TORONTO - There's a lot of buzz about CTV's slick new cop series "Flashpoint."

Premiering Friday, "Flashpoint" has attracted attention for being the first Canadian show to air in network prime time in both Canada and the U.S. since CTV's "Due South" launched in 1994.

But the engaging drama - airing in the U.S. on CBS - has the potential to live up to the buzz for viewers on both sides of the border.

Set in Toronto and based on Toronto's real-life Emergency Task Force, "Flashpoint" features a team of elite cops who cruise around the city in black SUVs. Episodes focus on high-pressure storylines including drug busts, hostage negotiations and suicide talk-downs.

Several episodes are based on actual events, including a hostage taking at Union Station in 2004 - the inspiration behind Friday's pilot episode.

The ensemble cast features Enrico Colantoni of "Veronica Mars" fame, Hugh Dillon, the former punk rocker-turned-actor who starred in the gritty "Durham County," David Paetkau of CTV's "Whistler," and Amy Jo Johnson, known for her roles in the American series "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" and "Felicity."

Dillon, who plays lead sniper Ed Lane, says "Flashpoint" is part of a renaissance in Canadian television.

"I think it's a great time for Canadian television. It just has a certain vibe right now," he said. "Toronto is a huge North American city, it's got great geography and it's got great history. And it's about time we didn't just happen to call it New York or Boston or Chicago."

Though "Flashpoint" is set in Toronto, the show shies away from explicit Canadian references. There are no beavers, Mounties or hockey sticks to be seen - but the police team drinks Tim Hortons coffee and drives on Toronto's downtown Gardiner Expressway.

"We never really refer to it as Toronto," said Colantoni, who plays head negotiator Sgt. Gregory Parker. "But once the American viewers realize how beautiful (Toronto) is, and how they've never seen it before, I'm sure they'll be fascinated and intrigued by it."

The show has the look and feel of a Hollywood movie. The police team uses a plethora of guns and high-tech gadgetry - something not traditionally seen on Canadian-made television.

But Paetkau, who plays hot-headed rookie Sam Braddock, said that the "traditional" Canadian TV show is becoming a thing of the past.

"With the amount of talent that we have in Canada, that whole stigma about Canadian television is going to go by the wayside," Paetkau said. "We make some of the best music, we have some of the best writers, we have some of the best artists - why wouldn't we have the best television?"

Johnson, an American, is the only non-Canadian member of the core cast - and the only female member of the police team. She's expecting a baby in the winter.

"It's actually been going really really well. Everyone is very supportive," she said of her pregnancy.

Johnson said that her character, sniper Jules Callaghan, won't be following in her footsteps.

"That would be a little strange, I think. That wouldn't really fit - a pregnant sniper."