The BEST CBC (CA) shows of all time
Every CBC (CA) show, ranked
We've compiled the average episode rating for every CBC (CA) show to compile this list of best shows!
#1 - Degrassi High
The young denizens of Degrassi Street in Toronto, Canada, having graduated from one television series, Kids of Degrassi Street, to another, Degrassi Junior High, confront life as teenagers during the heady, late 1980s in Degrassi High. Produced in Canada and seen in America on cable and PBS, the sometimes-controversial series confronts serous issues (adolescent pregnancy, AIDS, suicide) in a head-on way, often to the annoyance of TV censors.
View Episode Rankings#2 - Penn & Teller's Magic & Mystery Tour
Focuses on street magic in the countries known for their old legacy of magic. Penn and Teller visit three countries, in three episodes and get to know the classical magic from that area. The countries featured are China, India and Egypt.
View Episode Rankings#3 - Anne with an E
A coming-of-age story about an outsider who, against all odds and numerous challenges, fights for love and acceptance and for her place in the world. The series centers on a young orphaned girl in the late 1890’s, who, after an abusive childhood spent in orphanages and the homes of strangers, is mistakenly sent to live with an elderly spinster and her aging brother. Over time, 13-year-old Anne will transform their lives and eventually the small town in which they live with her unique spirit, fierce intellect and brilliant imagination.
View Episode Rankings#4 - Anne of Green Gables
Filmed amidst the spectacular scenery of Prince Edward Island, these Emmy Award-winning productions span two decades, from Anne’s struggles as an orphan in a small maritime community, to her triumphs as a young teacher and as a volunteer searching for her husband on the battlefields of Europe.
View Episode Rankings#5 - The Red Green Show
The Red Green Show is a self-proclaimed parody of many country fishing and handyman TV shows. Red Green is a bearded Canadian carpenter who's really handy with his hands and can find great uses for duct tape. He hosts with his nerdy nephew, Harold. Trying to teach the viewers how to make excellent and useful crafts, as well as give marriage advice, from their home at Possum Lodge.
View Episode Rankings#6 - Rick Mercer Report
The Rick Mercer Report (formerly Rick Mercer's Monday Report) is a political news-comedy show. Most of each episode is done with Rick in front of the camera displaying his unique brand of satire, from insulting politicians to mocking Americans. Rick tries to do at least one segment in a different Canadian city each week. This is a must see for everyone in Canada. You'll either love or hate this show within the first viewing.
View Episode Rankings#7 - InSecurity
Keeping the nation safe ...ish. InSecurity is an action comedy about the men and women of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA). Each week special agent Alex Cranston and her team of espionage misfits take on a mission vital to national security. They go where others can't go. They do what others won't do. And they screw up in ways that can only be described as world class. But like all great spy heroes, Alex and her NISA team get the bad guys and make Canada a safer place. Just not always on purpose.
View Episode Rankings#8 - The Kids in the Hall
Get ready for sketch comedy … Canadian style! The Kids In The Hall are a hilarious sketch comedy troupe. They got their name from a comedian named Jack Benny, who would often end a joke by saying: “I got this from the kids in the hall”, referring to the amateur comedians who would hang around outside his office. KITH was formed in 1984 when McCulloch and McKinney, who had worked together in Calgary as part of a group named the Audience, teamed up with Foley and McDonald’s Toronto-based group, KITH. Thompson officially joined in January 1985. That same year, McCulloch and McKinney were hired as writers for NBC’s Saturday Night Live after a talent scout saw KITH in performance. Significantly, SNL had also been created by Michaels, himself an ex-patriate Canadian living and producing in New York. Still in 1985, Foley appeared in the film High Stakes, and Thompson and McDonald toured with Second City. In 1986, KITH were reunited in Toronto and Michaels finally saw them perform.
View Episode Rankings#9 - Heartland (2007) (CA)
Life is hard on the Flemings' ranch in the Alberta foothills where abused or neglected horses find refuge with a kind, hard-working family. Debts abound and the bank is about to foreclose. Can they keep the ranch running?
