The End, my friend

Can you believe that we made it? Except for that Mormon choir at Christmas, I have not watched anything other than Canadian productions on the TV. It certainly has been an experience that I have thoroughly enjoyed and can't believe that I can now go back to watching whatever I want, whenever I want. I'm not going to lie, it feels kinda weird.

Now, do I think that everyone should only watch Canadian content? (could you even imagine?) No, but one of the main points of this whole challenge was to make people more aware of what they are watching. Yes I think more Canadians should watch Canadian productions because I do think they reflect who we are and our media is an important part of who we are as a nation. Our shows are different than American ones and that is important. They shouldn't be immediately discounted just because they are Canadian and appear as lesser. I want people to take note of and make an effort to watch more Canadian television. If more people watched it, then it would become even better.

I know I won't watch 100% Cancon anymore but I do know that the percentage that I watch will be higher than it was before (as I hope your's is too). I've been trying to come up with a ratio that I think I would be comfortable with. I'm thinking of trying for 70/30 (Canadian/Not Canadian). When I think of all the Canadian shows that I'm looking forward to coming back in the fall (The Republic of Doyle, Being Erica, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, The Listener Canada's Next Top Model, Little Mosque on the Prairie, 18 to Life, Hiccups, Dan for Mayor....okay, so I'm not hundred percent sure that all of these are coming back but my fingers are crossed) or the shows I know that I'll be returning to again and again (Slings and Arrows, Robson Arms, Murdoch Mysteries, Corner Gas, jPOD, Degrassi, Stargates, Defying Gravity), I don't think that it will be hard to achieve. Plus all those fun mini-series or events that the CBC has that I've grown to love. And the fact that I've been out of the loop of American shows for a year so I don't really have any idea of what's going on there also helps. (Just to clarify, after I gorge myself on American TV and catch up on the few shows that I've missed out on, then the 70/30 will come into play...don't judge me too harshly).

I think everyone should strive the at least a 50/50. It's hard but it's worth it to have a television culture that is vibrant and an integral part of the society at large. But it's really not that hard once you recognize how great Canadian television really is.

But for now, everyone put on your party hats because this challenge is over! (...as of midnight tonight). Woohoo!

Life After CanCon

As my pledge to Cancon ends this Saturday, I have thought about what will become of this blog. My desire for completion and departmentalizing requires that I post solely on April 30th and end it at that. But then I would miss all the fun of once again being reintegrated into world wide content (there might be an anime marathon on the table with a friend for this summer). What if my reactions to American TV have completely changed? What if I have some great revelation about Canadian television that desperately needs to be shared? What if my eyes start to bleed from watching Grey's? Where will I go then?

Thus this blog will remain open. I will document my return to American content and see if anything has changed. And after a time, it will probably be where I spout off nonsense about all forms of media. From opinions on books (I just finished Alias Grace and it's fascinating, just fascinating!) to movies (I saw a promo for Paul Gross's new movie, Gunless and think everyone should see it, regardless of if it's any good because supporting Canadian cinema, especially financially, is important) to music (is it just me or has hip-hop music gotten surprisingly nicer to women?). Of course, television will play a role and though the whole blog won't be strictly Canada-centric, it just happens that almost everything I read, watch or listen to is Canadian. It's actually rather pathetic when I think about it.

I'm not expecting a lot of people to hang around after this to listen to my drivel so don't feel bad for deserting. I apparently just really like the sound of my own voice (...the sound of my own typing?) and so this blog will live on, even after the challenge has ended.

Note: Strangely enough, I have not picked out exactly what my first non-Canadian show will be. As plans for this weekend keep changing, I cannot fulfill the dream I have of lounging on my couch all day, gorging myself on Arrested Development and Flashforward. But it's always nice to dream.

jPOD

I'm a little surprised that it's taken me this long to blog exclusively about jPOD. I really thought that I would have run out of Cancon much faster and watched it all much sooner. I've been watching it off and on recently and am only reminded of how much I love it.

