WELL I GUESS this was inevitable. According to a press release (two years doing this blog, and CBC is finally sending me press releases. It's like....Christmas!) beginning next Tuesday, MVP -- the Hockey-themed-riff on Footballer$ Wives, and J-Pod, the slacker office hourlong comedy kinda drama hybrid are swapping places.So JPod will inherit the MVP slot, Friday at 9pm, while MVP will now go up against the American Idol buzzsaw. MVP's first Tuesday airing is Feb. 5.
I guess we're going to get to see if MVP's weakness on Friday nights is entirely due to the unsuitability of that timeslot.
Theoretically, it might even be not so bad for J-Pod. In a less competitive slot (Friday night wasteland) the quirky show might just get more channel surfers sampling it. Latest ratings were dire, so something's gotta give.
At right: "We're going where?"One more word about J-Pod....Yes, this is a constant refrain in Canadian TV, and yes, it's a big problem -- but everyone I know who's seen the later episodes say that the show really, really is much better starting Episode 7 or 8. Better storylines, better writing, better...well...everything.
Yes, yes, yes. That's the kiss of death for any show -- since by then the audience is fed up...but if you are a member of the Coupland cult -- and I know there's a lot of you out there -- it just might be worth your while to go back and check it out a couple Fridays hence. Just saying.
Timeslot juggling due to ratings. My God, CBC seems like a real network more every day!
All you lemmings can have Chuck Norris. I say don't count out the Thicke just yet.
6 comments:
I really like MVP. And I really like that the CBC is airing MVP. Sure, there are a lot of missed opportunities re: dialogue, but the casting is perfect and it's ambitious. Especially for the CBC.
I also really like The Border (and this isn't me sucking up to you!). It gets better and better. The show last week was the best yet, mostly because the dialogue was snappier (I chuckled a few times, especially at the "too South Beach" line. Anyway, speaking as a regular non-insider tv viewer, I think this is a really good time for CBC drama. I hope they get the new shows get the ratings they deserve.
... Sadly I'll have to admit to adoring the way JPod is going. The fact that it is doing dismally in ratings in rather sad.
The problem in some ways comes down to the demographic of the show itself -- many are trying to watch online and those numbers aren't tallied.
I'm with shaynie. JPod is fun and it would be a shame to lose it.
The first episode was weak, and I didn't hold out much hope for it, but the second episode was a riot, and now I'm hooked. (Episode 3 was sort of in between.)
JPod's not the kind of show where you laugh out loud a lot while you're watching it. You often don't realize how good it was until the next day, when you remember something from the episode and find yourself chuckling.
That's because it's not full of setup/punchline kind of gags. Instead, the humour comes from the way the stories take such unexpected twists.
In episode two, for example, when the Chinese ganglord and his henchman force Ethan into the limousine, you're thinking, "Is he going to kill him or buy him new clothes?" The last thing you expect is that it will end up with the ganglord wearing a Nazi uniform and ballroom dancing with Alan Thicke. And yet all the pieces of the story that take you to that moment had been so perfectly set up that, when you get there, it makes perfect sense.
There is room for improvement. A few laugh-out-loud-funny lines of dialog wouldn't hurt. But I'm finding it one of the most amusing things on television at the moment.
I want you to bring back J-Pod!It's the best show CBC has to offer as far as I'm concerned.My husband and I would wait all week to see it!The characters are so funny!The script was so well written.We would laugh out loud.I couldn't believe that you would take it off the air.I think a lot more people watched it then you realize. I had just showed it to some friends at work when we were on a break and they were in stitches.You didn't give it a chance.Changing the time slot was your first mistake.It was perfect when it came on right after This Hour has 22 minutes.Changing the time slot didn't stop us we looked for the new time slot and gave up other programs to watch it!!My friends asked what happened to it they wanted to watch it again.We are so disappointed in CBC and there choice to nix it!Please hear me and bring it back! NOW! We have started watching another channel.I miss laughing so hard I cry! Long Live J-Pod!
Wow. Uhh.
You want me to bring JPOD back?
Uh. Ohhh.Kay.
(thinks, then snaps fingers)
Um. There?
It's...back now?
Um. Now that I've done that, would you mind terribly if I got rid of the Conservative Government?
Oh boy...
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