The CW is about to premiere the return of a popular Canadian crime show, but does that mean the first series is coming to the network too?
Right now, CW fans can watch Jason Priestley on the fun caper crime show Wild Cards. However, Deadline reports that Priestley will be pulling double duty, as the CW has picked up Private Eyes West Coast, a Canadian crime show that is set to begin production on its second season from Canada’s Corus Entertainment.
It’s an interesting choice by the CW, given that the only place in the U.S. that the original Private Eyes aired was on the Ion network, with Hallmark+ the only place you could find it on streaming. While the CW does have various Canadian-based productions on its website, bringing in this sequel series is surprising.
"We are thrilled to welcome Private Eyes West Coast to our fall lineup and to continue working with the immensely talented Jason Priestley on another CW series. We are also excited to expand our partnership with Lionsgate, as well as collaborate once again with the Piller/Segan team, who have made Wild Cards the network’s most-watched scripted series of the year and have created yet another show packed with humor, action and undeniable chemistry between its two leads," Brad Schwartz, President of the CW Network, said in a statement to Deadline.
For those who have watched and enjoyed the show, the return of this series is great news, especially its expansion into American audiences.
What is Private Eyes about?
Premiering in Canada in 2016, Private Eyes starred Priestley as Matt Shade, a former hockey player turned agent caring for his blind teenage daughter. While trying to help a player in trouble, Matt ran into Angie Everett (Cindy Sampson), a tough private eye. Working well together on the case, Matt joined Angie as her new partner, investigating various crimes.
The show had a nice vibe with its humor and the chemistry between Shade and Angie. It ended in 2021 after five seasons, with the final scene having Shade and Angie, after years of dancing around each other, sharing a kiss.
The new ten-episode series appears to have Shade and Angie now a couple living in Vancouver. But when a murder occurs, the pair are thrust back into their lives as P.I.s while meeting new people. Here's how The CW described the new series:
“Shade (Priestley) and Angie (Sampson) have left behind their P.I. firm and settled into a new life on the West Coast, but their new quiet life is shaken when a night out lands them at the scene of a murder. A woman stands over her dead boyfriend with a bloody steak knife in hand. Believing in her innocence, Shade and Angie dive headfirst back into the high-stakes world of investigation. Over the season, the private eyes juggle the challenges of opening a P.I. firm in a new city. Without their friendly Toronto network of sources, Shade and Angie work to build a new community. From tracking down a missing student in the wilderness of British Columbia to extracting a murder confession from a surfer in Tofino, Shade and Angie prove life on the West Coast is packed with heart-pounding thrills.”
This pickup matches the CW’s new push on procedural shows, especially those coming from Canada. The question is whether the network will also acquire the original series. It would be off for newer viewers to tune into this sequel show with no knowledge of the original and without understanding the history of the characters.
A logical idea is the CW putting the original series on their website to allow new viewers to catch up. There’s no window for when the show premieres, most likely in early 2027. At least fans can enjoy the return of this underrated crime series that fits well on the CW block.
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