one year, one canadian

When I describe this project to people, the category they usually commiserate with me about is movies and television. “I could never do that,” they say. “I like <insert your favourite show here> way too much.” They often also confess how they watch TV passively–they keep it on in the background, or simply surf the dial (kids, once upon a time televisions had chunky dials you had to turn).

I’m the master of my own denial, but they’re right to sympathize on this category. Since April, I’ve been on a steady diet of Canadian TV and movies. It hasn’t exactly been wall-t0-wall cinematic magic.

I began with a sampling of English Canadian comedy and light drama. I’ve watched several episodes of Little Mosque on the Prairie, Corner Gas and Republic of Doyle. The shows are, I’m afraid all studies in mediocrity. They’re mildly amusing, and it’s fun to see Canadian places and hear Canadian accents on TV, but they don’t really hold a candle to my comedy favourites like 30 Rock, Community and, because I’m kind of an Anglophile, The IT Crowd. Compare Republic of Doyle to, say, Sherlock and you’ll see what I mean.

Watching these shows is a bit like watching AHL hockey. It’s mildly entertaining, but you’d rather be watching something a little better.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that, of the Canadian fictional shows I’ve watched, I’ve enjoyed Being Erica the most. It’s kind of Cathy meets Quantum Leap but, you know, not awful.

A little side note on Being Erica: the show’s music is co-produced by indie singer-songwriter Lily Frost, who I always think of as “the girl from that Telus ad”. There seems to be rich tradition of hiring recognizable Canadian musicians to produce music for TV shows. Due South’s theme was written by written and performed by Jay Semko, front men of the long-defunct Northern Pikes.

Now Due South. That’s a Canadian show I really enjoyed. Maybe it was the magnetism of Paul Gross and Callum Keith Rennie, but I never felt like I was being charitable or patriotic by watching a hometown show.

I do sympathize with Canadian television producers. They have an English language talent pool that’s less than one-tenth of that of the US, and much less funding to work with.

That said, I remember a different result when I lived in Ireland. Despite the availability of Coronation Street and East Enders, the Irish-made soap opera Fair City apparently remains the most-watched drama in the country. Perhaps that reflects the Irish’s natural disdain for any kind of British incursion.

While comedy and drama have been something of a wasteland, I have discovered a couple of Canadian shows I like: Canadian Pickers and Canadian Antique Roadshow. I’m no great lover of antiques, but I do like to learn about the history that accompanies every object. I suppose it’s a bit lame that both shows are Canuck versions of shows devised elsewhere, but that’s the case for nearly every show we see in North America (American Idol, Survivor and The Killing, to name three).

These shows succeed on the strength of the concept, and so they can compete on even terms with similar shows produced in larger markets. Canadian Pickers is just two guys poking around old barns and garages, and the Roadshow is basically a televised craft fair.

Along with NHL hockey and reruns of The Rick Mercer Report, these shows have been sustaining me over the past couple of months. I’m eager to fall for some Canadian fictional shows, but nothing has really stuck. What would you recommend?