Forgotten Canadian Kids TV

I am Canadian, which means my brother and I grew up absorbing both Canadian and American entertainment. Of course, we didn’t really know it. TV was just TV. I think we just kind of assumed most of the shows were American, but we didn’t care.

Except recently, I was thinking about some old show we would watch after school and it led me to a wild 3am rabbit hole of TV shows I had completely forgotten about.

See, in Canada, kids/teens had a few options for TV channels. There was Treehouse and TVO and morning CBC for really young kids. After a while, you become a kid and a tween and teen and move to Family, YTV, and Teletoon. All these channels were Canadian but they played both Canadian and American shows. The American shows were the ones that still live on in infamy. Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, iCarly, Hannah Montana, Ben10…we all remember them and you’ll still sometimes see references online to these popular shows even though they don’t air anymore.

All the shows I rediscovered at 3am that night were Canadian and had fallen right off the face of the planet. No one remembers them. No one talks about them. The live-action ones starred Canadian actors who didn’t go on to bigger and better things, sadly. And it’s so weird that that’s what shaped my childhood in a way.

So here’s to Canadian kids/tween shows. The shows that won’t get rewatched on Disney+. The shows that future generations of children will probably never see. The shows that I may never again think about. I’ve made a collage of them just because, so take a look.

This took me a long time to put together, but it was a fun time as I got to relive this little bit of my childhood. And there are probably still more out there that I really do not remember. Also, there’s a chance that some of these shows did make it to America or other countries (like everyone’s favourite bald kid Caillou), but I can confirm that they’re all Canadian. If you’re looking at this collage and not recognizing a thing, let me tell you that you missed out on some quality programming and I’m sad for you.

I know I’ve complained before that Canadian-made media isn’t as good as American media overall, but children’s content is the exception. Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoyed American/other countries’ shows growing up too, but some of these shows shown here were so good and made such a mark on me that I’m not afraid to say that they’re better.

To any Canadians in and around my age reading this, I hope you got a huge kick out this post and I hope good memories came flooding back.

That’s all for now!

 

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5 Single Season Cancelled Shows I Still Think About

It’s sad when shows get cancelled, but especially for shows that get cancelled after only one season. Those are the ones that often never reached full potential and are more likely to fade away from memory. Granted, some are garbage and deserve to be canned and forgotten, but I’m not here to talk about those. I’m here to talk about the good ones, and, more specifically, the ones that I still think about, despite the fact that it’s been a while since they last graced my TV.

You, Me, And The Apocalypse

This was a British show that aired midseason on NBC in 2016, though I actually watched it later that summer because a local station aired it as reruns. This show was so cool. It had a great cast including Rob Lowe and Jenna Fischer, and it had a fairly unique plot: an upcoming asteroid hitting earth and a search for a second messiah to save them all. The show followed several groups who seemingly have no connection, but we see them all come together at the end of season. Despite the dramatics, there was a lot of humor and even some sadness as there was a death that I will never get over. The show ended on a cliffhanger, so I am mad that I’ll never see resolution from that, but also that such a good show with a neat plot and group of characters didn’t get a chance to thrive.

LA To Vegas

This show aired on Fox in 2018, and it was great and light. It was about the shenanigans on a discount airline that did weekend flights from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. The airplane/airport setting was very fresh for TV, so nothing compared to it in that sense. The combo of regular fliers, the airline staff, and even one-time guests was great for keeping things funny, interesting, and realistic. I was genuinely laughing every episode. Fox’s comedies in the past few years have been pretty bad, so for this to get cancelled after one solid season really disappointed and surprised me.

Mixology

This ABC show from 2014 had 13 episodes but they all covered one 24 hour period. Each episode focused on different people at a bar one night, and it was fun to get a fresh story every week while sometimes getting small crossovers from a previous episode. It was funny and unique, and while it maybe wasn’t the best ever show, I thought it had legs, even if they probably would have had to bring in a whole new cast for another season.