Part of the reason I haven't blogged about it is because it does make my heart weep when I talk about it. It truly is one of my favourite shows based on a book by my favourite author. But what makes jPOD so important in this context is that it is pretty much the reason I got interested in Canadian television at all. Or seriously at least. Yes I had watched Canadian Idol because it was my patriotic duty but it was never something to base my life on.

But then there was jPOD. A show that I really loved and got treated like shit. First of all, it got bumped from it's Tuesday night slot to Friday night which was pretty much the beginning of the end. The audience for this show was a much younger target than CBC traditionally goes for. Which is why is makes even less sense to put it on Friday nights when they are presumbly all out having a life. Which is why they cancelled it. Next, they aired episode 12 before episode 11. This was a pretty big deal since a main character dies at the end of episode 11. It just seemed disrespectful since they had already decided not to order a second season but to make a mistake like that just made it feel like the whole show had been written off as nothing. Lastly, for those of us who are fans of the show, we went out and bought the DVDs (or got them for Christmas) only to find out that there was a problem with one of the discs and episode 8 stopped halfway through. I really couldn't believe it.

I was very upset with how jPOD was handled pretty much from beginning to end. Frankly, it's embarassing. This is what led me to wanting to take over the CBC, to make sure nothing like this ever happened again. And it ignited my desire to see good Canadian productions and for them to get the respect they deserve. jPOD deserved much more than what it was given.

And who knows? If things had gone differently with jPOD, I might not have been here write now typing this. Chances are, I would be working on a spec script for the next season!

Strombo Sighting?

So I had my first Strombo sighting since moving to Toronto! It was exciting. It was on Queen Street West and I was on a streetcar and he was not. This arrangement was probably for the best as to avoid what inevitably would have been an embarrassing situation for me. The only problem is, is that this was right before 8pm when I know that he has his radio show on CBC Radio from 8pm to midnight Sunday nights. So either he was very late grabbing snacks for the show or it was not him and I am currently experiencing Strombo hallunications. Both seem plausible.

Now my brother has actually made eye contact twice with Strombo which is impressive and also last week saw Dmitry Chepovetsky (Bob from Regenesis or Tesla from Murdoch Mysteries) on a streetcar. This was rather awkward from what I hear. I'm just lacking in my celebrity sightings and this makes me sad.

I just felt the need to share this.

Life without Cable

Since we canceled the cable, we have started watching Little Mosque more. It's such a shame that only season 3 and 4 are up online. I really want to see season 2 now to find out how Rayyan and JJ meet. I've slowly been getting sucked into this universe. Before I had a detached enjoyment of it but now I can't help myself from getting emotionally invested (it also helps that I know how season 4 ends...).

But also, we have returned to an old favourite, Slings and Arrows! Man, do I love that show! I think it's even better the second time around. If you still haven't seen it, please do. For some reason, this and Extras seem to be the shows I recommend to everybody because chances are, you've heard of them, you've might have seen an episode or two but you weren't impressed. But trust me, sit down and start watching either of these two shows and you will be laughing your ass off.

The thing with Slings and Arrows though is that whenever I watch it, I can't help but think how awesome that set would have been to be on. If there is one show that I could be on set for, it would absolutely be that one. And I love Don McKellar on it so much. Everything just works together so nicely.

But the saddest part of all, which is similar for most Canadian shows, is that it's over. We've only got 3 episodes left...

Juno Awards

So Sunday night were the big and snazzy Juno awards. Pretty much the only Canadian award people know about. I have to admit. I was a little disappointed that there was no host. I generally do not like how most award shows are going that way now. I do admit that at times I have wondered why award shows need hosts at all but that is usually just when they are doing a terrible job. I think it helps organize the show and I like organization.

I only have a few things to say about the show because really, it wasn't that remarkable. I felt bad that Bryan Adams couldn't make it back to accept his big award. He did good. I was surprised Michael Buble kept winning but then I realized that that was rather silly of him since he is such a huge star. In a way, I was surprised when bands like Blue Rodeo and Tragically Hip were nominated because I ended up thinking "They're still around?" I mean, I know they are but I never hear their music so I am always surprised to hear they are nominated for something (though I'm sure they completely deserve it).

