When the U.S. networks made their 2010-11 season announcements to advertisers this week in New York, there were a startling number of Canadian names on various cast lists.

ABC, in particular, might stand for "Airlift a Bunch of Canadians" after headlining several of their new shows with the likes of William Shatner, Matthew Perry and Elisha Cuthbert.

Montreal-born Shatner has been beamed aboard the Twitter-feed inspired comedy "(Bleep) My Dad Says," one of the many sitcoms ordered this season by all the networks. The 79-year-old TV icon, who appeared in the closing ceremonies of the Vancouver Olympics, plays a dad prone to spouting off on any topic in the most outrageous manner.

(Another Canadian, Vancouver's Will Sasso from "MadTV," is also in the cast). CBS is already promoting Shatner's series with the tag line, "this fall, the Shat's gonna hit the fan."

Jim Parsons, one of the stars of CBS's red-hot "The Big Bang Theory," got to hug Shatner onstage Wednesday as part of the CBS launch to advertisers at Carnegie Hall.

"It's an awkward first meeting with somebody," Parsons said on the phone from New York on Thursday. His brainy character, physicist Sheldon Cooper, has a nerd crush on Captain Kirk, hence the hug.

"He's very game as I think he's proven," Parsons says of Shatner, "and made it feel as un-awkward as one could possibly do in that circumstance."

"Friends" star Perry co-wrote his new ABC mid-season comedy "Mr. Sunshine." The Ottawa-raised actor plays a not-so-sunny San Diego sports store owner going through a mid-life crisis. Calgary's Cuthbert sheds her danger girl image from "24" in "Happy Endings," a mid-season ABC comedy about uncoupling couples.

Toronto born Will Arnett ("Arrested Development") rejoins executive producer Mitchell Hurwitz on the shot-in-Vancouver ABC comedy "Running Wilde." Arnett plays an obnoxious jerk opposite much sweeter Keri Russell ("Felicity"). Their two characters are locked in a love/hate rage.

Newfoundland-native Shaun Majumder, best known to Canadians as sweaty Raj Binder from "22 Minutes," has landed on the gritty ABC drama "Detroit 1-8-7." He'll play a homicide cop alongside Michael Imperioli ("The Sopranos"). Montreal-born Caroline Dhavernas, who shone in the shortlived "Wonderfalls," returns to U.S. TV in "Off The Map," a new medical drama from Shonda Rhimes ("Grey's Anatomy"). Dhavernas plays a dedicated doctor treating patients in a South American rain forest.

Also originally from Montreal, Jennifer Finnigan ("Close to Home") stars as one of the sisters in the new ABC "Modern Family" clone "Better Together." Ottawa-native Sarah Chalke, who spent nine seasons on "Scrubs," is part of the new CBS high school football midseason comedy "Team Spitz."

Toronto-raised Nazneen Contractor literally jumped "The Border" to find U.S. TV work. She was killed off the CBC drama at the end of season two but now says the move "really catapulted my career." The Indian-born actress landed a full season role this year on "24" where, she says, she was "surrounded by Canadians and palm trees."

Now she has a part on a new "Curb Your Enthusiasm"-like NBC comedy from "Mad About You" star Paul Reiser.

The end of "24" Monday after eight seasons will be a big blow to Canadians looking for work in L.A. Besides star Kiefer Sutherland, that series featured two dozen Canadian actors over the years. Many were imported through director/executive producer Jon Cassar, who grew up in the Ottawa area and worked in Toronto with "24" co-creator Joel Surnow on "La Femme Nikita."

This season, another Canadian director and executive producer, Brad Turner, kept the Canadian connection alive with the likes of Contractor and others.

Other Canadians looking for work now that their series are no more are Vancouver's Jessica Lucas ("Melrose Place"), Dartmouth, N.S.-native James Tupper ("Mercy"), Fort Saskatchewan girl Evangeline Lilly ("Lost"), Kitchener, Ont.'s Jeremy Ratchford ("Cold Case") and Tyler Labine, who starred in the spring Fox tryout "Sons of Tucson."

Brampton, Ont.-native Labine, who seems to show up every spring in Hollywood, may not have far to look for more work. Word is he steals every scene he's in in "Mad Love," a possible midseason comedy at CBS.

Other Canadian actors might find work by crossing back across the border but, with networks here complaining about "broken business models," that seems less likely than ever to happen.

CTV presents its new schedule June 3 in Toronto.