Deception

Also in 2018, this midseason ABC show was a typical FBI-looks-to-someone-for-consultation kind of deal, except the person they looked to was a magician (in the real sleight of hand way, not the Harry Potter way). So all the little weekly mysteries were solved with cool magic tricks and deception. As someone who knows very little about magic tricks but likes knowing how they’re done, this show satisfied me. It wasn’t a perfect show by any means, but it was really just getting started when it got cancelled. It was a unique idea. There was still so much magic to do.

The Village

This is the most recent show, with it airing on NBC in the spring of 2019. It was a This Is Us-type show where it was emotional and people-driven as it was about the tenants in a NYC building called the Village. We had the single mom and teenage daughter, the lady going through chemo, the young lawyer looking after his grandfather, the army vet, the immigrant, and so on. My mom and I enjoyed watching it, even though it was at points predictable and silly. I am surprised that it only lasted a season given how sweet it was.

These are the shows that when I am reminded of them, I am overcome with sadness and disappointment. I miss them so much, and they got cancelled because people slept on them. Stop sleeping on good shows, y’all. If you can find these shows online, I suggest watching, even if they aren’t complete. They’re still good enough.

Now one thing I noticed when writing this post was that all five shows I listed here happened to be midseason shows. Does this mean that midseason shows are more likely to get cancelled? No. TVLine did the math last year and declared that there’s no clear pattern and shows in the fall have just about the same chance of getting cancelled. So it’s just a weird coincidence for me here.

What are single-season shows you still think about fondly? Are they worth watching still or do their lack of closure make them unsatisfying?

That’s all for now!

 

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Entertainment Echo Chambers

‘Echo chambers’ is a term that we talked a lot about in university when discussing social media, though it was always in regards to politics. In the Trump vs Hillary election, it’s speculated that fake news and echo chambers, specifically on Facebook, played a part in Trump’s win. Google defines echo chambers as:

An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, so that their existing views are reinforced and alternative ideas are not considered.

You can understand how people stubborn in their political beliefs can be in one of these without even knowing it.

Anyway, as interesting as it is to look at echo chambers from an election perspective (that sounds sarcastic; I really do think it is interesting), I think it’s also a concept that we should consider when thinking about other things. Like fandoms. And TV shows.

You readers when you see I’m about to talk about TV again

In this day and age, there are TV shows available from a multitude of sources. And keeping up with them all (even from a place of awareness of their existence, not actually watching them) can be really hard. I don’t even think the people at TV Line or Entertainment Weekly know of every show currently out there. So naturally, fans of smaller shows take it upon themselves to promote the shows, usually on social media. And this is good because sometimes the recommendation of genuine fans can be far more valuable and honest than whatever publications give reviews or whatever the show promotes itself as (like how Riverdale still promotes itself as a good show worth watching…).

Anyway, one thing I’ve noticed is that when it comes to fans promoting shows, specifically in efforts to save shows from cancellation, is that echo chambers play a huge but silent part. And in my opinion, political views play a part in it, too. Let me give you an example so you can better understand what I’m trying to say here.

There’s a (remake of a) show called One Day At A Time that recently got cancelled from Netflix and last month got picked up by a channel called PopTV. A lot of people I follow on Twitter and Tumblr were fans of the show so though I didn’t watch it, I knew a lot about it. For those who don’t know, the show is about the life of a Latino family including a single mom, a grandmother, a gay daughter, and a son. There’s also a neighbour/family friend who is an ex-addict. The daughter also eventually dates someone who I thiiiink is non-binary. I’m telling you this because a lot of the fan-made promotions for the show highlighted not just the fact that the show was an apparent good comedy (honestly, it didn’t look that funny to me, thus why I did not watch it), but that there was a lot of good representation on the show. A family of colour! Single parent! LGBTQA characters!

Now, I’m a straight white person, so representation for me based on just that is everywhere. And when I look for TV shows to watch, I usually look for genre and plot rather than representation. Call that white privilege if you want. I do know it’s not uncommon for underrepresented people to watch a show solely for a small glimpse of representation, so appealing to this can be good. But there’s a limit. With internet and fandoms and all that, there’s a good chance that people have their finger on the pulse of things they care about a lot more, so if there is a show with LGBTQA characters, for example, especially on a large platform like Netflix, you probably would have heard of it by season two or three if this is something you care about. Does this make sense?

