#FIRSTLOOK: SHOWCASE AND W NETWORK ANNOUNCE WINTER 2026 MIDSEASON PROGRAMMING INCLUDING “THE COPENHAGEN TEST” STARRING SIMU LIU

Corus Entertainment’s drama networks Showcase and W Network announced today their strong midseason lineups packed with buzzy, star-powered new series and returning seasons of well-established fan favourites. As the exclusive Canadian home of Peacock Originals and Hallmark content, Showcase and W Network are the ultimate destinations for premium entertainment delivering big laughs, edge-of-your-seat action, heartfelt moments, and intense drama. All series will be available to stream on STACKTV.

“This midseason delivers everything audiences come to Showcase and W Network for: star power, characters with emotional depth, and stories that truly resonate,” said Jennifer Abrams, Senior Vice President, Content and Marketing, Corus Entertainment. “From the edge-of-your-seat thrills of The Copenhagen Test with Canada’s own Simu Liu to the triumphant return of Outlander, viewers can look forward to a season filled with unforgettable characters and powerful storytelling on linear and to stream on STACKTV.”

SHOWCASE

First up, Showcase hits the right note with Amadeus premiering on Monday, January 5 at 9 p.m. ET. This limited series stars Will Sharpe (Girl/Haji, The White Lotus) as musical prodigy Wolfgang ‘Amadeus’ Mozart Paul Bettany (WandaVision, A Very British Scandal) as envious court composer Antonio Salieri, and Gabrielle Creevy (In My Skin, Black Doves) as Constanze Weber, Mozart’s fiercely loyal wife. When 25-year-old Amadeus (Sharpe) arrives in bustling Vienna, no longer a child prodigy and craving creative freedom, his world collides with two pivotal figures: his future wife, Constanze Weber, and devoutly religious court composer, Antonio Salieri. As Amadeus’ brilliance continues to flourish despite his personal demons, a questionable reputation, and skepticism from the conservative court, Salieri becomes increasingly tormented by this apparent divine gift. Salieri sees Amadeus as a threat to all that he holds dear in life – his talent, his reputation, even his faith in God – and vows to bring him down. What begins as a professional rivalry turns into a deeply personal obsession spanning 30 years, culminating in a murder confession and Salieri’s desperate attempt to entwine himself with Mozart’s legacy forever. Amadeus also stars Rory Kinnear as Emperor Joseph, Lucy Cohu as Cecilia Weber, Jonathan Aris as Leopold Mozart, Ényì Okoronkwo as Da Ponte, Jessica Alexander as Katerina, Hugh Sachs as Von Strack, Paul Bazely as Von Swieten, Rupert Vansittart as Rosenberg, Anastasia Martin as Aloysia Weber, Nancy Farino as Josepha Weber, Olivia-Mai Barrett as Sophie Weber, Viola Prettejohn as Princess Elizabeth and Jyuddah Jaymes as Franz Süssmayr.

Then, espionage thriller series The Copenhagen Test starring Canadian Simu Liu (Barbie, Marvel’s Shang-Chi) infiltrates Showcase on Tuesday, January 6 at 9 p.m. ET. The series follows first-generation Chinese-American intelligence analyst Alexander Hale (Liu) who realizes his brain has been hacked, giving the perpetrators access to everything he sees and hears. Caught between his shadowy agency and the unknown hackers, he must maintain a performance 24/7 to flush out who’s responsible and prove where his allegiance lies. The Copenhagen Test also stars Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Scream V and VI) as Michelle, Sinclair Daniel (The Other Black Girl, Insidious: The Red Door) as Parker, Brian d’Arcy James (Spotlight, 13 Reasons Why) as Peter Moira, Mark O’Brien (City on a Hill, Ready or Not) as Cobb, and Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, The Affair) as St. George.

Next up is limited drama series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy premiering Wednesday, January 7 at 9 p.m. ET. The series filmed in Toronto stars Michael Chernus (Severance, Dead Ringers), Gabriel Luna (The Last of Us, Terminator: Dark Fate), James Badge Dale (Savant, 1923), Michael Angarano (Oppenheimer, This Is Us), Chris Sullivan (This Is Us, Mercy), and Marin Ireland (The Irishman, The Umbrella Academy). From 1972-1978, thirty-three young men were kidnapped, murdered and buried in a crawl space beneath their killer’s house. Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy peels back the twisted layers of Gacy’s life while weaving in heartrending stories of his victims; exploring the grief, guilt, and trauma of their families and friends; and exposing the systemic failures, missed opportunities and societal prejudices that fueled his reign of terror. Starting December 22, viewers can also binge the entire series exclusively on STACKTV ahead of the broadcast premiere as part of STACKTV’s Holiday Sampling Event.

