TVSquad

One of the most frustrating things of blogging about US TV series is the fact that I can't watch episodes or most of the webisodes on the official network sites because I live in Canada. I can't even have access to content on Hulu and the like because of International Internet laws (or lack thereof) and distribution rights issues. I don't know all the legalities behind this but I find it weird that on my basic cable set up I have access to US-based channels for all major networks (except The CW) and yet, I can't access the full content of US-based network websites.

Since I've started blogging here on TV Squad, I've read many comments from international readers saying that they can't watch episodes or videos we embedded in our posts. It's irritating to follow a link to a video and see "This episode is currently only available to viewers living in the United States." Therefore, I researched the web to find websites where Canadians could watch US TV series online and in all legality (of course, people in the US can watch episodes online at AOL TV, Hulu, etc.).

Here is a list of "Canadians welcomed" websites that stream US TV shows. You can thank me later.

If you are not a Canadian, you probably didn't know we had federal elections in mid-October. However, Canadians know very well the U.S. election is going on right now and that the vote is today since we are neighbors and because American economy affects Canada's.

This past year, and especially since Obama and McCain really started to campaign a few weeks ago, the news airing on Canadian TV stations have all included some type of coverage and updates about the U.S. elections. Some of the 24-hour news stations even had special shows that lasted hours, for example, during the first presidential debate, to update us on the goings-on of the American election. So it's no surprise if that there is some sort of U.S. election coverage on Canadian TV channels tonight.

All right, let me say this up front and without equivocation: if CBS picks up Flashpoint and cancels Swingtown, I'm going to be ticked off. I'm not down on Flashpoint. As Jane wrote, Flashpoint is a good show. No 24, but solid procedural entertainment. However, when I read that Canada's CTV has renewed up north and sources say that CBS is close to doing the same, I immediately got my back up.

Why should Flashpoint get a break while an interesting, quirky and outside-the-box drama like Swingtown may not? It's disheartening to me that CBS is searching for a cable network to take Swingtown, while a "safe" crime show like Flashpoint doesn't have that concern.

There was talk of this years ago but it looks like Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas are recreating their famous characters from SCTV in animated form. A preview trailer is available after the jump.

As someone who owns their comedy album Great White North (pictured) as well as their movie Strange Brew, this is exciting news. The characters are pretty much timeless since their humor never depended on a particular era. They only depended on Canadian clichés.

Dave Thomas talks live in the preview and notes that due to their advancing age, Bob and Doug work best nowadays in animated form. Based on the preview, the series looks like it would be perfect for Adult Swim (are you listening Cartoon Network?).

(S03E16) Bless the peapickin' little hearts of Carter Bays and Craig Thomas. All week, they've been setting us up, telling us about the return of Robin Sparkles, saying that we were going to get an episode full of eighties and nineties goodness, complete with James Van Der Beek, Tiffany, and Alan Thicke. We even got a video (full video is after the end of the review) as a taste.

But all of it was a ruse. A week-long ruse to distract us from realizing what was really going to happen in this episode. Since I don't want to spoil it for anyone, come with me to the after-jump portion of our review and then we can talk.

Since the JAG series finale, many fans have been waiting for David James Elliott to return to TV. The actor eventually did when he landed the role of James Conlon in the CBS series Close to Home. His stay on the show was cut short when the series was canceled at the end of its second season (DJE appeared in 22 episodes of the series). Since then, the actor vanished from the small screen and fans have been patiently waiting (and watching reruns of JAG) for his return. But fans can now rejoice as Elliott returns to TV this week. The catch? It airs on a Canadian network!

Shocking Public Service Announcements (PSA) are common in Canada. For example, a few years ago in Quebec, we had a TV ad that contained real footage shot during a daring car stunt that went terribly wrong (the teenage driver died while doing the stunt) so that teens would be "scared straight" by seeing how stupid and deadly reckless driving can be.

The latest shocking PSA TV ad campaign comes from Ontario and is called "Prevent It." These PSAs, which have been airing for a while now, feature shocking and gruesome scenes showing what can happen at work if you don't ensure safety is everyone's primary concern.

While iTunes is hardly the only game in town anymore for those of us who like to buy our TV shows a la carte and carry them around on portable media devices, Apple is still one of the bigger names in video downloads. But so far, you've only been able to buy $1.99 TV episodes from iTunes if you live the US or UK.

