transplant, CBC’s new police procedural Allegiance follows a talented young cop named Sabrina Singh. After her father — the Minister of Public Safety — is arrested on terror charges, she gets caught in the crossfire of her career, her family and her national pride. The 10-part drama series is said to tell a story about reconciling identity, familial reputation and sense of belonging, and will premiere in the winter of 2024.

BlackBerry

You might have already seen Canadian film BlackBerry in a movie theatre, but the real-life rollercoaster story of the world’s first smartphone will be recut into a three-part drama series premiering this fall on CBC.

Directed by Toronto filmmaker Matt Johnson, Blackberry stars Jay Baruchel as brainy engineer Mike Lazaridis and Glenn Howerton as hot-tempered executive Jim Balsillie as the heads of Waterloo, Ont., company Research in Motion. The duo transform modern life with the BlackBerry — until they’re crushed by bad business decisions and the invention of the iPhone. 

Bria Mack Gets a Life

This Canadian comedy follows a 25-year-old Black woman named Bria Mack (Malaika Hennie-Hamadi), a recent university graduate steering her way through a predominantly white world as she moves back home to hunt for a new job and apartment. It’s a blessing and a curse that she has her own personal — and invisible — hypewoman named BlackAttack (Hannan Younis) to cheer her along the way.

Created by Toronto producer Sasha Leigh Henry, the show will stream on Crave, though a premiere date hasn’t yet been announced.

The Golden Bachelor 

The Bachelor franchise is still going strong — but if you’re bored of the 20-and-30-somethings and their youthfully naive ideas about love, a new version of the series starring a cast of senior citizens will be premiering on Citytv this upcoming fall.

The Golden Bachelor will follow the same conventions as its sister series The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, but it will star an older man hoping to find love and companionship among a group of women in their golden years. Finally, this is your grandma’s dating show. 

Krapopolis

If you’re partial to stories from Greek mythology, animated series Krapopolis is a comedy of dysfunction set in ancient Greece. A hybrid family of humans, gods and monsters oversee one of ancient civilization’s first cities, but with a small caveat — they can’t stop trying to kill each other.

From Dan Harmon, the creator of Community and co-creator of Rick and Morty, the Fox series will air on Citytv in Canada and has already been renewed for a second and third season, though its series premiere date is still up in the air.

WATCH | A sneak peek of Krapopolis:

Late Bloomer

Influencer culture gets the satire treatment in YouTube personality Jasmeet Raina’s Late Bloomer, a Canadian comedy based on Raina’s own ascendance as an internet celebrity under the moniker Jus Reign.

The eight-part show follows Punjabi Sikh content creator Jasmeet as he pursues online viral fame — while still prioritizing his family and culture. The half-hour series will run for eight episodes on streaming channel Crave, though an exact date hasn’t been announced.

Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent

Perhaps one of next year’s most anticipated Canadian series since it was announced earlier this month, one of the planet’s most popular procedurals will go North to serve justice. The Law & Order spinoff will feature stories written by a Canadian team about detectives investigating crime and corruption in Canada’s biggest city.

The show will premiere on Citytv sometime in the spring of 2024.

One More Time

CBC will add a new comedy series to a slate that includes returning shows Sort Of, Run The Burbs and Son of a Critch. The workplace sitcom stars Canadian standup comedian D.J. Demers as the happy-go-lucky manager of a used sporting goods store.

Demers, who has hearing loss in real life, will play a fictionalized version of himself as he and his employees navigate the challenges of running an independent business. One More Time will premiere in winter 2024.

So Long, Marianne

A long-awaited series that blurs the line between a Leonard Cohen biopic and a romantic drama, So Long, Marianne chronicles the legendary Canadian troubadour’s love affair with his muse, Marianne Ihlen, while living on the Greek island Hydra during the 1960s.

Partially shot in Cohen’s hometown of Montreal, the eight-part project stars Hereditary actor Alex Wolff as the singer and poet, while Norwegian actor Thea Sofie Loch Næss plays Ihlen. The Crave and NRK co-production doesn’t yet have a premiere date.

Sounds Black

A star-studded history of Black Canadian music, Sounds Black is a limited documentary series that explores the international appeal and diasporic origins of the country’s Black music scene through the lens of its most successful artists, including Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black and Deborah Cox.

The four-episode doc, which is directed by Canadian music video director Cazhhmere, will premiere on The History Channel this winter.