Anyway, down in the comments section of my last CBC post, Cunningham posted something that I think deserves some top-love.
My view (for what it's worth - probably not much as I'm not Canadian and thus not as "involved") is that your CBC needs to focus on programs that are so damn funny or dramatic or action-packed or whatever, that people from all over Canada - no matter what the region - will find something to like or hate about it. Must see tv.
Alex Epstein was talking on his blog about NORTHERN EXPOSURE - a show that on the surface had limited appeal: small town life of an Alaska doctor. What made that show run for six years was the fact that the characters, while outside our experience here in the Southland, were relatable and funny. Damn funny. Quirky too.
Memorable.
I want to outline Cunningham's comments here, because he is, of course, American. And like it or not, we live in Canada. So whatever an American thinks is news.
(Oh, just try to deny it.)
But there's a great point in there. I wasn't even in the Biz when Northern Exposure was first on the air. (Actually, I was, but as a lowly current affairs researcher) I have doubts that a show like that would survive on CBS more than two episodes today. Things have changed a lot since 1992. BUT -- he's right. NX is the perfect Canadian show that wasn't. I often thought that The Full Monty was a perfect, enduring model of a story that was tellable anywhere -- it was very specific to the UK, but the story was universal and that's why it traveled. No one worries about making a self-consciously English program, or a self-consciously American program. Yet because of the way the system works, that's almost all we seem to make here North of the 49th Parallel.
If the CBC wants to put "butts in seats" to watch their programs, then they need to focus on the product and not the deal. Make memorable shows and market them accordingly.See what Bill just did there? He pulled out a crossbow and Ted-fucking-Nugented a fucking arrow right through the heart of the whole biz up here.
The whole thing is about the deal, because the deal is so hard to make.
And that's where you start considering things like regionalism and representation -- so that a show that was actually funny, like Rabbittown, gets shitcanned, because, presumably, "we already have a Newfie show on the air," and a show that's clearly inferior like "This Space For Rent" gets a second, or third chance because it's Vancouver-based and you know...YOUNG and...what's that other word...oh yah...HIP. Um...now...where's my knitting?
That's also how you do something embarrassing like say that the secret to your success in the future will be to institute quantifiable testing to come up with sure-fire shows people want to watch -- despite the fact that they test American shows up the yin-yang and it does NOTHING to guarantee you a hit!
You cannot replace qualitative decisionmaking with quantifiable, dispassionate testing. Can NO one see that this is the same fruit of the poison tree that makes us consider place over concept, and 'overt Canadian-ness' over quality? Is there NO ONE at the CBC who will stand up and say, "I think this show is funny and deserves to be made, and if I'm wrong, I'm responsible?"
Testing. Pfft.
There's a story about SPOOKS/MI-5 that the BBC wanted everyone in their target demo for the show to be talking about it at the water cooler the next day. That's part of the reason why they cast a recognizable star and killed her (deep fried her face) in the second episode. That's why every bus had banners for the show. That's why every young person's music station and cable channel and cell phone had ads about the show. They went out and made a show that, like it or hate it, you HAD to see it and talk about it.So there's Bill's gauntlet. Okay, Canadian readers, time to de-lurk, and step up. Any suggestions for Mr. Bill here? I'll start us off. Early DaVinci's Inquest. Corner Gas, probably. Slings & Arrows, definitely.
Are there ANY shows on Canadian TV that you HAVE to talk about(other than the fact it's set in Vancouver or Toronto)? If there are - I want to see them (and I don't mean that rhetorically. I want to see them).
What else?
Anyone?
Bueller?
Stop making it about the deal. Jesus, Bill, it sounds so simple when you say it! :)
25 comments:
I'll be in town all week, then its off for a gig at the Rosenberg barmitzvah...
Be kind to your waitresses...
Thanks, brother. I linked it all up to my blog. Let's get this party started.
The Collector.
Yeah, yeah, I know CHUM cancelled it last week -- but it's still a damn fine TV show!
