Alliance Atlantis’s 2006/07 slate has 87 new series and 77 returning shows including buzz-worthy U.S. imports such as HBO’s Deadwood, beginning September 4 on History Television, and Showtime’s Huff on Showcase. Nearly one-third of the new season across its roster of 13 specialties is made up of homegrown Canadian shows.

Returning favourites on Showcase include Rescue Me season three (August 29); Weeds season two (August 30), and The L Word season three (September 28).

On Life Network, the third season of Project Runway with model Heidi Klum begins September 4.

HGTV fuels the fix-and-sell house trend with The Big Flip debuting October 5. How Not to Decorate, with sarcastic Scottish designers Colin and Justin, returns October 3 for its third season.

Yummy new shows on the Food Network sked include Nigella Feasts with British culinary goddess Nigella Lawson beginning October 2. And new Canadian series The Heat airs October 3 to take viewers into the catering kitchens of renowned chef Mark McEwan, owner of North 44 and Bymark in Toronto and caterer to the rich and famous.

BBC Canada premieres Life on Mars, a U.K. cop show with a twist, on September 27. The storyline features a modern-day detective chief inspector dealing with antiquated technologies and attitudes when he is transported back to 1973 following a car accident.

For reality buffs, National Geographic Channel launches a new series called Inside on October 7. The episodes take viewers behind the scenes of such situations as the staging of a Rolling Stones concert for 1.5 million people in Rio de Janeiro and the launch and re-entry of a private Russian space mission.

On IFC, 10-part documentary Film School premieres October 6. It follows the trials and tribulations of four film school students during their final year at New York University. Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone are among the NYU alumni notables who weigh in on filmmaking during the series.