TV, eh?

From the Globe and Mail:

• CBC’s string of reality-show success: Public broadcaster has found ratings gold in home-grown Battle of the Blades and British imports
  “When CBC’s Battle of the Blades debuted Oct. 4, nearly two million viewers tuned in to watch the novel and sometimes awkward pairings of figure skaters and hockey stars. It was second highest premier for a homegrown CBC series since Little Mosque on the Prairie, and the ratings held strong throughout the show’s seven weeks, averaging 1.7 million viewers each episode. It’s the latest in a string of reality hits for the publicly funded broadcaster, which has found past success by poaching reality concepts from Britain and selling them to Canadian audiences.” Read more.

Canadian shows currently on iTunes:

6TEEN

Air Farce

Being Erica

The Border

Chilly Beach

Corner Gas

Degrassi: TNG

Dragons’ Den

Flashpoint

Heartland

Instant Star

jPod

The Jon Dore Television Show

Life’s a Zoo

Little Mosque on the Prairie

The Listener

No Opportunity Wasted

Odd Job Jack

Rick Mercer

Robson Arms

Sophie

Stargate Atlantis

Stargate SG-1

Stargate Universe

Stratusphere

This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Total Drama Action

Total Drama Island

The Tudors

The Week The Women Went

Wild Roses

This is not likely an exhaustive list so let me know if I’m missing any Canadian shows that are currently on iTunes:

6TEEN

Air Farce

Being Erica

The Border

Chilly Beach

Corner Gas

Degrassi: TNG

Dragon’s Den

Flashpoint

Heartland

Instant Star

jPod

The Jon Dore Television Show

Life’s a Zoo

Little Mosque on the Prairie

The Listener

No Opportunity Wasted

Odd Job Jack

Rick Mercer

Robson Arms

Sophie

Stargate Atlantis

Stargate SG-1

Stargate Universe

Stratusphere

This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Total Drama Action

Total Drama Island

The Tudors

The Week The Women Went

Wild Roses

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Tamer Cramer Turtles on Stewart
  “Being Erica (582,000) did okay considering she was up against a relocated episode of American Idol (2,217,000). The Week The Women Went, which got duller by the week, went for good Wednesday night, signing off with 796,000.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Girl on Girl Gooses Erica
  “Being Erica got a lift from her special gal pal last night, rebounding to 518,000 viewers (BBM NMR overnight estimates).” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Can Sex Save Being Erica?
  “For the first time, Being Erica has slipped below the “More People Live in Brampton” threshold. Only 419,000 watched Wednesday night across Canada, another new low for the series.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Being Moved Didn’t Help Being Erica
  “Despite a massive promotional campaign, a new night didn’t add any bounce to Being Erica. The CBC fantasy/drama drew 531,000 last night, it’s smallest audience yet (according to BBM/NMR overnight estimates). Worse, only 194,000 of those viewers were in the 25-54-year-old demo.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Move to Wednesdays Should Boost Erica
  “CBC is yanking Being Erica out of Monday nights, and not a moment too soon. The five-week-old fantasy/drama drew a respectable 644,000 Monday at 9, with 285,000 of those viewers being in the 25-54-year-old demo.” Read more.

From Bill Harris of Sun Media:

• A New Day for Erica
  “Rookie CBC series Being Erica is moving to Wednesday nights, where it will follow highly rated sophomore reality series The Week the Women Went.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Mercer Soars to Seasonal High
  “The Rick Mercer Report drew 1,262,000 viewers Tuesday night, it’s biggest audience of the season.” Read more.

From Bill Power of the Chronicle Herald:

• Town’s TV payoff
  “It pays to send most of the women in a rural Nova Scotia community away for a week. Business is booming in Tatamagouche after the village of about 700 made its debut on CBC’s The Week the Women Went, some local entrepreneurs are reporting.” Read more.

From Joel Rubinoff of the Waterloo Record:

• The women went . . . the men turned into monkeys
  “The best way to envision the perfect storm of chaos captured on The Week The Women Went (8 p.m. Wednesday on CBC) — a fascinating Canadian doc series about a small Maritime town that puts men in charge while their wives get their toenails clipped at a luxury spa — is to imagine a chimp in an apron attempting to dice potatoes, do the laundry, discipline children and keep the house clean.” Read more.

