So "my" episode of Being Erica ("What Goes Up Must Come Down") aired last night and my blink-and-you-miss-it scene as an extra went by so quickly I figured I should screen cap it for you. Ego? I don't know what you're talking about.
Anyway, did you see how star Erin Karpluk walked by me without batting an eye? Yeah, that's good acting. We had a scene where we totally made out, but it was such an instantaneous regret on her part that she couldn't get to her time-travelling psychologist fast enough, so they left it on the cutting room floor.
I managed the above bit of scene-stealing by being the sucker having the privilege of updating the National Post site at such an ungodly hour that they just filmed around me. So that's our newsroom, except better-dressed and with too many people. Nobody wears suspenders. Ok, one guy does.
The National Post's newsroom was transformed into a set of CBC's Being Erica this morning, shooting a scene from later this season. The lead character Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) has edited a book which was lambasted by our fictional critic (he was wearing suspenders, of course), so Erica comes to the Post to discuss the review.
While the newsroom is usually deserted in the early morning, as first in on the online desk I became an involuntary background extra. Nothing like an 18,000-watt Klieg light aimed at your desk to shake off the cobwebs.
While the crew busied themselves snaking cables between cubicles, one set decorator marveled at the chaotic desk clutter. "If you dressed a set like this, they'd never believe you."
Extras were dispersed to fill up the desks, making their faux newsroom much busier than our real one. They were, for most part, overdressed. Ties and jackets are the exception at work, not the norm. The extras were also given pretend tasks to mime in the background, making for a lot of studious staring at proofs in-between conversations about their previous credits and making up back stories for their characters. "My guy used to be from Owen Sound and his favourite hockey team is the Montreal Canadiens."
It was soon discovered that I was a "real" and actually working (somewhat unsuccessfully) during the shoot. A makeup artist scooted over to touch up a "blemish" — can't have real fake people looking blotchy — and after a joking warning from a friend behind the camera not to stare into the lens, rehearsals and filming began.
Over and over and over again.
A few things overheard during the shoot...
Erin Karpluk chatting with her co-star between takes:
"Did you watch the Emmy's?" "No." "... well, that's the end of that conversation." (laughter)
Then, in the middle of a conversation about the seasons, Ms. Karpluk mentioned she just got her Green Card, and is heading to L.A. soon. Are we breaking news here? New U.S. job opportunities for Erica Strange?
More from the crew, on the state of the news business:
"A lot of empty desks here, maybe they are hiring?" "It's too bad newspapers are dying." "Do you read all your news on the Internet?" "Some, I get news alerts ... "You know what they gotta stop doing, giving away information for free on the internet."
And despite admonitions to not touch anything on newsroom desks, a couple of extras were spotted rifling through CDs, expressing excitement at the discovery of Aqualung. When it was suggested that they should not peruse the contents of our co-workers desks this defence was offered: "We're just big music fans."
Then the shoot wrapped and all the equipment was quickly torn down and spirited away, leaving behind only two boxes of craft services croissants for the straggling journalists to fight over.
Look for the National Post's (and my) star turn later this year. I'll be the the stiff-looking, acting-natural guy.
I like them French fried potaters. Except when they don't have any gravy. Then I just act like a belligerent, full-of-myself, arrogant dick.
My friends at CBC Radio 3 have captured the awesomeness of Billy Bob Thorton's prickly, uncomfortable interview with Q host Jian Gomeshi earlier this week. His sense of entitlement was truly stunning.
Back in the day when Sex and the City was all the rage, I would always get “Hey, you’re a single writer and you live in a big city – you must relate to Carrie sooo much!” At which point I’d do a mental eye roll and calmly yet non-condescendingly explain that, not having Carrie’s fabulous career, salary, body and ability to purchase untold number of Manolos, Carrie’s character really didn’t “speak” to me. Not that it was an evil show – it’s just that Carrie’s character was practically my polar opposite. I’d rather be shot than caught sipping Cosmos at the latest Zagat-rated Manhattan hot spot. Which is poopy cause from SATC to Desperate Housewives to Cashmere Mafia to Lipstick Jungle, there’s been a dearth of shows that speak to gals like me. That is to say, thirty-something single, cat-owning women who have found themselves in dead-end careers being pitied by their married friends and asking themselves “What the hell happened to my life?” Until Being Erica. And for that I say hallelujah.
