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June 12, 2013

Rogers Execs: ‘Seed’ renewed, bigger ‘Bachelor Canada’

General

Amber Dowling / The Loop

Despite lacklustre Season 1 ratings, Seed has been planted for a second season, Rogers Media confirmed at an executive breakfast ahead of their annual upfront presentation to advertisers on Tuesday. The Adam Korson-led comedy is one of seven original Canadian series slotted to air on Rogers for the 2013-14 season.

Package Deal, which was announced alongside Seed this time last year at the Rogers upfront, was also bumped for a second time, from summer to fall. The previously announced premiere date of June 24 will now become a series “preview,” with the remaining episodes on hold until fall.

“We were looking at a summer launch, and then when we saw the cuts, we felt that it was a great fit for fall,” Claire Freeland, director of original programing for Rogers Media told TV Guide Canada. “It fits in that nice, CBS powerhouse block and really benefits from the success of that. It is as funny and as well-executed as those shows.”

That package, for Package Deal, includes the final season of How I Met Your Mother as a lead-in, followed by a new season of 2 Broke Girls.

Also debuting this fall and midseason are previously announced series Storage Wars Canada, Eva Longoria’s animated comedy Mother Up! and The Liquidator. Rogers Media also announced new reality series Meet the Family, in which a person meets his or her significant other’s “family” for the first time, and The Project: Guatemala, where self-obsessed twenty-somethings believe they are being dropped off on the vacation of a lifetime, only to find themselves being forced to give back in Guatemala.

The anticipated Bachelor Canada returns with a bigger season in 2014. According to Freeland, the series will have a bigger casting process this go-around, while incorporating more social media concepts. President of broadcast, Scott Moore, told TV Guide Canada that one of the possibilities the show is exploring is installing house cameras à la Big Brother, with an eye on maybe showcasing the contestants after hours, online.

“We’re going to make more of a meal of the casting process this time,” Freeland explained. “We’re going to put the call out for bachelors this time, to all of Canada.”

“There are more things that we can do with this initial casting phase. You’ll start hearing about it towards the end of this year, and then January is when we launch the cross-Canada tour. Before then you’ll see more cross-Canada initiatives underway. We needed more time to do that.”

Fans holding out for a homegrown Bachelorette will have to wait a little longer, however. Freeland told TV Guide Canada that they felt there was no one from the first season who could have helmed a show on her own, and part of the casting involves someone audiences recognize.

As for the second season of Seed, Freeland noted that after market research, they are looking to make the lead, Harry (Adam Korson) more likeable, while opening up the general comedy to “let it breathe” a little more.

“We learned a lot from the first season,” Freeland said. “I personally love that show so, so much. I think the writing is so clever and so funny. The ensemble cast figured out their dance and I think they have an amazing chemistry together. We’re doing some extra character tweaks, [but] it’s not like you’re not going to recognize the characters when they come back.”

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