Upcoming season could be North of 60's last

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Are the people of Lynx River going to be put out to pasture?

Like the characters who live in the fictional setting of the North of 60 CBC television series, the show itself is facing some changes and upheavals.

After finishing filming the fifth and sixth seasons of the popular television series this past June, producers are not sure what will happen next.

Enough episodes have been shot at the Bragg Creek sound stage in southwest Alberta to take the series into the spring of 1998, but producer Tom Dent-Cox said there has been no further commitment from officials at CBC television.

Dent-Cox said CBC generally doesn't decide on a series' next season until the present one has finished. The show had been picked up without worry over the last five years of production, he said, but the forecast for the 1998 season isn't so clear.

"In this case we are less sure than we have been on the future of the series," he said.

But there is some good news on the horizon.

Dent-Cox said there is a possibility the characters may be brought together for a television movie.

"One is in the workings," he said, adding that if the series isn't picked up in 1998, at least a movie would keep the show's characters alive.

"We are still waiting for official news on the fate of the series. We still hope there is some life there. We are talking to CBC and hope there will at least be a movie and a continuation of the characters."

Losing the series would be a blow to many Canadian fans, said Dent-Cox. The show has a great appeal to Canadian viewers and also has a following in the United States, he said.

The new season, airing on CBC, will offer some interesting situations and conflicts, said Dent-Cox.

After the discovery of oil near Lynx River, the characters will face all the benefits and draw-backs of an increasing economy.

"We'll see the town grapple with whether or not it can remain as a community in the face of outside pressure," he said.

Ironically, it is outside pressures which are placing the North of 60 show in jeopardy off camera.

Dent-Cox said he understands the financial pressures that come with putting a television show on the air for a season. He also realizes the need for the television corporation to support other ventures. He just hopes that viewers will get to see the characters develop some more.

"We are not feeling that the well is dry. These are some very rich characters in a very rich setting," he said.

Officials at CBC could not be reached for comment, but it is believed they are negotiating funding for a movie idea.

Calgary based actor Tom Jackson, who plays one of the show's lead characters, said he hasn't been made aware of a movie deal or plans for the 1998 season.

If a movie is agreed to, it is likely to be ready by the fall of 1998. Dent-Cox said a story line for a movie version about the people of Lynx River has not been ironed out yet.