If you watch much PBS, you quickly learn that The Powers That Be are enamored of UK television. I've no complain with British comedy, which brought us the likes of Benny Hill and Monty Python, but British drama has never appealed much to me. Maybe Upstairs, Downstairs and Masterpiece Theatre are chick flicks, or maybe they're just boring. (Please give details in your comments, when you call me an idiot. I'd like to know why you think otherwise.)

On the other hand, I'm increasingly fond of television that comes from Canada.

Tom Stone

I can't even remember many of the details of Tom Stone, aka Stone, Undercover. He was living in Calgary in a mobile home that had seen better days, on rural property rather than a trailer park. If I recall correctly, he had been a roughneck in the Alberta oil fields, then a cop, then he went to prison. I don't even remember whether he was framed, or if he did something illegal because he was trying to accomplish a greater good. In any case, there's a female investigator from the RCMP who got him out of prison to work with her, and she can pretty much send him back at any time, so his family jewels are in the wringer.

I could say something here about having a female boss (which has happened in my past), and having a female boss who had you by the short hairs (which has happened in my past), but Tom Stone and his boss are somewhat romantically attracted. It's difficult because she has a fiance back east - she was transferred to Calgary as punishment for doing too good a job on some important politico - and he's wants to be free, not further entangled, but the sparks are still there.

It's a good place to start from. Being an ex-con, being constantly short of funds, being forced to do things his judgment suggests he shouldn't, and living in a mobile home is somewhat reminiscent of James Garner's role in Stephen Cannell's Rockford Files, and it even has some of the flavor of David Jannsen in Harry O, back in the 1970s. You know, the kind of show where there should be a chase scene, but the car won't start, or there's no parking space, or that sort of thing, like would happen to you or me, were we to try to do what they attempt.

Harry O was axed after two seasons. The Rockford Files lasted six seasons. Tom Stone made it through two seasons. Stephen Cannell's had a long history of hits, and so has James Garner, so in that light, Rockford Files was sort of a disappointment, but all three of these series were pretty good, in my estimation. None of them appear to be currently being broadcast, but there are 13 full shows available online at imdb.com

Corner Gas

Dog River is isolated, so there's no other gas station in any direction for 37 miles. They don't have to be particularly speedy or efficient or anything like that at Corner Gas, and by gosh, they aren't. It's a convenience store with an attached diner, and that's where most of the action takes place, although "action" isn't exactly the right word to describe anything Brent Leroy does. For instance, once a year, he takes a "stay-cation" where he sits in a lawn chair in front of the station, taking in some sun.

I wasn't the only one that liked Corner Gas. It was an instant hit, winning loads of awards over its six-year run. The humor tends to be dry satire, and nobody seems to be too bright, except perhaps Wanda, who works for Brent, and Lacey, who runs the diner, who compensates for her over-education with a lack of common sense and pervasive insecurity. Brent is constantly plagued by Hank Yarbo, his best friend from childhood, who seemingly has never had a job longer than 2 days in a row, and by his parents, who owned the station before he did. Brent's father, Oscar, is always up to something, and his mother is always disgusted by Brent and/or Oscar. The town's police force, an older man and a younger woman, have too much free time on their hands.

It was running for a while on WGN. Highly recommended.

DaVinci's City Hall

I used to watch DaVinci's Inquest, but it drove me up the wall; I was too impatient. The show was rather dark, and was dimly lit as well, making it even darker, and it wasn't your usual crime story. Dominic DaVinci was coroner, a former undercover cop for the RCMP, and he solved homicides. It turns out that DaVinci was actually modeled on Larry Campbell, the former coroner for Vancouver.

Now, they're showing DaVinci's City Hall. Somehow - and I missed that - the Dominic DaVinci character has been elected mayor. He's doing all sorts of innovative things, and fighting the police and fire departments. For one thing, he's established a "red zone". If you drive into the red zone, you're stopped by a cop, who checks out your ID, and asks if you have any weapons. They don't take down your name or plate, and they don't film you, but you then drive forward, and negotiate a "date" with one of the pleasant ladies there, who are checked regularly by a city health clinic. At the end of the block, you turn left into a parking lot, which has tall barriers between the parking spaces.

He's trying to fight dope houses, by using the fire department. When the city gets a complaint, they subpoena the utility records, and use the high usage of electricity as a reason for a fire inspection. The fireman knocks on the door, gets no answer, he doesn't press things, but he simply posts a note saying that the department will be back in 48 hours and will conduct a safety inspection, with or without occupant permission. Wonder of wonders, when they return in 48 hours, the houses are vacant and empty. No arrests, but nobody's getting shot, and they're getting the drug houses shut down, one at a time.

He tries to save jobs at the horse track. Turns out the guy who owns the track sells it to a guy with an unsavory background - pedophilia - 24 hours before the city council votes on giving them a slots parlor permit. The city votes it down, and DaVinci finds out that the guy is building a new horse track nearby, and planning to milk the city for concessions, such as casino licenses, before shutting down the horse track anyway. As the last show ended, the city was trying to take over the horse track and run it themselves.

Meanwhile, the mayor is trying to merge fire and police departments, starting with a cross-trained force downtown, and both police and fire departments are fighting it.

It's still dark, still a slow-moving show, but the politics is tainted by criminality, and the crime is tainted with politics, and it actually seems very real. Oh, and it turns out that Larry Campbell, the coroner in Vancouver, was elected Mayor in 2002.

They're showing Da Vinci's City Hall on the Sleuth network. As I understand it, they've pasted DVCH onto the end of DVI, making City Hall the 8th season of DVI. They didn't do that in Canada.

Hollywood

Hollywood doesn't really exist any more. They tore down Century Studios years ago to build Century City, and most of the other studios have gotten rid of their back lots, and are shooting a few TV shows, or have only executive offices in Hollywood. Since they first filmed the movie of "The Naked City" in 1948, movie producers have been trying to cut costs by using location filming.

One of the places that's been getting a lot of the work has been Vancouver, so it's not surprising that some of the best television shows are coming from Canada.

Other Bloggers On Related Topics:
Canada - Corner Gas - DaVinci's City Hall - DaVinci's Inquest - Dog River - Stone Undercover - television - Tom Stone