It's 2018, so why are Canadian shows still being set in "Generica"?

End on a Hinote

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Am I the only one who gets annoyed with how so many Canadian tv shows continue to have their shows set in an unnamed country so that it can appeal to "everyone"?

Orphan Black, Flashpoint, Schitts Creek, the list goes on.

In this day and age why is the Canadian TV industry still so afraid to have shows openly set in Canada? It didn't seem to hurt Trailer Park Boys and Corner Gas.

I've watched Australian shows that are actually set in Australia, so why dont we do it more often?
 
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Am I the only one who gets annoyed with how so many Canadian tv shows continue to have their shows set in an unnamed country so that it can appeal to "everyone"?

Orphan Black, Flashpoint, Schitts Creek, the list goes on.

In this day and age why is the Canadian TV industry still so afraid to have shows openly set in Canada? It didn't seem to hurt Trailer Park Boys and Corner Gas.

I've watched Australian shows that are actually set in Australia, so why dont we do it more often?

Australia is an interesting point of contrast. The easy answer is that Australian-produced shows and films are made primarily for Australian and New Zealand audiences and have a massive difference in accent. Like that article linked above mentions, Canada and America are really similar but have some obvious differences. Producers can just choose to omit or downplay those differences to an American audience. There's no doing that with an Aussie show.

I agree with your overall point. I think it's time for Canadian-set shows to just be fully Canadian. Audiences are more likely to go along with it these days than in the past. Having said that, I can't think of a single Canadian show I've ever watched other than an episode or two of Trailer Park Boys. However, I imagine as a Canadian this would be pretty annoying.
 

Osprey

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The TV Tropes article mentions Night Heat, the first Canadian drama to ever air on a U.S. network, and it made sense for that to be generic because it probably didn't want to be too Canadian to turn off Americans or too American to turn off Canadians. I understand that the OP is referring to shows that are exclusively on Canadian networks, but maybe Canadian show runners always have it in the backs of his minds that their shows might get picked up by American networks and, so, therefore, design and keep the shows from appearing overtly Canadian just in case. That's my best guess.
 
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Bjorn Le

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Flashpoint by the end stopped pretending it wasn't Canada. I'd say most Canadian shows in the last few years haven't been doing this.

Shows like Rookie Blue, Letterkenny, Carter, Murdoch Mysteries, Private Eyes, Cardinal, are all set in Canada. Orphan Black had a premise that didn't really lend itself to being set in Canada so that made sense (sort of like Sue Thomas from 15 years ago)
 
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Dipsy Doodle

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Canadian shows would do much better here and elsewhere, and be much better, if they embraced their nationality rather than trying to disguise/suppress it.
 

JackSlater

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Why are New York Fries, Boston Pizza, East Side Marios, Montanas and Swiss Chalet all Canadian? I guess that they don't think that Canadian stuff sells. There is a lingering perception in Canada that the Canadian version of something is generally inferior. In the case of media the goal is clearly to sell the product to the significantly larger American audience, so I guess it makes sense to not set things explicitly in Canada.
 

Shareefruck

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I don't know. When I see Canadian things try to fit in with American stuff, sure, it seems corny, desperate, and amateurish to me, and I agree that they shouldn't go out of their way to hide the setting, but if I'm being honest, typically things that embrace their Canadian-ness a lot (like Letterkenny, Corner Gas, Trailer Park Boys and Schitt's Creek) tend to put me off every bit as much and I would rather watch just about anything else. I think I'm just not a fan of the quirks that are typically associated with the country, and prefer the national presence more neutral when it comes to Canada (which is how it is here in Vancouver anyways). Just make the actual shows better than they are.
 

End on a Hinote

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I don't know. When I see Canadian things try to fit in with American stuff, sure, it seems corny, desperate, and amateurish to me, and I agree that they shouldn't go out of their way to hide the setting, but if I'm being honest, typically things that embrace their Canadian-ness a lot (like Letterkenny, Corner Gas, Trailer Park Boys and Schitt's Creek) tend to put me off every bit as much and I would rather watch just about anything else. I think I'm just not a fan of the quirks that are typically associated with the country, and prefer the national presence more neutral when it comes to Canada (which is how it is here in Vancouver anyways). Just make the actual shows better than they are.

But you can still be neutral and yet have the setting in Canada. You don't have to make blatant over the top Canadian references every scene or anything like that, maybe just don't be scared to have a Canadian flag waving in the background every now and then or, God forbid, an odd passing reference like "blah, blah, blah, across Canada" or something.

Trying not to be blatantly ovey Canadian is one thing, but acting like you are completely denying that you are a Canadian set show is something else and that's what the Canadian TV industry does.

