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TORONTO — 19-2, an English-language remake of a popular Quebec show, has found surprising traction outside of French-speaking Canada.
That’s a rare feat in a national TV market defined by the French in Quebec and the rest of Canada.
The reboot of the true-to-life Quebec police drama of the same name on Societe Radio-Canada on Thursday night bowed to an impressive 872,000 viewers on the CTV conventional network.
That debut followed the made-in-Montreal series premiering on the Bravo network on Wednesday night to 140,000 viewers, the biggest launch of an original Canadian series on the cable channel since The Borgias in 2010.
“We are delighted that 19-2 has started off so strong on Bravo, and has been sampled by so many on CTV,” said Catherine MacLeod, senior vp of specialty channels and Bell Media house production on Friday in a statement.
The Bravo and CTV debuts for the gritty cop drama, which stars Jared Keeso and Adrian Holmes, follow past attempts to adapt a Quebec TV hit for English-speaking Canada.
Earlier remakes of Quebec shows like the sitcom Sophie, based on Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, and Rumors, an English version of Rumeurs, had short TV runs in English Canada.
With 19-2 breaking through outside Quebec, the bonus for producers Sphere Media Plus and Echo Media is a potential American sale after Content Television snapped up the international distribution rights to the rebooted drama ahead of NATPE.
The 10-part drama sees two cops put their differences aside as their lives intertwine professionally and personally.
The English language version of 19-2 is executive produced by Jocelyn Deschênes and Carolyn Newman from Sphere Media Plus, and Luc Châtelain from Echo Media.
The original Quebec 19-2 series was created by and starred Réal Bossé and Claude Legault.
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