Debuting Monday night on CBC, Being Erica focuses on the life – or lack thereof – of Erica Strange, a 32-year old, under-achieving Torontonian who’s found herself in the midst of a mid-life crisis. The opening voice over sets the tone perfectly: “You know that woman who seems to have it all together? The career, the solid relationship, the family? Yeah, well. That’s not me.” Definitely a sentiment I can relate to. More than just a lamentation of singledom and cube life, Being Erica proves to be a quirky cross between My So Called Life and Joan of Arcadia while attempting to answer the question “If you could do it all over again, what would you change?” With the help of a mysterious therapist, Erica, played by Erin Karpluk, investigates her regrets and is given the opportunity for the ultimate ‘do over’, something I find rather tantalizing…starting with…oh…last Saturday night...but, as with MSCL and Joan, going back isn’t as clear cut and easy as it seems. Even as a 32 year old in a 17 year old body. Emotional and poignant, Erica humourously revisits her past and finds herself with more questions than answers. I know. Very existential, but I guess that’s the point.
Beyond the philosophical, Being Erica is solidly written and the timing of Karpluk is excellent. Karpluk can at once make hair removal hilarious (thank god I never used an Epilady!) and desperation accessible (“So pretty and such a disappointment”) thus making her character utterly relatable. Well, at least for me the disappointment part is. Ultimately, I wonder how limited the possibilities are, but I hope, like with MSCL and Joan, Being Erica holds up to its premiere and proves to have staying power. We – and by ‘we’ I mean us single thirty-something ladies pecking away in cubes – need more shows heralding imperfect beings and imperfect lives because, let’s face it, it could really be called Being Pam…which is I guess why Jer asked me to guest tonight…flattery will get you everywhere…
Single ladies tune in - Being Erica airs on CBC on Monday nights at 9pm.
About me...and, yes, I am perfectly comfortable speaking in the third person...actually I'm just lazy and copied an existing bio...
A Toronto-based writer and photographer, Pamela Westoby was raised abroad by corporate gypsies and lured back to Canada by the smell of poutine and a scholarship to the University of Western Ontario. A Girl Friday by day and student of pop culture by night, Pamela has sought to capture the glitz, glam, and grit of the metropolis and to truthfully document the kitsch and camp of Americana. A lover of Heineken and all things Hello Kitty, Pamela aspires to become a pageant judge and professional bowler.
The Pop Culture Supreme Court is reconvening after a lengthy prorogation to deliberate on an emergency case brought forward by CBC Radio's Definitely Not the Opera. A producer on the show approached our Chief Justice, Matthew Caverhill of culture kills, with a request for a ruling on judicial reality shows.
Case: Given the fact that syndicated reality programming grossly distorts the perception the average viewer has of the law and its practice, should there be a moratorium on the use of the words Judge and/or Court in the titles of these types of programs?
There has indeed been a proliferation of shows placing small-time litigants in front of cameras and court at the same time. A quick look through IMDB shows that 11 have aired since 2000, seven of them appearing since 2006. The judges can be coarse, pompous and condescending; the defendants shallow, petty, bitter and conniving. In other words, the perfect reality-show contestants.
If viewers are coming away from these shows with a distorted view of court proceedings and how the legal system works, they are also likely to believe that they can dance, audition for a singing career and survive on an island for 39 days. Judicial reality shows should shoulder no more blame for people's legal misconceptions than Grey's Anatomy does for perceptions of medical residents or Heroes for people's opinions of gene therapy.
