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[Vibranium]

I actually think the CRTC's protectionism of Canadian content is self-defeating. As long as Canadian content is funded by governments and propped up by the CRTC, it all tends to be so cloyingly "Canadian". Stories about growing up in rural Alberta, or Muslims on the prairies, or parody shows about boring Canadian politics... Its all so adorkably Canadian

Ask yourself.. Why doesn't Canada make anything that's "cool"? It's because all Canadian content is like a super-lame teacher's pet, trying to show how wholesomely homegrown and Canadian it is so it will get government funding. But as a consequence, there's almost nothing with any kind of edge. And so it is self-defeating, because protecting it is what's keeping it from having honest mass appeal.

If left to the free market, maybe Canadian content would actually have to develop a sense of spectacle like in America...

I have always said to people that the CBC needs its own Doctor Who, a Canadian sci-fi show with half-decent budget and that is willing to explore some cool themes. Something like a futuristic cyberpunk setting that just happens to be in Canada would be really neat. Think the Picus Montreal level in Deus Ex Human Revolution.

Anyways, I probably won't bother with cable when this rolls around, we'll see.

 

[Takao]

I actually think the CRTC's protectionism of Canadian content is self-defeating. As long as Canadian content is funded by governments and propped up by the CRTC, it all tends to be so cloyingly "Canadian". Stories about growing up in rural Alberta, or Muslims on the prairies, or parody shows about boring Canadian politics... Its all so adorkably Canadian

Ask yourself.. Why doesn't Canada make anything that's "cool"? It's because all Canadian content is like a super-lame teacher's pet, trying to show how wholesomely homegrown and Canadian it is so it will get government funding. But as a consequence, there's almost nothing with any kind of edge. And so it is self-defeating, because protecting it is what's keeping it from having honest mass appeal.

If left to the free market, maybe Canadian content would actually have to develop a sense of spectacle like in America...

I think leaving Canadian TV to the private sector is a good way to ensure very little gets produced in this country.

 

[firehawk12]

I have always said to people that the CBC needs its own Doctor Who, a Canadian sci-fi show with half-decent budget and that is willing to explore some cool themes. Something like a futuristic cyberpunk setting that just happens to be in Canada would be really neat. Think the Montreal level in Deus Ex Human Revolution.

Anyways, I probably won't bother with cable when this rolls around, we'll see.

They had Being Erica. lol

 

[Sober]

I think leaving Canadian TV to the private sector is a good way to ensure very little gets produced in this country.

That sounds great until you realize that's why very little gets produced. Getting a show made most of the time is just a chore that has to be done because CanCon requirements or whatever silliness the government asks for. The private sector in the US is constantly looking for talent, whereas no one up here really is. Where do you think the creatives will go?

They had Being Erica. lol

It's kinda sad when Being Erica is literally some of the more ambitious Canadian TV I've watched in the past few years and nothing's topped it. And in the US, it actually is relegated to a soap channel.

I hear X Company might be good? I was disappointed with Strange Empire when all was said and done, but at least that wasn't adorkably Canadian or whatever. Just flat out meh IMO.

 

[Cheerilee]

I actually think the CRTC's protectionism of Canadian content is self-defeating. As long as Canadian content is funded by governments and propped up by the CRTC, it all tends to be so cloyingly "Canadian". Stories about growing up in rural Alberta, or Muslims on the prairies, or parody shows about boring Canadian politics... Its all so adorkably Canadian

Ask yourself.. Why doesn't Canada make anything that's "cool"? It's because all Canadian content is like a super-lame teacher's pet, trying to show how wholesomely homegrown and Canadian it is so it will get government funding. But as a consequence, there's almost nothing with any kind of edge. And so it is self-defeating, because protecting it is what's keeping it from having honest mass appeal.

If left to the free market, maybe Canadian content would actually have to develop a sense of spectacle like in America...

I don't care what anyone says, Murdoch Mysteries is great.

 

[Takao]

That sounds great until you realize that's why very little gets produced. Getting a show made most of the time is just a chore that has to be done because CanCon requirements or whatever silliness the government asks for. The private sector in the US is constantly looking for talent, whereas no one up here really is. Where do you think the creatives will go?

I don't disagree with the idea that a good chunk of Canadian television is produced solely for the purpose of fulfilling regulations. I just really don't trust the likes of Rogers, Bell and Shaw to otherwise produce Canadian programming if they didn't have to. There's a reason why their network schedules are so heavy on US imports and local versions of foreign shows.

English Canadian television is (and kind of has always been) in a really bad spot. There's a public broadcaster who gets its funding slashed every single year. There are private broadcasters who for the most part couldn't care less about their homegrown product. There's an audience that automatically assumes if it's Canadian it's garbage. There's intense competition from the US for both content producers and the content itself. Some of those seem like unsolvable problems.

I hope that the digital distribution content wars spark productions that are made with the intention of being good. Of course that hope hinges on the idea of the US distribution companies no longer selling exclusive rights to Rogers, Bell and Shaw.

 

[Terrell]

It's kinda sad when Being Erica is literally some of the more ambitious Canadian TV I've watched in the past few years and nothing's topped it. And in the US, it actually is relegated to a soap channel.

The part that had me rolling over laughing was the fact that there was talk of remaking Being Erica for American network TV. I literally smacked my head in disbelief. Was the show so patently indecipherable to Americans that they had to base it in their own country for it to be viable?! Must have been all that ethnic diversity. ANYHOW...

I've always been of the opinion that the best way for Canadian content TV to work is for the CBC (who, let's face it, produces the bulk of it) to play ball with the networks in the US and supplement budget cuts by co-producing content to air in the US. CRTC meets their mandate, we have better means to produce shows in our own country, more money means better content that doesn't ooze maple syrup on closer inspection... everybody wins, right?

 

[AuthenticM]

Holy shit. Thank you CRTC.

Spoiler

I'm still not going to subscribe to cable. :/

 

[Sober]

The part that had me rolling over laughing was the fact that there was talk of remaking Being Erica for American network TV. I literally smacked my head in disbelief. Was the show so patently indecipherable to Americans that they had to base it in their own country for it to be viable?! Must have been all that ethnic diversity. ANYHOW...

I've always been of the opinion that the best way for Canadian content TV to work is for the CBC (who, let's face it, produces the bulk of it) to play ball with the networks in the US and supplement budget cuts by co-producing content to air in the US. CRTC meets their mandate, we have better means to produce shows in our own country, more money means better content that doesn't ooze maple syrup on closer inspection... everybody wins, right?

Canada-US co-pros are super rare. I think Book of Negroes might be one of the firsts? (Orphan Black actually doesn't count, neither does Flashpoint or Rookie Blue). But yes, pretty much the only one even trying these days is the CBC. So I can't give them too much shit for it.