OTW: Canadian shows that cry out for reruns

Welcome to Open Thread Weekends™, a feature the new and improved Tea Makers hereby introduces. We come up with a topic that isn’t quite soft news and isn’t all that hugely contentious, then open the floor for discussion. Sort of what Inside the CBC tries to do, but full-assedly instead of half-assedly.

This week’s topic: CBC Television loves to air reruns in the early-overnight slot. Things like Kenny vs. Spenny and Fashion File. But despite lax requirements that literally decimated CanCon output, the Privates have still managed to put a few shows together that deserve a second window, or a third window. Plus there’s the old CBC library.

What I’ve got in mind here is the late-’90s Zed feel: “CBC gets cool after midnight.” They don’t necessarily have to be cult shows or whatever, just something you wouldn’t mind watching while you put off going to bed, or wouldn’t mind TiVoing (or otherwise recording via your hideous white-label DVRs).

Only rule? Gotta be Canadian. No Project Runway or Mythbuthterth or Top Gear. All of which I like, actually.

I can think of a couple:

  1. Cock’d Gunns: The producers once called 22 Minutes and Red Green “heavily-funded CBC programs.” Showcase buried this lightning-fast, supertight miniseries last winter. I couldn’t believe how good it was. Smart, even. And, in the British style, it ended, just like that, after six episodes. Spawn of Hard Core Logo?
  2. The Star Lost (DVD): Not quite the worst Canadian science-fiction series. The scenario it conjures up is Baton Broadcasting sitting through a pitch for Silent Running, then cloning it on a budget of a hundred bucks an episode. Is “camp value” such a bad thing here? And while we’re at it, can we decide if the title is two words or three? (The episode guide calls it The Starlost.)

Others? Free soyaccino to the first person who can make a credible case for The Trouble with Tracy.

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