My take on last week's ratings

Well, last week's ratings, published today, basically outlined the state of Canadian television in a nutshell--American-dominated. Only five Canadian-produced shows made it into the top 30, and four of those were newscasts. Only one was a scripted series--the past hit Corner Gas, which, disappointedly, dipped below the million-viewer mark for the first time in it's history (that's counting first-run episodes only). That may be attributed to the fact that the show's timeslot was changed to Mondays at 9:30pm ET (8:30pm CT) where it is now up against big shows including Heroes and K-Ville (and soon, also, Samantha Who? and Intelligence). Plus it's later in the evening, so that may account for some loss in ratings too. I'm not too upset though--Corner Gas is a show that I can take or leave. I've never quite gotten into it. It'll be interesting to see, though, since most Canuck sitcoms and dramas begin airing in the next few weeks, how those shows will do. Maybe there'll be a few more Canadian shows which make the Top 30.

As I said, the shows that made the Top 30, were, with the exception of the aforementioned one sitcom and four newscasts, all American. I'm actually fairly disapointed in the ratings of the American shows as well. Out of all 25 of them, I actually only took the time to watch two of them--Prison Break and Back To You, the former which was awesome, the latter one which I actually hated and won't watch again. The cursed CSIs took four spots (#4, #11, #20 and #21) and the boring Law & Orders took four spots as well (#10, #12, #13 and #17) although I admit, I have the SVU premiere saved on my DVR for viewing as I want to check out Adam Beach in his new role. I also have the #26 show, Desperate Housewives, saved on my DVR to watch too, although I'm not so sure I care to see it. That leaves fourteen shows that made the charts that I haven't mentioned, none of which I care enough about to do so.

My take on last week's ratings

[based on BBM ratings for Sep. 10-16]

Canadian Idol's performance show on Monday and results show on Tuesday got the highest national ratings with both garnering over 2 million viewers each. I watched both shows so I guess that means I'm on that bandwagon. It's a really entertaining show, plus it was one of the only good shows to watch this summer. This season came to a good conclusion, though I will say it won't go down as one of my favourite seasons, as I've liked previous seasons much more.

The Emmy awards came in third place with 1.6 million viewers. I never bothered to watch this year. None of the shows I like ever get nominated so I don't see much of a point. Besides, the shows that do get nominated are all from HBO, which we don't get in Canada until long after they premiere, so when they finally do air up here, we're at least a season behind. Another thing I don't like about the Emmys, is all the focus on fashion. I couldn't care less what so-and-so is wearing.

The CTV Evening News got fourth place with 1.4 million viewers. Personally, I like CBC news better, although I admit I don't really even watch the evening news. I get most of my news from Canoe.ca, which happens to be my Internet homepage.

In fifth place is that danged C.S.I. Miami with over 1.3 million viewers. I loathe all the C.S.I.s. I'm not a fan of procedural dramas. Shows with ongoing storylines and a focus on character development are more to my liking. A couple of my friends are avid C.S.I. watchers. I've been made to watch it at their insistence. I find the writing poor, with little or no character development at all. I can't figure out why the C.S.I.s continue to garner such high ratings. I guess any joe schmoe can pick up watching it and understand what's going on. It's really not that complex. It's dumb and I wish there weren't three whole C.S.I. shows on the air. The reruns are on several channels at several times of the day. Please people--enough with the C.S.I.s!!!

In sixth place with just under 1.3 million viewers is Law & Order: SVU. I don't watch any of the Law & Orders (there's three of those as well). Again, I'm not a fan of the procedurals...

In seventh place with 1.25 million viewers is the despised Big Brother, a reality show that earns much vehemence from me. I am NOT a fan of Big Brother. I can't understand what's so appealing about watching grown adults walking around a house acting like they're in junior high, starting cliques and holding popularity contests then voting the person they don't like out of the house. Puh-Lease.

In eighth place is Jeopardy and Access Hollywood (since they combine to make an hour of programming, they're counted as one show in the ratings scheme). I actually like Jeopardy, watched it steadfastly as a kid but rarely watch it now but I won't watch Access Hollywood--should I honestly care if Paris Hilton is going to jail for four and a half minutes again?

Corner Gas takes the ninth place spot with a little over one million viewers, not bad considering it was a repeat. Sometimes I watch Corner Gas and sometimes I don't. It's one of those shows I could take or leave.

And finally in tenth spot with just under a million viewers is Criminal Minds, a show I have never watched, and do not plan to watch in the future.

My complaint about the lack of Canadian hour-long dramas

What irks me is that in the current television season--the fall of 2007--there are very few new episodes of Canadian dramas set to air. And by dramas, I mean hour-long scripted series ( I don't count sitcoms and reality shows as "drama" like the Cancon execs whose job it is to ensure homegrown drama makes the networks' schedules do). From the four major networks, there are only five Canadian hour-long dramas set to air. CBC is going to be airing the first season of its new family drama Heartland and the second season of its crime world drama Intelligence. City TV is going to be airing its new shows Across the River to Motor City and Blood Ties (which also aired this summer in the States with a successful run). CTV is going to air its second season of the ski resort mystery series Whistler. Global TV is the only network without an hour-long drama on its fall docket--I wonder how that got past the Cancon regulators...

