On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! - CTV Sets Amazing Summer Lineup

- Canadians get in the game with the premiere of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA, July 15 -

- New CTV comedy SATISFACTION couples up with ANGER MANAGEMENT Monday nights, beginning June 24 -

- Fan favourite THE LISTENER returns for its fourth gripping season, May 29 -

- Last summer's #1 drama SAVING HOPE returns June 25 -

- MASTERCHEF turns up the heat for its fourth season, May 22 -

- Sexy new drama MISTRESSES warms up Mondays, beginning June 3 -

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TORONTO, May 7, 2013 /CNW/ - It's shaping up to be an eh-mazing summer on CTV as the network unveiled the first wave of its summer lineup today. As announced yesterday, Canada's must-see reality TV program of the year anchors a new must-see Monday lineup on CTV as adventure-seekers across the country go head-to-head on THE AMAZING RACE CANADA (July 15). With new programs still to be announced, CTV's summer schedule already features a lineup of returning hits such as SAVING HOPE, THE LISTENER, MASTERCHEF, and SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, along with the premieres of all-new comedies and dramas like SATISFACTION and MISTRESSES, as well as encore broadcasts of this season's newest hit MOTIVE.

"From reality TV, to comedy and drama, audiences are in store for an incredible summer of original series debuts, and returning hits," said Mike Cosentino, Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks, Bell Media. "With the nail-biting, down-to-the-wire energy and anticipation of THE AMAZING RACE CANADA setting the pace, this summer's lineup is unstoppable, bringing the best in entertainment to Canadians across the country."

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CTV's new Monday night destination lineup kicks off the week with laughs and thrills starting with a comedy double-date with the debut of SATISFACTION (June 24), a hilarious exploration of romantic woes and wins, life crises, and personal ambitions starring a sexy young cast. The SATISFACTION gang then hooks up with everyone's favourite non-traditional therapist, as all-new episodes of Charlie Sheen's ANGER MANAGEMENT (June 24) continue through the summer. Mondays will then thrill audiences as THE AMAZING RACE CANADA starts to make its way to the finish line. Continuing Monday's hot streak, Alyssa Milano (CHARMED), Jes Macallan (JUSTIFIED), Rochelle Aytes (DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES), and Yunjin Kim (LOST) star in sexy new drama MISTRESSES (June 3), as four sassy girlfriends navigating their way through scandal, love, lies, secrets, and sex towards their path of self-discovery.

Other comedies and dramas hitting the summer schedule on CTV include the return of CTV's hit original series THE LISTENER (May 29), back for an action-packed fourth season, as telepath Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) goes up against increasingly dangerous criminals. As well, last summer's most-watched drama series SAVING HOPE (June 25), starring Erica Durance, Michael Shanks, and Daniel Gillies, joins the Tuesday lineup for its highly-anticipated second season. Then, an all-new season of HOT IN CLEVELAND (May 26) features a MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW reunion as Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White, and Georgia Engel act together for the first time since their 1970-77 series went off the air.

On the reality TV front, summertime favourite SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE (May 14) returns with special guest judges including Minnie Driver, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Wayne Brady, All-Star Stephen "tWitch" Boss, and Adam Shankman. As well, MASTERCHEF (May 22) kicks off its fourth season with a new batch of amateur cooks battling it out for the top prize.

Completing CTV's unstoppable summer lineup is MOTIVE (May 20), the #1 new Canadian series of the 2012/2013 broadcast season, which returns with encore presentations in simulcast with ABC.

Finally, CTV's stellar awards season coverage continues with THE 2013 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS (May 19). Featuring performances from music superstars Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, and Bruno Mars, this year's event honours world-renowned music legend Prince with the Billboard Icon Award.

All new series and new episodes of returning series will be available on demand across CTV's digital platforms: CTV.ca, the CTV App, the CTV Mobile channel, where new episodes will also stream live, and through video on demand partners.

