TV writer David Shore was on CBC Radio’s q (formerly Q) today. He was introduced as creator of House and Battle Creek, writer on Due South and originally from London Ont. I’ve watched most of his shows, and liked them. So I wanted to hear his take on them. That was interesting. But somehow, it seemed to me, they compared apples to, well, not apples. When so many apples to apples were there, just begging to be compared.
He described Battle Creek as premised on male friendship. Then they discussed male friends or frenemies in House. House? Wilson’s friendship with Dr. House was a big part of the show, but not vital to it. Not like the relationship between the lead characters in Battle Creek.
Battle Creek is a ‘fish out of water’ buddy cop show about a quirky partnership between a morally upright FBI agent and a cynical Battle Creek, Michigan cop. Due South was a ‘fish out of water’ buddy cop show about a quirky partnership between a morally upright Mountie and a cynical Chicago cop. I waited for that comparison. Didn’t happen. It would be the first one David Shore would think of, you’d think.
Due South revisited
Watching the first episode of Battle Creek, I thought, wow, this is Due South twenty years later with two Americans. I like the show, just as I liked Due South. (Tap highlighted titles for DVDs.)
A CTV series, Due South was a cult hit in the US for CBS. Stereotypes of the Canadian worldview versus American was the appeal but also a drawback to going beyond “cult” to “mainstream.” Battle Creek, with colliding American worldviews, will not have that problem.
Eric Peterson and Street Legal
Listening today, hoping the discussion would move to the shows about which male friendship would be really applicable, I thought of a Q interview with Canadian actor Eric Peterson. The host introduced him as a star of CTV’s Corner Gas, the musical Billy Bishop Goes to War and CBC’s 1980s Street Legal.
Mr. Peterson talked eloquently about the importance of exploring Canadian culture in Canadian entertainment. Corner Gas and the story of Canadian WWI pilot Billy Bishop were the examples. Why not Street Legal?
Canadian-made, -set and -aired, Street Legal started just months after NBC’s LA Law. Both centred on law firms – big deals, backstabbing, sex and intrigue. LA Law‘s was big and glitzy, Street Legal‘s was Toronto storefront office scale. Canadian, eh? I waited to hear what Mr. Peterson would say about Canadian and American takes on the same dramatic premise. Didn’t happen.
Both Q and q’s interviews led straight to Street Legal and Due South: apples to apples comparisons. If q/Q have no staff familiar with old Canadian television shows, please contact me. I’ll be your “old codger” if you can’t find one in the CBC building.
A book on Amazon you might be interested in: The Television Reader: Critical perspectives in Canadian and US television studies (2012) by Tanner Mirrlees and Joseph Kispal-Kovacs.
