Canada Day 2017: What We Love About Canadian TV
|As we gear up for Canada Day 2017, we here at The TV Junkies wanted to celebrate! In honor of the Canadian national holiday, we thought it’d be a good time for our team to reflect upon our love of TV made up north. One of the mandates here at the site is to cover Canadian TV and it’s something everyone on the team feels very passionate about. That’s why we polled all of our writers about how they came to fall in love with Canadian TV, what they currently enjoy most about the shows being made in Canada and which shows and actors they think more people need to know about. Browse through the gallery below to see The TV Junkies‘ team responses about what we love most about “cdntv.”
If you’re feeling the cdntv love after reading our responses please feel free to add your survey responses in the comments below! Happy Canada Day!
What do you love about Canadian television? Let us know how you’d answer these questions by sounding off in the comments below!
Just the other day I caught an episode of Road to Avonlea on TV, the one where the cannery burned down and as I watched it I remembered it as if it were yesterday. I think my love of Canadian TV started with the Anne of Green Gables miniseries then Road to Avonlea. Another series that was big in my formative years was North of 60; I watched every episode with my mom and it was a weekly appointment for us. Oh, and of course there was also The Littlest Hobo, Katts and Dog, Fraggle Rock, Care Bears, Mr. Dressup, Under the Umbrella Tree, The Odyssey, Degrassi High and The Raccoons. I guess I’ve just always loved Canadian TV. I grew up with two channels, CBC and CTV, so Canadian TV was well-watched in our household.
“SHOW THAT GOT ME PASSIONATE ABOUT CDNTV WAS…” – if we’re talking about the first Canadian show we really got into that’d be “Lost Girl” for me, I had seen “Flashpoint” episodes because of Amy Jo Johnson but I never really got into the series like I have others; if we’re going with “why I’m hyped about Canadian productions” I’d have to say it’s actually a combination of shows, “Lost Girl” and “Continuum” and “Orphan Black”, that made me say “What else is up there?!”. “Rookie Blue” and “Bomb Girls” were just more great icing for cake!
“CDNTV SHOW I WISH MORE PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT IS…” – I’m going to cheat and say all of them as again the quality has been really good! You’ve got great realistic character writing in “Wynonna Earp”, you’ve got a classic in the making in “Orphan Black”, you’ve got writing that makes you think in “Continuum”, you’ve got well done diversity in every show – they characters are stereotypes and aren’t played usually for rating (they’re included because the writers want them), and you’ve got unique concepts like “Lost Girl”.
“I get really sad at times thinking of what a great show X Company is that there’s still so many people who don’t know anything about it.” – I’m still waiting for a US network to show it!
“FAVORITE CDNTV SHOW AT THE MOMENT IS…” – ORPHAN EARP because I can’t pick between “Orphan Black” and “Wynonna Earp”!
“CDNTV ACTOR ABSOLUTELY KILLING IT RIGHT NOW IS…” – Tatiana Maslany; I do feel this is accurate as well though – “Christy Spratlin: Evelyne Brochu. Whether she’s hunting down German spies on XCompany or help Cosima defeat Neolution on Orphan Black, Evelyne Brochu never fails to impress me. I really do believe that she is one of Canada’s hidden gems.”!
“Kelly Townsend: I’m one of the few actual Canadians writing for this website. National pride!” – simple yet direct. 🙂 “Megan Haas: It’s raising the bar for what we can see on TV. I love that these series commit to showing LGBT+ storylines without having to explain why they are doing it.” – this! Lovely responses in the “Why I cover CDNTV…” section!
“ASPECT OF CDNTV THAT I ESPECIALLY LOVE IS…” – I would like to second this “Victoria Nelli: Their budgets aren’t enormous so they rely heavily on the writing, and it shows. There is one common thread through almost every Canadian TV show I’ve watched and it’s heart. Their characters are so well thought out and flushed out really thoroughly and I think that’s something that they’ve really mastered. They bring the feels and they do it with these raw, real, and devastatingly honest characters.”!
“ACTOR I CAN’T BELIEVE MORE PEOPLE DON’T KNOW IS…” – I’m going to cheat again and say all of them as there’s some good actors up there who I admittedly didn’t know until “Lost Girl” really introduced me to the world.