Rounding out the midseason schedule is PONIES starring Emmy Award®-nominated Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones, Me Before You) and Haley Lu Richardson (The White Lotus) premiering Thursday, January 15 at 9 p.m. ET. Moscow, 1977. Two “PONIES” (“persons of no interest” in intelligence speak) Bea (Clarke) and Twila (Richardson) work anonymously as secretaries in the American Embassy. That is, until their husbands are killed under mysterious circumstances in the USSR, and the pair become CIA operatives. Bea is an over-educated, Russian-speaking child of Soviet immigrants. Her cohort, Twila, is a small-town girl who is as abrasive as she is fearless. Together, they work to uncover a vast Cold War conspiracy and solve the mystery that made them widows in the first place. The series also stars Adrian Lester (Sandman, Day After Tomorrow), Artjom Gilz (Tar, Das Boot), Nicholas Podany (Saturday Night, Hello Tomorrow), Petro Ninovskyi (Shttl, Silence), and Vic Michaelis (Very Important People, Upload).

W NETWORK

Over on W Network, the schedule heats up with the delicious Season 2 return of The Chicken Sisters on Sunday, January 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The second season follows Amanda (Schuyler Fisk), Mae (Genevieve Angelson, The Handmaid’s Tale, Good Girls Revolt), Nancy (Lea Thompson, Switched at Birth, Back to the Future) and Gus (Wendie Malick, Young Sheldon, Shrinking, Just Shoot Me!) as they use The Chicken Sisters restaurant to officially put a generations-long feud to rest, while Frank Jr. begins another by opening a Mr. Chicken’s Cluckery on Merinac’s Main Street. Meanwhile, the longest running Hallmark Channel original series, When Calls the Heart, returns for Season 11 on Sunday, January 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Starring Erin Krakow, Kevin McGarry, Chris McNally, Jack Wagner and Pascale Hutton, this season explores renewal, redemption, and of course romance as Hope Valley enters the 1920’s.

Up next, generations clash in laugh-out-loud series Z Suite starring Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Nico Santos (Superstore) and Madison Shamoun (The Lake) premiering with two back-to-back episodes on Monday, January 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Advertising maven Monica Marks (Graham) and her loyal right hand executive Doug Garcia (Santos) have long been at the top of the Madison Avenue world. But after a record scratch blunder, they are suddenly canceled, pushed out and replaced by the agency’s rising Gen Z employees led by social media manager, Kriska Thompson (Shamoun). Refusing to go quietly, Monica launches her biggest campaign yet – getting their careers back and taking down the eager team of Gen-Zers who are just getting comfortable in their new roles.

Also joining the midseason lineup is horror comedy The ‘Burbs, a new series adaptation of the 1989 film of the same name starring and executive produced by Keke Palmer (Nope, Password). Set in present-day suburbia, The ‘Burbs follows a young couple who have reluctantly relocated to the husband’s childhood home. Their world is upended when a new neighbour moves in across the street bringing old secrets of the cul-de-sac to light, and new deadly threats shatter the illusion of their quiet little neighbourhood. The series also stars Jack Whitehall (Jungle Cruise), Julia Duffy (Palm Royale), Paula Pell (Girls5eva), Mark Proksch (What We Do in the Shadows), and Kapil Talwakar (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist). Broadcast details will be announced at a later date.

Lastly, beloved series Outlander takes its final bow with the Season 8 premiere on Monday, March 9 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In the closing chapter of the Sony Pictures Television produced series Outlander, a heart-wrenching journey lies ahead for Claire and Jamie’s enduring love story. As Season 8 begins, Jamie and Claire soon find the war has followed them home to Fraser’s Ridge, now a thriving settlement that has grown and flourished in their absence. With new arrivals and changes made during their years away, the Frasers are confronted with the question of what they are willing to sacrifice for the place they call home and, more importantly, what they would sacrifice to stay together. While the Frasers keep a united front against outside intruders, family secrets finally coming to light threaten to tear them apart from the inside. Although they’ve left the war for America’s freedom behind, their fight for Fraser’s Ridge has only just begun.

Outlander stars Caitríona Balfe as Claire Fraser, Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser, Sophie Skelton as Brianna MacKenzie, Richard Rankin as Roger MacKenzie, John Bell as Young Ian Murray, David Berry as Lord John Grey, Charles Vandervaart as William Ransom, Izzy Meikle-Small as Rachel Hunter Murray and Joey Phillips as Denzell Hunter. Matthew B. Roberts, Ronald D. Moore, Maril Davis, Toni Graphia, Luke Schelhaas, Andy Harries, Jim Kohlberg, Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan serve as executive producers on Outlander, which is produced by Sony Pictures Television.

Showcase and W Network’s hit series can be streamed via STACKTV, available on Amazon Prime Video, Bell Fibe TV app, Fubo, Rogers Ignite TV and Ignite Streaming. The network is also available through all major TV distributors, including: Shaw, Shaw Direct, Rogers, Bell, Videotron, Telus, Cogeco, Eastlink and SaskTel.