Though somewhat frustrated with the uncertainty over scheduling for his Northern Town television series, Daniel Janke is optimistic about a tentative summer start date.

'At 8:30 p.m., right after The Rick Mercer Report, it's a good spot,' Janke said in an interview this week regarding a proposed summer schedule.

'It's a good place for us because they have had a lot of success with shows that air in that window.'

Janke wrote and co-produced Northern Town, a six-episode series shot entirely in the Yukon.

The story line focuses on a man in search of pieces of meteorite, after a meteor land near a small northern town.

Janke said the idea for the series is based on the actual event of January 2000 in the southern Yukon and northern B.C., but that's it.

He has been commissioned to write the stories for the second segment of seven episodes, and work on that has been ongoing, as timing permits, Janke says.

While the veteran composer and musician is writing the story line, he's working with independent filmmaker Gary Burns to develop the actual scripts. Burns directed the first six episodes.

At the moment, however, crafting the next half-hour segment for Northern Town is on hold as Janke is busy composing an orchestral piece for a group in Montreal.

He said it's been somewhat frustrating waiting on hold for the CBC to announce its intentions for Northern Town, as there was an expectation telecasting the series would have already started, or at least a date announced.

Janke said the delay is particularly frustrating because it's not tied to the actual production but rather an administrative shuffle back east.

Having been retained to work on a second set of scripts doesn't mean the corporation has already decided to proceed with seven more episodes, he said.

But generally speaking, Janke indicated, the first six episodes are being well received. One episode aired over the Easter weekend at Dawson City's International Short Film Festival.

He expects a decision on the next seven episodes will come after the CBC has had a chance to gauge viewer response to the first six instalments.

CBC spokeswoman Ruth Ellen Soles indicated this week the first episode of Northern Town is scheduled to air July 18.

The summer TV schedule is due to come out soon, and the corporation will be in a much better position to discuss what's in store for Northern Town at that time, network spokesman Jay Walsh added today.

'We are looking forward to making a formal announcement about our whole summer schedule, which in this case does include Northern Town, in the next couple of week, in mid-May.'

Walsh said while there are critics of summer scheduling, there are also advantages to airing in the summer, and some shows have done very well in those time slots.