So though the ODAAT creator straight up said ratings weren’t great and it eventually got cut, people were outraged that Netflix would do this. How dare they cut a show that is repping so many minorities and making so many people feel seen. How dare they do this yet give ‘worse’ shows like 13 Reasons Why more seasons. The thing is, though, Netflix is a business. As are traditional TV channels like NBC or Fox. And if a show isn’t getting the numbers it needs, then it will go. It sucks, and I’ve been mad at Netflix before too. But it’s not a hate crime. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in this world who don’t want to watch a show starring POC or a show that has gay characters. Maybe they’re a bigot, but maybe they just don’t find it relatable or fun. Maybe the show is on at a time they can’t watch, or they don’t even have Netflix. So no matter how vocal the fandom is and how many detailed Tumblr posts about why I should watch [insert some show here] I come across, sometimes the echo chamber is probably already developed and the limit has been mostly reached. And it’s something to consider when looking at the success of TV shows and movies over time. TV shows don’t often go up in ratings as seasons go on (huge shows like Game Of Thrones are outliers). Everyone can agree that season 4 of Agents Of SHIELD was phenomenal, but the ratings didn’t go up. By then, most everyone who wanted to watch was doing so, so me explaining in detail why you need to pick it up and highlighting all the great female characters or POC or fun plots or whatnot wouldn’t have done anything. I’d be preaching to the choir.

Actually, preaching to the choir is the perfect cliche to explain what I’m trying to say here. When it comes to fans, to entertainment, and to the internet community, it’s often that the ones most vocal about keeping shows alive/boosting ratings are the ones who already watch things and know what they like, and most of the people they promote to are similar in this way.

That’s it. I don’t have a point. It’s just something I’ve noticed as I’ve watched TV shows (and movies) rise and fall over the years. I think it’s great that some shows get a second chance and it’s due to fans campaigning and getting their voice heard. But even Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s ratings aren’t thriving, though I think it managed to get out of its echo chamber a little.

I’d love to discuss this more if you’ve got any thoughts on the matter, so leave a comment.

P.S. Related but unrelated, I think shows that shove in a lot of political issues in direct reference to hot topic political issues also play a part in turning away fans and disengaging potential viewers. Supergirl recently did a whole bunch of immigration bits among other topics, and people quit watching because of it. Where is the line of making shows realistic and thought-provoking without being preachy, annoying, or too aggressive?

 

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Ranking Marvel’s Netflix Shows By Season

With Jessica Jones S3 coming out last month, Marvel’s shows with Netflix came to end. And now a lot of the actors are signed on to new projects, so even if Marvel wanted to/legally could revive the shows on Disney+, it’d take a lot to make it happen, so I think it’s highly unlikely. Anyway, since we’re essentially done done, I thought it’d be fun to rank the shows by season (6 shows, 13 seasons). I was going to just tweet this, but then I figured I’d explain my choices and get a blog post out of it. Yay content!

I usually have trouble ranking things because I can never settle on how I feel and don’t want to commit to an order. My top 10 favourite musicals is really like a top 3 and then 8 others in no particular order (and yes, I am aware 8+3≠10). But I think I’ve managed to actually decide on how to rank these Marvel shows, so here they are, from least favourite to favourite.

(Note, I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum, but there may be some, so be aware!)

13. Jessica Jones Season 2
This season was the pits. Trish was way out of character, the villain was lousy, Jessica’s new boyfriend was boring, and it just did not have the same edge as the enjoyable S1. This was the first Marvel show I watched at double speed, and I have zero regrets.

12. The Punisher Season 2
This season was just really weird for me. I didn’t love Amy or how much she derailed Frank’s doings with her random issues, I didn’t like Billy’s story with the not-Maggie therapist, and I never really liked Agent Madani all that much so I didn’t care for her all that much. Frank is cool and I do like him, but it seemed that everyone else just dragged him and the story down. Plus, the whole season was just unnecessary. Continuing on the S1 plot that had closed nicely this way was just not needed and it bored me.

