From Andrew Ryan of the Globe and Mail:
- You missed your chance to see the great Canadian sitcom
Don’t hold your breath waiting for the great Canadian sitcom. You missed it. Our collective right to gripe about the lack of a worthwhile homegrown comedy series ends on Tuesday night with the season finale of Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays (CBC, 9 p.m.). And nobody waved goodbye. Read more.
Great Canadian sitcom? Give me a break!
Maybe if you use Hiccups and Dan for Mayor as your yardstick.
Little Mosque on the Prairie or Corner Gas would be a lot closer to the target.
MT&T isn’t a situation-comedy. It is a situation-chuckle at best. And it justly deserves to be sitchuck-ed.
“Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays” is a smart show that likely will end prematurely–because Canadians are too busy watching the fluff that comes out of the U.S.
Every week this past fall (2011), I looked forward to watching “Michael”, one of the only shows on tv about which I can make that statement. The canned, clicheed garbage that is standard for U.S. sitcoms is repellant, and I wish more Canadians would really ask themselves why they embrace it.
“Michael” is witty, subtle, and true to life. Bob Martin as David Storper is spot-on in his neurosis (truly hilarious at times), and the guest appearances of actors like Sandra Oh add a whole other level of comedy and in-jokes, for those Canadians who are paying attenion.
If you can’t call the series a situation comedy, that’s because it’s not. Storper’s poignant clinical/ philosophical observations add a nicely reflective touch, and the tension between Storper and his fave patient Michael, or Storper and his girlfried, adds drama. It’s not meant to be a chuckle fest of easy, predictable lines.
The Ottawa setting is so refreshing. I’m so tired of American tv and its images and accents. These do not speak to me, which seems fitting. I’m Canadian. The intricate details of life in Chicago or Los Angeles don’t really matter much to me.
If “Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays” goes off the air, I think I’ll be ready to swear off television for good. Along with the delightful “Murdoch Mysteries,” “Michael” made tv relevant for me, and added a touch of class.
I, for one, will be sorely, sorely disappointed to see it go. Hopefully Canadians tune in and realize what they’ve got to lose.