Canadians going American?

Remember those Canadian TV Series I've been following lately? The Border and Sophie? It looks like it's going Stateside, according to this report and I will quote parts of it:

The Canadian invasion of U.S. primetime intensifies.

NBC is finalizing a deal to pick up 13 episodes of CTV's upcoming drama series "The Listener."

The distributors of another Canadian drama, CBC's "The Border," are in discussions with several U.S. networks, including CBS and ABC.

And ABC Family is in talks to pick up 13 episodes of CBC's comedy series "Sophie." That follows CBS' deal this week to acquire 13 episodes of CTV's new drama series "Flashpoint."

The prolonged writers strike had triggered a serious look by the U.S. broadcasters into local series in the top English-language markets -- Canada, the U.K. and Australia -- reversing a decades-long programming flow in the other direction.

But Canada is getting all the attention these days. "Canada is the next big thing," one U.S. agent said.

Canadian series are considered more accessible to U.S. audiences. They also provide the networks -- whose pipeline had dried up because of the strike -- with some much-needed original scripted series.

Go, Canada! :)

Switching over to Canadian Programming

The lack of interesting American TV shows to watch has made me switch over to Canadian programming. And this week, I checked out two TV shows from that side of the North American region. I wasn't exactly easily impressed by it, and it may be because I don't know who these actors are (not yet anyway). But you know what, the shows were far from bad. They were satisfactory. And in these times when there's a TV drought, I'd take satisfactory any day.

The Border is a drama series that will remind you of how 24 first began. Granted it isn't as suspenseful as 24, it provides enough drama, tension and complexities expected of a post 9/11 scenario. I wasn't familiar with a lot of their government references (or general Canadian culture for that matter) but it wasn't hard to follow the story. One thing I'm missing though is the connection with the characters. Right now, they all act so one-dimensional to me. The Border's official site

Sophie is a sitcom adapted from the French. It centers a woman who is about to experience the worst year of her life ---- her boyfriend cheats with her best friend and steals all her clients, while she's 8 months pregnant. By the end of the episode, Sophie gives birth and finds the biggest surprise. I can best describe the show as a little bit similar to Samantha Who? Cute and funny (although not as funny as Sam). Sophie's official site