11. Luke Cage Season 2
Luke is just not leading man material for me. He’s too boring and uninvolved. He doesn’t say much and because he’s near invincible, I find the fight scenes dry. I honestly do not remember the plot of this season, so that’s all you need to know about how interesting it was. I do like some of the characters though. I love Misty, and Shades is a creepy dude, but even that wasn’t enough to save the season, because he and Mariah weren’t really the Big Bads. Overall, not impressed.

10. Daredevil Season 2
Yeah, another second season here at the bottom. My biggest issue with this season was Elektra. She was the worst. Her arrival was unneeded, all she did was take Matt away from his friends and work, and their relationship was just bad. If it weren’t for the introduction of Frank and the contrast between him and Matt, I think this season would be at the very bottom. It was such a let down for me.

9. The Defenders
The shorter season worked for and against this show. It forced away filler and got right to the plot, but for such a big team up and such a big villain, the pacing was off. I mean, the Defenders didn’t even get together until four episodes in. I wish we saw them work together more and get to know each other more. But otherwise, I thought it was cool to see the little crossovers and see them all face the Hand, who most of them had dealt with in their solo stories. It was worth waiting for, but it could have been done a lot better.

8. Luke Cage Season 1
As I already said, Luke doesn’t thrill me. He’s a good guy and I root for him, but I just didn’t connect to him. As for the show, I didn’t love how the villain shifted halfway through from Harlem gangsters to his random brother. This season wasn’t totally bad and I enjoyed watching it and getting to know Luke and his area, but compared to other seasons of Marvel Netflix shows, it was lacking for me.

7. Iron Fist Season 1
Listen, I didn’t hate Iron Fist. I did not find it racist and I did not find Danny entitled. It wasn’t the most thrilling of shows, but it wasn’t awful for me. I think it was just such a huge shift for Marvel and it didn’t perfectly flow. I mean, we go from enhanced abilities due to science to ‘I punched a dragon’s heart and now I have these (underwhelming) powers!’ And we never even got to see the dragon! The villain wasn’t great either. But despite this, it was interesting enough to see Danny try to navigate his old friends along with his new friend, and understand his power.

6. Jessica Jones Season 3
Season 3 surprised me. It wasn’t half bad! It wasn’t superb, but it worked with what it had and put the focus on the right things. Trish’s behavior, though still a bit out of character from what we were introduced to in S1, came full circle, and I came to appreciate the story and what it did for Jessica’s character. I liked the new guy with the feelings and thought he worked in well without stealing focus. I wish this season wasn’t the very end of Jessica’s story or Marvel’s Netflix shows, but I think it was a strong note to end on, and one that very accurately represents the grittiness of this Marvel chapter.

5. Iron Fist Season 2
I too am surprised that this was so enjoyable when all the other second seasons disappointed me. I thought it was fun and had a good plot and everyone was in character. Giving Colleen the power of the fist was a wild move and I wish we had gotten a S3 and been able to see what happened next, especially because the little flash forward at the end was so cool too, but I’m glad we got what we got.

4. The Punisher Season 1
Overall, this was good, though the second half was way better than the first. It was enjoyable, it was harsh enough to work with Frank, and it felt different enough to stand alone, but still feel connected to Daredevil and the rest of the MCU. As in DD2, seeing the softer side of Frank when he’s with Karen (or his family) is really fun compared to his tough army side. I think the Billy twist and fight was good, and I liked his partnership with David (though I haaaaaated David’s wife).

3. Daredevil Season 3
I was so glad that this show had a great comeback after a bad S2. It went back to its roots of Fisk being evil, Matt protecting Foggy and Karen, and the struggle of being a masked fighter and a good church boy. Plus I think Dex was very cool and made for several great fight scenes. Every episode was entertaining and the season didn’t feel too long because I was so into it. A solid season that really showcased how good the show was.

