New series from TV mavens Jerry Bruckheimer and J.J. Abrams will help fill the primetime holes left in Citytv’s schedule when The Jay Leno Show was abruptly cancelled by NBC earlier this year.

New from Bruckheimer (he of the CSI franchise) is the action drama Chase – about a group of US marshals who hunt down dangerous fugitives – set to air in simulcast with NBC Mondays at 10 p.m. Citytv also picked up the producer’s new legal drama, The Whole Truth, starring Rob Morrow (Numb3rs) and Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck), airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. simultaneously with ABC.

Also new to Citytv is Abrams’ (Lost, Alias) sci-fi drama Fringe, which moves over from CTVgm’s A to the Thursday 9 p.m. slot, following comedies Community and 30 Rock. In addition, the net scooped up Abrams’ spy drama Undercovers, about a married couple who work as spies for the CIA, joining the sked Wednesdays at 8 p.m., where it will go head-to-head with Global’s Survivor.

‘We are very strong in comedy…[but] we knew we needed more dramas and added five,’ observed EVP of programming Malcolm Dunlop.

Rounding out the new drama contingent is NBC’s conspiracy thriller The Event, starring Jason Ritter as a man who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancé. It will settle into the Monday 9 p.m. slot following comedy How I Met Your Mother and new sitcom Rules of Engagement, starring David Spade.

Returning to Citytv are bankable realities The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Hell’s Kitchen. Other lifestyle series in primetime include Survivorman, Mantracker and the Canadian-made Conviction Kitchen.

Shows including Parenthood, Modern Family, Cougar Town and Canuck detective series Murdoch Mysteries also return to the fall schedule.

From Playback Daily