Sunday, February 28, 2010

Hopefully.

AS A WRAPPED-UP partisan, I think it's best to keep my powder dry on the subject that Bill Brioux writes about today, save two small comments:  I enjoyed the two seasons I did on THE BORDER and am proud of the work I did there.  I got to work with some of the best writers & directors in the Canadian industry -- and I've never seen a harder working crew.

But it's this sentence in the article that gets to me most:

The series did showcase a strong cast, with James McGowan emerging as a strong series lead. Hopefully we'll see him flanking Jack Bauer soon.

Normally I have a lot of time for Brioux.  But it's sentences and sentiments like that that really make me think, "why the fuck do we even bother?"

Take the shingle, close the shop, leave the mob to their teary-beer ad populism & red painted maple leaves, shuffle off to Silverlake, & when you hit down there tell every newspaper wanting to work "the Canadian angle" to go stick it in their five-hole.

So wrong.

I think it's the "hopefully" that really seals it.

7 rumbles:

Dwight Williams said...

You're right to be angry on this one.

I want a fourth season if I can get it, I want a proper wrap-up movie if I can't get the fourth season, and failing that, I refuse to give up on homegrown TV drama and comedy.

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Bill Brioux said...

Pretend for a second you're an actor, not a writer. The showrunner for 24--a Canadian--calls. He has a part for you opposite Sutherland. YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT AND NOT WITH THE BIG BEAVER SHOW CLOSING CEREMONIES???

DMc said...

One has nothing whatsoever to do with the other. The first is the expression of a possible labor transaction. The second is a cultural commentator expressing what he feels is the optimum outcome that any actor should be thrilled at.

But the skew is off. And the prize, "so and so was good, his show was canceled, maybe he'll be hired by the Americans because let's face it they're all that matters..."

Well. That's just a nightmare.

Bill you've got a life in Canada. Your industry's in tough times. But you live here, have a family here. If I said, "well, it's a shame Bill can't get assignments from Canadian papers, hopefully NewsCorp will call," would that be an immediate cause for joy? Or would it be, "oh god, can I rip up my family and leave behind my whole life here? or can I not? I mean, if there's no alternative."

"Hopefully" is not a prize if you were working toward there being something else at the end of the tunnel.

Seeing it valued so little puts a sharp relief on things that just is rather discouraging, is all. Especially when, in a few weeks or months you do the next feature claiming bright young Canadian talent who made it on US shows - which of course, has to be the ultimate goal of every Canadian talent behind or in front of the camera, right? To pass for an American?

Dwight Williams said...

Not something I've ever wanted to hear.

Ryan said...

The shared hope here is that a clever person gets McGowan back to work on something people will watch. The difference is whether to dismiss out of hand that said clever person be working in Canada.

Dwight Williams said...

I won't dismiss that possibility.