2. Jessica Jones Season 1
This was a very great show. The single season introduced a lot and wrapped it all up well. Jessica was very different from the first hero Matt, but that’s because her villain and her struggle were also very different and it made for a very different kind of dark and edgy. And it was cool to see her get a team and work with them begrudgingly whereas Matt went totally solo for the most part. Kilgrave was an amazing villain. He was creepy and monsterous in a real world way that made it watchable yet disturbing. I still think about the way he said her name. Chills.

1. Daredevil Season 1
I did not totally appreciate this show until I had seen all the others and realized just how strong we started. I mean, Matt from the start was so interesting and likable, and then we see his wonderful friendship with Foggy, and Karen slid in so well, and Fisk was a great and disturbing villain, and that one hallway scene…we had it good and I respect that. There was darkness and there was humor and there were great characters and I enjoyed it a lot. It was Marvel’s first foray into a darker side and I think they did great.

Overall, I think Marvel did well. They created a mini MCU within the MCU and it worked on Netflix for the darker, rougher content. Matt, Jessica, Luke, and Danny were very different and it was fun to see their stories alone but also with each other through The Defenders and the little crossovers. I especially loved Claire Temple and wish she stuck around to be in all the seasons as the one amazing connector. Though there were a lot of disappointments, there were a lot of really, really cool parts to these shows, and I’m going to do my best to remember those more. And who knows, maybe we’ll see them again in the MCU.

What was your favourite season from these shows? How would you rank them?

 

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Dear Arrowverse (The 2019 Version)

Dear Arrowverse,

Two years ago, I wrote you an open letter. Now I’m doing it again because despite it all, I still watch everything you serve me and have a lot more opinions. I’m still a fan overall, but I’m definitely less excited to watch every week, and that’s a problem. As always, I want all these shows to succeed. Especially since, for one of them at least, its next season will be the last.

So as all the shows have ended for the season, bear with me in this slightly spoilery letter.

Dear Supergirl,

I get what you’re trying to do, but you’re not doing it well. I understand that by having this female superhero and some great female leads you had to play the feminism card a lot. And it worked…in season one. Now we had season four and you decide to tackle racism and immigration in the form of aliens, and it becomes tired. I know I’m a white girl in Canada, so who am I to comment on your support for these marginalized groups, but I can say that watching it is not fun and I want my superhero shows to be fun. At least Sam and her daughter were somewhat fun, even if they were a random addition to the show that I really don’t miss. I will say, though, that Lex was (is?) great. I very much enjoyed his arrival. He’s iconic, and you did him well. When you have compelling villains that aren’t based around a social justice issue, I think things work a lot better.

Let’s talk characters. Dumping Mon-El was a great call. He was taking away from Kara and the show. I miss Winn and though I don’t hate Brainy, he isn’t the same. Alex is cool as always, but I miss her haircut from season two. Kelly is a nice and not fully random addition, so I like that. J’onn and Nia are alright. Lena is great, but I was hoping that with Lex’s inclusion now, we could stop playing the Is Lena Good Or Bad game. But it looks like you’ll dangling this back and forth for most of season five, right? And lastly, I hope that even with his powers, James still has a career and doesn’t completely lose himself to the hero gig as he kind of did as Guardian.

What do I want from the show in season five onwards? I want more fun times amongst the group to contrast the fights and villains, and I want more character development in which the characters develop forward. I feel like we got so close with Alex getting over Maggie and looking into adopting a kid and then she got thrown back into heading up the DEO for so long we all forgot about it until that episode where she got the baby call. Even Kara hasn’t had much development. I think we’re past the point of the show being amazing, but it can still be good, and the back half of season four proved that.

Dear The Flash,

You guys are doing alright still, and I’m glad. I thought the Thinker last season was great, and slowly teasing Nora like that was great fun. Introducing Nora in the way you did was a superb way to play with the time travel aspect and shake up Barry and Iris’ relationship without a pregnancy. But I will say that Nora was…a lot. She had the behaviour of a twelve-year-old in the body of a twenty-year-old, and it drove me nuts. She also clearly inherited her dad’s dumb gene as she kept making these dumb choices (messing with the timeline for example). But overall, she was a neat addition, and it was sweet to see her interact with not only Iris and Barry but Joe and Cecile too.