View Episode Rankings#10 - Riftworld Chronicles
A struggling journalist teams up with a dimension-traveling wizard who is stuck in our world without his magic powers. She helps him on his quest to return home in exchange for the rights to his story. When a rift between the realms opens up and fantastical foes invade, they are forced to solve the mystery of what binds their worlds, and their fates, together.
View Episode Rankings#11 - The Newsroom
George Findlay is the News Director of the local station in Toronto for "a major government controlled broadcast network". His life is complicated by three factors: he is completely self absorbed; most of the news stories don't happen they way or when he wants; and he functions in the Machiavellian bureaucracy of a government owned television network. Series II, after a brief hiatus the the Newsroom story continues.... George Findlay (Ken Finkleman) and his staff are back in the newsroom where pettiness and moral bankruptcy are taken to new depths. New faces, new phobias, new issues and Death haunt George as he maneuvers his way around the daily task of producing the news. Also this season, News Anchor Jim Walcott (Peter Keleghan) returns to brighten our day with moronic interviews with luminaries like Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky .
View Episode Rankings#12 - Murdoch Mysteries
A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also struggling for recognition in the face of tradition. Based on the books by Maureen Jennings.
View Episode Rankings#13 - Schitt's Creek
Formerly filthy rich Johnny Rose, wife Moira, and their two kids, David and Alexis, suddenly find themselves broke and forced to live in Schitt's Creek, a small depressing town they once bought as a joke.
View Episode Rankings#14 - Cracked (2013)
CRACKED is a unique blend of a police and medical drama inspired by the real-life experiences of police officers and mental-health professionals. Detective Aidan Black, a seasoned police officer who transfers from the SWAT team after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, joins psychiatrist Dr. Daniella Ridley, who leaves her prominent position at a downtown hospital to partner with the police in a newly formed Psych Crimes Unit. Black and Ridley combine police investigative skills and psychiatric insight to resolve crises and solve crimes.
View Episode Rankings#15 - X Company
Five highly skilled young recruits – Canadian, American and British are torn from their ordinary lives to train as agents in an ultra-secret facility on the shores of Lake Ontario. These agents parachute behind enemy lines, where they’re fair game for torture and execution. From elegant hotels to hellholes in the field, it’s one risky operation after another.
View Episode Rankings#16 - Alias Grace
In 19th-century Canada, a psychiatrist weighs whether a murderess should be pardoned due to insanity.
View Episode Rankings#17 - Republic of Doyle
The sleepy port city of St. John's, Newfoundland, is changing. While an influx of oil has flooded its coffers, it's also brought to the surface the corrupt -- where there's cash, there's trash, after all. And doing his part to clean things up is private eye Jake Doyle, who, with the help of his dad and partner at the Doyle P.I. Firm, takes on all cases -- with the odd homicide thrown in just to keep things interesting.
View Episode Rankings#18 - jPod
Set in 2005, it concerns a group of video game programmers whose last names all begin with "J". They live and work in a development "pod", which they refer to as the "jPod", within a company that Coupland has described as "resembles, but legally no way is Electronic Arts", located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
View Episode Rankings#19 - Dragons' Den (CA)
Five well-to-do business execs hold the fate of several aspiring entrepreneurs in their hands as they decide in which person and product to invest their funds. This series is inspired by a British program of the same name.
View Episode Rankings#20 - Road to Avonlea
Set against the stunning backdrop of Prince Edward Island, Canada, Road to Avonlea follows the adventures of the King family and the residents in the quaint town of Avonlea at the turn of the 20th century.
View Episode Rankings#21 - Strange Empire
A Western series whose heroes are women. With most of their men gone, and those who remain battling for control, the women struggle to survive, to find their independence, and to build a life in which to thrive and raise families.
View Episode Rankings#22 - Degrassi Junior High
Go to school with the show in a class by itself- and get real! Hailed as "groundbreaking," "powerful," and "totally authentic," Degrassi Junior High confronts it all-friendship, puberty, rumors, sports, studies, and more-with a refreshing ensemble cast and a unique teen’s-eye-view of life. Sometimes moving, sometimes shocking, but always believable, Degrassi Junior High is a classic for teens of all ages. All your favorite characters and storylines are waiting-find your seat-school’s open!