In any case, legal reality shows are hardly a 21st century phenomenon. TV viewers in 1949 saw both Famous Jury Trials and Your Witness, while six court shows aired between 1957-1959, including Divorce Court and People’s Court of Small Claims. What goes around, comes around, it seems. In 1981, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joseph Wapner kick started the modern version by adjudicating actual cases in simulated courtroom settings.
In short, anyone who believes what they see in a reality-based court show might as well search out attorney Lionel Hutz at I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm before their next court date. Legal knowledge is the least of their worries. I rule against a moratorium.
Rick Mercer captured the inner children of all our Canadian leadership hopefuls. I can't believe the CBC didn't rush his show back on air the moment it became clear the election was inevitable. The Rick Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes offer up some of the best political comedy in the country (even if they could be a little sharper sometimes) and to have them back only with two weeks left in the campaign is a travesty. Still, if this is what we get in the short time left, all is forgiven.
A couple of months ago I was blathering on in my regular, ill-informed manner about how the CBC would never walk away from the theme music of Hockey Night in Canada. There are several million reasons that can explain how I got that one wrong.
I also called the idea of a contest to find a replacement "trite," but what do I know? And now that a friend has submitted his version, promising me free ice cream if he wins (free ice cream, people!) I'm all behind the contest.
It is likely that the above editorial cartoon by the Globe and Mail's talented Anthony Jenkins will be baffling to non-Canadians — in fact it is too me as well, not because of the content but the context behind it.
Gallons of ink and tears have been spilled over the CBC's decision to walk away from the theme music of Hockey Night in Canada, a jingle that has been bizarrely lauded as Canada's "second national anthem."
I for one reject the notion that every Canadian is obsessed with the game and that our nation's greatest triumph came in 1972 when a Canadian team out-thugged the USSR. But there's little point in saying so — I can't deny the stranglehold that hockey holds on our culture. Even I can talk (sorta) about hockey and I didn't even watch a (whole) game this season.
Admittedly, after 40 years, the song is iconic, so the plan to replace it with the help of a contest seems a touch trite. "It would be the ultimate Canadian Idol, really," mused CBC Sports executive director Scott Moore. Umm, exactly. Idol meets hockey culture — it's the worst of both worlds!
Which brings us to George Stroumboulopoulos. Strombo has been the whipping boy for anyone who hates change at the CBC. As the 'toon says, he "skews to the younger demographic," which was the complaint when he was brought over from Much Music. So he talks fast, get over it. I think I'll have to tune in to The Hour this week to see if we do get an armpit rhapsody.
So there's Canadian culture in a nutshell: hockey and complaining about the CBC.
All television is either Eye TV or Ear TV, argues Entertainment Weekly columnist Mark Harris. "Eye TV is intense: You care about it so much that not only do you know when it is on, you actually watch it when it is on. And you really watch it -- forks down, phones away, laptops idle.
"Most television os Ear TV. It's what you have on in the background while you are surfing the Internet or answering email or cleaning up... it never matters if it is a repeat or not."
That's as accurate a description of how I watch TV that I've ever heard. I'd say 90% of the shows I watch are done with a computer on my lap. Most of them either aren't compelling enough to give my full attention to or just don't require that much concentration.
There are, of course, exceptions. Lost requires that I close the laptop and watch closely. There is so much packed into each episode that if I look down I inevitably need to rewind to find out what was said, and I have to do that enough on the show to piece together all the connections.
I also give both by eyes and ears to 30 Rock and My Name is Earl, two shows that pile on laughs and clever lines so thick that it is impossible to do anything else but watch.
While not in the realm of this shows, the now-lamented jPod was quickly becoming Eye TV for me. Quirky and sly, it was a show I made a point of paying attention to. But not enough people were and it wasn't granted a second season. Now there is a growing group of people trying to save the show, of which I count myself as one. I don't know if it will work, but it is worth a shot.
