Canuck TV Roundup

Hey all,

So I said that I'd share some thoughts on the new crop of Canuck TeeVee shows that have premiered recently. It's a little later than I hoped to do it, but it's always a good idea to give shows a couple episodes to find their feet before passing judgment on them.

Anyways, in no particular order thoughts (and maybe a little writing lesson as well) on...

THE BORDER

The Good: Relentless action, some good gags, episodic in nature so you can drop in and out without too much trouble (as opposed to something like '24'). Overall probably my favorite new Canadian show, well worth watching and it's getting better as it progresses (and the numbers are getting better too!).

The Bad: Huge cast means it's hard to get to know individual characters, and that the characters we do see tend to be on the shallow end (talking about the show with friends and we're always referring to "The Tech Guy," "The Girl who speaks Arabic," "The Gambler," etc).

The Ugly: The show (or the shows Westcoast feed) seems to have some serious problems with audio. The mix is all over the place (music so loud you can't make out the dialogue), dialogue gets clipped, etc. I've taken to watching it with subtitles to avoid the hassle.

The Lesson: How to write good action. Take a look at episode three, Bodies on the Ground, written by Denis McGrath. That's some good action there. The show's also paced really well in my opinion. The action builds, then we're given some nice breathing room, then more action. Definitely some lessons to be learned there.

jPOD

The Good: Either the show's gotten funnier as it goes on, or I'm just getting used to seeing Coupland's surreal world on television. The characters and world feel unique. The writing is smart and funny, though tends to the bizarre more often than not.

The Bad: Episodes often take a shotgun approach, with a story about Ethan and the pod, a story about Ethan's parents and another random plot focusing on either the pod or Ethan's family. THe end result is we get long, drawn out subplots (the dead body plot from the pilot for example) that don't really do much for the rest of the episode. Focusing down on some of the stronger plotlines wouldn't go amiss.

The Ugly: The numbers for one. People aren't responding to jPod's world, unsure what to make of the show. Truth be told it does come across as a bit of a hybrid. Is it a drama? Is it a comedy? What's it aspiring to be? A lot of people are tuning in expecting one or the other, finding neither and then never coming back.

The Lesson: Make sure your audience knows / understands the rules of the world. The complaint I keep hearing when it comes to jPod has to do with how surreal the world is. "That would never happen" is the common refrain. jPod looks like it's the real world, therefore rules from the real world should apply. But they don't, thus subverting the audience's expectations, which is a bad, bad thing.

SOPHIE

The Good: Natalie Brown. She's awesome. It's always nice to see an unkown break out, and without Natalie Brown's charm and charisma there's no way this show would fly. When Sophie is kicking ass and taking names this show is gold.

The Bad: When Sophie's not kicking ass and taking names the show's downright dull. No one wants to watch a character loll around and feel sorry for themselves. Also the show needs to start expanding some of the supporting cast (it's time to move beyond the stereotypical gay best friend already!).

The Ugly: Estelle Burroughs, one of Sophie's few remaining clients. Sure she gives some great comedic moments (pretty much any of her interactions with her adopted daughter for one), but the rest of the time her character is so over the top that it becomes a grating experience to watch. Please tone her down a bit. Please.

The Lesson: More bitch, less moan. Figure out what makes a character likeable and interesting for an audience and then deliver it. Sophie's great when she's a bitch (only to those who deserve it...and snooty Maitre D's), but the show drags when she's not. In other words, don't be afraid to embrace the bitch.



I can't really speak to MVP or The Guard as of yet since I've only seen an episode of each (they're on my TiVo so I'll get to them eventually). First impressions of MVP is that it's good soapy fun, nothing particularly special or interesting other than the world it's set in though. First impression of The Guard was pretty disappointing (was it just me or did the writing and acting feel incredibly wooden?), but I'll reevaluate in a couple of episodes. Hopefully it'll find its legs in that time...