Now on to the new faces of Canadian music. Seriously, did Drake always have to be on stage? I know he's real famous and all now but that guy was everywhere. And frankly, his own performance wasn't that great. And why did nobody mention he was from Degrassi? I just always feel the need to bring it up. Wasn't all that surprised when K'naan won for best songwriter or finished the show with Wavin' Flag. That guy has done well for himself. What was probably the biggest surprise of the night for me was that poor Justin Bieber didn't get anything. I really thought he would have gotten more. I suppose it's probably one of those 'he's still young, he has plenty to time to win' or maybe his music just isn't that good. Who can say?

The best part of the whole night? When the Barenaked Ladies made that crack about Michael Buble crushing the hopes and dreams of a small child (Mr.Bieber). Still makes me chuckle.

The Good Days

The other day I was catching up on some Little Mosque shows that I had missed. I watched one where Amaar and Rayyan finally admit to loving each other. Since this was only episode 18, I was confused why they wouldn't save that for the season finale. And then I realized, I couldn't find any more episodes after that. And they've all been reruns since then. Eventually I reached the conclusion that the season was only 18 episodes long.

Now, don't get me wrong. I know the CBC had a rough year and all shows suffered. Being Erica was only 12 episodes instead of 13 so as to not decrease the production value of each episode. But didn't shows used to have like a 24 episode season? Otherwise the show 24 wouldn't have made much sense (somehow 18 doesn't have quite the same effect). As far as I can figure, the standard now seems to be 20 episodes. Or 13. But this means that there is then more time the show is off the air and people are less likely to return, wouldn't you figure? Let's take Being Erica. That show premiered in January and got the standard 13 episode order. Big success, everyone was happy so they got picked up for another season of 13 episodes (which turned into 12) which ran that fall. Now, that show ended fall of 2009 and by the time the third season will (hopefully) start it'll be the fall of 2010. That's a long time to away from a show. Which is possibly there has been no news if it's been picked up for a third season. Even Little Mosque will be going at least 5 months before another season begins. My mother's memory doesn't last that long.

And frankly, I just want to see more episodes of these shows. I like the characters, I like what they do, I want to see what happens. But it all comes down to the money. And I know this but it doesn't mean I have to like it.

Life after Degrassi

Lots of people got their start on Degrassi and have gone on to do great things. Usually they pop up in other TV shows and I'm happy for them. But I was rather surprised when I was watching the music video for Wavin' Flag by Young Artists for Haiti (and they are using the term 'young' loosely there but that's another story) and I see Jimmy Brooks from Degrassi rapping right in the middle of the song! Of course, his real name is Aubrey Graham and he played Jimmy who got shot by Rick and is then confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his time on the show. So apparently now he's a rapper who goes by the name Drake. I was even more shocked when I learned that he sang Best I ever Had which I've heard repeatedly on the radio. Apparently he's actually somebody. And has been rumoured to be dating Rihannon (weird).

So even though I found it all kinda bizarre (and I'm apparently out of the loop on this type of thing), I thought good for him. But then I saw his video for Best I Ever Had and frankly, if you haven't seen it, don't. I mean, of course I've seen hip hop videos and know what they are like but this one just seems so much worse than all the rest. As far as I can tell, Drake is the coach of a woman's basketball team and basically only teaches them to stretch and then buys uniforms that are ridiculously impractical for basketball. It literally has nothing to do with the song at all. And it isn't even done well. It all just seems in extra poor taste and poor quality.

I don't care if he's worked with Kanye West and Jay-Z. I'm not looking forward to seeing him at the Junos.

Dammit!

As I knew would likely happen, I missed the Genie Awards!! This makes me angry and sad. Even though I don't really know the movies that are nominated, I still like to watch because they always sound so interesting, thus making me more likely to watch them if I ever get the chance. Plus I think an awards show celebrating Canadian movies deserves some respect here and at least should be shown on one of the big three Canadian broadcasters. Which would mean that I probably wouldn't have missed it last night. Which would have made me a happy person today, so I can report back on the actual show. But instead we are filled with disappointment.

