Wednesday, October 01, 2008

I've just had a realization. I'm sitting here watching So You Think You Can Dance Canada and realized it doesn't have nearly the press or hype or following that the US version has. It's a bit disappointing. There always seems to be a stigma that Canadian TV isn't as good as it's US counterpart. Unfortunately, that carries over to Canadian talent, and many artists, performers and athletes get overlooked.

I know that the CRTC requires a certain amount of Canadian content from all of it's broadcasters, but that doesn't apply to the American channels that we all watch on a regular basis. It's possible to not see Canadian content at all and still catch all the popular prime time shows.

I think that's part of the reason Canadian athletes have so much trouble finding sponsorship (which translates into less funding, less press and less training). We're so close to the U.S and so inundated with their stars that we don't notice our own. I wonder if this happens less with other countries because there are usually either physical or language barriers, pr perhaps less media carry over.

I'm a huge supporter of Canadian talent - what can I say, I'm proud to be Canadian and local support is something I'm working on (local sports, talent, farmers, everything). I just find it so disappointing that the U.S. media has blinded us from seeing what wonderful things our country has to offer.


(of course, the way the government has cut funding to the arts might have something to do with it too....)

5 comments:

Dena said...

here, here!

Mommy Rader said...

I've never really seen the Canadian version (for obvious reasons!) but I did enjoy the first season of that show. I used to watch it with my sis. Now I hardly ever watch the dance shows anymore...

Matt "the Bat" said...

One of my favorite shows right now is Little Mosque on the Prairie a fully made in Canada tv series, its even on the CBC. But I was seriously disgusted to find out that ABC or was it CBS, bought the rights and is making an American version. This will probably kill a show that is by far one of the funniest things on TV.
Also if it wasn't for Canada SNL wouldn't exist

Owen said...

I do think that Canadian humor is unique and deserves to not be ripped off. Corner Gas has arived in syndication here- a lot of people have mentioned how much they like it to me. Degrassi has also recently found an American following......don't really know what to think about that.

The amout of cable channels have allowed more shows from Cananda and the UK to get discovered by American aduiences.

Anonymous said...

Just for the record, I'm American and I think Degrassi is the greatest show ever created.