Due South's Paul Gross returns to CTV in a new one-hour series next fall.

Gross will play a rock star turned private eye in the 13-part series Steelstring, a production from Toronto's Whizbang Films, in which Gross is a partner.

Also returning this fall is comedian Ron James, whose half-hour comedy Blackfly -- a historical romp set during Canada's fur-trade era from Salter Street Films -- got a 13-episode pickup on Global.

CTV is cancelling Power Play -- whose star Michael Riley picked up a well-deserved Best Actor Gemini Award last fall -- and Toronto melodrama The City after this season. The net will fill the gaps with the Gross show and a new as yet untitled one-hour drama about five Toronto lawyers from Alliance Atlantis this fall.

A Global spokeswoman confirmed the net won't pick up Bay Street bankers drama Traders for a sixth season, and Justice, a proposed series that aired as a pilot movie last year, is also out of the loop. Instead, Global is picking up Blue Murder, a 13-part drama about Toronto police investigators from producers Laszlo Barna (Milgaard) and Steve Lucas (Major Crime).

Along with Blackfly, Global adds another half-hour comedy The Agency, from Mad About You veterans David Steinberg and Frank Von Keegan.

With 22 episodes on order, The Agency focuses on the life of a Vancouver music talent agent and boasts cameos from well-known Canadian musicians and a Larry Sanders Show sensibility.


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