Global sidelines hit series Without A Trace is gone.

TORONTO - One of CanWest Global's biggest hits just vanished without a trace.

Yesterday at their annual upfront in Toronto, the private broadcaster announced it will add eight new shows to Global and six new shows to CH for the 2006-07 season, with several others in back-up for mid-season. New dramas from Calista Flockhart (Brothers & Sisters), James Woods (Shark) and Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights) are in the mix.

Nowhere did they mention that Without A Trace, the network's highest-rated drama last week across Canada, was off their schedule.

Heading into its fifth season, the Anthony LaPaglia hour was No. 3 in the States last week and ranked as the sixth most watched American network show in all of 2005-06, ahead of such hits as Survivor and CSI: Miami. So where does Global have it next season?

"Sitting very nicely in a very comfortable position on the shelf," senior vice president Barbara Williams told the Sun yesterday.

Williams' dilemma is that CBS has moved Without A Trace next fall to Sundays at 10 p.m. That's where she has ABC's Brothers & Sisters, one of the big buzz shows for fall starring Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths.

Williams sees a golden opportunity to steal female viewers away from CTV. That network moved Sunday night hit Grey's Anatomy to Thursdays next fall, sliding the new Aaron Sorkin drama Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip into Sunday at 10 p.m.

The showdown pits smart TV industry drama vs. smart prime time soap. Global would appear to have the better post-Desperate Housewives fit. But why ditch a proven drama like Trace without trying it on another night?

Monday at their upfront, CTV could hardly wait to tell advertisers that their rivals had benched Without A Trace. They know it trounces ER in the U.S. They predicted ER will soar next season with Trace out of the race; Global says Woods' House-like Shark will finish off aging ER.

Williams feels she can always slap Without A Trace back on her schedule if something else flops. It will, and she will.

In the bragging rights department, Global claims Prison Break was the No. 1 rookie show last season. CTV says it was Criminal Minds.

In the battle of the entertainment mags, Global says they tripled their timeslot ratings last season with E.T. Canada, where "more Canadians get their entertainment news." It also had average nightly numbers to prove its national newscast (Kevin Newman's Global News at 5:30) beat their national newscast (CTV News With Lloyd Robertson) 912,000 to 863,000.

Oh, yeah, Canadian shows? Just as at the CTV upfront, nothing we haven't seen or heard about before. More Falcon Beach, more ReGenesis, more Debbie Travis.

Global also announced plans to rename their CH stations, with the smart money on CH-tropolis. Kidding.