While the show has obviously gotten a bit darker, I applaud that you’ve managed to keep somewhat light, and I encourage more of that…Though if the rumours of Cisco leaving are true, you’re gonna have to really start showing off comedic sides from other characters more than you have. Ralph has potential, but I really, really don’t want to lose Cisco. He’s a great part of the team.

I do think that you’re falling into the same rut that Arrow has: the seasons are getting a bit repetitive. I know you’ve had great villains and have introduced meta powers well, but overall, the seasons and character arcs blur together a little. Adding Nora was enough to perhaps set this past season apart, but I highly encourage you to shake things up in a bigger way so to keep things fresh. You have a great cast with very likable characters, and I think we should see them do more than fight meta-murderers over and over.

Dear Arrow,

You’ve had a bumpy few years. But you have an end in sight, and I am praying you use this last short season well. Though without Felicity, I see a darker season coming, and I don’t know if I want that. Arrow can do dark well, but sometimes it’s too dark and dry. I don’t know what to expect in the coming season. Where will Oliver even be?

Let’s talk villains: Adrian Chase was a great villain. Ricardo Diaz was not. Emiko was not. These small-time thugs with a vendetta against Oliver (Adrian included) is tired, and we better not get another one. Though based on the cliffhanger we just got, I don’t know what kind of villain to expect now. Some outer space Big Bad that Oliver will have to face alone? At least that’ll be different.

As for Oliver’s death, I think you’ve set it up reasonably well, and having teases in all the Arrowverse shows leading to the next crossover was smart. I’d rather Oliver sacrifice himself against a big threat like the Monitor or whoever than some small time Star City punk. I just hope that his death is done well, and everyone gets to mourn him right. In this last short season, I do have faith that you can deliver something of value. Arrow did a lot for the superhero genre on TV, and I’d like to see it sent off well. That means a good villain, appearances from Thea, Team Flash, Roy, maybe even Sara, and development that works with the characters, not these random new stories you like to throw out (Emiko, literally everything with Diggle…). I don’t think we need or want the flash forwards, especially since we know the fate of the characters now, and most people still don’t love Dinah and Rene. Let’s focus on the present and end the characters’ time well.

Dear Legends Of Tomorrow,

You are my favourite for sure now. I think your third season was one of the best seasons of television I’ve ever seen. It was funny, unique, had great characters, and embraced its weirdness just the right amount. I will say that season four didn’t wow me as much. I think you went perhaps a little too weird in the first half, but even your worst episodes were still better than most of the other Arrowverse shows’ mediocre ones. All in all, you have a fan in me.

But I think to return that brilliant season three spark, there are a few things you can do. One, maybe go a little easier on the weirdness. Some episodes, like the first one with the fairy godmother and the one with the possessed puppet, were a bit too weird, even for you. There’s a line and I fear if you cross it more and more, the show will be too zany. Two, stop splitting up the team so much. I know there’s a lot of them but they work best when they’re together and playing off each other, rather than split up into three or four teams doing unrelated things. And Three, remember that you’re a superhero show. I don’t know if it’s a tight budget or what, but we haven’t seen the Legends use their powers in ages. Because you guys have such a diverse cast of characters, the fight scenes are always more fun than that of The Flash‘s, for example, where there’s just a lot of running.

Other than that, I think you guys have something special. No other show could get rid of their entire first season cast except for three characters, bring in a bunch of new ones, and still thrive (though I really don’t like Mona. She’s like Curtis but worse).

As I said, I still like watching you all for the most part and I will miss you over the summer. No matter how frustrated or bored I get by the end of seasons, I always get hyped right back up when the first promos release in August/September.

Sincerely, a fan.

P.S. Hi Black Lightning. I know you’re not technically an Arrowverse show, but I think you still deserve a message. In the first season, I appreciated how your show very much differed from the typical superhero show formula, but even that isn’t enough to save the show now after its second season. I found the first half of season two very boring. The show is just dark and not fun for me to watch. I like the family but I feel like they’re stuck in the same ruts and aren’t growing enough.

 

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