| What do Canadians think about "American" TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/5/2008 11:34:59 AM | "Yeah, I'm a New Yorker, eh. So what aboot it?"
Just wonder what you folks from Canada think when you see an "American" TV show that takes place in "New York" *cough*Toronto*cough* or "California" *cough*British Columbia*cough*. Do you feel Sore-y for us Americans that most of us don't know that most of our TV shows are actually all shot in Canada.
I grew up watching a show on Nickelodeon, a children's TV network, called Are you Afraid Of the Dark - and all of the characters said 'sore-y' not 'sah-ry', and I remember asking my mother, "Why do they talk so funny?". | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/5/2008 12:46:51 PM | I think, "Hey neat, they just turned the corner at such-and-such intersection, and have been instantly transported 8 kilometers (5-miles; Sorry) away!"
I don't think "most" US shows are taped (we're a little sensitive about the word "shot" here; Sorry) in Canada however, one of my favourites, Boston (Bastan; Sorry!) Legal, stars a Canadian. Incidentally or perhaps, germane to your question, do "Most Americans" know where BC, Toronto, or Canada, are? (Sorry, again!)
Speaking of speech:
Torque: What a New-Yorker does when he twists the language.
(Sorry!)
I assume your coughing is an oblique reference to the air quality in the places you mention. As for BC, it can't be related to smog, so it must be that you have pollen sensitivity (again, Sorry!).
Seriously, I'd love to visit NY one day. My friends tell me it's a fantastic place! | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/5/2008 2:30:44 PM | | It probably won't be happening as much now that the Canadian dollar has skyrocketed. It was a good deal when the dollar was lower and the film company could save costs. Personally I like the idea. I enjoy watching movies that are shot locally and then picking out the places you know. Some aren't careful though. I recently saw one on a movie channel about a man-eating tiger terrorizing an Appalachian community,but the vehicles had Manitoba plates on them. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/5/2008 7:40:11 PM | original poster,
i think the growing popularity in canada as a film location is very positive for us. it adds jobs and boosts our economy. it occasionally causes problems with traffic, but generally the benefits far outweigh this.
in hamilton, ontario, where i live, movie shoots have been a constant activity throughout this season. the artist collective where i live has a film production company that does work for major networks, and many shoots have been filmed right on premises. it is said hamilton is the fastest growing movie location in canada right now. hamilton is located about halfway between toronto and niagara falls, by the way.
also, winnipeg manitoba is another very desireable location for film shoots. whenever an american friend asks where winnipeg is i always tell them that when you hang a map of the united states on the wall, winnipeg is where you put the thumbtack. it's much cheaper to film in a major urban centre in canada than any big city in the US, so for the timebeing it only makes sense and i certainly dont mind. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/5/2008 8:53:26 PM | OP: speak for yourself when you say Americans don't know movies, etc are filmed in Canada.... I've know that tidbit for years and years. They've been taking work away from LA and Los Colinas extras for a decade or more.
I love catching bloopers, like the auto tag. Good times.
Note: I can't recall any Canadian accent bloopers, I've just realized. Hmmmm.
I have to give House honors as he keeps up with the American accent quite well.
Colin Ferrell could learn a thing or two. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/7/2008 3:43:21 PM |
I assume your coughing is an oblique reference to the air quality in the places you mention. As for BC, it can't be related to smog, so it must be that you have pollen sensitivity (again, Sorry!). Ha ha haaa!!!  That was really great.
Anyway - One TV show in particular that made me think of this was a recently canceled show called "The Dead Zone". In one episode they were in a shopping mall where you can see a "future shop" store. We haven't had future shops in America since the 90's, and this show was run from 2002-mid2007.
According to wikipedia:
Future Shop is a chain of stores operated as a division of Burnaby-based Best Buy Canada Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Best Buy Corporation. ... Up until the summer of 1999, Future Shop had locations in the Western United States with a regional office and distribution center in Kent, Washington. Underperforming sales caused the stores to closed down during 1999, with most locations being sold to Best Buy.
It's always the little things that make it a dead giveaway. And as mentioned before, license places are often another big clue.... That and a lot of character interactions that just seem way out of place. For example, people being way too nice or politically correct - this is an immediate tip off. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/7/2008 8:20:25 PM | Wow I guess you guys don't understand the cough...
It's a joking way to 'hide' things in your speech. In the case of how I used it before, I was saying that "New York" is really Toronto, and by using the coughing device, it implies that "Toronto" is a hidden subtext that I'm not saying directly.
