So Canada has new programming because their writers don't care about crazy things like internet residuals. As if universal health care wasn't enough! Always seeing an opening, CBS is importing some of that earnestness from up north:
CBS has agreed to import a new Canadian-produced TV police drama called "Flashpoint" in a deal that lets the network bypass the home-grown "pilot" development process shut down by the screenwriters' strike.
ADVERTISEMENTThe network said on Tuesday it has ordered 13 episodes of the one-hour show, which will be broadcast in the United States later this year on CBS and north of the border on CTV, Canada's largest privately owned English-language broadcaster.
We're surprised. We thought Mexico was the go-to for cheap-imported goods.
Editorial Director
The writers in Canada have their own union — the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), which is not in a strike position. The WGC fully supports WGA members. As for writing duing the WGA strike, the WGC posted the following advice on their webpage (edited slighly for brevity):
As a member of the WGC you have certain obligations as spelt out in the WGC Constitution and By Laws. Listed below are three basic rules which will govern the conduct of the WGC and its members for the duration of the WGA strike.
1. If you are a dual member of the WGC and the WGA and you reside in the U.S., WGA strike rules apply.
2. If you are a dual member of the WGC and the WGA and you reside in Canada, you may work for a Canadian producer whose principal place of business, at the time the writer is contracted, is in Canada. … If you are a WGC member residing in Canada and you are approached to work for an American engager you shall not be permitted to work for such engager as per the WGC Constitution and By Laws.
Uh, huh. Ever seen those Canadian series? This is not a big worry for Guild members. Canadian police series play late-night in NYC on Ch. 7, after the movie. They're just a little too long, too wordy and the police and criminals too clean. Just doesn't work.
Also, all the good looking Canadian actors have moved to the US already. So Canadian series (comedy or drama) are often populated by "character" actors.
There are actually a whole crop of Canadian non-reality shows on TV right now, and they actually don't all suck. JPod is pretty cool, MVP has the hottest guys I've ever seen, and enough retarded commercialism to keep any American happy. There are several others worth mentioning. However, I agree that our cops n' robbers shows are total crap. We shouldn't waste our time trying to reproduce bad American TV shows.
While I don't think that this new series looks very good, I've gotta say that Canadian cops and robber shows are generally not /crap/ but British. Watch a British police drama beside a Canadian police drama and you see alot of similarities.