ADDENDUM

NEW SERIES

MISTRESSES - Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning June 3
From the executive producers of GILMORE GIRLS, GOSSIP GIRL and NO ORDINARY FAMILY, comes MISTRESSES, a new provocative drama about the scandalous lives of a sassy group of four girlfriends each on their own path to self-discovery. The group consists of Savannah (Alyssa Milano, CHARMED). a successful career woman working toward the next stop in her life, her free-spirited and unpredictable little sister Josslyn Carver (Jes Macallan, JUSTIFIED), their friend, recent widow, and mother April Malloy (Rochelle Aytes, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES), and Karen Kim (Yunjin Kim, LOST) a therapist with her own thriving practice. Together these four friends find support in each other as they brave their individual journeys, all the while bound by the complex relationships they've created.

SATISFACTION - Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning June 24
CTV original comedy SATISFACTION takes a humorous look at a group of friends who are completely uninhibited as they share their relationship woes and romantic wins, life crises, and personal ambitions. Dedicated single man Mark (Ryan Belleville, THE L.A. COMPLEX) hustles the dating scene while his best friends and long-term couple Jason (Luke MacFarlane, BROTHERS & SISTERS) and Maggie (Leah Renee, BLUE MOUNTAIN STATE) work at keeping the sparks flying as they face the day-to-day challenges of being in a committed relationship.

THE AMAZING RACE CANADA - Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning July 15
Get ready for the race of the summer! THE AMAZING RACE CANADA is set to give Canadians the opportunity to race around Canada and discover the country they love in a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Teams will race to the finish line, criss-crossing up to 9,000 kilometres. A stunning depiction of the Canadian fabric, the teams will travel through both the country's urban centres as well as the most remote outposts in the land, all while exploring its broad cultural and ethnic diversity, wildlife, and iconic landmarks.

RETURNING SERIES

ANGER MANAGEMENT - Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning June 24
Canada's favourite non-traditional therapist continues to give viewers a healthy dose of ANGER MANAGEMENT this summer. With a successful private practice, Charlie (Charlie Sheen) holds therapy sessions in his home each week and performs pro bono counselling for an inmate group at a state prison. His life is complicated by his relationships with his own therapist and best friend Kate (Selma Blair), his ex-wife Jennifer (Shawnee Smith), and their 15-year-old daughter Sam (Daniela Bobadilla). It seems as though Charlie's patients are not the only ones who need help.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE - Season Premiere Tues, May 14 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV Two; Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning June 25
Back for its tenth season, the Emmy^®-nominated hit dance competition series, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, kicks off Tuesday, May 14. This season's auditions in Austin, Boston, Detroit, Memphis, and Los Angeles feature host Cat Deeley and resident judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy, as well as guest judges including Minnie Driver, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Wayne Brady, All-Star Stephen "tWitch" Boss, and Adam Shankman.

MASTERCHEF - Season Premiere Wednesday, May 22 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV; moves to 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning May 29
Featuring Chef Gordon Ramsay, Chef Graham Elliott, and restaurateur Joe Bastianich, MASTERCHEF debuts its fourth season, as a new batch of amateur cooks are challenged by testing their palates, knowledge, and determination to follow their dreams of making a mark in the culinary world.

THE LISTENER - Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning May 29
Season 4 of CTV's hit original series THE LISTENER, sees telepathic former paramedic Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik, The Timekeeper) working hard to sharpen his police skills, as he becomes involved in the Integrated Investigative Bureau's (IIB) cases as a Special Consultant. His personal life also heats up as he deepens his relationship with crime reporter Tia Tremblay (Melanie Scrofano, BEING ERICA), who is inexplicably the one person he can't read. Life will be no less dramatic for Toby's colleagues, as Sgt. Michelle McCluskey (Lauren Lee Smith, CSI) navigates a complicated marriage with her husband, and IIB head Alvin Klein (Peter Stebbings, MADISON) attempts to protect himself and his team from the political manoeuvrings of the ambitious new police superintendent Nichola Martell (Ingrid Kavelaars, LIVING IN YOUR CAR). Meanwhile, new director of emergency services Oz Bey (Ennis Esmer, THE L.A. COMPLEX) realizes that being the boss isn't as easy as he thought it would be.