Can fans really save a TV show from cancellation? The CBC had barely pulled the plug on the adaptation of Douglas Coupland's novel about a group of pop culture-spouting, cube-dwelling, Vancouver video game designers, when campaigns to save it started sprouting up.
It has been done before. Most recently fans of the show Jericho deluged CBS with tons of nuts in their successful campaign to revive the show. We've seen Family Guy and Futurama saved by robust DVD sales and Arrested Development is at least getting a big screen treatment following its premature demise. Fans of other shows on the cusp have purchased billboards and ads in Variety. Campaigners for Everwood set up a ferris wheel outside the executive's offices while Veronica Mars fans deluged the CW network with Mars Bars (to no avail as it turned out). Even the original Star Trek got a second life from a fan letter-writing campaign.
So it's not that it can't be done, it's just that those are the exceptions, not the rule. For every reprieve there are dozens more consigned to the dustbin every year. I've seen many of my favourite shows get the axe before their time: Andy Richter Controls the Universe, the aforementioned Arrested Development, The Critic and Sports Night just to name a few. But unlike all those other times, I want to try and help this time. So I have called the CBC, emailed audience relations and signed a petition calling for jPod's return. I can see those cbc.ca domains popping up in my stats, so I know somebody is reading.
That being said I don't think we should start sending crates of Robitussin to CBC headquarters — read Denis McGrath's excellent Emily Post's Guide to Save-Our-Show Campaigns post for exactly why — but I think it is worth trying something. It may not save the show, but there is no chance at all if we do nothing.
And if I can't convince you, here's what Raugi Yu, who plays Kam Fong on jPod, has to say:
Dear Friends,
Hi all, Raugi Yu here. I play Kam Fong on jPod. Okay, so you have heard that jPod has not been picked up for a second season by CBC. I got the call a couple of days ago about it.
At first I was upset and disappointed and immediately thought of the great times and experiences I had shooting jPod and how much I would take from that… There was one problem though… I kept wondering why. Why not have a season 2? I started to hear what others were saying. I heard anger, resentment and frustration. So many of you my friends along with thousands, yes thousands, of strangers have expressed outrage over the cancellation of jPod.
I got angry too.
One may think that, “Sure, I’d be angry too if I lost a steady gig like that”. Well that’s not what I’m angry about. Gigs come and go. It is no huge hardship for me to go back to auditioning and booking and living my life as an actor. It is my passion. No. It angers me that the CBC our nation’s television station (yes I know among other things) chooses to cancel a show that is so cutting edge, fun, smart and CANADIAN. So many viewers have gleaned joy from watching jPod week after week. We look forward to it; I dare say we yearn for it.
I’d like to go down swinging. Many of you, who know me well, know that I am quite a loner and I don’t ask for help often even when I need it. I guess I‘m asking now.
I’m a pretty chilled out go with the flow kind of guy, but I recognize that there are times in my life when I’ve got to fight. In surveying the land I recognize that I need a lot of help.
If you feel you can, please call CBC at: 1-866-306-4636, choose option 1 for English programming and choose option 1 again for the “Attendant” then ask for “Audience Services”. Audience Services will answer and at that point tell them how you feel about jPod being cancelled and how you would like to see a season 2.
OR
E-mail them at http://www.cbc.ca/contact/
I alone can reach out to all of you and if all of you can reach even 2 people and we get that people ball rolling… we could possibly be jamming up some phone lines at CBC. Am I being naïve and hopeful? I hope so; it feels better than lying down and taking it.
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate all of you for watching the show and for all the great things you’ve all been saying about it.
Longevity and persistence is the key. Phone or e-mail, if you can do it everyday.
I send my love to you all and just to be clear, that love stays whether you phone, e-mail, write or not.
jPod has been sacrificed on the alter of TV ratings, as the CBC ignores the rest of its cultural mandate to "tell compelling, original, audacious and entertaining Canadian stories in a way that Canadians want to watch."
