Apr 19, 2014
'Orphan Black' Has Made Canada A Player On The Global Television Stage
During the writers’ strike in 2008,
CBS CBS +0.25% made a bold move and opted to purchase the rights to a Canadian drama, but not just any Canadian drama. The thing that made this Canadian drama special was it had no qualms about letting the world know its nationality. Where typical American strategy said to never reveal the city a show takes place in if that city isn’t stateside, CBS chose to air the program as is. That series was
Flashpoint, and it opened the flood-gates to Canadian television on U.S. broadcast networks. Since then, shows like
Rookie Blue,
Continuum,
The Listener and
Motive all took the leap stateside without compromising their national roots. Canadian flags are on display, cities likes Vancouver and Toronto are name dropped frequently, but while that’s all well and good, Canadian television has yet to have a show breakout into the cultural consciousness. That is until BBC America and Space came along and changed everything with their pop-culture phenomenon,
Orphan Black.
While it has some of the weakest Nielsen ratings of any show to be imported south of the border,
Orphan Black has become a global phenomenon. Thanks to that, Canada’s now been placed in the spotlight of the television conversation along with the U.S. and U.K., a position it’s never been in before. Tatiana Maslany’s been nominated for and won several awards, the show has gained a fan base on the level of
Doctor Who in terms of dedication; it’s an unstoppable series that’s proven something an entire country has known for years: Canada is ready to play with the big boys. [...]