I'm pretty surprised you guys didn't pick up on that. The comment about the air quality thing was pretty funny though. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/26/2008 12:45:23 PM | It takes me out of the film all together if they show the CN Tower, like in Shoot Em Up.
Or if they are driving down a certain street. They shot certain parts of the movie Pushing Tin in Highland Creek, a part of Scarborough where I live. The dinner, the Amazing Teds. I can walk there right now and get a burger if I wanted too. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/26/2008 1:03:50 PM | I do think that the (formerly) low Canadian dollar had a lot to do with filming shows here. I think population density is another plus. It's easier to find a site you can isolate to shoot a scene when you're in a city of ~1 million people, instead of the ~7million person city you're pretending to be filming in.
If you check the nationality of actors in Hollywood, I think you'll find a disproportionate number of them are Canadian. With 30million Canadians and 300million Americans, you'd think there'd be less than 10%, but it's probably higher. A lot of shows are set in some city, but the writers and producers don't want to alienate people who don't live in that city. Like... Boston Legal, aside from the name you don't get a huge sense of it being Boston. You don't hear the accent, you don't see people in Patriot or Bruins jerseys. For the most part, Canadians have a non-accent, which makes it easier for us to "fit in." | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 1/26/2008 9:58:19 PM | Don't bother me at all!
What amazed me a few years ago when Arnie became governor of California he said that he wanted ALL filming brought back to California. He never mentioned that he had done a few movies filmed up here in Vancouver and got advantage of the tax breaks, too! | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 2/8/2008 10:06:17 PM | It is a bit funny to watch a film set in a "foreign" country, and notice local landmarks.
Montreal's has represented a lot of different places, in different time periods. We are lucky to have some very distinctive looking areas, some with rather old lovely buildings. You can probably create almost any time period you want, or city here. London, New York, Moscow .... Montreal's been a stand in for all of them.
If you are shooting a film that involves "Europe" and "the USA" , it probably makes more sense to shoot in an area where both are quite easily recreated.
One of the strange ones was when I watched "The Jackal" with Bruce Willis. He goes running into the Capitol Heights metro station in Washington, and suddenly appears in the Lionel-Groulx and Radisson metro stations in Montreal.
I remember at one point going to work, and seeing a "New York City" coroners van parked in the same place for days, with Quebec plates. 
Some of the most well known :
Agnes of God (Montreal)
Art of War (Montreal)
Aviator, The (Montreal, St-Hubert)
Bone Collector (Montreal)
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Montreal)
Driven (Montreal)
Isn't She Great (Hudson, Montreal, Trois-Rivieres)
( the hotel scenes from that one were shot right next to my ex's office at the time. There were trailers parked right outside the office. )
Jackel, The (Montreal: metro and airport scenes)
Snake Eyes (Montreal)
Sum of All Fears (Montreal)
I don't really think it's a bad idea. Sometimes, shooting in the actual location might not be as practical as shooting in a foreign one. Combine that with the fact that the Canadian economy sometimes allows for a less expensive movie, and many Canadians do in fact go see these movies too, and it seems fair to me to shoot here.
The stars seem to like Montreal a lot, based on the fact they are not under the same pressure of celebrity they might be in the USA. I've read regular reports (as well as from friends) of them walking around here and being (for the most part) left alone by almost everyone.
When it comes to a movie like "Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story " , it does strike me as a bit strange not to shoot in NYC however. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 2/12/2008 10:55:43 PM | When the Canadian dollar was worth only a fraction of the US dollar, it was quite attractive to film in Canada. Lots of companies are still filming in Canada, but it's becoming rarer.
I just got back from Mexico, what was funny was that I was not only seeing American programming that was filmed in Canada, but I was also seeing CANADIAN programming. It made my day. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 2/13/2008 11:20:58 AM | Hey, you don't have to go north of the 49th parallel to hear Canuckian; You can get "oot and aboot" in da YooPee of Michigan.
I don't watch much TV but do you mean to say the producers are trying to present a shot of say, the sky tower (or whatever it's called) in Toronto as the Sears tower in Chicago?
Sounds pretty dim but I suppose there's a segment of society that will buy it.
As far as a nameless city alley or office or patch of forest or seashore, who cares?
The actors are faking, too. | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 3/22/2008 9:15:12 PM | Over the years, I've been in a large number of them. So;
1; at the time they were cheaper to produce because of the Canadian dollar was at 75-85 cents compared to the American.