MOTIVE - Airs Monday, May 20 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, moves to Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning May 23
MOTIVE, the #1 new Canadian series of the 2012/2013 broadcast season joins the summer schedule, with encore presentations airing in simulcast with ABC. The CTV hit original series is a captivating one-hour crime drama that follows spirited female homicide detective Angie Flynn on a backwards chase for clues to a killer that has already been revealed to viewers. An unconventional way to watch a crime unfold, the "whydunit" stars Kristin Lehman (THE KILLING), Gemini Award-winning Louis Ferreira (SGU STARGATE UNIVERSE), and Lauren Holly (NCIS).

HOT IN CLEVELAND - Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning May 26
Betty White's HOT IN CLEVELAND is back for its fourth season with more adventures for the dynamic trio of best friends and their house's rather opinionated caretaker. With Valerie Bertinelli starring as Melanie, Jane Leeves as Joy, Wendie Malick as Victoria and Betty White as Elka, together, these four women create comedic magic that runs from banter to farce to physical comedy, with none of them missing a beat. Reuniting original cast members of THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW for a special guest appearance - including Cloris Leachman, Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, Georgia Engel and Betty White - this season delivers even more laughter.

SAVING HOPE - Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CTV beginning June 25
Last summer's #1 Canadian drama SAVING HOPE returns for a compelling second season with former Chief of Surgery, Dr. Charlie Harris (Michael Shanks, STARGATE SG-1) awake from his coma and reunited with his fiancée Dr. Alex Reid (Erica Durance, SMALLVILLE). This season, Alex and the other doctors of Hope Zion Hospital - including Alex's ex-boyfriend, Dr. Joel Goran (Daniel Gillies, VAMPIRE DIARIES) - continue to handle gripping medical cases full of twists and turns, while Charlie struggles with a secret that could jeopardize his career and his relationship with Alex: he can still see and communicate with ghosts. Gemini-nominated actor Jason Priestley (CALL ME FITZ) and Gregory Smith (ROOKIE BLUE) are each set to direct an episode this season, joining directors David Wellington (THE ELEVENTH HOUR, WOULD BE KINGS, ROOKIE BLUE) Ken Girotti (BOMB GIRLS), John Fawcett (ORPHAN BLACK), and Jeff Woolnough (Jack). Plus, Gemini Award-winning actress Erin Karpluk (BEING ERICA) joins SAVING HOPE for a recurring guest starring role this season, playing a single mother and one of Dr. Joel Goran's (Daniel Gillies) patients. 

SPECIAL EVENT TELEVISION

THE 2013 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS - Sunday, May 19 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV
CTV continues to provide Canadians with exclusive live coverage of THE 2013 BILLBOARDS MUSIC AWARDS. The Awards will feature performances by megawatt stars including global phenomenon Justin Bieber, seven-time GRAMMY^® Award-winner Taylor Swift, GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, and R&B sensation Miguel. In addition, world-renowned music legend Prince is set to receive the Billboard Icon Award commemorating his ground-breaking accomplishments in music. Viewers get instant access to the excitement and entertainment live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, airing Sunday, May 19 from 8-11 p.m. ET/PT on CTV. Additional broadcast details to be announced in the coming weeks.

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About CTV
CTV is Canada's #1 private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV has been Canada's most-watched television network for the past 10 years in a row. CTV is a division of Bell Media, Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio and digital. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. More information about CTV can be found on the network's website at ctv.ca.

About CTV Two
Available across the country, CTV Two features a dynamic mix of drama, comedy, and reality programming on CTV's second conventional network. CTV Two is also home to award-winning local CTV News broadcasts that spotlight the day-to-day life in local communities including Vancouver/Victoria, Toronto/Barrie, Ottawa, London, Windsor, and Atlantic Canada. Reaching 89% of English Canadian viewers and available in high definition, CTV Two is a division of Bell Media, which is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company.

SOURCE: CTV

Tonia Addison, CTV & CTV Two, 416.384.2194 or [email protected]
Jacqui VanSickle, CTV & CTV Two, 416.384.3624 or [email protected]
Matthew Almeida, CTV & CTV Two, 416.384.2629 or [email protected]