Geminis to fly without a host: What gives? by John Doyle
Source : Toronto Star
December 13, 2004
It's not that I'm against the Geminis. And it's not true that all my thoughts about the Geminis are dark and murderous. The fact that a Canadian television awards program exists is good thing, an act of defiance against the cultural supremacism of the American medium. But I've got some questions, and I can't be the only one.
The Gemini Awards (CBC, 8 p.m.) do tend to raise eyebrows and questions. For a start, the ratings for the broadcast, which celebrates Canadian television, have been declining in recent years. While some people liked Sean Cullen as the host, over two consecutive years, he never clicked with viewers at home. This year, there is no host. That's new and somebody involved will probably claim that it's, you know, innovative.
It's not. Here's the first question -- who's the breakout star of Canadian TV in 2004? That would be Brent Butt. The guy's funny, he does standup. Why can't he be the host? I mean he pulls in 1.6 million viewers a week for Corner Gas. Most of the shows nominated for tonight's awards can only dream about that size of audience. If tonight's program gets 1.6 million viewers it will be a miracle. Anybody involved ever heard of building on your strengths?
And another thing -- what has the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television got against women? In the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries, five chaps are nominated: Bayo Akinfemi and Nicholas Campbell for Human Cargo; Brent Carver for Elizabeth Rex; Nicholas Lea for The Investigation; and Vincent Walsh for Shattered City: the Halifax Explosion.
However, in the equivalent category for an Actress in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries, there are only three nominations. Diana D'Aquila for Elizabeth Rex, Megan Follows for Open Heart and Kate Nelligan for Human Cargo. Hello? It's implausible that there were only three outstanding performances. In Shattered City, for instance, Vincent Walsh was not working alone. Did somebody just skip over the work of Shauna MacDonald, his co-lead, in that production?
While I'm at it, Rick Mercer's name appears only once in the list of nominees for tonight's batch of awards. That's in the Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series, for the final episode of Made in Canada. Now, I know that Mercer's Monday Report took a while to find its groove, but it's a mystery to me that the show doesn't appear in the Best Comedy Program or Series category, and I think Mercer's performances have had a greater impact than the nominated performers for Comedy Inc. and Comedy Now!
Inside the Canadian TV industry, the gist of the Geminis is the accumulation of awards over the three nights of celebrations. Thus, Human Cargo has a total of 17 nominations; This Is Wonderland has 15; The Eleventh Hour has 12 nominations; and Da Vinci's Inquest has 10. At the end of the night, it's about counting the total haul and the bragging rights that accrue.
The climax tonight, I imagine, is the battle for Best Dramatic Series. It's really between CBC's Da Vinci's Inquest and CTV's The Eleventh Hour, with the pay-TV series Slings and Arrows being an outside bet. Last year's Da Vinci was not its strongest and The Eleventh Hour had some truly outstanding episodes. I'd bet on the CTV series. Besides, The Eleventh Hour crew looks so darn cute when they gather en masse.
Without a host, tonight's program will rely on an endless parade of presenters and performers, and they're not all from the tiny mine of Canadian TV drama and comedy. Samantha Bee from The Daily Show is there, along with Canadian Idol winner Kalan Porter.
The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television promises, "New format, lots of laughs and never a dull moment!" They'd better be right about the dull moments. Canadian TV needs all the sparkle it can get.
You can catch red-carpet coverage of the Geminis on the Star! Channel at 7 p.m. -- "who's wearing what and who they're with," according to Star! Enjoy. In fact, I hope everybody enjoys themselves tonight.
Staying with the subject of Canadian television (because who can tear themselves away?), I have an update and clarification on the CRTC's new plan to get more Canadian comedy and drama on the air. Recently, I suggested that the plan -- which would allow commercial broadcasters more advertising minutes as a reward for airing new Canadian shows -- might result in viewers having to sit through yet more commercials.
Here's the deal: When Canadian broadcasters simulcast an American drama, the drama comes with 15 minutes of commercial time factored into it, but a Canadian broadcaster can only air 12 minutes of advertising in an hour. That's why you see so many promos for upcoming shows on a Canadian channel -- they fill the extra three minutes. This new incentive will allow the Canadian broadcaster to increase the 12 minutes of advertising to 14 minutes (leaving one minute for promos). It doesn't mean more interruptions in an hour. It means that instead of a promotion for the news or another show, there's an ad that brings in revenue.
I'm glad that we're all clear on that. From what I've heard, reaction from broadcasters to the new scheme has been "muted." Well, of course. First they need to have the plan explained to them, like I did.
