NBC Eyeing Canadian Drama 'Saving Hope' For Summer Run

NBC is eyeing Canadian medical series Saving Hope for its summer schedule.

The fast-paced Toronto hospital drama centers on a chief of surgery (Michael Shanks) whose sudden illness leaves the medical facility in chaos, and his doctor wife (Erica Durance) in shock. Thirteen episodes of the show's first season were ordered by CTV. 

The project, which comes from indie producer Thump Inc.’s Ilana Frank and David Wellington, counts Huse Madhavji, Julia Taylor-Rossand Kristopher Turner among its cast. The pilot episode was penned by co-creators Malcom MacRury and Morwyn Brebner.

Hope joins a growing crop of imports, including ABC's Rookie Blue, CBS's Flashpoint and the CW's upcoming The LA Complex, lining the broadcast schedules. Such efforts allow the networks to have scripted fare during the otherwise slow summer months without having to fork over the multimillion-dollar sums that homegrown series requires.

In recent years, NBC's summer lineup has been filled primarily with unscripted fare such as The Voice, America's Got Talent and It's Worth What. The network attempted to import a summer scripted effort, telepathic paramedic drama The Listener, in 2009, but it was quickly pulled due to low ratings.