The Listener has been rescued from the sounds of silence.

Shaftesbury Films announced yesterday that the Toronto-set series has been renewed for a second season. A deal has been reached with CTV, Space and Fox International Channels (FIC), with exact air dates for the 13 new episodes still to be determined.

The first season of The Listener premiered on CTV and NBC last June, but the American network dropped the show after only seven episodes, citing poor ratings. The Listener continued to air in Canada, attracting decent numbers throughout its 13-episode run.

The Listener also attracted viable viewership numbers in several other countries around the world, through FIC.

The Listener focuses on Toby Logan (played by Craig Olejnik), a 25-year-old paramedic who just happens to be telepathic. Toby's sole confidant is Dr. Ray Mercer (played by Colm Feore).

The first season of The Listener also starred Lisa Marcos, Enis Esmer and Mylene Dinh-Robic.

"The Listener is proof positive that Space and CTV are committed to creating and supporting successful and popular television," Christina Jennings, chairman of Shaftesbury Films, said in a statement. "Their renewed commitment ensures the international partnership led by Fox International Channels for the next 13 episodes."

Insure this

The new Canadian series Cra$h and Burn, set in Hamilton, Ont., debuts tonight on Showcase. It focuses on an insurance adjuster named Jimmy Burn (played by Luke Kirby) who is trying to manoeuvre his way through a world filled with cold-hearted bean-counters and shameless scam artists.

"When I first read the script, it had muscle," said Kirby, who grew up in Guelph, Ont. "It left me with a curiosity about where Jimmy would be going, as well as the feeling that there were many possibilities, that he was a person who could find himself in many different situations.

"He's trying to survive, so he's kind of willing to work any way, on either side of the law. Jimmy definitely would be one to root for the underdog, and he has some idea of fairness, but he's not rigid about it. There's no doctrine."

Hmmm, sounds perfect for both the insurance biz and the TV biz!

Cra$h and Burn also stars Leela Savasta as Jimmy's fiancee, Caroline Cave as the insurance company's in-house lawyer, Clark Johnson as a veteran insurance investigator and Steve Bacic as a crooked mechanic and Russian mobster who wears really, really tight shirts.

Northern exposure

Also tonight, it's your chance to take a cold hard look at a cold hard land with the debut of Ice Pilots NWT on History Television.

Ice Pilots NWT is a 13-episode reality-documentary series about an unorthodox airline in the Canadian North called Buffalo Airways, which still flies Second World War-era propeller planes. Rookie pilots defy terrifying temperatures to transport cargo and passengers through blizzards and breakdowns on treacherous transatlantic treks.

Hey, as long as the pilots aren't drunk as arctic skunks -- like that United pilot allegedly was in London, England last week -- it's all good.