The only silver lining in all this is that the show is still up on the CBC website which means that I will actually get to watch it. All 56 minutes of it. So that is what I'll be doing tonight.

And I don't care if they have already started setting up for the Junos. I want to see the Genies, dammit!!

Cable?

As of this Wednesday, we will no longer have cable. I wish I could say that this is in response to the CRTC stuff but it's not. Mostly it's to save some money since we watch most of stuff online or on DVD. But we'll have an antennae so we'll get the Canadian stations so I'll be fine for the rest of the month. And in a way, we'll be continuing the challenge since we won't be getting most of the American stations. Of course, we'll be watching most of the shows online where it's a whole lot harder to find Canadian shows. I'll be losing my food network shows which is sad since I've only be reunited with it this year. We had lots of good times together.

But it seems to be the trend these days. Now we won't be tied to whenever other people think we should be watching TV. We can do our own programming. The one thing that I am most afraid of is that I won't know the new shows coming out since we won't be seeing all the promos. It just requires more research, which after the past few months where I had to look up almost all the shows I wanted to watch, I'm a little tired of. I kinda miss the days when TV watching was easy, you know.

Love it or List it

Just lately I have discovered a new show: Love it or List it. Essentially the basis is that people will get a Realtor to find them a new house and a designer to redo the house they already own. Then the people decide if they are going to stay or if they will move. Basically, everyone does all the work for them.

But here's the thing, the people this show are terrible!! They usually end up telling both the designer and the Realtor that they have no idea what they are doing. And this usually happens right at the beginning of the show when they have just gotten started and are figuring out what works. I mean, you can't blame the designer when it's a supporting wall and she can't take it down like you wanted. Or you can't blame the Realtor when you only want to pay $400,000 but all the houses in that neighbourhood are $700,000. It's just to frustrating to watch!! And it's beginning to make me angry. Why can't people just be reasonable??? I just don't understand sometimes.

I just wish somebody would come and redo my house and find me a new place to live at the same time!

A List

I've started a list of all the shows I want to catch up on in May. So far, it looks like this:

-Grey's Anatomy
-30 Rock
-NCIS (for my sister)
-How I met your mother (for my brother)
-US of Tara
-Flashforward

What I'm looking forward to the most is Flashforward since it's all new to me and I've been dying to see what it's like. What I'm looking forward to least is Grey's Anatomy. Since I've been watching it since the beginning, I feel like I have an obligation to see it through to the end. It's no longer something that excites me but is starting to feel me with dread. I haven't stayed up on any of the information about the season so I literally have no idea what's going on. I haven't even seen commercials for it, really. I just remember how the last season filled me with so much rage yet I was unable to stop watching. But I know I will sit down and watch this whole season, probably grimacing the whole time.

Makes me almost wish this challenge was never going to end so that I would always have an excuse to give myself for not watching Grey's anymore.

An Ending

How did it get so late so soon? Tonight is the season finale of Republic of Doyle. It feels like it just began. I'm kinda excited since I hate his sleazy brother so I hope something bad happens to him. But it's a pleasant type of ending since it will be returning for another season. At least I don't have to worry about having all my hopes and dreams dashed. Okay, so that only happened with jPOD but it still hurts.

Also ending this Monday is 18 to Life. After a brief search, I haven't been able to find out if that show will be lucky enough to garner a second season. I hope so since I think it's a decent show and a good pairing for Little Mosque. Plus Michael Seater never wears a shirt. I like it because it's a bit edgier and racier than other CBC shows. Little Mosque is more culturally edgy, 18 to Life is sexier.

There's also no word yet on Being Erica. I really really really hope that is comes back. I have theories about the ending and I need to see if I was correct. I need to see what happens.

But I guess with Republic of Doyle and Battle of the Blades coming back, CBC shouldn't do too badly next season. But really, renew Being Erica. I have questions and my heart can't stand another jPOD.