I'm a misanthropic writer, so there's nothing around my watercooler but loneliness.
But the one show I do talk to my friends about is "Hockey Night in Canada". Or any hockey game. Or "The Tournament".
okay,
I have seen the light. Forgive me. I lost my way. Make great shows and they will come. I will repeat this forever. Thank you. Thank you. I have to run out now and pre-order my GETTING ALONG FAMOUSLY SEASON 1 DVD! The sadness overwhelms me.....
come on kids...
"Must Talk TV?"
The Collector?
The Tournament?
Getting Along Famously?
Really?
Although, Bill, everyone really does talk about Hockey Night in Canada on Monday. It's eerie.
The only thing I'd add to Bill's cut-through-the-crap equation is More Episodes. Yes, it's gotta be good, but if you're making 6 and 13 episode runs, it's never going to have an impact.
I don't do very much "appointment viewing", I'll admit... but if you make a 22 episode season, you can hold that timeslot year-round. Meaning if (like me) your life doesn't revolve around T.V. you still know when something is on. I did go through a spell where I had to see Da Vinci, but then it completely vansihed from the schedule for the usual 9-10 months and I got on with my life.
If you want to build an audience and hold it, you've got to pony up the dough and keep 'em coming. Three pilots over two years? Thanks for comin' out.
Do you have any idea just how many thousands and thousands of fans The Collector has around the world, Denis? They're not talking about it too much on the SPACE board, unfortunately, but as the unofficial fan liaison for the show, I get 10 to 20 emails every day from loyal -- and voracious -- viewers asking me questions about the show/cast/crew. I can hardly keep up!
I'm really upset that CHUM cancelled the show last week -- or, rather, I was really upset. I just got off the phone with the president of a major Canadian prodco who wants to hire The Collector's now unemployed ex.prod. to be the showrunner on The Black Tower. The future of my series -- my entire showbiz career, actually -- depends on his response.
Is it wrong that I'm hoping & praying that the fans' 'Save The Collector' campaign fails? I'm a bad person. :-(
KJC
I am just not going to get this story broken today no matter how hard I try. It's like a fist slamming into my face, over and over, forever.
that being said:
Kelly,
Never said The Collector didn't have fans. Or that it wasn't a worthy view. But it's also a fairly derivative concept. Is that really up to the gauntlet Bill threw down?
See, the idea here is "it's not good because it's Canadian..." we need to think "it's so good that it doesn't matter it's Canadian."
But I didn't mean to intimate that the Collector wasn't well executed, nor that it didn't have a fanbase who love it very, very much. If it gets picked up, I'll applaud that too. More work, more work for all.
Ring:
I agree on 22 -- but it's also a bit of a pipe dream.
I think you can make an impact with 8 or 13 or even six. But everything has to fire -- you need killer promo, you need an uninterrupted flow with no pre-emptions. And if you're smart, you'll also fill the slot when the show is over with another show that appeals to the same audience. There's a reason why Prison Break broke out in the fall -- that was the 24 slot. People who liked 24 wanted something in that slot they could watch, because watching then is their habit.
Yeah, that's less important in the PVR age, but it still can't be discounted.
Some of my favorite shows from the last several years have been short runners: The (original) Office, Life On Mars, Cracker, Battlestar Galactica (at least the 1st season.)
Doing a pilot and then doing a series over a year later, though, is, as the french say...retarded.
I'm sorry, Denis - what was that?
I was talking to somebody about last night's Clippers game...
And lest anyone forget - it's not just about making great shows- it's about letting people AROUND THE DAMN WORLD know you're making a great show. You HAVE to compete in the marketplace. That is, if you want to...
If it hadn't been for CYNopsis and this blog I wouldn't know anything about DAVINCI'S INQUEST. It's on at 1230am on Saturday night here in LA. I'm either already in bed or still at the bar.
Is REGENESIS any good? COLD SQUAD?
Oh yeah, LIFE ON MARS. Ditto HUSTLE. Both built on the 6-8 episode season...and they work.
