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Canadian TV Shows That Americans Should See (currently 2484 views)
Alan_Holman
Posted: July 16th, 2007, 1:17am
Guest User
Most of the Americans on these discussion boards have probably never heard of the following Canadian TV shows, but I strongly recommend the following Canadian TV shows to my neighbours to the south -- you'll love 'em!
TRAILER PARK BOYS CORNER GAS TWITCH CITY DUE SOUTH THE NEWSROOM ODD JOB JACK KEVIN SPENCER
I'd like the Canadians on these boards to describe these shows for our neighbours -- and maybe add to the list -- and the Americans on these boards must please take notes and find and watch these shows
I'm no Canadian, but I've heard good things about the show Slings and Arrows. Is it any good? I see Sarah Polley's been in it so that's major incentive for me to watch it.
"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."
Yes, SLINGS AND ARROWS is great. Watch it! One of its stars, Paul Gross, also starred in one of the shows on my list -- he starred in DUE SOUTH. I'd rather talk about DUE SOUTH than SLINGS AND ARROWS right now ... hehe. In DUE SOUTH, Paul Gross played a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who partners up with a Chicago cop. DUE SOUTH is the best buddy-cop series ever made ... the personalities of the mountie and the chicago cop clashed so perfectly. The Canadian way of doing things usually got better results than the American way of doing things ... hehe. (So it's a wonder that the American network CBS actually aired many episodes.) Leslie Nielsen guest starred hilariously on several episodes of DUE SOUTH, and Gordon Pinsent played a re-occuring role. DUE SOUTH was created by Paul Haggis who is the Oscar Winning screenwriter of MILLION DOLLAR BABY ... and the short-lived series THE BLACK DONNELYS. Paul Haggis wrote many episodes of DUE SOUTH ... and the show was consistantly brilliant for several seasons ... yet so many Americans have never even heard of it ... because face it, even though it was on CBS, who watches CBS? Watch it!
I actually remember that show! I remember 'cause the Mountie's name "Benton Fraser" sounded a lot like Brendan Fraser. I watched that when I was 8 or something...
"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."
I remember watching Due South too. Although as I recall the american detective changed after either the first or second series and I lost interest, shame though cos it was a good show. Jez that was a long time ago...I was still at school!!!
Check out my scripts...if you want to, no pressure.
The Red/Green Show was pretty funny. He ran this hunting lodge or somthing and fancied himself a real handyman. Usually he just ended up duct-taping whatever it was he was fixing together.
It was on for quite a few seasons. I think it ran its course but it was always good for a laugh.
"If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." - Albert Einstein
I considered adding ROBSON ARMS and ALICE I THINK to my list, but I decided not to. ROBSON ARMS takes getting used to. I love ALICE I THINK actually. For those who've never heard of them, here's what they're about:
ROBSON ARMS is created and usually written by the woman who plays Wanda on the hilarious Canadian sit-com CORNER GAS. The actress/writer's surname is Robson. Her series is about the many different worlds within one small apartment building. The series is a mix between brilliant and un-entertaining. The flashes of brilliance make it watchable, but some episodes are too predictable, and other episodes are totally unentertaining crap. I started watching one episode because Leslie Nielsen had a cameo. His cameo was about two seconds long and un-funny ... a waste of a great talent. And his two second cameo was in an episode that was otherwise nearly completely unentertaining and boring. I do have favourite characters in ROBSON ARMS, but because the episodes vascilate between residents of the building, my favourite characters show up not often enough per season for me to recommend the series.
ALICE I THINK is a funny show that takes place in a town called Smithers, British Columbia. Smithers flooded earlier this year, so I wonder if that affected filming of the new season. I like the show a lot, actually ... but there are things about it I'd love to change ... but I'm in no position to give them notes that they'd pay attention to ... so therefore although I love the show, it's not one of the top ones I'd recommend.
Although Frasier got a new partner in the second half of DUE SOUTH, it made the story evolve in a fun and imaginative way. I love how his second partner was a totally different person who was assuming the identity of his first partner because of an undercover operation. His first partner did eventually return for the series finale, and that undercover operation had a worthwhile conclusion.
CORNER GAS has US distribution deals? Sweet! The town it's filmed in is a short drive from where I'm sitting. I'm sitting in the city of Saskatoon. They reference Saskatoon sometimes, and they even use a Saskatoon phone book sometimes. Some canadian cultural references in CORNER GAS will go over the heads of a lot of American viewers, though.