2; Our tax breaks for filming are great.
3; There are very talented actors up here trained and ready to go.
4; Our film crews are extraordinary and many of US and European actors say so.
5; Far fewer paparazzi. (And ours are sooooo polite)
Now that the dollar ranges around par we lost some, but still, damn we are good...
So to answer the question . All in all......... I like it | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 3/22/2008 10:14:11 PM | For those who can't get enough. . .
Some of the major series filmed in Canada
And refferences to 3,755 others
http://us.imdb.com/List?tv=only&&countries=Canada
19,073 other refferences to Canadian made movies.
http://us.imdb.com/List?countries=Canada&&tv=off
A partial lisitng only
TV Series Filmed in BC
21 Jump Street
24
2-Gether
Andromeda
Animal Miracles
Battlestar Galactica
Beachcombers, The
Beasties
Beggars and Choosers
Beyond Belief
Big Sound
Breaker High
Call of the Wild
Chris Isaak Show
Commish, The
Crow: Stairway to Heaven,
Danger Bay
Dark Angel
Dead Zone
First Wave
Harsh Realm
Higher Ground
Highlander
House M.D (Pilot Only)
Jeremiah
John Doe
Kidzone
Lambchop's Play Along
Lone Gunmen, The
Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years
Lonesome Dove: The Series
Luchadores, Los (
MacGyver (Vancouver seasons 4-7)
Madison
Millennium
Neon Rider
New Addams Family, The (
New Beachcombers, The (Gibsons)
Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
No Boundaries
Odyssey, The
Others, The
Outer Limits
Pasadena
Police Academy, The Series
Poltergeist: The Legacy
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (
Singles
Sliders
Smallville
Stargate SG-1
Stargate Atlantis
Surreal Gourmet
Supernatural
Transformers
Twilight Zone
UC: Undercover
Viper
Wolf Lake
X-Files
TV Series Filmed in Ontario
Degrassi: The Next Generation (Toronto)
Doc (Toronto)
Kids in the Hall (Toronto)
Mutant X (Toronto)
Nero Wolfe (Toronto)
Night Heat (Toronto)
Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (Stouffville, Toronto)
Queer As Folk (Toronto)
Wonderfalls (Burlington, Niagara Falls, Toronto)
Murdoch Mysteries
Smith and Smith
The Red Green Show
TV Filmed in other areas of Canada
Corner Gas (Regina, SK; Rouleau, SK)
Honey I Shrunk the Kids (CL Ranch [Calgary], Calgary, Alberta)
Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years (various Alberta scenery shots, CL Ranch [Calgary], Calgary, Alberta)*
North of 60 (Bragg Creek, Alberta)
Viper (Calgary, Airdrie, Black Diamond and Vulcan, Alberta)*
Trailer Park Boys (Halifax and Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia)
Movies and TY Series filmed in Hamilton Ontario, etc.
Strange Brew (1983); Dave Thomas
Youngblood (1986); Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves
Hearts of Fire (1987); Bob Dylan
Amerika (1987 TV mini series)
Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman (1989); Lee Majors
The Cutting Edge (1992); Sylvester Stallone, Burt Reynolds
The Air Up There (1994); Kevin Bacon
Camilla (1994); Bridget Fonda, Jessica Tandy
Direct Action (1994); Dolph Lundgren
Canadian Bacon (1995); Alan Alda, John Candy
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996); Samuel L Jackson
"Power Play" (1998-2000 TV series); Michael Riley
The Big Hit (1998); Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips
Detroit Rock City (1999); Rock group KISS
New Jersey Turnpikes (1999); Kelsey Grammer
The Third Miracle (1999 Drama); Ed Harris
The Time Shifters (1999 TV Sci-Fi/Action); Casper Van Dien
Daydream Believers: The Monkees Story (2000)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000); Nicolas Cage, Robert Duvall, Angelina Jolie
Rated X (2000); Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez
X-Men (2000); Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart
Finding Forrester (2000); Sean Connery
Laughter on the 23rd Floor (2001 TV Comedy); Nathan Lane
Brian's Song (2001 TV movie)
Exit Wounds (2001); Steven Seagal
Glitter (2001); Mariah Carey
Our America (2002 TV Drama); Vanessa A. Williams
John Q (2002); Denzel Washington
Avenging Angelo (2002); Sylvester Stallone
Death to Smoochy (2002); Robin Williams
Global Heresy (2002); Peter O'Toole
RFK (2002 TV Drama); Linus Roache
Second String (2002 TV Comedy/Drama); Jon Voight
The Limit (2003 Crime Drama); Lauren Bacall, Henry Czerny
Wrong Turn (2003); Desmond Harrington
Bulletproof Monk (2003); Chow Yun-Fat
How to Deal (2003); Mandy Moore
Spinning Boris (2003); Jeff Goldblum, Anthony LaPaglia
Saint Ralph (2004); Adam Butcher
Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story (2004 TV movie)
Against the Ropes (2004); Meg Ryan
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004); Milla Jovovich
The Confessor (aka: The Good Shepherd) (2004); Christian Slater
Land of the Dead (2005); Dennis Hopper
The Man (2005) Samuel L Jackson, Eugene Levy
Cinderella Man (2005) Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger
Zoom (2005); Tim Allen, Courteney Cox
Riding the Bus with My Sister (2005); Rosie O'Donnell
Four Brothers (2005); Mark Wahlberg
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005); Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt
Terry (2005 TV Movie); Shawn Ashmore
Swarmed (2005 TV Movie); Michael Shanks
Plague City: SARS in Toronto (2005 TV movie)
Solar Attack (2005 Sci-Fi/Thriller); Louis Gossett Jr.
