NationStates Jolt Archive

So, because there does appear to be a limit to the number and kind of Reality Shows that you can stuff your schedule with, CBS is turning to Canada (http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQmSgL_iIIxbTM35l02XOTSUNaVA) for programing for the first time since 1994 when CBS and CTV aired Due South.

That make it seem rarer than it really is. There is an American cult following for Degrassi High, and at least my generation watched a healthy dose of You Can't Do That on Television. In my cableless days a local affiliate would show episodes of Di Vinci's Inquest, which had shit all to do with the artist and instead was about a coroner who investigates crimes for some reason. Oh, and thinks that heroin addicts should have a safe place to shoot up and it co-stared the doctor from the new Battlestar Galactica.

While obviously I am on the side of the writers on this thing, and hope that they get what they want, but this is an interesting development. Actually, it's not as much. It won't have the ramifications that I want it to, but lets pretend it will.

For whatever reason, we're still watching (http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=survery012908.htm). Well, we need something to see.

Instead of remaking foreign shows in our own image with mixed success we might start importing some entertainment instead of exporting it like a fire hose.

So, all you non-citizens of the US who are reading this (perhaps you were interested in Canada...)-dump your programing on us. What would you feed us? Kommissar Rex (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7630687321647890610&q=kommissar+rex&total=200&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1)? Be our entertainment dumping ground during our hour of need. You're due.

Or, you know, comment on the strike or cross national programing.

Go get your own shows. Besides, Canadian humour is an aquired taste...something you americans may not appreciate (rick mercer report, this hour, royal canadian air farce). Just for laugh might be entertainment for you...hockey? How about Canadian idol and canadians top next model (lols).

IMO our TV shows arent too special if you arent raised/born here.

Good series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroesjka%27s

Well you already have Kenny V.S. Spenny on Comedy Central now.
I think you used to have Trailer Park Boys.....you need to take that back...uncensored.

Good series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroesjka%27s

Wow.


Of course, that'll never fly.


But, seriously. Wow.

Wow.


Of course, that'll never fly.


But, seriously. Wow.

Oh yeah, I forgot the huge conservative element in the USA :(

Oh yeah, I forgot the huge conservative element in the USA :(

Well, there's always pay cable.

I was always theorised at the start of the strike that networks might try to fill the schedule using foreign imports: Canada, UK and Australia in particular. Of course since production companies in these countries are under pressure from their own writer's guilds not to take advantage of the strike, this may not work as well as the networks hoped. But you can probably expect to see more Canadia, British and Aussie shows on US TV as the strike continues

None of our tv shows would even make sense to people outside SA.
As it is we get a lot of old american tv, and quite a fair amount of canadian stuff too. Now if only we could get some decent british stuff here...

You guys need: jPod (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPod_%28TV_series%29). *nods*

Instead of remaking foreign shows in our own image with mixed success we might start importing some entertainment instead of exporting it like a fire hose.Did Ugly Betty collapse?

So, all you non-citizens of the US who are reading this (perhaps you were interested in Canada...)-dump your programing on us. What would you feed us? Kommissar Rex (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7630687321647890610&q=kommissar+rex&total=200&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1)? Be our entertainment dumping ground during our hour of need. You're due.Tatort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatort) is generally rather good, but may be too high brow for the common American. Der Letzte Zeuge (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_letzte_Zeuge) features the late Ulrich Mühe, who starred in The Lives of the Others. A rather nice little pathology show.

Good series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroesjka%27s

wow, I didn't know they showed that in so many countries, Belgian movies and television are quite successful lately, even though they only have a pretty small budget.

Tatort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatort) is generally rather good, but may be too high brow for the common American. Der Letzte Zeuge (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_letzte_Zeuge) features the late Ulrich Mühe, who starred in The Lives of the Others. A rather nice little pathology show.

I second these. For those who are all too challenged by Tatort, we can export all of the 80 (!) Rosamund(e) Pilcher movies made by our state-sponsored television - preferably all originals and copies available so we don't need to suffer them in our program anymore.

You guys need Little Mosque on the Prairie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mosque_on_the_Prairie) & The Tudors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tudors)

You guys need Little Mosque on the Prairie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mosque_on_the_Prairie) & The Tudors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tudors)

Also very good.

I'm not sure they can handle Little Mosque on the Prairie.

You must all watch Corner Gas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_Gas).

A real-life Regina tour operator regularly takes busloads of tourists to Rouleau to visit “Dog River.” Visitors can tour the on-location sets of Corner Gas, including the service station.[12][13] Many components of Dog River are, in fact, real attributes of Rouleau, notably the combined liquor and insurance store.