Why?
Cause they're cracking good Television...
The News?
This experiment is painful in that it makes obvious Canadian TV unforgivably sucks.
Everyone knows it, thus compounding the problem of attracting viewers.
Canadians hate to see themselves on TV, and Canadian film and TV people are self effacing and self conscious, thus creating a vicious cycle of crap.
Also, Canadians have trouble seeing themselves in the mythical realm that Americans so easily see themselves.
-MIAMI VICE were mythical cops.
-FRIENDS were mythical twenty somethings in New York.
-CSI are mythical scientist cops.
-Seinfeld were mythical wise crackers.
-LOST is a mythical island.
-BSG is a mythical pursuit through the stars.
-DESPERATE HOUSWIVES are mythical representations of American suburbanites.
Canadians for some reason need to be realistic.
Good Canadian films and TV shows may approach mythic, like TRAILER PARK BOYS, maybe CORNER GAS, maybe even... err… DANGER BAY?
But yes, nobody is talking about any Canadian TV around the water cooler, except of course hockey which, like all sports, is about myth as well.
I have heard PASSIONATE EYE discussed around the water cooler.
Jutra,
I'm sorry it has to be you, but sadly, I've been waiting for just this post since it's the other side of the puzzle to make Bill understand.
You've just posted the Canadian Defeatist Party Line. Like most Defeatist Party Lines, it's an article of faith and it's absolute bullshit.
It comes from being a cowed and defeatist culture and it has nothing to do with reality. The problem is, the people who gatekeep are as affected by it -- or more so -- than you are.
The "Myth" of Canadian "realism" is pernicious at best. Canadians are no more realistic about themselves than Americans are. Just because you can see how your alcoholic brother makes grandiose promises and never fulfills them doesn't mean that you have your shit any more together. And that's the problem, and the excuse, of Canadians in entertainment. If they spent one tenth the time actually trying to chronicle real life than trying to be different than the Americans, we'd all be better off.
No one speaks the truth here -- that Quebecois culture works not because of the language barrier, but because that language barrier gives them just enough distance to actually express themselves and not worry about being different than America.
Trailer Park Boys is undeniably different. Which is why it works.
The New York Times and many other organs rave about Slings and Arrows -- why? Because it is what it is, proud and real and true -- and not asking for permission. Problem is, many Canadians need that American affirmation before signing on to whether it's good or not. When I saw Slings, I thought, "bloody marvellous!" I didn't need the Americans to tell me it was good. And when the NYTimes and everyone else praised it when it was sold to Sundance, I wasn't surprised, or shocked, or even...moved. It just was.
Canadians and Canadian gatekeepers are NOT realistic. They're just blind and obsessed with being different than Americans -- to their detriment. When you spend so much of your energy proving what you're not, there's very little left over to say what you actually are.
It's sad, and true, and telling, I think that with the exception of SCTV, Canada's comic talents largely have to go to the USA to demonstrate their Canadian talent -- and express themselves without reservation.
30 milliion people. One huge pickle.
Time to get it out of the bum. This country needs an enema!
And defeatist stuff like, "unforgivably sucks" needs to be the first to go. We all need to DEMAND BETTER.
Canadian TV does suck (Especially compared to American TV, and its fair to compare it to American TV because American TV is great.)(I haven't seen Slings and Arrows, however), and unforgivably so.
I'm not being a defeatist. In that in all my writing, I try to write on a level comparative to my favourite influences, (Sopranos, Lost, Spaghetti Westerns, Coen Brothers etc etc..)not that I am there yet.
Am I being defeatist in noticing that we have yet to point out on this thread an example of must see water cooler talk Canadian TV?
By saying "unforgivably sucks", I am demanding better, and being unforgiving about it..
Not since I was six and the number one fan of Mr DRESSUP has Canadian TV made me search it out.
Man, now I'm late for work.
SCTV, sure, but don't forget the Kids in the Hall.
Well, you can forget their movie, but not the sketch show. They were brilliant, and most continue to do fine work.
