Oh, Canada

I'm not Canadian, but sometimes I wish I were. Several visits there have confirmed that it is a truly great country. It's been a long time since I've gotten to stay there for any extended period, so I get my Canadian fix these days with books and DVDs. Here are some of my favorites.

• Anne of Green Gables--The book series by L.M. Montgomery and the movie versions with Megan Follows. My deep, abiding love for L.M. Montgomery as a girl inspired not one but two trips to Prince Edward Island, where the author is from and where the books take place. The sands are red there and the landscape just as enchanting as the books describe.
  
  
  
  
  
• Road to Avonlea--A TV series from the '90s based loosely on L.M. Montgomery writing. This aired in the US on the Disney channel for awhile. Admittedly, the Disney involvement did alter the show, making it a bit, well, Disney-fied. Still, this is a great series for kids, if you edit out the couple violent-action-movie-type episodes. The show has beautiful natural scenery--it takes place on Prince Edward Island, too, though some of it was filmed in Ontario. As far as the cast, it includes the inimitable Jackie Burroughs, Mag Ruffman, and Sarah Polley as regulars. Also, there are a number of cameos, including ones by Christopher Reeve and Stockard Channing.
  
  
  
  
  
• Slings and Arrows--This is another TV series, but it began in 2003, and it's definitely not children's entertainmnet. It lasted three seasons, and apparently it aired on some American station like Bravo, but I didn't find out about it until all three seasons were on DVD and my father received them as a gift. This is a great series! It's all about a Shakespearean theater company in the fictional town New Burbage, and it's very smart. Each season follows them as they put on a different Shakespearean play--Hamlet, Macbeth, and then King Lear. The drama of a drama company is at once hilarious and fascinating. Oh yeah, did I mention that the main character, played by Paul Gross, is haunted by the late company director? So yes, where there's a ghost there's usually a dark element. But my criterion for something to be uplifting is what it does with potential darkness--it has to turn it around somehow. And this series does that for me, mostly with humor. It has such a great, quirky cast, too, including Rachel McAdams in Season 1 and Sarah Polley in Season 2 (as well as her father Michael Polley throughout the whole series).
  
  
  
  
  
• Corner Gas--This is a half-hour sitcom that takes place in Saskatchewan, mostly at a corner gas station and the attached diner. It stars Brent Butt, who has apparently been described as the Drew Carey of Canada. I like this show much better than I did The Drew Carey Show, though. It's not crude, it's just funny. I've heard that this show is very popular in Canada. If the number of cameos, including the Canadian Prime Minister, are any indication, this must be true. I haven't seen all the seasons yet. I think it just finished its sixth and final season this year.
  
  
  
  
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  Robson Arms--Another half-hour TV show, though not as kid-friendly as Corner Gas is. I admit, I'm not a fan of every episode of this one. Some are just downers, other are a bit crude. But other episodes are great. The reason for the discrepancy between episodes is the format, which is actually clever. The show takes place in an apartment building in Vancouver, and each episode profiles a different resident of the building. So the subject matter is vastly different each time. Sometimes it's the family that runs the small convenience store on the first floor, sometimes it's the gay couple, sometimes it's the young techie guy, sometimes it's the roommates who deal pot. The list goes on. The only constant in each episode is the Super Intendent, Yuri. As for cast, this features two of the same actors from Corner Gas, Gabrielle Miller and Fred Ewanuick, as well as Mark McKinney (from Slings and Arrows) and Megan Follows (from Anne of Green Gables) in Season 1. There's also a cameo by Leslie Nielsen in Season 2. Apparently Dave Foley from NewsRadio appears as the new building owner in Season 3.

So, looking at this list, it becomes apparent how little I've mentioned Canadian books. That's because I haven't read many by Canadian authors--or at least I haven't known they were Canadian. Anne of Green Gables is the only one up there. So, I sense a new mission. To sniff out Canadian literature.