CBC-TV winter lineup heavy on coverage of Sochi Games, familiar fare

TORONTO – The CBC’s winter lineup is heavy on coverage of the upcoming Winter Games and returning series.

The public broadcaster outlined its upcoming schedule Wednesday, touting mostly familiar fare including “Murdoch Mysteries,” “Dragons’ Den,” “Republic of Doyle,” “Heartland” and “The Rick Mercer Report.”

It’s no surprise the February schedule is dominated by coverage of the Sochi 2014 Olympics, with CBC promising more than 1,500 broadcast hours in both English and French.

New additions to the grid include the political satire “The Best Laid Plans,” the reality series “Four Rooms” and the culinary competition “Recipe to Riches,” which used to air on the Food Network.

In addition to the weekly Saturday night battles on “Hockey Night in Canada,” CBC will have the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 1, back-to-back games from the 2014 Coors Light Stadium Series on Jan. 25 and 26, and the 2014 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic on March 2. Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada goes live from Lloydminster, Alberta/Saskatchewan, on Jan. 18.

That’s in addition to a partnership with the NHL, NHLPA and NBC to broadcast the seven-part series, “NHL Revealed: A Season Like No Other.” It starts Jan. 23, a day after it begins south of the border on NBC Sports Network.

The six-part miniseries “The Best Laid Plans,” based on author Terry Fallis’ award-winning novel, focuses on an Ottawa speech writer who decides to leave the Hill for academia, but is tasked with one last impossible job: to find a viable candidate to run against a massively popular incumbent in the next election, and to manage the campaign. It premieres Jan. 5.

Meanwhile, “Four Rooms” features collectors from across Canada who hope to sell treasured finds they think could be worth a fortune. It debuts Jan. 5.

Other returning series include “Arctic Air” on Jan. 7, “The Ron James Show” on Feb. 24, and the high school sitcom “Mr. D” on Feb. 24.

“Mr. D” showrunner and star Gerry Dee says he’s looking forward to new challenges in Season 3 for his bumbling character Gerry Duncan, who gets a long-awaited shot at landing his dream job as gym teacher. Eventually, he’s hoping his alter ego shifts over full time to the gym.

“My plan is we’ll have to see more Phys Ed in (a hoped-for) Season 4 for my stories,” says Dee, who draws gags from his experience teaching Phys Ed for seven years and Social Sciences for three years before focusing on a comedy career.

“I have way more stories teaching in Phys Ed than I do in the classroom, but I still have lots.”

He adds that Season 3 will wrap with some main characters graduating high school, and possibly leaving the show.

“They have to, right? It has to match the real world,” he says, adding that a few may return for possible future episodes.

“We’ve addressed it in a way where they could be back for Season 4 — there’s a way we’ve saved some of them, not all of them.”