TVSquad

Ah, Festivus! A time of year where we reflect on the months that have passed in TV land and what we would like to see happen in the future.

As you will see, my "All I want for Festivus" list is tainted by the fact I live in Canada. Since I know there are a lot of Canadians reading TV Squad, I decided to not remove these items from my list as I know I'm not the only one out there wanting them.

Without further ado, here is what I wish Festivus Claus will bring me this year!

I want...

Journeyman and Moonlight to get full seasons. In light of cancellation reports for Journeyman, I'm not expecting to find that gift under the Festivus tree. However, I still have a tiny light of hope. If the strike lasts too long to have a pilot season maybe NBC will go back on its decision to cancel this gem of a show? The future is brighter for Moonlight because CBS decided to keep the show on its winter schedule (while other more established shows like The Unit will not air in reruns). Let's hope these Moonlight reruns get more people addicted to the new vampire on the block and help CBS decide to order more Moonlight episodes. (P.S.: I'm not mentioning other series here because Santa already gave some gifts when he picked up Chuck and Pushing Daisies. He could, however, put Samantha Who? on his list.)

Networks to air all completed-before-cancellation-announcement episodes of any series before taking them off the air. Isn't it frustrating to have a series disappear from the schedule, especially when you know the network paid big bucks to produce episodes that will never see the light of a small screen. I don't care if they air those episodes at 2 a.m. but at least air them so we have some sort of closure or at least are rewarded for sticking with those new shows. (See series like Eyes, Reunion, Firefly, etc.)

The WGA strike to be over. Even if I support the strike, I want my shows back on TV ASAP. I'm going through withdrawals here and it's not a pretty sight! However, the upside is that I'm planning to watch reruns of series/episodes I didn't have time to watch this fall such as Dirty Sexy Money (my friends badly want me to give it a chance), Jorja Fox's final appearance on CSI, Numb3rs, and any cable shows that will make their way to a channel near me.

For FOX 44 programming staff to understand the error of their way and start airing The CW shows as they did for years and years. I wrote many emails to the programming department of my local FOX station when they decided to take all CW programming off their schedule earlier this fall and that AFTER starting to air new episodes! FOX 44 was my only legal way to watch the entire CW lineup because there is no CW station available in my area. Another great perk of having FOX air CW shows was that said series aired from 10 p.m. to midnight: a joy when trying to come up with a TV watchlist! Because of FOX 44's unannounced decision, I had to stop watching the The CW shows not carried by a Canadian-based station. When you are a TV addict, it's painful to lose a channel like that! Thanks to CTV, Global, Space, and CityTV for airing some of the CW's shows. The best gift Festivus could bring me though would be to add a The CW channel to what my cable-provider offers. Even if I'm giving an example that doesn't affect much people, I'm sure loads of people would like some networks to be added to their cable-provider lineups (FX? Showtime? USA?).

Network sites to add Canadians to the list of people who can watch streaming episodes online. It's frustrating to not be able to watch episodes online because you are not from the US, especially when you get the US stations on your TV and that you watch the US feed with the US commercials, etc. I know there are laws that probably forbid Canadians to watch that online content on a US site but still, it's frustrating!

TV on DVD to cost the same price (after exchange rate is applied) in Canada as it does in the U.S. It's cheaper for me to buy through Amazon.com instead of Amazon.ca, pay the exchange rate and pay the international shipping, than ordering through Amazon.ca. For example, on December 11, I compared how much it would cost to buy the third season of Lost on DVD and the second season of How I Met Your Mother. Via Amazon.ca, the total was of CAN$110.50, which included taxes and free shipping. Via Amazon.com, both DVDs plus international shipping roughly came up to CAN$70. That's about a $40 difference! Imagine if I didn't qualify for free shipping at Amazon.ca! I would prefer to buy in my own country but it's too pricy.

All TV Squad bloggers and readers to have a fantastic year!