Its pathetic, and one of the reasons why we as Canadians are our own worst enemy. We are insecure about ourselves to the world.

Another great show that was openly set in Canada, and used its Canadian (Vancouver) setting as a key backdrop but was still very neutral about it was Da Vinci's Inquest. And it had a pretty decent international following.
 

Shareefruck

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But you can still be neutral and yet have the setting in Canada. You don't have to make blatant over the top Canadian references every scene or anything like that, maybe just don't be scared to have a Canadian flag waving in the background every now and then or, God forbid, an odd passing reference like "blah, blah, blah, across Canada" or something.

Trying not to be blatantly ovey Canadian is one thing, but acting like you are completely denying that you are a Canadian set show is something else and that's what the Canadian TV industry does.

Its pathetic, and one of the reasons why we as Canadians are our own worst enemy. We are insecure about ourselves to the world.

Another great show that was openly set in Canada, and used its Canadian (Vancouver) setting as a key backdrop but was still very neutral about it was Da Vinci's Inquest. And it had a pretty decent international following.
Agreed. It's just a tough thing for me to care about either way, though, as I can't say I've ever seen a Canadian show (ashamed of itself or otherwise) that felt like it was actually worthwhile enough to elicit a strong reaction, personally (especially the ones that are overly Canadian, which aggressively annoy me). Lack of literal identity is just one of a million things that make them feel bland to me. It's not like one of the shows mentioned would suddenly seem admirable if it proudly took place in Toronto or something.
 

holy

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Thomas the Tank Engine was set in Toronto, no? Swear I've driven by that railroad track a couple of times.
 

Pilky01

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I don't think I will be able to watch this movie if they try and insist it isn't set in Toronto.
 

kook10

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The audience for Canadian TV is relatively small compared to the US. If it costs a small portion of the audience to make it generic and potentially market it to foreign markets the upside far outweighs the cost.

As an American though, I think pronounced Canadian accents make a show much more local than location elements.
 

peate

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The Beachcombers was one Canadian show that was truly Canadian and enjoyable. Corner Gas luckily had Gabrielle Miller as a redeeming factor, so it wasn't terrible. Nothing else stands out for me. TPB can be funny for 5 minutes but gets old really quick. French Canadian TV on the other hand doesn't suffer from the same identity crisis. Quebec has a lot of culture and talent to draw from without having to pretend it's France, but they still manage to make bad TV along with some gems.
 

Paris in Flames

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Orphan Black acknowledged it was Canada a few times. Not overtly but they showed Canadian money and Felix made a speech saying:
"My sister and I are orphans, you see. And we could have ended up anywhere. We could’ve ended up in any family. And if we had, we would have been entirely different people. But my mum, Siobhan, this woman, she chose us as her own. We are who we are because she carried two little London urchins on her wings to Canada.".
Add in a few obvious shots of the CN Tower and mentioning Toronto streets and neighbourhoods...they didn't hide it exactly...they just didn't shove it down our throats. Rarely does the setting of a show actually matter to the show - Orphan Black could be the same show anywhere, etc so in a sense it doesn't really matter.

I've always assumed it comes down to relatability? Maybe American viewers would be more inclined to watch an American set show. I'm not sure but that seems to be the Orphan Black approach.
John Fawcett concurred, arguing that "To be honest, we don't want to say we're American and alienate the Canadians, or say we're Canadian and alienate the Americans. The bottom line is we're one big happy family. We're just a little bit further North than you."
 

NyQuil

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The Newsroom with Ken Finkleman was a good show that parodied the CBC in a manner that was well ahead of its time.
 

ProstheticConscience

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Did I blow up the Georgia viaduct again? Awwwww......
 

ProstheticConscience

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I think a lot of it is inertia as well. For the last thirty year of Canadian film and tv production, it's always walked the fine line between making sure the xenophobic US audience remained in their comfortable illusion that an action/adventure tv series or movie couldn't possibly take place outside their borders and keeping the CanCon taps turned on. It's just easiest to keep going the way you've always been going than change course.

This was an interesting read, thanks.
np. Sometimes when I'm bored I just go linking through various tv tropes articles. Kinda like wikipedia surfing, only media-based.
 

Osprey

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I think a lot of it is inertia as well. For the last thirty years of Canadian film and tv production, it's always walked the fine line between making sure the xenophobic US audience remained in their comfortable illusion that an action/adventure tv series or movie couldn't possibly take place outside their borders and keeping the CanCon taps turned on. It's just easiest to keep going the way you've always been going than change course.

It seems rather hypocritical to me to put down Americans for wanting shows set in America when this thread is about Canadians wanting shows set in Canada. Why are you a proud Canadian if you want to see your country featured in shows, but Americans are "xenophobic" if they want to see theirs?
 
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