Based on Canadian author Douglas Coupland's work of the same name, jPod took place in Vancouver and was produced by a Canadian crew. With grow-ops, video game productions, Hollywood North and gangs (both Asian and biker) it was certainly telling an original and audacious Canadian story. Whether it was entertaining is a matter of taste (I'd say it was), but the numbers weren't to the network's liking, so down came the axe.
So what should that number be? A couple of years ago CBC TV Executive Vice-President Richard Stursberg suggested the network would need to attract audiences of a million for drama or comedy programs, which is a high bar for the CBC. Only the Rick Mercer Report and Little Mosque on the Prairie crossed that barrier during the latest ratings periods.
The CBC is also trying to attract a younger audience to replace its aging demographic, which led to a slate of youth-skewing launches this January, which included The Border, jPod, MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives and Sophie. The Border has been renewed with an average audience of 700,000, as has Sophie which had 389,000 viewers in the most recent ratings (though that was reported as a lower-than-usual number).
The ratings for jPod ranged from 159,000 to 312,000 (it is hard to find average Canadian TV ratings), so it was obviously not a hit, but is that the business that the CBC should be in? Clearly they shouldn't be losing money, but if the mandate is telling Canadian stories and reeling in younger viewers, shouldn't it get more then 10 episodes before being put out to pasture?
TV writer Denis McGrath over at Dead Things on Sticks argues that the CBC needs to adjust its expectations and be happier with smaller numbers, especially if it is the right audience. TV critic Bill Brioux over at TV Feeds My Family says he liked the show but it's just business, and that's a good thing.
For my part, my wife and I never missed an episode and I heard people talking about jPod at work, one of the few times I'd ever heard people talking about CBC TV, outside of the news, hockey or Rick Mercer.
I just don't know what is going on over there — perhaps they ought to put the radio people in charge.
It’s surprising that it has taken so long for one of his book to be made into a show (or even a movie for that matter), as his work has always been very cinematic and filled with ironic, angst-ridden dialogue. Perhaps jPod just leant itself to a weekly series, with its of-the-moment setting in a Vancouver video game company and a cast of dysfunctional, cube-dwelling 20-somethings.
The book is something of a return to form for Coupland, with the material reading like a kissing cousin of Microserfs, which explored a similar group of young office workers set adrift in the world of technology. Though while Microserfs was set in Seatle, jPod is clearly a creature of Vancouver, delving into the worlds of basement grow-ops, biker gangs, absentee Asian landowners and the thriving film industry.
Will it work? I’ve got high hopes. Two years ago I saw Everything’s Gone Green at the Toronto film festival, a feature that was directed from a Coupland script, and it played like a discarded chapter of jPod. It captured both the atmosphere of Vancouver and the spirit of Coupland’s characters. Which is the best that I can hope for the series.
On paper, it’s a winner — Coupland, video games and the CBC. How did this not happen sooner? The casting of Growing Pain’s Alan Thicke as the main character’s roguish father is either a piece of brilliant counter casting or a sop to those viewers who need name they recognize to tune in. Time will tell.
So far the previews are mixed. The Post’s critic gives it a withering shrug while the Toronto Star is over-the-top enthusiastic. I’m just happy that someone has turned to Coupland as source material and that people are talking about original Canadian TV and are planning on tuning into the CBC.
The children of Bob Homme, the creator and star of the long-running CBC kid's show The Friendly Giant, are taking their toys and going home.
The progeny of Homme, whose show went off the air in 1984 after a 26-year run, are offended by the use of Rusty the Rooster and Jerome the Giraffe in a skit for this year's Gemini Awards. The puppets, who were the Friendly Giant's companions in his castle, were portrayed as retirees in an old age home for bored, randy puppets from cancelled TV shows. Gerome, who would poke his head around the edge of a castle window was shown poking his head around beer taps.
"The appearance of the puppets, alone, shocked me, as the CBC is required to get our permission to use them in any way... This is the last straw (a big one) and I feel I have to address it," Ann Homme, Bob's daughter, wrote to the Globe and Mail.
