Just watch it: Canadian TV honours its own by Antonia Zerbisias
Source : Toronto Star
Oct 29, 2000
by Antonia Zerbisias
Not that anybody in the business actually believes millions will forgo all-new episodes of Ally McBeal or Everybody Loves Raymond for Canadian TV's annual hardware handout.
But maybe tomorrow's 15th Gemini Awards Gala, on CBC at 8, can beat its own dismal ratings of recent years.
That's because, rather than compete with the big-ticket Sunday shows on U.S. and pseudo-Canadian networks, this year, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television went for a Monday run of its awards.
Maybe it's hoping that CBC viewers always there for This Hour Has 22 Minutes at that time might get confused by seeing Mary Walsh, Rick Mercer, Cathy Jones and Greg Thomey in the audience – and stick around. Or perhaps it's counting on the superb comic timing of Steve Smith, who is hanging up his Red Green Show duct tape to be host.
But Smith will have to work hard to wrench viewers away from the born-in-the-U.S.A. competition, despite help from a stellar lineup of presenters including Jeanne Beker, Mike Bullard, Brent Carver, Wendy Crewson, Cynthia Dale, Megan Follows, Paul Gross, Ian Hanomansing, Peter Keleghan, Peter Kent, Michie Mee, Wendy Mesley, Sonja Smits, Julie Stewart and Pamela Wallin.
Even though our industry is burgeoning, even though our cities masquerade as Manhattan on U.S. screens, even though we have built a TV system in the shadow of the American entertainment juggernaut, Canadians seem less keen than ever on celebrating their own stars.
Last year's Geminis attracted a sad 632,000 viewers, down from the Geminis before that, which was down from the Geminis before that.
And yet, last week, two bits of news offered some hope that Canadians might be turned around.
The first is the astonishing success of CBC's Canada: A People's History.
Who would have thought that some 2.35 million people would watch the first episode? Amazing.
Mind you, these aren't Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Canadian Edition numbers – which were almost twice as high. But A People's History isn't exactly that sort of pre-hyped, lowest-common-denominator, go-for-the-dough programming.
The other news came from the lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, which conducted a national survey on homegrown TV.
While domestic drama is almost always beaten in the ratings by imports, it isn't always outrated for quality. At least, not according to this survey. In fact, some shows, notably CBC's Da Vinci's Inquest and Wind At My Back, ranked up there with – or ahead of – NYPD Blue, The West Wing and other U.S. series backed by vastly bigger budgets and promotional machines.
Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean much for tomorrow's Geminis – especially considering how the awards are organized.
This heavy-metal fest actually stretches over three nights, with 33 awards handed out at last night's opening party and another 29 at tonight's industry bash, hosted by Carla Collins live on Rogers Cable 10.
While most of these awards are best presented at what amounts to trade shows, some should be switched with those on tomorrow's broadcast gala.
Examples? Last night CBC's Don Murray won Best Reportage, while Francine Pelletier won for her writing on CBC's the fifth estate. (Complete lists of winners will be published tomorrow and Tuesday in The Star.)
Our TV journalists are among Canada's best-known faces. Why not feature more of them tomorrow? Instead, we'll be subjected to a hodgepodge of awards that don't necessarily showcase what Canadians watch most or like best.
Strange considering the Geminis' purpose is to help in "building TV audiences and public awareness and appreciation of Canadian talent."
But if you can't even get 'em into the tent, how are they going to like the show?
