Canadian Television Sucks?

In today’s Telegram, there is a story on Alberta’s Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett take on Canadian television shows. His exact words: I look at what we produce and if we're honest with ourselves, I look at it and say, 'Why do I produce so much shit? Why did I fund such crap?' "

He has a point. Here is a comment I posted on the story.

As much as it pains to say it - save for a few exceptions - Blackett is right. There are some great shows from Canada worth watching, but most of what we watch is produced in the US. This trend does appear to be changing however, and Canada is starting to produce better quality shows such as The Mercer Report and the long running Corner Gas. But what would you rather watch – Little Mosque on The Prairie or The Office? Dan For Mayor or 30 Rock? And you have to cringe when you think that The Littlest Hobo, a series about a dog saving the day, ran for such a long time on TV here in Canada.

The best comedy shows may have Canadian actors, writers and producers, but they are produced in New York and LA. The same can be said for dramatic series.
And let’s not start on game shows – which are nonexistent in Canada. Shows such as Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune attract large audiences and offer huge prizes. (Unlike a Canadian game show like the long-defunct Definition with Jim Perry where the grand prize would be a brand new Rolex watch – strap. Or matching pillow cases.)

We do, however, hold our own with news and investigative journalistic programming – probably some of the best in the world with the fifth estate and W5 leading the way.

But it’s also easy to see the difference in production quality between Canadian and American produced shows – although that too seems to be changing. As comedian Mike MacDonald once said, it’s bad if you can tell the show is Canadian just by hearing it. Ouch.