Everything about Trailer Park Boys, eh?

John Doyle of the Globe and Mail defends The Trailer Park Boys against Jim Shaw’s rants:

Note to Jim Shaw: Leave the Trailer Park Boys alone
“During the initial flapdoodle over the CTF, Shaw, top honcho at Shaw Communications, cited Trailer Park Boys as a production initially funded by the CTF and took the view that funding the show was an outrage. Some of us were taken aback. Others laughed. Trailer Parks Boys is, after all, a hugely popular success for Canadian TV.” Read more.

Dragons' Den, Heartland, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Rick Mercer Report, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Trailer Park Boys

In the news: Fall schedule day-by-day

September 17, 2007 Diane Wild

Rob Salem of the Toronto Star gives the lineup of new and returning shows this fall, with blurbs from Jim Bawden about Canadian content relegated to its own little listing ghetto within:

Fall TV preview: Day-by-day
“Rob Salem takes a day-by-day look at the U.S. television season.” Read more.

Trailer Park Boys

In the news: Trailer Park Boys special in the works

September 15, 2007 Diane Wild

Yvonne Zacharias of the Vancouver Sun talks to the boys:

Trailer Park Boys: From cult to culture
“The series is over, but the three goofs are going strong, appearing at the Global ComedyFest and busy shooting a TV special.” Read more.

Industry News, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Trailer Park Boys

In the news: Canadian content critiqued

September 7, 2007 Diane Wild

Graeme McRanor of 24 Hours isn’t impressed with the state of Canadian television and interviews Ryerson University media writing professor Michael Coutanche about the economics of producing homegrown shows versus buying foreign content:

Warning: This article contains Canadian content
“Don’t get me wrong. When it comes to All Things Canadian, nobody flies the flag higher than me. But when it comes to Canadian television, sometimes I’d rather just set it on fire. Maybe we could make a documentary about it. We’re good at those.” Read more.

Industry News, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Trailer Park Boys

In the news: Canadian TV explained to Americans

July 20, 2007 Diane Wild

From John Doyle, normally of the Globe and Mail but here writing for TV Quarterly:

What makes Canadian TV so different?
“Little Mosque on the Prairie made the American media curious because it has a comic premise that’s outrageous in the context of mainstream U.S. network TV â€” it finds comedy in the lives of a group of Muslims living in a small prairie town where many of the locals are suspicious of them.”