From BBM Canada, Corner Gas at #20 (1.283 million):
In the news: US looks to Cancon
Gayle MacDonald of the Globe and Mail adds another article on US networks looking north during the strike, but also the international success of Canadian shows in general:
- Wanted: Cancon, everywhere
“‘They can’t do reality and reruns forever, and they only have so many movies in the can,’ says Jennings. ‘So they’re looking around. ReGenesis is on the desk of three networks, and I had a call this week from one of the Big Three presidents,’ she adds, referring to the chiefs of NBC, ABC and CBS. ‘Whether it amounts to anything, who knows? These calls may – or may not – have happened regardless of the strike, but let’s just say it pushes [available Canadian programming] up the pile.'” Read more.
In the news: CBC’s new show websites
Tod Maffin of Inside the CBC chats up the new websites for CBC’s new winter shows (complete with URLs!):
- New sites for new shows
“It should have been no surprise, but the shows I mentioned in yesterday’s item on the 2008 winter preview also have websites – you just haven’t seen them yet. And some of them are rather spiffy!” Read more.
In the news: Across the River to Motor City reviews
From John Doyle of the Globe and Mail:
- Whodunit tale of love lost straddles two cities, two eras
“Across the River to Motor City (CITY-TV, 10 p.m.) makes excellent use of Windsor as a state of mind. A new, six-part, Canadian mystery-drama, it opens with a muddled first episode, but then develops into an original and compelling story of love lost, lives wasted and toxic suspicions surfacing over and over again.” Read more.
From Vinay Menon of the Toronto Star:
- Bridge over troubled drama
“Smart, ambitious series has the potential to be great, but time-hopping pilot confuses viewers.” Read more.
From Alex Strachan of CanWest:
- ‘Across the River’ well worth watching
“In style and in tone, Across the River to Motor City resembles the stylish, cerebral dramas of American pay-TV channels HBO and Showtime. It wears its ambition openly — in just three minutes, we’re introduced to the main character and the setting: Windsor, Ont., in both present day and Nov. 22, 1963, the day of the Kennedy assassination. The story — a murder mystery — will flash back and forth between then and now over the course of the series. Two cities, two periods in time, but with the same characters and the same central mystery.” Read more.
From Ted Shaw of the Windsor Star:
- Ambassador Bridge star of series
“For Matthew Deslippe, Motor City was more than just across the river from his hometown of Amherstburg. It was his main cultural influence. ‘We watched American television, followed American sports,’ said Deslippe, who plays mobster Frank Calasso in Citytv’s Across the River to Motor City, starting tonight at 10 p.m. on cable 61. ‘CBC was the only Canadian TV we saw. We were very Americanized.'” Read more.
Denis McGrath, the show’s writer, has some thoughts:
- River of Reviews
“Well the reviews are in. And they’re mixed. But the funny thing is — in all the critical things that get said, they’re right. Every one of them. It makes me feel great to know that, you know what, they are watching closely, and they are fair. And perceptive. Yay!” Read more.
In the news: Canadian producers unlikely to benefit from strke
Guy Dixon and Kate Taylor of the Globe and Mail contradict the theory that US networks are looking north:
- Windfall unlikely for Canadian shows: producers
“In other words, shows that already have deals in the works, such as Intelligence or CBC’s Little Mosque on the Prairie, will see continued interest Stateside. But there isn’t a sudden demand.” Read more.