CTV adds Kirstie Alley sitcom, Marvel drama and nabs 'Person of Interest'

Kirstie Alley, Michael Richards, Rhea Perlman, Kirstie Alley and Eric Petersen in the new comedy 'Kirstie'

TORONTO -- Buzzy shows starring Toni Collette, Josh Holloway, Malin Akerman and Bethenny Frankel are joining a revamped CTV schedule, where the focus is on bolstering the Tuesday night lineup and shedding repeats.

The market leader said Thursday it has picked up four new dramas, two new comedies and one new unscripted series for primetime this fall.

They include the Collette thriller "Hostages," also featuring Dylan McDermott and Tate Donovan; "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," created by Joss Whedon; the paranormal drama "The Tomorrow People" and the police drama "Played."

The Whedon show will anchor a whole new grid Tuesday, when it's followed by the '80s-set family comedy "The Goldbergs" and the new sitcom "Trophy Wife," starring Bradley Whitford and Akerman. The night is capped by "Person of Interest," which jumps to CTV after previously airing on City.

"The most important thing is we completely rebuilt our Tuesday nights," programming president Phil King said during a day of promotional events featuring Frankel, Donovan and Delroy Lindo from the new series "Believe."

"Tuesday has been a bit of a sore spot for us in the last few years."

The other priority was to reduce repeats by stacking up on short-order series that can share timeslots.

That's the thinking for Monday nights, where Donovan's thriller "Hostages" will run through the fall, and then be replaced by Lindo's mystical drama "Believe" in mid-season.

"You'll see 'Hostages' run for like 15 straight weeks, no repeats, no interruptions. It's really responding to how viewers seem to want to watch these big buzzy serialized dramas," said King, noting that shorter-run series seem to be increasingly common.

"I think what it is, is a combination of the U.S. networks wanting to try more things. And I think it also speaks to the creative. It's a lot harder to do 22 hours a year of a certain show than, say, 13 or 14. So we're definitely seeing shorter orders, which I think is great. Really, I think the main message is: Show fewer repeats. The repeats just aren't holding up like they used to."

Also bound for fall is "Junior Masterchef," a spin-off of the culinary competition series that will showcase talented kids between the ages of 8 and 13 in food challenges and cook-offs.

More additions are on the way in mid-season, including Holloway's high-tech spy show "Intelligence," "Believe" from "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams and "Masterchef Canada," a Canadian version of the Gordon Ramsay hit.

Mid-season comedies include Kirstie Alley in her self-titled comeback "Kirstie," the serialized sitcom "Mixology," Dave Foley's homegrown multi-cam project "Spun Out," and the '90s-set family comedy "Surviving Jack," with former "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" star Christopher Meloni.

Daytime this fall will see the addition of the Canadian talk show "The Social" and the official arrival of Frankel's talk show "Bethenny," which previewed with a short run last year on E!.

And "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" joins CTV in the fall, with Seth Meyers in the chair this winter after Fallon leaves to take over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno. It will follow "The Daily Show" and lead into "Conan." "The Colbert Show" is off the CTV lineup but remains on the specialty channel Comedy.

The other big change is happening over on CTV Two, where CTV is moving "Dancing With The Stars," Tuesday's edition of "The Voice," "The X Factor," "American Idol" and "Undercover Boss" this fall.

"It's the reality network now," King says of the shuffle, adding he believes that strengthens both networks and makes each lineup more consistent.

"It's literally got all the big buzz reality shows every night -- 'Dancing With the Stars' into 'The Voice' into 'X Factor,' 'Undercover Boss, 'Shark Tank' -- so we think that's a great way to brand that channel and people will know (where to find them). In the last couple of years we've shared some of these shows between CTV One and Two, I think that might have led to a bit of viewer confusion, 'What night is it on?' so we made a move to put those shows on CTV Two and grab a couple more dramas and comedies for CTV."

CTV also announced that its entire new lineup will be available on CTV GO, an on-demand platform allowing viewers to access a live stream of the channel as well as premium on-demand programming. It debuts this fall.

"The intention is to have TV everywhere on most of our channels and they'll be rolled out at various times throughout the year," King said.

Programming from Bravo is the first TV Everywhere project to launch, with Bravo GO starting July 18.