Coming Soon...

I've said it before but I love award shows. Even if I haven't seen/read anything that's nominated. I just like the excitement of it all. This means that April is the month for me since that's when Canadians hand out all the hardware.

First up is the Genie Awards. Hopefully you all know that these are for Canadian movies. But the ceremony will be on Monday, April 12. Now, what's a little weird is where it's being broadcast. Last year, it was on Global which was very cool since then we all watched it happily. This year Canwest has shifted them to IFC. Even though that is probably where the audience really is but it means that less people will probably watch or even know that they are on. The only upside is that CBC will be streaming it online. So if you are a cool person and want to watch the Genies, either check out IFC or the CBC site.

The next week is the Junos which I'm sure you know all about. They will be on Sunday, April 18 on CTV. It's probably the most glamourous or at least popular award show in Canada. I haven't been able to find out who's hosting it though. Apparently Russell Peters hosted it the last two years. I'm hoping for a switch up. And it's in St.John's so I'm really hoping for some good Newfie culture going on. Personally, I think Danny Williams should host. Now that would be good television!

Bloodletting

Even though eggs, chocolate and Jesus Christ Superstar took up the majority of my time this Easter weekend, I managed to catch up on the entire mini-series of Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures. This is based on the Giller Prize winning book by Vincent Lam. And like all movies/tv shows based on books, I tend to spend most the time wondering about the choices they made instead of looking at it as it's own work.

The biggest difference was the whole baby thing. At first, I was unsure about it but I really liked the last episode and the ending which tied that all up nicely so I suppose it was worth it. The difference I found most interesting though is that they made Fitz and Chen friends. It was much more of a love triangle but Fitz and Chen actually had a real relationship here. Which in way makes their conversations during the whole SARS accident make more sense but I think I liked it more where that was kind of the point where they were actually forced into a relationship. They had no one else to talk to so they turned to each other.

And though I did enjoy the little fantasy sequences (though I am a little upset that they pretty much fooled me each time) I didn't care for the brokenness of the time line. I know it was never really meant as a linear type story but I felt that the way they broke it up and portrayed it didn't really work for me. I believe that there were entire episodes that didn't have any parts that took place in the present at all. I think it could have been framed better.

Other things I liked:
(1) All the appearances of other Canadian actors, 3 of which were from Instant Star which I found slightly bizarre.
(2) The opening credits which appeared to be bizarrely similar to those of Murdoch. And then I realized they are both produced by Shaftesbury.
(3) At Halloween Fitz is dressed up a doctor handing out candy. A mother asks him if he is really a doctor and he responds: "No, I just play one on TV."

The Beginning of the End

My my, haven't we come a long way? Today begins the last month of this challenge. It's so weird to think about it ending now. We've started planning all the shows we're going to watch on May 1st, which conveniently lands on a Saturday. I'll admit, I'm a little excited for it to be over. I mean, it will make life so much easier, especially with other people. And I'll be able to watch Jeopardy again!

But I do know that this has probably permanently changed my viewing habits. I'm already going through the Canadian shows for the summer (like Canada's Next Top Model and possibly Canadian Idol? Or is that show dead for good now? Hmm...must do research). And I'm actually weirdly excited to see the fall line-ups for CBC and CTV. I like to think that I'll give preference to Canadian shows to American shows. I think the area where I will slide is filler shows like The Simpsons and Friends which are just so easy to turn on since they are just always there.

The one thing that I've gotten out of this that I really appreciate is my ability to recognize (and name about half the time) a lot of Canadian actors. I noticed it especially in watching Murdoch since in every episode I knew the guest star from another show, whether it be Being Erica, Instant Star or even the movie Passchendale. I don't know how handy this will be in life and God forbide I ever pass one of them on the street ("Oh my God! You're David Kopp! I love you! I know everything you've ever been in! jPOD and Stargate and even Josie and the Pussycats!").

There's just so much good Canadian TV that it's going to be weird going back.