24 June is a day that always seems to have something interesting happen. In 2010 that is the premiere of a Canadian police drama about a group of rookies on both Canadian and American primetime. This time it is a Canadian show! Hoping to follow in the success of Flashpoint the former showrunner of that series brings to the small screen a compelling new drama about life in blue on the streets of Toronto. Comissioned by Global and subsequently picked up by ABC too, the series make no pretencies about not being a Canadian show. Set in the 15th Precinct of Toronto Police Service the series is not a gritty as the NBC/TNT show Southland that follows a rookie on the LAPD but endevours to explore the insecurities and desire to prove themselves worthy that are found in anyone on the first days of a high-stress job.

Well, what can i say? Global has a global winner for a change! The homegrown rookie blue is a huge hit on Global in Canada and is doing very well as a summer series on ABC in the USA. Could plans for a UK premiere be far off? Given the plethora of Canadians on screen and behind the scenes it is a bit of a shock to see the series being so favourably received in the USA. The cast mixes those well known in the USA such as Gregory Smith (The WB’s Everwood) and Missy Peregrym (ABC’s Life As We Know It) and throws in the perfect mix of those known to Canadian viewers.

Here is a little bit on the numbers for the premiere in Canada:

• 712,000 viewers in key A18-49 demo

• Rookie Blue won the night in Toronto with 317,000 viewers

• Highest rated premiere for a Canwest-commissioned original drama within the last five years

• Rookie Blue bested the closest competitor of the night, The Mentalist, with 37% more viewers

• Outperformed The Bridge (CTV) premiere by double the number of viewers and had 165% more viewers than the Republic of Doyle (CBC) premiere

• Rookie Blue garnered 88% more viewers than Flashpoint premiere (July 11, 200