Now it looks like Apple is about to open up the iTunes TV store to a country that doesn't have the word "united" anywhere in its name. Starting this week Canadians will be able to buy episodes or complete seasons of a limited number of TV shows.

For now, it looks like content will include a handful of shows from the CBC, CTV, and some US network programs as well as NHL hockey games. Because we know how much people love to wait a day or two until after a sporting event so they can download it and watch them on the way to work after reading the scores in the morning paper.

TiVo has announced that Canadians will finally be able to purchase TiVo branded personal video recorders soon. According to a press release, TiVo units will be available north of the border "in time for the holidays."

There's just one catch: you can only get a last generation box. TiVo is launching its Canadian service with the TiVo Series2 dual-tuner box only. That means Canadian customers will not be able to watch and record HDTV, since you need a TiVo HD or TiVo Series3 to handle high-def.

A Series2 dual tuner box will set you back $199 Canadian, plus subscription fees. You'll be able to pick up a box at Canadian retailers including Best Buy, The Brick, London Drug, and Future Shop, as long as you don't live in Quebec. TiVo won't be available in that province right away. I'm guessing the company needs to translate some menus into French before launching a version for Quebec.

[via Engadget]

Sometimes, when it's too rainy outside to go anywhere and the air is full of a sense of doom and gloom, all you want is to just hole up indoors and watch hours and hours and hours of nonstop Canadian sketch comedy and cross-dressing. Hey, I can't possibly be the only one that feels that way, because otherwise, the Kids in the Hall complete series megaset wouldn't have been made. I had a full rainy week to lounge around with this lovely collection and we got to know each other pretty well. It's a real sweetheart, to be sure... A real cross-dressing, head-crushing, fact-sharing, cabbage-headin' sweetheart.

Wow, it wasn't until I saw this montage that I realized how creepy and forced Hillary Clinton's laugh sounds. I get the feeling that it was only because she was on FOX News, even though the idea of Hillary being an android incapable of properly feigning human emotion is mighty appealing.

"AhmadineMinute": All the angry Jewish fellows and tough guys of New York City have come together to rant about Ahmadinejad hanging out in the City, filling their air with their oh-so-mockable voices. Jon really went to town with the voices tonight, didn't he?

That's the finding of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, ruling against the producers of CSI: NY who claimed that the show could be considered "a critically-acclaimed look at forensic policing in post-9/11 New York City."

The show has been airing on Canada's History Television channel and the commission says that the producers (Alliance Atlantis) have to take it off the air by January 1 (the producers have to take it off the air? Can't the channel just not show it?)

In other news, Pussycat Dolls Presents is not educational television, and Weeds is not a health and exercise show.

OK, now most of you have to get your minds out of the gutter. Notice how that headline is phrased. It's not "Dave Foley can't sleep with Maura Tierney," as is I'm making statements about who Dave Foley can and cannot sleep with. It's "Dave Foley Can't Sleep (with Maura Tierney)," because it's the name of a web-only show that Foley has over at Super Deluxe.com called "Dave Foley Can't Sleep." Got that? Good.

In this episode, Dave Foley can't sleep (ha!) and leaves his bed (that's his real wife, by the way) and goes over to his computer to see which of his friends is online late at night. It just so happens that his former NewsRadio co-hort Maura Tierney is online, and they chat via webcam about dogs, drinking, and divorce. Video after the jump!

I got a real stumper from a reader this week.

Stephen Bishop wrote..."In either the late 50s or early 60s there was a show set (I think I was very young!) in France in the 100 Years War, featuring a Robin Hood type character who was the master of the sling as his weapon of choice. What was the name of the show?"

Well, I had to do some digging but I was able to come up with the title of the show. It was called Thierry la Fronde and starred Jean-Claude Drouot in the title role.

If it weren't for public service announcements, kids everywhere would be drinking Liquid Plumber and throwing themselves in front of trains.

You know what I mean: those PSAs you watched as a kid told you how to be safe, avoid abduction, deal with bullies, eat the right foods, and seventeen ways to kill a man with a paper clip. I'd say, in most respects, TV raised you better than your parents ever could.

Anyway, here's a few old PSAs. Two come from Concerned Children's Advertisers in Canada, the last one from the American Lung Association.