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Comment by junkscience2017 | Hacker News Reader

junkscience2017

in reality it means paying taxes so the CBC can make a shitty Canadian version of Law And Order that no one watches

almost none of the "Canadian" content relates any national values...it is almost uniformly just garbage remakes of US shows

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Canadian TV has made some iconic shows. I don't think any country has has a show like Kids in the Hall. Degrassi Jr High, Mr Dressup, Today's Special, Road to Avonlea, Being Erica, Street Legal, Beachcombers, Wok With Yan!, Babar, Trailer Park Boys, Edison Twins, The Tudors, Just Like Mom, North of 60, ENG, Flashpoint, Friendly Giant, My Secret Identity, Da Vinci’s Inquest, The Newsroom, You Can’t Do That on Television, Danger Bay, Traders, Fraggle Rock, Catwalk, Dear Aunt Agnes, Hammy the Hamster, The Littlest Hobo, Passe Partout, Polka Dot Door, The Green Forrest, Little Mosque on the Prairie, Corner Gas, Arctic Air. Show me something derivative in that list.

And thanks to Canadian patronage of the arts and media, creators of Fraggle Rock including poets Dennis Lee and B.P. Nichol played influential roles in productions of international acclaim like The Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. It certainly doesn't stop there.

Let's not forget Second City Toronto, Rick Mercer, and newer comedic hits like Fubar and Letterkenny.

With a few exceptions those are iconic shows...in Canada. Thanks to CanCon, Canadians don't have a lot of other options.

The CBC is an incredible institution, you've clearly never heard their radio shows and free podcasts on a huge variety of subjects like science, art, music and informed news and political coverage, all without a corporate agenda, advertising or subversive means. For generations Canadians have grown up around the CBC: in many far north communities the CBC was often the only media available and to this day the CBC has huge popular support throughout the country.

Say what you will about the CRTC and Canadian content rule: trust me, it's contentious in Canada and the discussion has been had for decades. So by all means, it's fine to disagree.

The CBC is a whole different matter and you shouldn't neglect the power of an independent news and broadcast corporation in a democratic country and with a strong cultural and social connection.

It's what the PBS could be with more funding and more community buy-in.

> in reality it means paying taxes so the CBC can make a shitty Canadian version of Law And Order

I never understood this cheap attitude. If you broke down your tax bill maybe 10$/yr might be going to the CBC. What's the big deal?

Also, here's a perspective you might not have thought of. In my opinion, CBC should not be allowed to fund itself with advertising, and should be fully funded by tax dollars.

This would be good for private TV networks because it would free that ad revenue and make it available for the private networks to use.

There's a bunch of decent shows made in Canada - Continuum, Orphan Black, Haven, Flashpoint, Vikings... That's only those I've seen and pretty recent ones.

Name some of these remakes of American shows, please.

short of the 10pm news and taxpayer-funded hockey, there is basically nothing on the CBC that isn't utterly derivative...and most of the dramas literally air to zero viewers...just admit it, it's all awful and you don't watch it either

I do watch it... Letterkenny is the the best thing on TV (well, CraveTV) right now in my opinion. CBC isn't the only studio producing Canadian content either.

I briefly checked your comment history... you sure have some negative things to say about Canada, huh?

I'm still interested in hearing you name some of these derivative shows that apparently make up the vast majority of Canadian television.

* CraveTV is from Bell Media, just to add context. And Letterkenny is one of my favourite new shows having grown up in an area far too similar in rural Ontario...

Unlike the USA, where all of our TV content is fresh and new.... like we have Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order: LA, Law & Order: True Crime

Yes, "little mosque on the prairie" is something utterly derivative of a US TV show. Oh wait, no it isn't.

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