Save jPod!

Filed under TelevisionActivism

In case you’ve been wondering why these (obtrusive?) green banners and ads adorn the new site, it’s all a part of a campaign to save a good Canadian TV show (a needle in a haystack, believe me) from going extinct.

The Wikipedia article will probably do a better job of describing jPod than I can (although this particular quote is from the book’s article):

jPod is a novel by Douglas Coupland published by Random House of Canada in 2006. Set in 2005, it concerns a group of video game programmers whose last names all begin with “J”. They live and work in a development “pod”, which they refer to as the “jPod”, within a company that, as Coupland describes, “resembles, but legally no way is Electronic Arts”, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Electronic Arts has an important branch in Vancouver and its suburb Burnaby). As in Coupland’s other novels, the characters can be said to face issues that define their era.

The CBC announced on March 7th that it will not be returning for a second season citing bad ratings and being unable to attract viewers as the primary reasons.

A simple Google search for “jpod cancelled” brings up not only major media outlets who are disappointed (including the official CBC blog), but also a whole lot of people, as well.

Even though ratings and viewership were “low”, the series was one of the most popular Canadian TV show being torrented (most likely rivaling CTV’s Corner Gas¹). It also had relatively good reception among leading critics. What happened?

Firstly, CBC moved it to 9 P.M. Friday night. I’m told that’s where a TV series goes to die. That pretty much explains the low viewership, because even the most robust TV zealots have other things to do Fridays, and unless you have a PVR or torrent it, you’re out of luck. I don’t know of many people who would torrent or PVR a show they didn’t know enough about².

And the ratings? Well, they might be caused by the egregious time slot. Not a lot of people watching usually results in low ratings (with the exception of the ill-fated (and personal all-time favourite show) Arrested Development).

Now, I’m not bashing the CBC. Not at all. I mean, they have other excellent programming that not many Americans will ever see (unfortunately). Shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie and Hockey Night in Canada are among the CBC’s most popular shows. And of course, there’s the goofy and pretty hilarious Rick Mercer Report (you might recognize Mercer from the famous Talking with Americans, which gained a wide audience) and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a show akin to SNL’s Weekend Update or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

I truly hope CBC reconsiders this one. It has a near-cult following on the internet, and is now being syndicated in Europe. So, if you’re convinced, visit the Save jPod site and sign both of the petitions.

Be sure to watch the trailer here for a little taste. You might even be able to watch fill episodes from the official CBC jPod site.

¹ Which I believe is, arguably, the best Canadian sitcom ever made. It has not only Canadian critical acclaim, but international, as well.

² Fans of JPod have also criticized CBC for not promoting jPod enough, which may have been a factor in it’s abrupt cancellation after 13 episodes.