She wasn't kidding. Yesterday the CBC announced to staff that the puppets were being pulled from the CBC Museum in Toronto. "After a lengthy stay with us here in the Broadcasting Centre, these iconic creations and other Friendly artifacts, which have been on loan to the CBC Museum for many years, will be going home - at the request of the family of the man who made them famous," the memo said.
So who has done more of a disservice to a beloved childhood icon? The reason that the skit got laughs 22 years after the show went off the air is people still remember the characters fondly. You can't subvert the image of a character that nobody cares about. And it is doubtful that anyone whom the show is aimed, if were still being aired, would be watching a Canadian TV awards show.
The skit itself (see below) follows in a line of shows that show puppets have a life outside of their TV life - see Greg the Bunny, Puppets Who Kill, Robot Chicken and even The Muppets.
This humour was clearly lost on the Hommes' children who are pulling the puppets from anyone who wants to go wandering down memory lane.
Update: CBC Arts has further quotes from the family and the audio from the As It Happens interview. "I'm sorry this whole thing happened, but we felt we had no choice," Richard Homme told CBC Radio's As It Happens, saying the skit was "misrepresenting the puppets. They seemed like aliens to me with their different voices. It occurred to me that this is not anything we would have approved of, as far as the script goes."
The frenzy around Little Mosque on the Prairie (of which I have indulged) has been fascinating to watch. Even before the first episode made it to air it faced criticism for poking too much fun at Muslims, for not poking enough fun at Muslims, for not being edgy and for trying to push social mores on a gullible public. Talk about not pleasing all the people all the time.
For those who haven’t heard about this tempest in a sitcom, the show is about a group of Muslims in small-town Saskatchewan and the reaction of the locals when they start up a mosque with a new imam from Toronto. Hilarity ensues.
Canadian Press reports that Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, had "reservations about the depiction of Muslims as essentially a people whose lives revolve around a mosque. This is patently untrue," he said, adding that he fears the show will only serve to "pigeonhole Muslims as not more than a group that prays and preaches."
Meanwhile the Globe and Mail’s Margaret Wente, who says Prairie “painfully correct,” calls it part of the CBC’s mandate to instruct and uplift, complaining that no sacred cows get gored. She then goes on to detail the hyper-realistic depiction of Muslims in Canada that she’d like to watch – which read remarkably like a newscast.
What I find amazing is that there is so much weight on Little Mosque’s shoulders – and all over a sitcom. "To me, this is not a political show, this is not about the Iraq war, it's not about 9/11," say the show's creator, Zarqa Nawaz. "First and foremost, it's entertainment.” And that’s where Little Mosque succeeds. Sure, it’s not breaking any new ground – the fish-out-of-water is a comedy standard – and some of the characters are caricatures, but it was the premiere of a sitcom and should almost be expected. It had some good laughs and has some time to grow and I hope it makes it. Maybe next time there is a comedy about Muslims the only thing people will ask is: is it funny?
Update: I knew somebody was bound to post the first episode on YouTube and here it is, in four parts, for anyone who wants to check it out. Seems that more than two million Canadians did just that, making it the highest rated show of the night.
“Muslims around the world are known for their sense of humour.” This statement may come as a surprise to many as some Muslims have been a touch, um, sensitive to any portrayals of their faith: Salman Rushdie, Danish cartoons, German operas, to name a few. So, when the CBC announced it was going to air a new comedy called Little Mosque on the Prairie, a “halal-arious” comedy about being Muslim in a small Prairie town, I wasn’t the only one who thought this could be trouble.
But so far, no fatwa. Of course the show doesn’t air until this coming Tuesday, though not having seen the content has never stopped a death threat before. The premise has people buzzing – luminaries such as Associated Press and the New York Times have sat up and taken notice, and for you non-Canadians out there, people here rarely talk about our homegrown TV, let alone the international media. More importantly (at least as far as ratings are concerned) I’m interested in checking it out, as is Gill and even my father-in-law said he was intrigued. Did I mention people usually don’t talk or watch much Canadian TV?
