TV, eh?

From Helgi Eyford of the Calgary Herald:

• We become what we behold
  “The CBC television drama, Little Mosque on the Prairie, is a great case in point. It paints a picture of a community where people from different backgrounds deal with problems and, in the process, model a version of multiculturalism that is Canada’s greatest achievement as a nation.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux of TV Feeds My Family, ratings for The Border, Dragons’ Den, Air Farce, Rick Mercer Report, Heartland, The Tudors, Little Mosque on the Prairie, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Sophie, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Corner Gas, The Guard, and Degrassi, among others:

• Grace Park Behind Border Jump
  “Boosted by the series debut of Grace Park as Homeland Security Agent Liz Carver, The Border jumped to 765,000 viewers across Canada Nov. 10. That made it CBC’s highest-rated off-ice series last week.” Read more.

From Mathures Paul of The Statesman:

• Bright lights, big city hues
  “A role model for young Muslim women, actor Sitara Hewitt spent her childhood in villages that dot the Himalayas. She now wants to experience the intoxicating effects of Bollywood.” Read more.

From Jon Sarpong of Inside Toronto:

• Canadian television must increase diversity
  “You can judge the value that you place on something by the time and finances that you devote to it,” says (Annmarie) Morais. “So if we use that as the bar, we see that the Canadian TV industry doesn’t highly value black Canadian experiences. Our goal as black communities is to see ourselves reflected in some way. But disappointingly, perhaps the one way that Canadian networks do mirror the American television format is that you don’t see us on prime time; and you don’t see us being decision makers regarding what is televised during prime time.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family, ratings for the below as well as So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Corner Gas, The Guard, Degrassi:

• Weekly Ratings in Jeopardy
  The Rick Mercer Report, opposite U.S. presidential election returns, drew 843,000 last Tuesday night. Air Farce Final Flight, still stubbornly resilient, drew 728,000, The Tudors, 652,000, The Border, 643,000, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, 631,000, Dragon’s Den, 617,000, Doctor Who, 547,000, Doc Zone, 515,000, Little Mosque, 514,000, Nature of Things, 455,000, Heartland, 430,000, fifth estate, 289,000 and dead last–below MVP and jPod numbers–poor Sophie at 251,000 viewers.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family, with ratings for Mercer, Dragon’s Den, The Border, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Tudors, Heartland, Air Farce, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Sophie, The Guard, So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Corner Gas and Degrassi:

• Last Week: Mercer’s Back On Top
  “He shoots, he scores: last week’s Rick Mercer Report topped all CBC prime time shows with 1,114,000 viewers, outdrawing even Saturday night staple Hockey Night in Canada (1,021,000).” Read more.

From Cassandra Szklarski of the Canadian Press:

• Prairie programs shed lighthearted humour on Canada’s heartland
  “It could be all that wheat. Or maybe the flatness of the land garners more giggles. Whatever it is, Prairie humour is big these days with Canadian TV flush with sitcoms set in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Leading the pack are comic favourites Corner Gas and Little Mosque, but this year those established programs are joined by Winnipeg-based shows Less Than Kind, on Citytv, and House Party, on the Comedy Network.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Sophie: Viewers Wanted
  “Sophie was up slightly in Week Two, to 395,000 CBC viewers. … Little Mosque on the Prairie 684,000, CTV’s So You Think You Can Dance Canada 1,430,000 (a new high for the series).” Read more.

From Zaib Shaikh in the National Post:

• Zaib Shaikh: He’s on TV, but don’t call him an artist
  “Here it is! The first day of filming and I am in a van hurtling towards Indian Head, the town that serves as Mercy in Little Mosque. ” Read more.

From Joel Rubinoff of the Toronto Star:

• Little Mosque, Sophie fine tune their humour
  “Neither show, frankly, seemed poised for a long run – Sophie because it was silly and had no rooting in reality, Mosque because it was more Corner Gas than Borat, its mild-mannered cultural barbs never intended as the scathing political A-bombs hyperventilating correspondents from CNN made them out to be.” Read more.