There’s nothing that irritates me more than hearing about a great TV show and knowing you can’t see it in Canada. There are two that are currently airing in the U.S. that either haven’t been acquired in this country yet or are simply being held back for some future debut.
 
Which brings me to a DVD my relatives in the States sent me featuring some episodes of shows I wish we could see here. I’ve mentioned “Sun Records” before, a series that airs on CMT down in the States but not on our version of the channel. It tells the story of Sam Phillips’ famous record label and how he came to sign Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, among others. It also features a large number of scenes at WHBQ, a real Memphis radio station where Dewey Phillips (portrayed here as a drunken wild man) worked.
 
The guy who plays Presley is better than I expected and it’s to his credit that he doesn’t do the typical Elvis impersonation, with the curled lips and the sneer. This was the pre-fame star, before those mannerisms were manifest on stage and the guy is terrific in what could have been a thankless role..
 
It's soapy at times but overall, I was hooked. Hopefully, we’ll get the entire series here sooner than later.
 
And then there’s another series that just debuted down south, this time on the U.S. I.FC. channel. It’s called “Brockmire” and stars the great Hank Azaria, well known as the voice of several dozen Simpsons characters. He plays a washed up former major league baseball announcer in the Vin Scully mode, whose career was destroyed in 2007 when he went on the air and called a game drunk, complaining in graphic terms between pitches about his wife’s infidelity.
 
Ten years later, he’s brought back to do play-by-play for a minor league owner who thinks he can help her make her horrible team a success. There were only two episodes that I saw but both were pretty entertaining and it makes me angry that once again we get to miss some terrific radio-related entertainment because we’re on the wrong side of the border.
 
Hopefully both will air here soon and hopefully on regular TV - and not Bell’s craven CraveTV service. If anyone sees them listed, please post it here.