I saw a CTV interview last week with Aaron Douglas promoting the show's premiere – they made a point of mentioning this was a Canadian show, shot in Toronto (and about Toronto cops), starring a Canadian. That was all good – I was looking forward to the premiere. Through the first hour I thought there was something missing – during the second hour it was clear ..... significant effort had been made to ensure this was NOT seen as Toronto (or Canada for that matter). Why is it so important that a Canadian cop show must allow for the possibility of being anywhere in America? Are US ratings THAT important that we have to mask the fact that the story is taking place in Canada (perhaps the more profound question is, why would US viewers be less likely to tune into a Toronto cop show vice, say, Denver?). I scanned back through my PVR recording of the show and, apart from a half second glimpse of the Toronto skyline, everything else had been de-Canadianified! I don't think I'm only on a post-Olympic patriotic bent – I simply don't understand why they have to blur out the "Ontario" on every licence plate shot, or even make up fictitious "Metropolitan" newspapers as they pan across headlines (vice simply using the Toronto "Star" or "Sun"). I recently rented "The Wire" as I hadn't seen it when it originally aired – the contrast is overwhelming. They spend the whole show talking about Baltimore PD, FD, Marine Unit, etc. etc. etc. – no shame there! But we can't mention the word Toronto once?! I guess the only consolation is that there are not fake US flags put up everywhere (as is normally the case with shows shot in Canada). Not a maple leaf or Canadian Flag visible for two hours of driving around Toronto? How about some Canuck pride, eh?! Canada has some truly amazing talent and fantastic potential (James Cameron comes to mind - you might have heard of him) - it is about time TV & movie execs had the courage to accept "Canada" on both sides of the camera. That all being said - I still think the premiere was somewhat mediocre. I'm not sure the audience was left caring enough about Aaron Douglas' character's plight. Hopefully this series will develop over time.
