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Newsstand: November 9, 2009
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The Daily Photoist: November 9, 2009
Flashpoint, about an elite police squad based in Toronto, was off to a great start on Friday, with over one million Canadian viewers and over eight million American viewers tuning in for the premiere on CTV and CBS—despite the lackluster 10 p.m. time slot. The show was the top-rated program for Friday, and should rank in the top 15 primetime shows for the week in both Canada and the United States. The success of Flashpoint on Friday led to a re-broadcast of the pilot on Sunday, when another four million Americans tuned in. (Canadian data have not been released yet for Sunday.)
This is good news for Flashpoint, as it has garnered much attention as the first Canadian show to broadcast on a major American television network since Due South. If it had bombed, it would pretty much shut the door on any future Canadian exports on the big four American networks: ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. Usually, Canadian shows tend to find their way onto smaller specialty channels, where there's less at stake. Degrassi: The Next Generation plays on N, a channel for teenagers, and has developed a cult following; defunct hockey soap MVP has started a run on Soap Net; and CBC comedy Sophie will show on ABC Family next year.
What's interesting is that the show may be one of the first times that many Americans have seen Toronto portraying itself on screen. The TTC and First Canadian Place are among the familiar sites in the pilot. Expect Bay Street and the waterfront to be featured in future episodes.
The next test for the cast and crew of Flashpoint will come this Friday—getting fickle television viewers to return for week two. Swingtown, an American series that also launched this summer on CBS, began with similar ratings, but has since shed almost 40% of its audience. Stay tuned.
Photo from the CBS Flashpoint website.
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Good to see Toronto portrayed as Toronto.
They shot a lot in the alley next to where I work. We thought maybe Flashpoint was some CTV movie of the week at the time, rather than a TV episode, because they spent over a week there.
Shame the show isn't all that good. It isn't CSI bad, or Numb3rs bad, or Criminal Minds bad, but compared to a lot of procedural cop shows it's not that exciting. Then again, I loved Intelligence and DaVinci's City Hall. What do I know 'bout good television?
I missed the first half both times it was on but it looked ok, certainly no worse than the other primetime cop shows I don't watch.
They were filming scenes around Osgoode Hall a couple of weeks ago, looked like some kind of gala arrivals or something, not sure but it was obvious there was money being spent on the show from the technical gear and sheer number of crew on set, I've seen films with less people and gear.
This is probably one of the better cop shows of late. It sort of is like SWAT for the 21st Century, but with characters that show some emotion.
Of course it was quite nice to see Toronto as Toronto. It works better that way.
I wonder if they'll portray the loony socialist councillors of City Council as loony and socialist...
I can't yet put my finger on it, but the cast strike me as awfully American-feeling somehow -- not terribly Torontonian or Canadian.
@accozzaglia
------------
I looked in on the broadcast for several minutes
and got the same sensation. I beleve it to be
the confrontational attitude rather than the
method used by Canadian forces in such situations.
I tuned out for that very reason; it's not us, I
said rhetorically.
Of course this is the cheap and cheesy CTV network
the same network that isn't broadcasting in HD unless it can't help it.
Ever since day one of CTV, I've said this is a cheap imitation of real television.
Their programming validates my opinion that I've held for more than 40 years.
The curiosity factor got the American audience and there wasn't much else on at the time. Watch the program to die before the series' end.
Yeah, the police should never confront criminals. Especially not the ones that are so heavily armed that they require SWAT police.
Flashpoint has been relegated to the Friday 10pm
deadzone. The San Jose Mercury News reports that fact today.
Friday night is where programs--at least most of them--go to die.
Isn't that the precise date and time it was already running at? It wasn't relegated so much as held.
@David Topping
Flashpoint was broadcast Sunday at 10 pm.
It's now been relegated to Friday at 10 pm.
Try this link:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_9836736?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
I just watched the pilot, and was pleasantly surprised. It was has a great look, and Toronto as Toronto is nice to see for a change. For those who mentioned an "American feel" to the show... well, the pilot was obviously based not-very-loosely on events from August 2004 that resulted in a hostage-taking and sniper-shot gunman in the plaza of Union Station.
It aired twice this week for the premiere (both in Canada and in the U.S.)—Friday and Sunday.
I'm really surprised at some of the bad reviews. I thought it was good. Didn't make me lose my seat or anything, but it was far from unwatchable. I feel very positive about the show.
I don't think it necessarily had an "American feel" to it, but I would also argue that such a concept is a bit overly-nationalistic (as a flag-waving, chest-pouding patriot myself). I mean, you really have to be looking for a reason not to like the show to say that.
But, I must point out the show did dig deeper into the psychological consequences of police work - more so than American cop dramas. If you want to say that makes the show more Canadian, maybe you're right.
I loved Hugh Dillon in the mini-series "Durham County" on the Movie Network, and thought, yet again, he plays a good cop. He and Enrico Colantoni really suit their characters well.
A #1 cop drama in the States that's undoubtably in Toronto.
It has great potential. I look forward to Episode 2.
In a similar vein, I gave The Border a try. I gave up 5 minutes in because it was just ridiculous. WE (the *cops*) ARE HACKING THE AIRPORT NOW! YES! SO LEET! WATCH ME HACK ALL THE CAMERAS (because they aren't using plainclothes officers???). gah. Is that show still around?
@David Toronto
Actually you're wrong and David Topping is right. Look at the date of the article you linked to, and read it carefully - the Friday timeslot was the original timeslot, and is the regular timeslot. The Sunday airing was a rebroadcast and it was announced as a one-time timeslot, though who knows. Given the strength of the ratings on Friday, if it continues to do well in that "dead zone" timeslot they might move it to a better one.
You could also read this post we're commenting on for the details: The 8 million US/1.1 million Canadian ratings were for the Friday premiere. This post says an addition 4 million watched the rerun in the US on Sunday, though I heard 5.6 million.
If you don't believe any of the gazillion preview articles or the tv listings, read this announcement about the Sunday airing.
The advertisement for this show has been fantastic.
I mean, they're showing trailer/commercials for it ahead of most Cineplex films now. That's the only reason I know about it (and not really thinking that it's another cheesy CTV movie plastered on billboards around the city).
I hope this does well.
For once, I think pickletoes is going to break out of his/her Cassandra role. Fer shure the council is going to be portrayed as a bunch of useless nincompoops. Also, I thought the SIU interrogation was interesting. Not sure what goes on in a real one, but man I don't think anybody likes the SIU. If the police do, they certainly don't let it show.
For the record, anyone who missed it can watch it on CTV.ca in complete form. It's high quality (not not HD) and the sound is great. It's split into 6 parts (for commercial breaks) but it's a very short commercial.
I'd recommend watching it on CTV's website.
Anyways, I thought it was a pretty cool show. I usually don't watch any shows at all on TV so it will be interesting to see if this keeps me hooked somehow.