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A half-hour comedy, Rumours, about the careers, life and loves of a bunch of people putting out a women's gossip magazine in Toronto (!) debuts on CBC Oct. 9 at 9 p.m. According to Playback magazine, Mose Znaimer executive produces and says the show's universal appeal attracted him. The English version is a relatively straight translation of the hugely popular Quebec version, Rumeurs, uses the same sets and is shot at the same time. Script translation makes allowances for colloquial differences and allows for a few Toronto references. CBC has ordered 20 episodes of the new series.

In Quebec, Rumeurs regularly reaches more than one million viewers and has won multiple awards, including best comedy at last year's Prix Gemeaux. It is currently in production on its fifth season.

"It doesn't matter if it's Toronto, Vancouver or Sao Paulo - the show is about 'big city' themes," says Znaimer, who in another life cofounded Citytv. "Everyone is looking for love; everyone is sweating their careers... and whatever you're doing leads you into traffic and pollution.

It costs just over $300,000 per episode to shoot in Montreal and "benefits from the exceptional leverage you can get when the two productions are actually in process at the same time," according to Znaimer.