Moments like this make me realise how odd Saskatchewan is. That makes sense, in Sasakatchewan, as the government is the main provider of both: hard liquor and insurance.

I live in Detroit, which is the only place in the world where Canadians can go NORTH of the border. If they go north of the border over the Ambassador Bridge, of course they find themselves in Mexicantown.

I'm not sure they can handle Little Mosque on the Prairie.

You must all watch Corner Gas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_Gas).

Corner Gas? C'mon... at least try jPod. It's based on a great book... I love the characters. And I mean, c'mon, it's got Alan Thicke!

I can't see shows like Little Mosque and Corner Gas being well received in the US, but jPod and The Guard might do pretty well.

jPod might have a better shot because it's different, plus it has a cast member American audiences know.

They actually shoot that at the EA building.

jPod might have a better shot because it's different, plus it has a cast member American audiences know.

It's also quite contemporary, which would work well. Though that doorbell nibble might not go over well.

I'd like to see how Little Mosque on the Prairie would fly.. :p

But count yourselves lucky if you get Corner Gas. It's an excellent show.

I remember Clone High being aired in Canada as well as the United States, ahh that was a great show....

JFK: "NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENS TO THE KENNEDYS! HA HA!" *JFK Car crash short of the Finish line*

JFK: "I'm a Kennedy, I'm not accustomed to tragedies!"

Prof. Scudworth: "Did you see the pool, they FLIP THE BITCH!"

Ghandi: "Due I polled all the women in the bathroom, you're winning!"

Abe: "Did you say I was winning?"

Ghandi: "Straight up Dude, numbers don't lie!"

4: "I'm a number five!"

Ahh good stuff.

I remember Clone High being aired in Canada as well as the United States, ahh that was a great show....That's what Scrubs is there for...

You guys need: jPod (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPod_%28TV_series%29). *nods*
I actually like Douglas Copeland. I read Microserfs and Generation X. Something else, too, but now I can't remember. And that actually sounds interesting.
Did Ugly Betty collapse?

Tatort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatort) is generally rather good, but may be too high brow for the common American. Der Letzte Zeuge (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_letzte_Zeuge) features the late Ulrich Mühe, who starred in The Lives of the Others. A rather nice little pathology show.
No, Ugly Betty just fell victim to the writers strike like everything else. Haven't seen a single episode.

Tatort seems interesting, but unless it has a German Shepard in it, we're not interested in your cop shows :p The other description is all in gibberish...(man I wish I learned languages...)
You guys need Little Mosque on the Prairie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mosque_on_the_Prairie) & The Tudors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tudors)
It seems like we get The Tudors, just not through broadcast means. Little Mosque sounds awesome. I'd go for it just to watch Texas squirm...
Corner Gas? C'mon... at least try jPod. It's based on a great book... I love the characters. And I mean, c'mon, it's got Alan Thicke!
So that's what Alan Thicke has been up to...

Seems like we already get Corner Gas:
It has also aired nationally in the United States on Superstation WGN since September 10, 2007.
Not that anyone watches Superstation WGN...but now I'll have to look for it...
I can't see shows like Little Mosque and Corner Gas being well received in the US, but jPod and The Guard might do pretty well.

jPod might have a better shot because it's different, plus it has a cast member American audiences know.

They actually shoot that at the EA building.
Not the Electronic Arts building? In the San Francisco Bay Area? Because that would be a regular series shooting near me and I could get some damn regular work if that was the case...
I remember Clone High being aired in Canada as well as the United States, ahh that was a great show....

JFK: "NOTHING BAD EVER HAPPENS TO THE KENNEDYS! HA HA!" *JFK Car crash short of the Finish line*

JFK: "I'm a Kennedy, I'm not accustomed to tragedies!"

Prof. Scudworth: "Did you see the pool, they FLIP THE BITCH!"

Ghandi: "Due I polled all the women in the bathroom, you're winning!"

Abe: "Did you say I was winning?"

Ghandi: "Straight up Dude, numbers don't lie!"

4: "I'm a number five!"

Ahh good stuff.
Ah man, I loved that show.

No, Ugly Betty just fell victim to the writers strike like everything else. Haven't seen a single episode.Fuckin' Ugly Betty! :mad:

I left Germany a year and a squished one ago to stay in the US for half a year, thanking whatever deities were available that I'd escaped the horror that was Verliebt in Berlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verliebt_In_Berlin), only to find out that an American clone was about to air! :mad:

Not the Electronic Arts building? In the San Francisco Bay Area? Because that would be a regular series shooting near me and I could get some damn regular work if that was the case...
Sadly, no. The Electronic Arts building, yes, but the one in Burnaby, British Columbia (where they have the motion-capture studio).