Shades of Black: The Conrad Black Story (2006 TV Drama); Jason Priestly
The Last Sect (2006); David Carradine
Man of the Year (2006); Robin Williams, Christopher Walken
Silent Hill (2006); Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean
The Path to 9/11 (2006 TV Movie); Harvey Keitel
Firehouse Dog (2006 Disney); Bruce Greenwood
Snow Cake (2006); Sigourney Weaver
Away from Her (2006); Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent
"The War At Home" (2006 TV Series); Rob Lotterstein
American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile (2006 Universal)
Skinwalkers (2006); Jason Behr
UKM: The Ultimate Killing Machine (2006 Horror); Michael Madsen
The Four Horsemen (2007)
Hairspray (2007 Musical); John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer
Talk to Me (2007 Bio-drama); Don Cheadle, Martin Sheen
Weirdsville (2007 Comedy-drama); Matt Frewer
Closing the Ring (2007); Christopher Plummer, Shirley Maclaine
Final Draft (2007); Jeff Roop
Left for Dead (2007 Horror); Steve Byers
The Poet (2007 Drama); Jonathan Scarfe
Real Time (2007 Comedy/drama); Randy Quaid
The Company (2007 TV Drama/Thriller mini-series); Michael Keaton, Chris O'Donnell, Alfred Molina
The Incredible Hulk (2008 Action-drama/Sci-Fi); Edward Norton, Tim Roth
Flash of Genius (2008); Greg Kinnear
Traitor (2008 Drama); Jeff Daniels, Don Cheadle
XIII (2008 Action, TV mini-series); Val Kilmer, Stephen Dorff
Right Hand Man (2008 Crime, TV); Joe Mantegna
Weapon (2008 Action); Bruce Greenwood
The Time Treveler's Wife (2008 Sci-Fi/ Romance); Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams
Splice (2009 Sci-Fi); Sarah Polley, Adrien Brody
The Summit (2008 TV Drama/ Thriller mini-series); Christopher Plummer, Wendy Crewson
Murdoch Mysteries ( 2007-2008 TV Drama)
216 productiuons in Hamilton are listed here.
http://us.imdb.com/List?endings=on&&locations=Hamilton,%20Ontario,%20Canada&&heading=18;with+locations+including;Hamilton,%20Ontario,%20Canada | |
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| What do Canadians think about American TV shows filmed in Canada?
Posted: 3/22/2008 10:17:44 PM | I always thought are you afraid of the dark was Canadian.
It was on ytv. Anyways.
Its the same thing with Movies I guess, you always see these movies that are supposed to be set in modern day 'new york' and its always clearly Toronto.
Sometimes you can see the cntower in the background. Often they use some well known area in the downtown core. I always see some random street blocked off with trailers, movie lights and sometimes 'fake cop cars' with some random city on the side. Its kinda interesting, but nobody really stops and looks. It goes on so often. I would imagine its annoying for downtown drivers who live in the area.
Has anybody seen the new Hulk preview, he runs right by the Zanzibar on Younge street.
Anybody from Toronto will know what the Zanzibar is. Clearly a grimey toronto landmark lol.
I'm sorta suprised they dident edit it out. | |
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