From DK Latta of Huffington Post Canada:
Is Canadian TV Too Safe, Or Too Sexy?
What one chooses to focus on depends on ones agenda. There is often a desire by some to promote the idea of dull, timid Canadians…and to embrace the mystique of the edgy and fearless American. Canadian would-be hipsters quick to sneer at Canadian TV as inherently tame compared to the shiny bauble that is American TV. In this recent interview, Adam Korson, star of the new Canadian-made sitcom, Seed, takes special aim at Canadian repressed conservatism, as though that’s the main obstacle in his series’ quest for ratings — a series about a sperm donor (with animated sperm dancing across the title) and featuring single moms and same sex parents. (The fact that I don’t think the series has landed American distribution at all seems left out of the equation). Read more.
Loved this article, thanks for sharing. Canadian producers and writers need to seriously reflect on this. I think that in designing series, sometimes people (networks, producers) think it’s just the level of sex – – even cursing — that will make a show appealing, edgy or fresh. And for sure, Canadian TV is not prudish. All too often it seems to be working so hard not to be that it feels like that’s its only agenda. That doesn’t make good TV. The focus should always be on cracking and/or guarding the vision first. The moral content will fall in line.
FYI, there is a pilot being made by NBC for a show called Donor Party and it suspiciously resembles Seed. I am wondering if the premise of Seed was sold to NBC.
I doubt it – they wouldn’t have to even if it was inspired by Seed if it’s just the logline that’s similar. Years ago one of the US network heads got some bad PR here for sending a memo saying no need to buy a format if you can just use a similar idea.
Shows like ORPHAN BLACK get pitched all the time. They just don’t get picked up. It’s not — for the large part — the creatives that need to reflect. Let’s hope that the more daring shows’ successes sustain a trend.