From Craig Takeuchi and Sean Minogue of the Georgia Straight:

• Canadian TV heats up the winter season
  “With layoffs at Canwest Global and CTV—plus whispers of cutbacks at the CBC—even our TV industry isn’t insulated from recent economic tremors. While belts tighten one notch, however, Canadian TV has kicked it up two. Two new CBC offerings, the dramedy Being Erica and the Alberta ranch tug-of-war Wild Roses, both debuted with ratings higher than the new 90210. And CTV’s Flashpoint drew 12 million viewers with its January 16 episode. Here are more shows to chill out with over the winter season.” Read more.

From Denis McGrath at Dead Things on Sticks, with info on Being Erica, Sophie, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Wild Roses, The Week The Women Went:

• The Week The CBC Went
  “In the battle of the CBC newbies, it’s status quo. Being Erica on Monday did 632 000 viewers, down a little from the week before but still up from the premiere. What’s more promising is that just under half of those viewers are in the magic 18-49 demo. Sophie had a better-than-season average night at 385 000 just before it, which means that Erica builds substantially on its lead in.” Read more.

From Bill Brioux at TV Feeds My Family:

• Lie to Me, Global asks Nielsen
  “The big surprise last night was over at CBC, where The Week The Women Went returned strong with 819,000 viewers–against Idol.” Read more.

From Maria Kubacki of the Ottawa Citizen

• When women leave
  “Who’s more useful — women or men? Watching The Week the Women Went, CBC’s reality TV show, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the fairer sex is also the indispensable sex.” Read more.

From Brian Gorman of the Brantford Expositor:

• Lock up the womenfolk
  “This is the second time CBC has stormed into a village, carried off the women and enslaved the men. The occasion is the reality series/social experiment “The Week the Women Went,” which begins its second season Wednesday, Jan. 21, on CBC Television.” Read more.

From the Journal Pioneer:

• Nova Scotia community soldiers on without its women
  “This quaint town on Nova Scotia’s north shore has survived invasion and its coasts are battered annually by tropical storms. The townspeople are proud, tough and have always found a way to flourish.” Read more.

From Tim Arsenault of the Chronicle Herald:

• It’s a man’s world
  “IT MAY HAVE been The Week The Women Went, but it was also the week Paperny Films came to Tatamagouche.” Read more.

From Veronica Boodhan of the National Post:

• Q&A: CBC’s The Week the Women Went producer Cal Shumiatcher
  “The Gemini-nominated series, adapted from the 2005 BBC version, takes place in a small town where the women leave their families to take a week vacation. This season, the show takes place in the Maritime town of Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. While the women leave for a trip to a luxury resort, the men in their lives must handle the daily responsibilities without their ladies to lend them a hand.” Read more.

From Melanie Patten of the Canadian Press:

• ‘Women Went’ comes to Nova Scotia
  “Innkeeper Jimmie LeFresne lost half of his staff when The Week the Women Went came to his small Nova Scotia village last fall. Sure, hiring his buddies to scrub bathtubs and feed guests was nerve-wracking, but the thing that’s really got LeFresne worked up prior to the reality show’s premiere Wednesday is what might have slipped out during filming. ‘Oh, my land! I had a mic on me from eight in the morning till nine at night. What did I say?’ LeFresne, 53, said with a laugh from Tatamagouche, where the show’s second season was shot.” Read more.

From Belinda Leach in the Globe and Mail:

• A reality check on rural women
  “The not-quite-reality CBC TV series The Week the Women Went removes all the women from a small rural town for just one week, then watches how the men cope. Last year, it was Hardisty, Alta. In the new season, which begins on Jan. 21, it’s Tatamagouche, N.S. The program may be four parts soap opera, but taking women away from their families and communities reveals the often invisible work that rural women do.” Read more.

Photo: The women weather the storm as they exit Tatamagouche and prepare for a week of pampering. (Pictured Barb McCallum)

From Melita Kuburas of Media in Canada:

• CBC reality show taps social media to ramp up interest
  “Rural Canada’s relentless grip on traditional gender roles is exposed again – in the Maritimes this time – as CBC’s reality TV show The Week the Women Went premieres its second season on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at 8 pm.” Read more.