Over the years, the Canadian practice of tying their schedules up in pretzels to try and air the U.S. shows at the same time as the U.S. network (so they could block out their cable signal,) had become fraught. The age of downloading meant that the other practice that went hand in hand with simulcasting, pre-releasing, (where the Canadian net that couldn't simulcast because of a conflict would sometimes air the show a day or two earlier than in the USA) went out the window.
So Ivan Fecan's coining of that phrase held a certain swagger to it -- now we were going to be able to have one of our shows on at the same time as in the USA -- and we'd have the control.
Except, of course, it didn't work out that way.
Flashpoint first season episodes were held back because CBS wanted to bench them for a few months. CTV went along. That created some difficulty for the writers in that an ep that wasn't meant to be a finale had to serve as one, and an ep that wasn't meant to be a premiere had to serve as one.
(Non writing producers have an easy fix for this. They say things like, "every episode should be made so it could be a premiere! OR a finale!!!" Wow. What a great idea! <glish> (Glish, by the way, is the sound that results when every writer who's ever written an episode of TeeVee rolls their eyes at once.)Anyhoo, the Flashpoint fun continued with the second season split up the same way. Though produced all at once, the 2nd season was aired in simulcast, with CBS holding back on scheduling the back half episodes. They held them back, and back, and back, and to this day they're still holding them. And finally CTV gave up and aired the episodes here first and held their breath, and lo and behold, over a million people watched because Canadians actually like Flashpoint. So yay Flashpoint.
Problem was, CTV also had another cop show in the can that was a co-pro intended to be "reverse simulcast" -- but their U.S. partner wouldn't commit.
So, the "savior" that is the new Canadian-U.S. partnership fatally shows its limitations. No matter what, no matter how cost effective they are (pay $400 000 an ep, and get control because the Producers are so gosh-darn happy to please you!) these shows are always going to be treated as filler by the U.S. network. Because they ARE filler.
And you know that old saw about, "how much are you gonna love somebody who'll take anything from you, who'll change anything about themselves to be with you, because they just want you to love them, damnit!?" Geez. Sounds to me like the CFTPA should be packing copies of "He's Just Not That Into You" into the Prime Time Gift Bags this year. Glish.
Anyway, what do you do if you're CTV, and you paid a jillion dollars for the Olympics, and you know you're going to have massive eyeballs and you have all these series you want to promote -- well, you schedule them right after Olympics, right? I mean, that's the smart thing to do. Except oh. Right...one of them, "The Bridge," was supposed to be one of them reverse-simulcast thingies.
Well CTV decided to do something smart. They said "Eff It":
Toronto– CTV announced today it has strategically scheduled three new Original Canadian series to debut next month, immediately following the conclusion of theVANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES. The three series will benefit from weeks of promotion during what is to be one of the most-watched television events of the year.
First, CTV’s hit Monday night comedy block expands to two hours on March 1, the day following the close of Vancouver 2010. At 8 p.m. ET, Brent Butt is back in HICCUPS, starring CORNER GAS’ co-star Nancy Robertson as children’s author Millie Upton. Then, at 8:30 p.m. ET, CORNER GAS alumnus Fred Ewanuick stars as a hapless electoral candidate in DAN FOR MAYOR. Both comedies join Top 10, smash-hit, laugh-makers TWO AND A HALF MEN and THE BIG BANG THEORY, which follow at 9 p.m. ET and 9:30 p.m. ET, respectively.
Later that week it’s the much-anticipated premiere of CTV’s newest one-hour original drama series, THE BRIDGE. Starring BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Aaron Douglas, THE BRIDGE is an authentic and unique twist on the police procedural told through the lens of a charismatic police union leader. The series debuts Friday, March 5 at 9 p.m. ET with a special two-hour series premiere before moving to its regular Fridays at 10 p.m. ET timeslot beginning March 12 on CTV (visit CTV.ca to confirm local broadcast times).
So it's certainly not the death of the reverse simulcast idea...but maybe it's more of an "eyes wide open" teachable moment in the Canadian network game.
