It's Official -- The Bridge to air on CBS starting July 10th

[John McFetridge]

The cop show I worked on last year in Toronto, The Bridge, has finally been officially added to the CBS summer schedule and will debut on Saturday, July 10th at 8:00 pm.

Here is the show's description from CBS:

THE BRIDGE is a drama about a tough and dedicated police officer who is voted to become the police union's dynamic leader. To serve the public as well as his 8,000 fellow officers, charismatic Frank Leo (Aaron Douglas) battles criminals on the street, corruption in the ranks and his own bosses. On the force is his able partner and confidante Tommy Dunn (Paul Popowich), who rides with Frank across the bridge that spans the divide between the rich and the poor in the area they patrol; Staff Sergeant Bernie Kantor (Frank Cassini), a voice of reason and moral sounding board; Jill (Inga Cadranel), a detective with a lot of attitude who is moving up the ranks; Billy (Theresa Joy), a young female cop who is determined to prove herself to the guys; and Ed Wycoff (Michael Murphy), the shrewd Chief of Police. Abby St. James (Ona Grauer) is a sharp prosecutor who begins working with the police union, and shares a mutual attraction with Frank. In his new position, Frank Leo takes on the politically-motivated department brass. and makes many powerful enemies in the process.

The best place to find info on this show is at the site created by one of Aaron Douglas's fans here.

I was one of the story editors for 11 episodes (the two-part pilot had already been made when the writers' room was hired) and I'm credited with writing one episode and co-writing another.

There was a lot of ambitious, difficult material in The Bridge and with two networks involved - and two countries - it was challenging. The 13 episodes have aired in Canada to good ratings and mixed reviews. Right now there's no word on a second season.

When I finished working on The Bridge I tried to develop my own show. I wrote a pilot episode and shopped it around. It's called East Coast and it's about cops in Canada's maritime provinces and the New England states in the US fighting the unwinnable war on drugs.

While producers are looking at the material, I decided to turn the pilot episode into a short story and give it away online as an e-book. East Coast is available here.

[Carol Naomi Wong]

I have it on my calender to watch!

[robert walker]

Major League man, accept my congratulations and keep us posted. Will be watching CBS now for sure....Sounds like a winning show.

[Jon Loomis]

Congratulations, John. And may it lead to more TV/film work, if that's something you'd like to do.

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Definitely going to watch this. Thanks for the heads up. And congratulations! Does this mean a second season will be developed if the ratings look good?

[Dana King]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll put it on the calendar.

[I. J. Parker]

Oh, how nice. I'll look for it.