View Episode Rankings#23 - Workin' Moms
Four women juggle love, careers, and parenthood. They support, challenge, and try not to judge each other as life throws them curveballs. Whether it is an identity crisis, a huge job opportunity, postpartum depression, or an unplanned pregnancy – they face both the good and bad with grace and humour.
View Episode Rankings#24 - Intelligence
Organized crime and the Organized Crime Unit (OCU) work together to achieve the opposing goals of each respective world.
View Episode Rankings#25 - This Hour Has 22 Minutes
The longest-running TV comedy series in Canadian history that continues to push the boundaries of provocative satire, targeting politics, culture and world events with biting parodies and an unrelenting skewering of the weekly news.
View Episode Rankings#26 - The Raccoons
Follow the adventures of Bert Raccoon and his friends in the Evergreen Forest of Western Canada as they strive to thwart the industrialist actions of Cyril Sneer, a pink aardvark, and his pig henchmen.
View Episode Rankings#27 - Kim's Convenience
While running a convenience store in Toronto, members of a Korean-Canadian family deal with customers, each other and the evolving world around them.
View Episode Rankings#28 - The Nature of Things
Hosted by the world-renowned geneticist and environmentalist, David Suzuki, every week presents stories that are driven by a scientific understanding of the world.
View Episode Rankings#29 - Frankie Drake Mysteries
Frankie Drake Mysteries follows Toronto’s only female private detective in the 1920s as she takes on the cases the police don’t want or can’t handle. Along with her partner Trudy, Frankie and the Drake Detective Agency take on cases of all shapes and sizes. From airplanes and booze running to American G-men, Communists and union busters, Frankie’s fearless sense of adventure gets her into all kinds of trouble, but she always manages to find her way out.
View Episode Rankings#30 - Arctic Air
On the ground, Bobby, the headstrong business partner, struggles to save the airline from crashing financially while Mel, the cantankerous co-owner, keeps his crew of pilots in the air. Caught in the crossfire is Mel's hotshot pilot daughter Krista.
View Episode Rankings#31 - 21 Thunder
In the cutthroat world of pro soccer, a club lives and dies by the stars on its under-21 team. They are the future and lifeblood of any franchise, but most will never make it. 21 THUNDER is the story of the Montreal Thunder U21 team, following the team's star players on and off the field. A story of love, crime, race, sex and athletic glory, at its core the series is about how a group of players and coaches unite as family in the whirlwind of life, one step away from the pros.
View Episode Rankings#32 - Coroner
The series follows Jenny Cooper, a former ER doctor and newly appointed coroner investigating suspicious deaths. Suffering from anxiety and recently widowed with a teenage son, Jenny is a woman of action driven by an intense desire for the truth.
View Episode Rankings#33 - The Border
In this post-9/11 world the once "undefended border" that divides Canada and the U.S. is no longer considered soft. This CBC program lifts stories from the headlines to fuel an action-packed, dramatic series about maintaining security in today's world. The series follows the Immigration and Customs Security (ICS) main team led by Major Mike Kessler.
View Episode Rankings#34 - The Detectives (2018)
Each episode features a different detective telling the story of a real case in Canada that not only challenged them like no other, but also had a lasting impact on Canadian society and law enforcement. In bringing intimate, raw interviews with detectives together with dramatization, the series offers an eye-opening and emotional look at a detective's journey and what it takes to break a case from the detective's perspective.
View Episode Rankings#35 - Bellevue
In a small blue-collar town with a lot of 'good people' who 'live right' and take it upon themselves to make sure the neighbours do too, Detective Annie Ryder is a cop whose intense and brazen personality has always been at odds with her hometown. When a transgender teen goes missing, Annie dives in to unravel the disappearance that suggests foul play, despite finding herself in a difficult position as she must cast suspicion on people she has known all her life. As the case pulls her further away from her family, she is also confronted by a mysterious person from her past with disturbing answers and a terrifying need to get inside her head.
View Episode Rankings#36 - Ben Hur
About the struggle between the Roman Empire and its rebellious conquest Judaea, and two best friends caught in a terrible moment in history.
