CBC's Prime Time 2008 line-up
I have been more than patient with the new line-up of prime-time shows on CBC
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the CBC, it's been and still is crucial in shaping Canadian culture, but this season they've produced four prime time TV dramas jPod, The Border, Sophie
These shows are Canadian through and through. They're part of a new generation of Canadian TV that is trying to compete with the hugely successful American shows - which are mostly made in Canada - the difference is very obvious actually. You can always tell Canadian filmmaking - right?
This was the verdict that a Canadian study conducted by the CRTC a few years ago whose purpose was to find out how to deal with the declining audience of the CBC in the age of HDTV and satellite TV.
It was a battle that had long been lost by the CBC, the study said. The terms of the armistice seems to have been that CBC will focus on quality, heady, news television that document the culture of Canada as well as comedies but it is to stay away from fiction. This is a strategy that is shared by many national broadcasting television stations, like the BBC.
However, the survey said, if the CBC is to survive in the modern Digital and Satellite cable age and maintain it's mandate of promoting Canadian Content, it has to start producing dramas that rival it's American counterparts. This is why BBC created BBC4 the creative arm that has brought amazing programming to the world stage.
Lack of original fiction has not been an issue with Radio Canada the study said, because Quebec has a very strong TV culture with many successful shows that is supported by a distinct star system, this is due mainly to how their prime time slots are protected by the language barrier which exclude many other shows from getting a fighting chance at an audience in Quebec.
English Canada doesn't have any strong candidates in the war for rating against Amercian TV so it had been relegated to Broccoli Television status: it's good for you, but not so pleasant to watch. The study recommended that if CBC is to survive in the new media world, it has to produce more dramas.
So the CBC has been on a mission to come up with some prime time TV shows that are cool and hip and sexy to get Canadian audiences to watch Canadian content.
The first and greatest of disappointments is the J-Pod. It's all all the making of a classic CBC yawnfest.
J-pod prides itself on having a pot-porrie of characters that are all very eccentric and anti-archetypes. Centered around one young 20something (mistake number one) along with his coleagues in the J work pod are a slew of X-generation folk who barely working in the bowels of a successful video gaming company. Folded into this mix is a family who is not too unlike the characters of Weeds of Showcase - but on vallium. Though the show has some very strong pedigree - it's based on the Douglas Coupland's book of the same name, it's just too slow and self indulgent for anyone to care. AND it's not very original - sorry CBC.
I'll write a little more about the rest of the line-up when I watch them.
But YOU can watch all of these shows on the CBC.CA website. Full episodes are available to watch online - without commercials. That's one good thing that CBC got right, the trend of new media to take over TV...more on this later
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the CBC, it's been and still is crucial in shaping Canadian culture, but this season they've produced four prime time TV dramas jPod, The Border, Sophie
These shows are Canadian through and through. They're part of a new generation of Canadian TV that is trying to compete with the hugely successful American shows - which are mostly made in Canada - the difference is very obvious actually. You can always tell Canadian filmmaking - right?
"Canadians have always been very good at producing comedy shows, but dramas have been a challenge."
This was the verdict that a Canadian study conducted by the CRTC a few years ago whose purpose was to find out how to deal with the declining audience of the CBC in the age of HDTV and satellite TV.
It was a battle that had long been lost by the CBC, the study said. The terms of the armistice seems to have been that CBC will focus on quality, heady, news television that document the culture of Canada as well as comedies but it is to stay away from fiction. This is a strategy that is shared by many national broadcasting television stations, like the BBC.
However, the survey said, if the CBC is to survive in the modern Digital and Satellite cable age and maintain it's mandate of promoting Canadian Content, it has to start producing dramas that rival it's American counterparts. This is why BBC created BBC4 the creative arm that has brought amazing programming to the world stage.
Lack of original fiction has not been an issue with Radio Canada the study said, because Quebec has a very strong TV culture with many successful shows that is supported by a distinct star system, this is due mainly to how their prime time slots are protected by the language barrier which exclude many other shows from getting a fighting chance at an audience in Quebec.
English Canada doesn't have any strong candidates in the war for rating against Amercian TV so it had been relegated to Broccoli Television status: it's good for you, but not so pleasant to watch. The study recommended that if CBC is to survive in the new media world, it has to produce more dramas.
So the CBC has been on a mission to come up with some prime time TV shows that are cool and hip and sexy to get Canadian audiences to watch Canadian content.
The first and greatest of disappointments is the J-Pod. It's all all the making of a classic CBC yawnfest.
J-pod prides itself on having a pot-porrie of characters that are all very eccentric and anti-archetypes. Centered around one young 20something (mistake number one) along with his coleagues in the J work pod are a slew of X-generation folk who barely working in the bowels of a successful video gaming company. Folded into this mix is a family who is not too unlike the characters of Weeds of Showcase - but on vallium. Though the show has some very strong pedigree - it's based on the Douglas Coupland's book of the same name, it's just too slow and self indulgent for anyone to care. AND it's not very original - sorry CBC.
I'll write a little more about the rest of the line-up when I watch them.
But YOU can watch all of these shows on the CBC.CA website. Full episodes are available to watch online - without commercials. That's one good thing that CBC got right, the trend of new media to take over TV...more on this later
posted by Viken's word @ 10:32 a.m.
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