Dave Foley was "NewsRadio". Scott brought his dimension to "Larry Sanders". Mark and Bruce went to SNL, and have continued successful, perhaps low-key careers. Kevin is comic relief, with bit parts in "Friends" and "Arrested Development", among others. He also was the one-eye in "Lilo and Stitch".
But the original Kids in the Hall show never made much of a splash on CBS. And they sure weren't shy about expressing themselves.
Could the head-crushing ethnic have been done on American TV? I don't think so.
Webs,
KITH is a bad example, because first of all it wouldn't have happened without Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video money. Second, I think the show did pretty respectably for Showtime, and it's done well over the years in reruns on Comedy Central.
The size of the US market means that even "marginal success" there equals hit status here. But they are an interesting example of being a bigger success once they left. If you look at the ones who largely stayed -- only McKinney has carved out a consistent television role here.
Jutra:
I call bullshit on your attitude. It does not help, and worst, it's not true.
People DO talk about Trailer Park Boys. They sell out the Bloor Cinema in jaded Toronto for a personal appearance. They trade tapes back and forth. And BBC America picks them up.
That's a water cooler show.
Slings & Arrows has been favorably mentioned in the New York Times four times in the last few weeks.
That's a water cooler show.
DaVinci's Inquest, airing at odd times in US syndication, is driving google hits to my site every day.
Americans are talking about these shows.
It's just sad that that's got to be the yardstick, because of a) a system that prizes 'different' over entertaining, and b) a significant portion of the audience who, like you, immediately looks at homegrown product and dismisses it.
When it sucks, we should say it sucks.
But it doesn't always suck.
You're wrong.
I don't disgaree with the sentiment, Dennis, and I think you've made many points that aren't heard nearly often enough... but to return to Bill's "water cooler":
"the BBC wanted everyone in their target demo for the show to be talking about it at the water cooler the next day.... are there ANY shows on Canadian TV that you HAVE to talk about"
Now there is an actual water cooler here in the office where my mild-mannered secret identity fritters away the sweet precious gift of life... and the water cooler/breakroom conversation is all of the "very brief connection with people you see every day but don't know very well" variety. If they talk about television, it's generally about a show that they're pretty sure the other person(s) will also be able to converse briefly about. I don't pretend that this water cooler is in any way definitive, but it does service a group of people who don't work in televison or have a vested interest. I don't pay all that much attention to their conversations, but here is every non-sports or news program I can remember hearing a discussion of:
Survivor, Prison Break, 24, The Amazing Race, American Idol, Battlestar Galactica, The Sopranos, The Simpsons, Family Guy, the last episode of Friends and that episode of South Park where Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet. Oh and a few of us would talk about the new Doctor Who, but we would always get looks.
Is there Canadian television that is worthy of the level of awareness needed to bring it to the watercoolers of the country? Yes, and I think Sling and Arrows is a great example. But so far that hasn't happened, at least not here.
Bill's point about SPOOKS/MI-5 is that the BBC spent some serious money and effort to make people watch. Global, bless their little socks, really did push Falcon Beach... it didn't really have the "water cooler" effect, but it was an ambitious campaign and I'm sure gave a boost to the show's fortunes - and I think we need more of that kind of effort. If Slings and Arrows had ever had a push like that...
Ring,
You're very right and you raise a great point...promotion is something that does need to improve.
Sadly, that's a lot of money and it's the thing that the producers are always complaining to networks about.
I think before we make a run at that case - we seriously need to get our own storytelling house in order, and actually step up and make product that's worth carpetbombing with promotion.
I have a few friends who are Promotions Producers/editors at a few of the Canadian Channels. Talking to them is bracing.
You want to know what you're doing wrong? Talk to a guy who has to pull the most exciting scenes from your opus to put a promo together.
That is a conversation that every producer/writer needs to have at some point.
I'm going to be all over the place with this post as I still haven't had enough coffee this morning:
1) SLINGS & ARROWS is on my "To see" list...I've heard way too many good things about it.