So, my point, of course, is that while, if you go by ratings, it is the hour-long dramas which garner the best ratings on both sides of the border, Canadian networks scarcely produce any. Canada did, during the 90s, have several successful hour-long dramas of its own. Shows such as Street Legal, North of 60, Traders, Neon Rider and Road to Avonlea got well over a million viewers per episode. So what the hell happened to make networks think producing drama was a waste of time? Sure, hour-long dramas cost more money to make than sitcoms and reality shows, but really, the hour-long dramas bring in better advertising revenue, don't they? Someone please explain this to me!

Show Review - St. Urbain's Horseman

[part 1 of a two-part miniseries, aired Sep. 19 on CBC]

You may or may not recognize the title of this one. St. Urbain's Horseman is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by acclaimed Canadian novelist, essayist and screenwriter, Mordecai Richler. The novel won the Governor General's literary award way back in 1972 (that's eleven years before I was born just so you know).

Having only seen the first part, I can't give an overall opinion on the miniseries yet, but so far so good. I've never read the book, but after watching this, maybe I will. It's set in several places, but the main settings are in Montreal and London (England). The story centres around the life of a Jewish young man named Jacob Hersh (played exceptionally well by David Julian Hirsh) as he rises to prominence as an established television director. The title character, "St. Urbain's Horseman" refers to his cousin named Joey Hersh, who in more ways then one, causes problems for Jacob over the course of his life. While everyone else sees Joey for who he is--a conniving scoundrel--Jacob continues to idolize Joey, an adoration which started when he was was a kid.

I have mixed feelings about watching miniseries'. I hate to see stories come to an end. I become attached to characters then bam, the story's over. That's the case with St. Urbain's Horseman--I'm getting attached to the characters--but as this is only a miniseries, I will have to say goodbye to them tomorrow. This is probably why I enjoy television over film. I like stories to go on and on and on.

My take on last week's ratings

[based on the BBM ratings from Sep. 3-9]

Taking the top two spots in the ratings chart this time was Canadian Idol. Its performance show garnered over 2 million viewers and its results show attracted 1.9 million viewers. I watched both and was extremely disappointed when Carly Rae Jepsen was eliminated from the competition (why oh why oh why didn't Jaydee Bixbee get the boot!?). Now moving on before I go on a tirade against teenage girls who vote with their eyes and not their ears...

In third spot with 1.4 million viewers was C.S.I. Miami. I hate hate hate this show and have given up trying to figure out why people watch it. Now, moving on again before I go on a tirade against people who watch C.S.I...

In fourth spot was Criminal Minds. I can't say I approve. I've never watched the show and there's not very much likelihood that I'll decide to check it out on a lark in the future.

With 1.35 million viewers, the fifth spot goes to the CTV Evening News. I get it, people watch the news because they want to stay informed. I myself watch the news, though not CTV as I prefer CBC Newsworld.

I am infuriated that Big Brother got the sixth, seventh and eighth spots (it aired on three different nights). I still cannot figure out what all 1.3 million viewers see in the show. My brother loves the show, but let's move on before I go on a tirade against my brother...

Law & Order: SVU got the ninth spot. 1. 2 million viewers tuned in. I am not a Law & Order viewer myself. I find Law & Order an okay show, albeit not my type to watch so I steer clear.

At long last, Criminal Minds gets the tenth spot with just under one million people who watched it. Good for them.

CTV's Canadian shows this season

With two Canadian shows on its fall docket--Corner Gas and Whistler--CTV at least, if you want to look on the bright side, scheduled twice as many Canadian shows as it's fellow private broadcast network Global. Nice, huh?

I'm a big fan of Whistler--a damn good show---and I am thankful CTV decided to renew it for a second season, but I wish it wasn't scheduled for Saturdays. In Canada, that's the deathstar night, where no shows end up surviving in the longterm (except for good ol' HNIC which has survived a very long time there).

Degrassi: The Next Generation, is also returning in December...although I'm not so sure that counts as the fall season, does it?

Robson Arms and Instant Star have both been renewed for an additonal season each but likely won't air until sometime in 2008. And there are a few other shows rumoured to be in the works. Rumoured titles of new series include Night Doctor, Listeners and Sold.

Though there are a lack of Canadian shows on CTV's fall schedule, I am happy with the fact that all their shows do contain Canadian-ness (if you get what I mean) and have relatively good productions values.

I can't wait until Whistler starts at the end of this month...It's been literally a year since the season finale aired.

Introducing TV from the viewpoint of a Canuck...

Well, I've read a lot of other peoples' blogs lately and for a while now I've wanted to start my own. I figured now is as good a time as any to get started on one so here goes. I've chosen to specialize my blog so the theme of my blog from herein out will be "TV from the viewpoint of a Canuck". The reason for this theme being is that I am a Canuck (that's the nickname for a Canadian for those who don't know) and I'm what you'd call a television addict (sad but true fact). I find it exciting and thrilling to scan the web for news on show developments, ratings, reviews, casting announcements, etc. Now, for a bit about me...

My name is Ally. I'm a Canadian (as I've already told you), born and raised and of huge interest to me is the state of Canadian television, specifically scripted television series. I'm not much of a reality fan per say (although I'm an avid Canadian Idol and Rock Star fan) and I routinely watch Hockey Night In Canada (go Canucks go!! and go Oilers go!!). I also watch a fair chunk of American television with a smidgen of Aussie and British TV thrown in. As well, I run my own forum (to go to it click the link found at the bottom of this entry). In this blog, I plan to give commentary about the many developments in the television world, from a Canuck point-of-view so stay tuned...

http://z15.invisionfree.com/CanuckTV/index.php?act=idx