MarkG

'Trailer Park Boys', 'Corner Gas' and re-runs of 'Are you being served?'... what more could you want ?

iaink

Why pick on Canadian TV? All TV now seems to be lowest common denominator brainless drivel or 24hr news trying to sensationalise something or other in order to justify its existence. There are very few exceptions, but there is still af few things worth watching, even if you have to dig around for it.

I think a lot of this bitching about TV is a side effect of the shock of commercial intrusion (thats why VCRs have commercial advance features ), and unfamiliarity with the shows compared to what people have become familiar with in the motherland...a sort of culture shock if you like.

It seems there is a lot of home improvement / estate agenty type shows imported from the UK, and if you ask me thay are all just as vapid and stooopid as anything coming out of North America. The few times Ive caught "great UK" stuff like Little Britain (which rears its head on Showcase from time to time), its gone straight over my head.. I suspect ts only "funny" if a whole bunch of people down the pub are doing the catchphrases too. Did nothing for me..but then I quite like Red Green in small doses.

What Canada does seem to so quite well is documentaries and investigative exposees...but you still have to put up with the commercials, even if PBS calls them "fund raising drives"

neill

I have to say i wasn't overly impressed with British TV when i was back there at christmas. The ITV news bulletins are just Comical.

dbd33

Because it's like American TV but less slick. Compare To Serve and Protect with Cops and you'll see that the Canadian derivative just doesn't have the same production quality.

neill

Did anybody see the trailer for "Little mosque on the prarie"?

My canadian friends were cringing, one of them turned to me and said "I'm ashamed!". I'm glad it came out of his mouth and not mine.

iaink

And Cops is not mindless drivel

Besides, it's shown on TV in Canada, which was the point of this thread wasnt it?

angelic_fruitcake

I seem to remember watching a lot of 'Everybody Loves Raymond' when we were over. And there were a LOT of adverts and they played the same ones over and over and it drove us crazy!!!

But then, that's the way it's going here, too!

dbd33

Of course, but it's relatively well made mindless drivel. The Canadian copy is poorly made mindless drivel and was doubtless made to fill a government quota for the broadcasting of locally made mindless drivel. I expect it qualifies for all sorts of grants and tax rebates into the deal. At least Cops was made because the producers thought someone would watch it.




They know me.

jood

Anyone own up to watching Corner Gas and Ugly Betty?

iaink

Maybe its an intentional government plan to get people off their arses and doing something constructive with their lives, rather than stuck at home with the idiots lantern.

Perhaps it explains why there seem to be so many worthy volunteer service clubs around like the kiawanis, lions, masons, elks etc etc...


Nooo, cant be, that sounds way to well thought out for a government scheme...

dbd33

I seen some of Ugly Betty but that's Columbian remade in the US. If she was Canadian she'd be Average Betty.

SpeC

As long as my two girls (10 & 8) can get the Disney channel and such like, I'll suppose they'll be happy .
As for me, my Guitars & music will do the trick pretty much the same as it does in the UK.
Just hope there's something for the OH to watch, no doubt endless Corrie/Eastenders/Emmerdale DVD's will be DL or purchased if not
I'm sure we'll adapt one way or the other

jood

Ooops - you're right - Ugly Betty is American - thank you, but I still like it!

jood

Unfortunately Corrie and Emmerdale are show here - haven't noticed Eastenders, thank goodness.

dbd33

The Kiwanis Lions and Elks are American organizations. Freemasonry has murky past but we may as well claim it as British. If we accept that as being a service club, we can see that there's a negative correlation between service clubs and crap TV. People in nations with a history of crap TV, such as Canada and Australia, did not invent these clubs.