Arguably the best show currently on Canadian television (not that that's a difficult title to achieve :) It's a weekly, hour-long drama now in it's 4th season that revolves around the title character, Dominic Da Vinci (played by Nicholas Campbell), a coroner in the city of Vancouver, BC (definitely the grittiest city in Canada). It's a cop show in the vein of NYPD Blue and Homicide, but is much more rooted in reality. For example: there isn't a shootout in every episode; and detectives don't single-handedly solve cases (the coroners office plays just as, if not a bigger role in murder investigations).
There are some character stories that continue through the series, but these aren't a big problem if you're picking it up in the middle of the season. A bigger problem is the shows tendency to carry details from past cases into current episodes (definitely a reward for watching regularly, but somewhat of an obstacle to new viewers).
The show often attempts to tackle current social issues in each episode (native rights, homophobia, police brutality, etc.) but not in the over-done, 'strait from the headlines' way Law & Order does.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if an American network picked it up (or cloned it, like they tried and failed with Traders), as there's nothing overly Canadian about it... or at least nothing American's wouldn't understand. Apparently it has wide distribution around the world besides the US (this is pretty common with Canadian shows: they're usually developed with the international market in mind).
You can catch it Sunday's at 9 p.m. (half an hour later in Newfoundland, of course) on the CBC (right after the CBC's only other program worth watching, Canada: A People's History).
Should also note it's won Best Dramatic Series at the Gemini's for the past 3 years running.
Update: Well, it looks like the Americans have taken the clone approach (no surprise there). CBS's smash hit CSI (Crime Scene Investigators) and its spawn, CSI Miami, have ripped off the DaVinci' formula (apparently to good effect, judging by their ratings numbers).
In other DaVinci' news, Nicholas Campbell says they're considering doing a movie based on the show following the 5th season (a la the X-Files movie).
Update #2: The real life Vancouver coroner the show's title character is based on, Larry Campbell, was today (November 18, 2002) elected mayor on a platform of dealing with the city's drug problem through controversial initiatives such as the erection of safe injection sites. He also plans to hold a referendum on the city's Winter Olympics bid.
His party, the left-leaning Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), came from behind to sweep all city council seats. | 
