CBS has pulled the Canadian cop drama The Bridge from its summer schedule after airing just three episodes, but producers are hopeful that this isn’t the end of the road for the series in the U.S.
Co-producer Craig Bromell–whose insights as a former Toronto police union head inspired the storylines–says CBS told him earlier this week that it’s snipping the show from its Saturday-night lineup, effective immediately, for “reasons of fall scheduling.”
But he adds that the American network hasn’t completely given up on the show, which airs in CTV in Canada.
“They said: ‘We’re going to pull the show.’ They never said to us they’re going to cancel it,” Bromell said Thursday in a phone interview from Toronto, where the series is shot.
“What we do is we’re putting together Season 2 (for which) we have a commitment letter from CTV so we’re moving forward, and then we go back to CBS and say, ‘OK, are you guys still in?”‘
Written by five-time Gemini Award-winner Alan Di Fiore, The Bridge stars Aaron Douglas as outspoken cop-turned-union head Frank Leo and Paul Popowich as his partner and confidante, Tommy Dunn.
CTV picked up the project as a series in November 2008 and CBS jumped onboard in February 2009.
The Canadian network aired the series on Friday nights at 10 p.m. ET, from last March 5 to May 21, netting an average audience of 1 million viewers, according to BBM Canada.
CBS didn’t begin broadcasting the series until recently, on Saturday nights at 8 p.m. ET, and online reports say the ratings were low.
When asked if the CBS timeslot potentially hurt the show’s chances south of the border, Bromell said: “Let me put it to you this way: it’s a 10 o’clock show designed for Thursday and Friday.
“We go on at 8 o’clock with no promotion and our lead-in is infomercials at 7:30. But I do appreciate everything CBS did for me.”
Bromell also noted that CBS “paid upfront” for all 13 episodes of Season 1 so there are still “a number of options” for the series south of the border.
“Obviously we go back and say, ‘You guys have been good partners,’ and truthfully, CBS has been really good to work with, CTV has been very good to work with,” he said.
“My philosophy is we can pout and be pissed off or we move forward. We have Season 2, CBS was very good to us, it’s the nature of the business.
“We feel we have a very good show here, we feel there’s an audience for it. Our job is to find that audience, no matter who we’re with, and try to be as successful as we can.”
