The Border tackles Stop Loss and US Soldiers in Canada

Last year while Stephen Harper was brown nosing and pretending the US does not practice torture the people at the Border did an episode about US rendition flights (and one that crash landed in Northern Quebec). So, given that Canada's treatment of US war resisters has become a hotly contested issue this election season I am greatly looking forward to seeing how the Border handles the issue in their season premier tomorrow night.

Although I don't have a clear idea of how the issue will be treated there are clues at a Canadian Army Forum:

"For the episode (entitled Stoploss) the synopsis is: Three American soldiers plunge into the Niagara River and swim to Canada.   Deserters, refusing to return to Iraq under the U.S.’s “stop loss” policy, they  seek refugee status in Canada.   Major Mike Kessler and his Immigration and Customs Security (ICS) Squad are forced to deal with the fallout -- from Canadian anti-war protestors to an incensed American four-star general.  One of the soldiers has a psychotic breakdown forcing Major Kessler to face his worst nightmare."

The show can be seen tomorrow night (monday, Sept. 29) at 9 p.m. on CBC. If it's something you're into you can also follow the border via their Facebook Group and/or on Twitter as well as their CBC Web Site.

the Border - Stop Loss behind the Scenes

Kudos To the Border for Being More Realistic than Harper

Congradulations to the Border for being brave where Ottawa chickened out. The day after Harper's so called government took the US off the torture list the Border airs an episode about US Diversion Flights. Sympathizers of Bush's neo-cons will say that 'the Border' and the story line are a work of fiction - which is true. But US diversion flights certainly do not seem to be fictional. That the US tortures is also not fictional.

Work of fiction or not, the Border is more grounded in reality than Stephen Harper's Government.

Mixed Reactions to New CBC Shows

jPod

Canadian Press: Alan Thicke a hoot as the boozing, degenerate father figure on CBC's 'JPod'

Toronto Star:CBC has a winner in jPod

Montreal Gazette:Radical rethink at CBC coughs up some seriously clichéd comedy

The Vancouver Province: jPod set squarely in Couplandia

National Post: Not quite a step up

the Kitchener Waterloo Record: CBC's jPOD is a fresh take on weird

the Border

National PostRobert Fulford: Different show, same message

the Fifth Column: the Border on CBC

Upping the Anti: Defend the Border: The CBC’s new show can only help “the bad guys”

Toronto Star: CBC premiering slick new show 'The Border'

AOL: Toeing the Line With ' The Border'

Dave Duncan: CBC is AOK

Sophie

KW Record: Sophie proves good comedy isn't easy

Toronto Star: Sophie grates on my nerves

Canadian Press: Debut of new CBC-TV comedy Sophie takes the chill off January

MVP

Jam: 'MVP' is Desperate Hockey Wives

Toronto Star: Lather up for MVP

Globe and Mail: Gossipmongers going online for the real thing

New CBC TV Shows for January

The CBC has a whack of new shows coming in January. I had hoped to post Trailers for them, but in classic CBC style the only trailer they have on YouTube is for the least interesting of the bunch. There was a spat during the fall between intelligence creator Chris Haddock and the CBC because Haddock felt they didn't do enough to promote his show - sadly Chris the CBC doesn't really promote anything (except the Hour) unless you are already watching CBC TV. I've seen more advertisements for the Tudors DVD set than I saw for the show.

One more note before I get to the shows: Warning the web sites for MVP and the Border which I link to are both flash intensive and auto-play music. Visit at your own risk.

First there is the JPod (no trailer):

Based on Douglas Coupland's cult bestseller of the same name, jPod is a one-hour drama series with amusing and evil twists. Ethan Jarlewski (DAVID W. KOPP) and four coworker pals are bureaucratically marooned in the bowels of a massive video game company, Neotronic Arts.The series chronicles the amoral, lighthearted and often shocking lives of these five "Podsters." In Season One alone, they routinely deal with Chinese gangs, boneheaded bosses, sexual swinging, power lesbians, British royalty, gore-laced game designs and …it's a very long list.

Sophie (no Trailer) based on the Radio Canada show that failed to win over Quebec, looks like it might be entertaining.

Sophie has everything: a loving boyfriend, her own talent agency, beauty, friends and a baby on the way. Everything... that is until one day her picture-perfect world starts to come apart at the seams as she tries to cope with her new single-mom status, the tormented artists that call her agency home, a neurotic mother, her father's delusional ex-mistress and her entire eclectic and funny entourage... Sophie is about to experience a year where every emotion in the book gets thrown at her... and then some!

The Border (no trailer) could be good if it can distinguish itself from other cop/espionage shows. If it is good but is little/nothing like - Intelligence, 24, CSI, Numbers, etc., etc., I'll watch it.

Finally, there is MVP (3 Trailers online). It's well...desperate housewives with hockey I guess. "When the uniforms are folded and the gear comes off, that's when the game REALLY gets interesting." Sex, scandal, money and skates - not going to watch, not going to post the trailer, completely not interested.