Also, Canadian shows are remarkable for their lack of extras. Extras cost money, so Canadian shows are usually shot on streets that are eerily empty, or in office buildings where no one ever walks by unless they have a line to deliver.

Fuckin' Ugly Betty! :mad:

I left Germany a year and a squished one ago to stay in the US for half a year, thanking whatever deities were available that I'd escaped the horror that was Verliebt in Berlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verliebt_In_Berlin), only to find out that an American clone was about to air! :mad:
My understanding is that just about every country has an Ugly Betty...for some reason I believe it started in Brazil or Portugal. I could be making that up. I guess I could look it up...ah, Columbia. Blame the Columbians for that one.
Sadly, no. The Electronic Arts building, yes, but the one in Burnaby, British Columbia (where they have the motion-capture studio).

Also, Canadian shows are remarkable for their lack of extras. Extras cost money, so Canadian shows are usually shot on streets that are eerily empty, or in office buildings where no one ever walks by unless they have a line to deliver.
Well, I'm not an extra or an actor or anything on screen at all (nevernevernevernever) so that's fine by me, but the commute would be a killer...

Well, I'm not an extra or an actor or anything on screen at all (nevernevernevernever) so that's fine by me, but the commute would be a killer...
The extra thing was more of an aside. It will help American viewers identify Canadian shows.

My understanding is that just about every country has an Ugly Betty...for some reason I believe it started in Brazil or Portugal. I could be making that up. I guess I could look it up...ah, Columbia. Blame the Columbians for that one.I will not blame Colombia for torturing its TV audience. I will blame SAT.1 and ABC for torturing me though. :mad:

Go get your own shows. Besides, Canadian humour is an aquired taste...something you americans may not appreciate (rick mercer report, this hour, royal canadian air farce). Just for laugh might be entertainment for you...hockey? How about Canadian idol and canadians top next model (lols).

IMO our TV shows arent too special if you arent raised/born here.

All the shows you mentions suck. Seriously. If by acquired taste, you mean rammed down our throats and told that they're funny, sure.

I hate most Canadian television. Give me A&E and BBC any day

All the shows you mentions suck. Seriously. If by acquired taste, you mean rammed down our throats and told that they're funny, sure.

I hate most Canadian television. Give me A&E and BBC any day

You must get a different A&E there then we do here. Here it's a channel that used to be cool, showed lots of Arts & Entertainment...these days, CBS reruns (seriously, I just checked their listings and they're literally playing nothing but CSI:Miami until 3 in the morning when they switch to infomercials, followed by more CSI, then Crossing Jordan) and shows like Dog: The Bounty Hunter...

NSG actually has application in real life! I am currently watching Corner Gas because there ain't shit on (and you all suggested it)...the characters are so...Canadian...


Canadians are adorable.

NSG actually has application in real life! I am currently watching Corner Gas because there ain't shit on (and you all suggested it)...the characters are so...Canadian...

Canadians are adorable. Ya I was going to suggest every one watch Corner Gas. Honestly, I believe it's the best thing on TV.

Instead of remaking foreign shows in our own image with mixed success we might start importing some entertainment instead of exporting it like a fire hose.
I've seen Canadan TV. It's pretty easy for me to tell the difference between Canadan and American TV. Most of the shows made in Canadia for Canadan audiences are not that good.

Unfortuneately there aren't many good American shows on right now and the few good ones that were on in the 70s, 80s, and 90s are horribly dated. Tell me you have the major networks up there in America's hat/back yard.

I've seen Canadan TV. It's pretty easy for me to tell the difference between Canadan and American TV. Most of the shows made in Canadia for Canadan audiences are not that good.

Unfortuneately there aren't many good American shows on right now and the few good ones that were on in the 70s, 80s, and 90s are horribly dated. Tell me you have the major networks up there in America's hat/back yard.

I think the weird look of Canadian television comes from the cameras. It kind of looks like it's shot on digibeta or something, like the cameras that your local news uses.

Side note of weird, the shnazziest camera I've seen on a set was on a commercial. Commercials use all the finest shit.

Or they could just say screw the union and just go with some of the endless ideas they get from non-union members. Sure, some of it is crap, but there has to be tons of great stuff even better than the garbage they produce now.

Or they could just say screw the union and just go with some of the endless ideas they get from non-union members. Sure, some of it is crap, but there has to be tons of great stuff even better than the garbage they produce now.

No one would do that. They'd want the protections of that the Writer's Guild provides, so while you might find some writers willing to be 'scabs' you won't find the better ones that way.