The RED GREEN SHOW had a movie; it was actually very good. When I saw it in the theater, though, the sound went out a half-hour into the movie, so I had to leave and get my ticket-price refunded. But just a couple months later -- in an amazingly short period of time -- that movie came to video, and I rented it and saw the rest of the movie; it was great! And only one or two days after it was released to video, it was shown on PBS with no interruptions of any sort. I could have recorded it from PBS and thus saved the cost of the video rental and owned a recorded copy ... but when it was on PBS, I noticed it about ten minutes into the movie, so it was too late to press the record button. But it was really weird how it came on PBS just a couple days after it was released to videotape.
I've never been a fan of DEGRASSI, but I do get some amusement from the occasional episode ... especially the ones with Jay and Silent Bob; they should return.
SCTV was consistantly hilarious. I never watched the ROAD TO AVONLEA stuff or the ANNE OF GREEN GABLES stuff -- but when I was a kid, I did think that those girls were cute.
I've never watched DA VINCI'S INQUEST or DA VINCI'S CITY HALL, but I've seen/heard enough to know that the characters do have an interesting appeal.
No, Wesley. Dispite the fact that most of those shows have been picked up by at least one American market, usually that American market is a digital cable version of BBC or something like that ... so most Americans in general don't hear about those shows.
Last night I was on the phone with my friend C.J. in Alabama, and I was telling him about some of these shows. He watches a lot of TV, but he's never heard of these shows. I was on the phone with a person in North Dakota a couple of weeks ago, and she hasn't heard of any of these shows until I mentioned them.
I think that in general most Americans haven't been exposed yet to the goodness of TRAILER PARK BOYS and CORNER GAS, et cetera. I love the TRAILER PARK BOYS movie, but I'll bet that barely any of the Americans on these discussion boards have even heard about it before now.
Tomorrow night, the spin-off of JUST FOR LAUGHS that we in Canada know as JUST FOR LAUGHS: GAGS will make its American debut on the network ABC, under the shortened title JUST FOR LAUGHS ... which is the same title as a slightly different show by the same company here in Canada. There will be two back-to-back episodes of that French Canadian comedy on ABC tomorrow evening in prime time; I wonder what the Americans will think of it. I think it'll be a hit, since that show takes very little thought to understand.
Despite the fact this same kind of post is started every now and then I don't think people around the world (Not just Americans) really care when they have so much entertainment available.
I stopped watching television because I have better things to do with my life but used to watch most if not all of those shows on the list.
Trailer Park Boys is making headway in America. Slow but sure. It is like mixtapes with musicians, the show has to be downloaded and passed around to get enough buzz to make it.
Just because a couple of people you talk to have never heard of it doesn't mean the entire country is the same. This is why people share files on the internet. If I can download a Manga named Bleach than your phone pals can download TPB if they really wanted to see it.
The UK series Spaced never made it over here and I never even heard of it until Shaun of The Dead. Does that mean they should start shoving it down our throats? I think if people really wanted to see something they'd buy the DVD and watch it.
If I can download a Manga named Bleach than your phone pals can download TPB if they really wanted to see it.
The UK series Spaced never made it over here and I never even heard of it until Shaun of The Dead. Does that mean they should start shoving it down our throats? I think if people really wanted to see something they'd buy the DVD and watch it.
I only sorta like the BLEACH anime. I don't think I'd pick up the manga.
Just checked online to see what Spaced is about. I did like Shaun of the Dead ... so maybe I'll check out Spaced.
And in order for people to "really want to see it", they first have to know that it exists, and that it's better than average; that's what this thread is about -- I'm recommending Canadian shows that are better than the average American show. THE NEWSROOM and TWITCH CITY and KEVIN SPENCER are must-sees.
I'll supply links to some shows that were highly entertaining. You can't just say watch it without supplying some information about it.
Kevin Spencer to American audiences would be a step down from South Park and Family Guy. I enjoyed that show but it is nowhere near the other two I mentioned from America.
No, Kevin Spencer is five steps UP from South Park and Family Guy. Well, that's my first reaction to your post. After a bit of thought, I don't think they should be compared. South Park is fantastic for topical humor. Family Guy is fantastic for random fun. Kevin Spencer is fantastic for brilliant and consistant character-driven meyhem.
And I'm recommending Canadian shows only in this thread because I'm from Canada. And I'm quite proud of the fact that I'm from Canada. I think in international discussions we're often quite modest of our superior shows, but we've gotta speak up since our shows rock. Watch CORNER GAS, people! If the "CTV Broadband Network" section of ctv.ca works internationally, and not just in Canadian regions, I highly recommend that people use it to check out CORNER GAS. I just watched an episode last night in which Brent saw his first horror movie ... hilarious stuff.
Here's an Australian show you all should see: Love My Way: It stars Claudia Karvan and a host of other local stars. It’s shown on Fox because the production costs were considered too high for commercial television. It's kind like an Aussie version of Six Feet Under. Of course it's not set in a funeral parlour, but it pulls no punches as it delves into the lives of the characters and their battles with their personal demons. The death of a major character in the first season was the catalyst for turning the lives of the characters upside down. It's sad, confronting, funny and most of the time, very real. The first two seasons are available on DVD.