There's no guarantee that any of these shows will be hits, of course, but CTV is doing the right thing by serving them up when there are lots of eyeballs to watch. That's a good thing.
And there's plenty to be excited about, too. Both of the comedies have a Corner Gas pedigree, CTV's highest rated original show til Flashpoint came along.
If you're interested, the WGC recently held a special screening & discussion for members to get a sneak preview of Dan For Mayor. The podcast of the discussion with two of the Creators & Producers, Kevin White & Paul Mather (Mark Farrell was out of town) is available here.
And again, if you want to program your PVR's, the CTV premieres are:
Hiccups & Dan For Mayor -- March 1, 8 & 8:30, before Two and a Half Men & Big Bang Theory
The Bridge -- March 5, 9-11, before moving to its regular slot the next week, Fridays at 10pm.
8 rumbles:
Your fetish for inline styles and other MS Word atrocities continues apace, Denis. You managed to cause three incompatible typeface families to appear even in RSS view.
Can you not just type plain text, with rare phrase-level markup, into Blogger?
Tried a couple times to make it two, but nope, blogger didn't let me. Oh well.
I'm sorry it bothers you so much, nerd.
"[...] these [Canadian] shows are always going to be treated as filler by the U.S. network. Because they ARE filler."
Good point. However, most Canadian TV networks and producers don't understand that U.S. networks are not the only potential buyers of their shows. After all, if European countries, Australia and New Zealand buy broadcasting rights for American shows, they would certainly buy broadcasting rights Canadian shows.
Besides, I don't mind if an American TV network broadcasts a season of a Canadian TV series after it had been broadcasted in Canada. For that matter you can think about Being Erica.
Well this is well trod ground in just about every industry publication, but in short -- it's not that Producers in Canada are unaware of other markets. The bulk of them may be feckless, but I've yet to meet more than a couple that are truly stupid...it's just that those markets, even when they're exploited, rarely get you to the magic 100 percent financing level. And they're hard to get besides because many of those countries aren't allergic to financing their own cop shows, lawyer shows, etc.
What's really going on at the producer level here is two things, one in their control, one not
1) they think the U.S. sale makes the show easier to sell internationally. MIght be true, but it's also the easy way out.
2) the reason why it's so hard to get to 100 percent financing is because the networks offer such ridiculously low license fees. Something on the order of 27% of the cost. That's lower than just about everywhere else in the world. When you're starting from there, even with tax breaks and CTF and other public funding and a few foreign sales, the math is extraordinarily difficult.
Aren't you glad you waded in now?
First of all, my thanks for the "He's Just Not That Into You" reference. You made my day.
Second, I appreciate learning the correct spelling of which I have been mis-typing and mispronouncing for years as .
And while it's wonderful that all these new shows are getting on the air...
Does it concern anybody that CTV is placing its two new Canadian comedies up against two other Canadian comedies on CBC ("18 to Life" and "Little Mosque"), both of which were already getting killed by "House", "How I Met Your Mother" and the actioner "Human Target" CTV had counter-programmed in the same slot?
I'm not saying CTV can't put their shows anywhere they want or that any kind of professional courtesy to a local competitor need be observed.
But struggling as we are, with few if any "safe" places for a new show to debut, it might be helpful to the industry as a whole if they all weren't going head to head.
It seems to be a formula which ensures that neither net gets a clear shot at their indigenous audience and therefore neither gets the chance to truly break out a new show.
Somehow Blogger misread or I mistyped... the above was supposed to read:
Second, I appreciate learning the correct spelling of "glish" which I have been mis-typing and mispronouncing for years as "gleesh".
I know, nmot all that funny to begin with and less so on explanation.
Hahaha
Actually, your explanation was pretty funny Jim...gleesh whiz!
The US presale is the expectation now...until it isn't again. So best of luck to all shows getting onto the air...whenever and wherever they are scheduled. But let's not be fooled into thinking CTV's choice to put 'The Bridge' out there ahead of CBS is an example of strength and 'signal integrity'.
about your concern, Jim, I gotta say..ug.
but that's more of a post.
as for "Glish," yes..that's the new spelling. cleaner, you know. Plus, the CRTC was threatening to charge us by the word.
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