2) To go to Denis' point regarding talking to promo producers regarding what you're doing "wrong" is well taken. Every series or movie or media has to have what I like to call "story candy". We've all heard the term "eye candy" and that is part of it, but story candy refers to those moments of intensity and conflict and outrageousness that you know have to go "in the trailer". Those moments that encapsulate and sell the show you're producing.
I've been fortunate in that I've had experience on the side of the movie marketing biz as well - designing DVD key art and campaigns to "sell" movies on DVD. I get the impression, based on what little I've seen of Canadian TV, that somehow you're afraid of salesmanship and intensity and screaming at the top of your lungs to "watch my show!" You're being subtle, and that's not what television is about. It's about entertainment.
I think this subtlety is manifesting itself in the stories you tell and the construction of those stories - to your detriment.
I have seen the 2nd episode of FALCON BEACH and bless their heart they try, but I think they lose the thread of "Who is our audience and how do we keep them interested?" when they shoot and edit it together.
When I first saw Denis' post about this show I thought that Global were going after the MTv crowd (or in your case, MuchMusic), but when I saw it - I didn't see any fast cutting, glamour shots of bodies on the beach, steamy teen sexuality, intense drama and heartbreak - the candy for those kind of shows. No intensity.
I saw something that was..."slow". Do you know what I'm getting at here?
(And let me be the first to say that this assessment is based solely on this episode, but every episode is someone's first so it better have bang for the buck).
No "candy."
3) They say that "imitation is the sincerest form of television." FALCON BEACH wants the DAWSON'S CREEK, OC, VERONICA MARS, BAYWATCH crowd for their audience. You can see it in the way they have set the story up...but they don't follow through with the storytelling style of shows like this and thus take the whole package out of joint. It's like telling a joke with no punchline.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a TV whore. I love television and quite frankly watch way too much of it. I want to branch out though and find those gems that are hidden (for the most part) from American audiences.
And for those of you out there saying, "We don't want to be seen as imitating the Americans." Fine.
I'm just saying that BBC/Kudos did it with Spooks/MI-5. They set out to make a show that would COMPETE with the Americans...and they came up with something that does so (for my attention anyway) and yet it remains distinctly British.
Determine who your audience is and make sure that every frickin' frame sells to that audience. Maybe that's the "problem" - you don't know who your audience is...
But hopefully, for the right show that audience will be me.
Dammit, Bill, you've got a really annoying habit of being right. For a guy working sans coffee, you're on a ninjistic nail-head-hitting spree.
Yeah, what impressed me about Falcon Beach was never the actual show (though I'm REALLY not it's audience)... but I did appreciate that for once a Canadian TV show wasn't "on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door reading Beware Of The Leopard"...
Coming from a Canadian TV writer who barely writes for Canadian TV because there's no interest in the kind of content I write, I thank you for this.
I've long thought the CBC needs to embrace the BBC model of programming. You'd never see the like of Doctor Who, Spooks, Life On Mars or even Hustle produced here, because they're too busy looking for the next "lesbian-learns-to-ride-a-bicycle-in-Halifax" -style telefilm.
I am American, and I desperately love the Trailer Park Boys. It's relatable in a strange way, and it's very funny. It may sadden you to know that I feel like I am learning about life in Canada in the process.
Switch to mexican TV.
Muchos Saludos!
;)
Whoa, forget that, the Mercer Report is probably my favourite canadian show at the moment, and if anything ought to be watercooler tv that's it.
The Greatest Canadian was a huge water cooler show. But would Canadian history sell internationally?
Just For Laughs and JFL Gags do. They're reasonably popular here too, with a good time slot after 22 Minutes.
Hammy Hamster, that amazing classic kids show, now has new episodes being produced on YTV.
When you talk about Canadian TV it's not all about sitcoms.
The Newsroom... did anyone mention The Newsroom!? (I don't have time to read all of the comments).
The Newsroom was wonderful. I wish I felt the same about At the Hotel.
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