Reboot, a Canadian-produced television CGI series that aired on YTV in the 90s, had a cliffhanger series finale. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReBoot

RadioActive wrote:

OK, I also have a confession to make. And it's like kicking a puppy. But I never liked Downie's voice and didn't think he was a very good singer. So you're not alone. 

A college classmate of mine, almost a lifelong Kingston resident (born and raised there), also wasn't much of a Downie fan, but liked Rob Baker and I believe knew him personally.

Tragically Hip was one of those bands that you either liked them or couldn't really understand their appeal.  They connected with a lot of people and their album sales certainly confirm that.

Success didn't happen for them anywhere else but in Canada. I am not sure if their singles and albums were widely released outside of North America.   But they were popular in cities that could get Canadian radio like Detroit, Buffalo, Washington State/Seattle. In these cities they could sell out arenas.

A few weeks ago while listening to the WGRF Rock 97 morning show, a listener from Lancaster NY was listing his favourite bands that he liked to hear on the station.  His favourite band was Tragically Hip and he went on how many times he saw them in concert in Buffalo and across the border. 

The WNED program must be part of a fund raiser for the station.  Obviously appealing to their many Canadian viewers, but the band certainly was somewhat well known and reasonable popular in WNY. 

 

RonaldS wrote:

I suppose this question could be asked of many Canadian artists, but how big would they have become here without Cancon regulations?

Without the regs, we'd likely never would've had to hear acts like Doug & The Slugs, The Kings, or Trooper.
Would Bryan Adams, Leonard Cohen, Alanis Morisette, or Rush have cut through and achieved international success without the regs perhaps giving them an initial boost?

The argument goes both ways but that question really is impossible to answer.

On topic - I love The Hip but feel there is a marked distinction between the front and back halves of their catalogue. I love the back half - it felt like they were maturing and aging right alongside me. They were very much a frat-boy beer-drinking type of act for their first decade or so. I just happened to be the right age at the right time for all of it, I guess.

I used to hang out with a bunch of Buffalonians who absolutely adored the band, which I found somewhat fascinating. There was no way they could "get" Gord's Canadiana references.

I saw them twice on the farewell tour. The setlist from that final show in Kingston just didn't feel like a "final setlist" to me as it replicated the format used throughout the whole tour and didn't contain anything special tune-wise.

Tangentially I wish the remianing four would get together and put out a "groove album". They are so good at creating a good groove with a lot of mood.

These two apply to talk radio. Please turn your radio down and Thank you for taking my call.

I was never a fan either. I couldn't name one song. They weren't popular south of the border. Of the 8 LP's to chart on the Billboard 200, seven of them only spent one week on the chart, none peaking higher than #129. Up To Here lasted 6 weeks but never got any higher than #170. As for singles, none ever made it as far the Bubbling Under Chart. However, Courage reached #16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart.

"like kicking a puppy" is a good analogy here. His vocals never appealed to me, but a lot of people found something there.

I suppose this question could be asked of many Canadian artists, but how big would they have become here without Cancon regulations? 

RadioActive wrote:

OK, I also have a confession to make. And it's like kicking a puppy. But I never liked Downie's voice and didn't think he was a very good singer. So you're not alone. 

I know that I'm in the minority among Canadians in feeling this way, but I've never understood the appeal of this band.

I always found (and still do) their music to be very tedious.

If you watch The CW over the air in Windsor, you're soon going to have to look elsewhere to see any of its shows. 

Scripps has confirmed 7 of its owned stations are disaffiliating with the network and all of its programming is due to disappear on Sept. 1st. 

In Detroit, it had been on channel 50 and then channel 38, before moving over to WMYD-TV on channel 20. The latter is one of the Scripps stations affected. The good news is that since the takeover of The CW, a lot of the shows worth watching are gone, in exchange for cheap reality fare, which is not exactly lighting up the Nielsen numbers. 

WNLO in Buffalo is a Nexstar station, and is not affected by the move. 

Scripps Confirms The CW Will Leave Seven Of Its Stations

>If only the CTV Toronto weather presenter would slow down her delivery so we could at least decipher what she is speed talking.

I thought I was the only one who HATED her delivery.  (the regular presenter is on maternity leave)

 This lady talks so fast I'M out of breath by the time she finishes. Actually it often looks and sounds like she's out of breath too. 

I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Shatner briefly now exactly 50 years ago.

He had been hired by Loblaws to help promote the chain & was attending the opening of a brand new grocery store.

Spent a few minutes with him.
 

I'm not a subscriber, but I have to admit, this looks pretty good. It's the trailer for a new documentary about the Beach Boys, encompassing their sometimes rocky history and dealing with the troubles of Brian Wilson and their rivalry with the Beatles. It starts airing on Disney+ starting May 24th.

Another one to add to the list...

Subject "weighed in" regarding a topic/controversy.....

Does anyone in the real world actually use this phrase in that context?

If you like Tracker you might want to check out a French series called The Traveller.  But you will have to subscribe to streamer MHZ Choice and Topic to get it.
I would recommend that anyway since the European streamer has amazing shows and movies from all over the world.
The Traveler is about a brilliant national police inspector who becomes disillusioned with the police and decides to take a leave by driving around France in a house van, and his dog, seeking out serious crimes in places where small police forces can't cope with them.
It seems everyone knows him because of his reputation as a master investigator.
The shows are full movie length, 90 minutes.

 

The full version of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" that CBS cut out of last Sunday has appeared online. You can see it here.