The top-rated Canadian show, that isn’t hockey, is Corner Gas, a show about some genial Canuck hosers set in a small Prairie town. Hmm, seems familiar – I suppose success does breed imitators. It’s funny that we like to see ourselves reflected as living the quiet, rural life when the truth is more of us live in large cities, but so be it. With Little Mosque at least we’ll be seeing some of the increasingly multicultural nature of our nation as well.
Will it be controversial or will the edges been worn down so as not to offend anyone’s sensibilities? So far the promos, featuring a Muslim lawyer who is moving west to run a small-town mosque, have been good for a laugh. See for yourself:
It takes something big to take on Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on their own turf. I can’t say for sure what they are, but I think George Stroumboulopoulos got tagged in his.
The Hour returned to CBC this week after a summer hiatus and a blink-and-you-missed-it run at reality TV in the U.S. for George. But The One did not stick to Strombo who is back not only as the lead primetime show on Newsworld, but as the 11 p.m. show on the main network. That’s one tough slot when you are targeting young news junkies, but a good move for CBC. They are already running the show once, so rebroadcasting it instead of a shortened version of The National makes sense and shows great faith in Strombo’s ability to pick up some younger viewers for the Mother Corp.
It’s the second season and not much has changed – which is just fine with me. He still talks, as the segment says, a mile a minute, jumping from North Korea to hockey stars and inane minutia of celebrity culture. What has changed is the website, which still has a few glitches, is a vast improvement from the clips-only version from last year. The previous night’s show streams on the site, so you non-Canadian readers can see what I’m talking about.
So can he take on Stewart? All I know is I don’t have to make the choice – I have a PVR. (And those of you landing here looking for studio audience tickets, go here instead.)
After only two episodes The One: The Making of a Music Staris no more and CBC It Boy George Stroumboulopoulos can pull his motorbike out of storage and get back to his vacation.
ABC pulled the plug after ratings started in the shitter and went down from there. I really don’t know why they expected differently To quote The Simpsons: “These are the people who saw an overcrowded marketplace and said, ‘Me too!’" Here in Canada, on the night CBC aired The One, you could also watch Canadian Idol on CTV and Rockstar: Supernova on Global and they are all essentially the same show.
There was a lot of fuss when the CBC picked up the simulcast and bumped The National, with a lot of wailing and hair pulling over whether or not the mother corp should even be running reality shows. Stroumboulopoulos argued during an interview on Sounds Like Canada that if Canadians are watching reality shows, shouldn’t the national broadcaster be involved. Maybe so, but if so maybe they should aim for something more original than some wannabe rock stars grasping for the stars.
Anyway, I’m sure none of this will stick to Strombo and we’ll soon see him back on The Hour where he can do more than cut to commercial. And hopefully the CBC will drop any plans to run a Canadian version of The One – leave that to Idol.
I said that I would watch The One: Making a Music Star and now that the unpleasantness is over, I can hopefully erase it from my brain and never speak of it again.
Too harsh? I think not. First off, what was the show? It had all the reality competition elements in line: Desperately needy singers needing the validation of fame? Check Standard three-person judging panel, consisting of two men and a woman of varying insider knowledge? Check. Live audience cheering on performances of songs 10 to 20 years older than themselves. Check. Slick host with extremely long name? Double check. More on him later.
There was also some Survivor with everyone living together (but not much backstabbing); some Big Brother (but not much heat); and generous helpings of Idol.
The reason I tuned in, as I alluded to, was due to the hosting of George Stroumboulopoulos, the host of CBC’s The Hour. It is unusual to see a Canadian to talk the helm of a big U.S. show, but it may be too bad that this was the one he landed. Strombo was his usual slick self, decked out in head-to-toe black, moving the show along with his trademark motor mouth ways. Sadly, he had very little opportunity to shape the show in his own image, just introducing the singers and segueing between commercials, duties that can be handled by any Seacrest or Mulroney. Maybe this will change, but I don’t plan to find out.