View Episode Rankings#37 - 18 To Life
'18 To Life' is about a couple that does the unthinkable in the name of love: they run off and get married at the tender age of 18. Their parents-next-door neighbors and polar opposites-are less than thrilled and even their peers disapprove. As Tom and Jessie struggle to become man and wife in a world that still views them as kids, the tension between their families adds a dose of biting humor to their sweet love story.
View Episode Rankings#38 - Utopia Falls
Set in the future, twenty-four teenagers are chosen from the last living colony, to take part of a competition known as The Exemplar. That's the chance to write their names into history.
View Episode Rankings#39 - Moonshine (2021)
A raucous dramedy that tells the story of the Finley-Cullens, a dysfunctional clan of adult half-siblings battling for control of the ancestral business, The Moonshine, a ramshackle summer resort, two stars on a good day — and that day was in 1979. It’s an epic tale of lust, legacy and lobster, set against the backdrop of financial hardship, insane tourists, small-town intrigue and a long-buried secret that threatens to annihilate the Finley-Cullens once and for all.
View Episode Rankings#40 - Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc is born in 1412 in the village of Domrémy in the war zone of Northern France. During her youth she often witnesses the horrors of war, but her spirit is kept high by the legend of the Maiden of Lorraine. This says that a young maiden one day will unite the divided country and lead the people to freedom.
View Episode Rankings#41 - Caught (2018)
Locked up after a drug deal goes wrong, David Slaney makes a daring break from a New Brunswick prison to attempt one more deal with his former partner - all this with a dogmatic police officer, Patterson, at his heels. It's Slaney's last chance at freedom - but in this tale of bravado and betrayal, nothing is what it seems and no one can be trusted.
View Episode Rankings#42 - The Odyssey
Jay Ziegler is a normal boy until he falls into a coma after an accident. In the real world, aka the Upworld, Jay is in a coma and his family and friends must deal with life around them. But in Jay's mind, aka the Downworld, Jay is travelling though a land populated entirely by kids. With the help of his friends Alpha and Flash (the Downworld counterparts of his friends Donna and Keith), Jay must fulfill his mission of finding the mysterious leader of the Downworld, discover what really happened to his father and find his way home. Join Jay and his friends as their Odyssey unfolds. The original title for the series was The Jellybean Odyssey. The Odyssey was filmed entirely on location in British Columbia, Canada.
View Episode Rankings#43 - Cavendish
Two bickering brothers return to their PEI hometown to take care of their grumpy and ailing father, only to collide with the eccentric townsfolk and their even stranger superstitions.
View Episode Rankings#44 - Run the Burbs
The series follows the Phams, a young, bold Vietnamese-South Asian-Canadian family taking a different approach to living life to the fullest, while changing the way we think about contemporary family values and life in the burbs.
View Episode Rankings#45 - The Porter
Drama about railway workers in Canada and the United States who joined together to give birth to the world's first black union and sparked a civil rights movement. Set in the roar of the 1920s, this eight-part series follows the journeys of four ambitious souls who hustle, dream, cross borders and confront barriers in the fight for liberation—on and off the railways that crossed North America.
View Episode Rankings#46 - Mr. Meaty
Fresh off the grill, made to order the Mr. Meaty way. Your choice of toppings: meat, meat and more meat. Welcome to fast-food hell, right across from the Salad N’ Dressin in the second-floor food court. Josh and Parker are in charge around here, and what they lack in customer service they more than make up for in imagination. With visits from cryogenically frozen former managers and frightening fry monsters, Josh and Parker have plenty on their plates, aside from meat. Head on down to Mr. Meaty for good times, good friends, and, well…MEAT!
View Episode Rankings#47 - The Best Laid Plans
Based on author Terry Fallis’ award-winning novel of the same name and 2011 Canada Reads winner, THE BEST LAID PLANS, is a humourous and satirical journey into the world of national politics and backroom manoeuvring of Canadian government.
View Episode Rankings#48 - Trickster (2020)
An Indigenous teen struggles to support his dysfunctional family as myth, magic, and monsters slowly infiltrate his life.
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