“Similar to Buffy’s Sarah Michelle Gellar, I fear that Scrofano will never get the awards and accolades she deserves because she’s on a silly sounding show with a pretty crazy premise.” – this is sadly true for a lot of shows; it’s really hypocritical that superhero shows don’t get the credit they deserve – if writing is good on a series than it should be nominated and if the acting is good the actor should be nominated for their action or dramatic or comedic performance!
“NEW CDNTV SHOW I’M MOST EXCITED ABOUT IS…” – “Wynonna Earp” is still new enough to count right? I’m still waiting for more details on each super new show and to see if it’ll air on a US station I can watch.
Guest: You can watch XCompany & any other Canadian show at this website:
http://mywatchseries.to/letters/A
Murdoch Mysteries is the first show that had me tune in to Canadian TV. I have seen every episode from Day 1. My sisters & their spouses also watch it without fail, & we all still enjoy it immensely. We are from an older generation, so maybe that is the appeal for us. Even though I am from an older generation, I still enjoy many of the new shows. LOVED XCompany, Bomb Girls & Continuum. LOVE Orphan Black, Dark Matter, Killjoys & Travelers. Tatiana Maslany wins hands down for Cdn actor/actress, While others may be outstanding as one character, Maslany is outstanding as multiple characters.
Looking forward to checking out the new shows. Haven’t heard anything about them except Frankie Drake, which I’m hoping will be up to the standard of Miss Fisher mysteries & The No 1 Ladies Detectives Agency.
I remembered last night that the very first Canadian show that I absolutely loved was “The Border”. Caught a couple of reruns about 6 months back & still loved it.
We have always made great TV. This is Wonderland, Regenesis. It just gets better. Have watched Murdoch Mysteries from day 1. Also Motive, Orphan Black, X Company. These shows entertain, give history, sometimes make us think and display OUR culture not American.
Hello, I’m from Argentina & I love Canadian TV! #PositiveRepresentationMatters & #StrongFemaleCharacter too! So for me, I loved shows like #LostGirl #WynonnaEarp #Carmilla #OrphanBlack
If over-the-moon-bonkers = passionate then it has to be Orphan Black. It set the bar so high and then others followed.
Flashpoint! I was impressed and looked around for other Canadian series in my (German) TV magazine (yeah, long ago) and found #King, #TheListeners, #Sanctuary and finally #LostGirl (my favourite). Later of course #OrphanBlack, #Continuum, #SavingHope .. and now #WnonnaEarp. (@sim_leu)
Best Canadian shows: X Company and Orphan Black
Best Canadian actors: Evelyne Brochu and Tatiana Maslany
CBC has me excited for Canadian TV.
Murdoch Mysteries. Bellevue, this life, x company, Republic of Doyle, are just a few of my recent/current shows that make Canadian TV worth watching. I absolutely cannot wait for Caught (reading the book now).
Orphan Black is also pretty badass
We need more opportunities to teach our stories.
I am Canadian and adore Canadian produced shows.
There are a ton of fantastic Canadian tv shows
. Murdoch Mysteries if you skip to season 4 or 5 and start there is fantastic. You can watch from the beginning but the quality really picks up at 4
Schists creek is my favourite Canadian comedy. It is perfect people who have lived in a small town.
Our scifi shows like Wynonna Earp, Dark Matter, Orphan Black, Killjoys, Lost Girl are addictive and powerful.
For a dark drama
Anne – the amazing and breathtaking Anne of Green Gables adaption
Bellevue – Murder mystery staring Anna Paquin.
I could go on!
Happy 150 Canada
I agree with all the comments. It’s really, really hard to pick one over any other…they are all so strong.
I really liked Kristin Lehman in Motive (and Forever Knight) and was glad she got the lead in the show. Can’t wait to see what she does next.
I would like to point out Melissa O’Neil in Dark Matter. She really is doing a wonderful job in her roll. And I wish Zoie Palmer could break out of her Android mode more often. She was great in The Guard a few years ago.
I found Cardinal and Bellevue both incredibly strong shows and hope they both have a long life!