Unfortunately that's about the only decent show being made in Australia at the moment. Which is why I posted on this thread rather than starting one of my own.
Oh, I was going to say "That's for the 'Austrailian TV Shows That Everyone Should See' thread", but then I read the end of your post. Really? That's the only good show being made in Austrailia right now? That's disappointing. I'm a big fan of a cancelled Canadian TV series called TRAIN 48 which was aired from 2003 to 2005, and was based on the idea from an austrailian TV series called GOING HOME, that was on from 2000 to 2001. I'd enjoy watching TRAIN 48 over again, and I'd probably get a bunch of enjoyment from the old austrailian version called GOING HOME.
If the "CTV Broadband Network" section of ctv.ca works internationally, and not just in Canadian regions, I highly recommend that people use it to check out CORNER GAS.
Copyrights restrict the videos from being played outside of Canada.
Oh, I was going to say "That's for the 'Austrailian TV Shows That Everyone Should See' thread", but then I read the end of your post. Really? That's the only good show being made in Austrailia right now? That's disappointing. I'm a big fan of a cancelled Canadian TV series called TRAIN 48 which was aired from 2003 to 2005, and was based on the idea from an austrailian TV series called GOING HOME, that was on from 2000 to 2001. I'd enjoy watching TRAIN 48 over again, and I'd probably get a bunch of enjoyment from the old austrailian version called GOING HOME.
Yeah, I remember that show, it was on SBS down here. I didn't watch it that often, but it seemed pretty interesting the few times I caught it. Like Wes, I don't watch much TV these days. I'll either watch a DVD or get on the computer and talk to you guys. The rest of the time I'm busy. In fact, I don't even watch TV shows when they're aired by the stations; I tend to watch them on DVD. As for Canadian shows, Due South and Trailer Park Boys are the only shows, on your list, I've heard of. I'm pretty sure they aired Due South down here but it didn't do very well. But that doesn't mean much; the general public in Australia don't have any taste when it comes to TV shows. Six Feet Under and The Sopranos were buried in late night time slots because they weren't rating here, yet, CSI whatever just keeps rolling on.
Copyrights restrict the videos from being played outside of Canada.
Oh damn. Thanks for checking. In my opinion, CORNER GAS is better than SEINFELD. TV shows often make me feel like I'm wasting my time, but CORNER GAS doesn't give me that feeling as if I'm wasting my time.
Youtube clips of TV shows aren't forever because of copywright issues, so let me point folks who've never seen CORNER GAS in the direction of some of the better clips that are available currently on youtube.
CORNER GAS is filmed in a small town that is a short drive from the city where I live: Saskatoon Saskatchewan. So part of the reason why the show appeals to me is because I'm familiar with the landscape and the culture and the local colloquialisms and many little idiosynchrasies that are unique to Saskatchewan, and I love the idea that those things can potentially be communicated to the rest of the world through a comedic TV show.
Comedian Brent Butt plays Brent. I'll open with a clip that shows a bit about who he is ... particularly one of the things that makes him human ... fear ... this clip shows one of his fears:
In Canada, we use a thing called The Metric System, rather than ... Imperial? ... but many of us still use the old system to describe height. Here's a funny clip from CORNER GAS about that topic. In this clip, Hank complains to Brent about it:
And their guest appearances aren't limited to celebrities. Here's the guy I didn't vote for. I voted for the other guy. And if you don't know, this is the current Canadian Prime Minister:
Here's a clip that's somewhat of a parody of the announcer from THE DUKES OF HAZZARD. In this clip, Police Officer Karen Pelly -- the female half of the only two police officers who work in the small town of Dog River -- gets annoyed by a guitar playing man:
After Lacy put a piano in her restaurant, she got fed up when Wanda kept playing it ... badly ... so here's what she did. This clip ends in a car accident:
Well, I hope someone out there enjoyed this introduction to one of my favourite shows from Canada, and I hope someone out there learned a little about Saskatchewan. And I hope someone out there decides to buy the DVD sets of CORNER GAS from Amazon.com so that they can see the entire series and enjoy more! I freaking love this show!
Well if you love Canada so much, why don't you marry it?
No, I watched most of the clips and it looks pretty decent. Only one or two of them made me laugh but I'm a hard sell that way. I liked the werewolves VS Robots thing especially, but I thought some of the delivery and or editing was lacking during the quick-cut jokes.
The writing was good, I'll give it that.
"The Flux capacitor. It's what makes time travel possible."
The dialogue's only one dimension of the writing. How everything fits together in an entire episode is the most important dimension, and sadly youtube doesn't have any entire episodes.
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