The problem is, nobody could sing. As with all other reality singing contests, they covered songs they wouldn’t ever listen to themselves while showing off vocal theatrics best left to the Mariah’s of this world. The judges of course gushed endlessly after each mini-song, claiming each of them to potentially be The One,” while giving them heavy life lessons during pre-taped segments. They will help decide who stays and goes, but my PVR didn’t tape last night’s episode so I don’t know who got the boot and I don’t find myself caring.
It appears not many others did either, with just 236,000 Canadian viewers. After all the consternation over The One bumping The National for an hour, the news program more than doubled that audience. In the States it picked up 3.2 million viewers, only good enough for fifth in its time slot.
I don’t know who will become The One, but I know this show isn’t it.
What’s gotten into the CBC these days? They are coming across all hipstery (at least some of the time). I’m up at the cottage again (hence my lackadaisical posting – dialup sucks) and listening to a lot of CBC Radio One. The flagship show Sounds Like Canada is being guest-hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, host of the National Playlist and former frontman of Moxy Fruvous and his Canada sounds a lot cooler than I’m used to hearing on the national broadcaster.
Yesterday, after our morning dip, he interviewed Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy, who has been short listed for the Polaris music prize for his album He Poos Clouds. Pallett is also responsible for arranging the string section for Montreal’s Arcade Fire, giving him a hipster trifecta. Mainstream Canada likely didn’t know what hit them.
Today Jian – who once serenaded me with Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” – was talking to two members of Montreal’s The Stills about their latest album. They are best know for their fantastic album Logic Will Break Your Heart, of which several songs ended up on Zach Braff’s Garden State soundtrack. Even they were arguing that they aren’t all that well known.
Tomorrow alt-country superstar and member of Vancouver’s New Pornographers, Neko Case, will be on the show talking about her latest album. Very cool. It’s good to see the CBC assuming that there are more than just parents listening to them, and while I’m no youngster I’m pleased to hear music that is often relegated to college stations getting a coast-to-coast airing.
On a related note, seems CBC TV is following through on the trend and have seconded designated hipster and The Hour host George Stroumboulopoulos to ABC to host their reality music show, The One: Making a Music Star. This is the Idol-esque show that they are simulcasting and pushing Peter Mansbridge and The National out of the way for. When its run is over, a Canadian version will air, doubtlessly to be hosted by Stroumbo, despite protestations that there are no plans in the works.
I don’t know how successful yet another music reality show will be, but letting the charismatic Stroumbo take the reins at least gives it a shot. It starts next Tuesday, so I’ll at least tune in for the opener.
(Speaking of guest hosts, I may have one or two over the next couple of days. Play nice with them.)
CBC Radio 3 just keeps getting cooler. They have redesigned their media player so, along with listening to whatever they are playing, you can make your own playlist as well.
This may not seem like a big deal to those of you who don't know what Radio 3 is. They are an online and satellite radio station, broadcasting all Canadian tunes -- in my opinion, some of the coolest tunes you will find on the web. Can't vouch for the satellite service as I haven't gotten on board that bandwagon yet, but this channel could push me over the edge.
So back to the playlist -- you can now make your own out of their excellent podcasts and add tracks or whole shows from JustConcerts.com. They are also planning to add their 40,000 songs from NewMusicCanada.com in the near future, which will rock.
Until then, you can still pull together a cool list of tracks. I messed around with it a bit today and built my own playlist. Check it out. Oh yeah, the other cool think is you can open the player separately and play it while surfing. Nifty.
So "my" episode of Being Erica ("What Goes Up Must Come Down") aired last night and my blink-and-you-miss-it scene as an extra went by so quickly I figured I should screen cap it for you. Ego? I don't know what you're talking about.
I managed the above bit of scene-stealing by 
