Why I am one Canadian's GSN connection

Canadian cable is similar to ours in many ways. They have their version of HBO, Showtime, ESPN, CNN, and other channels. One thing they really don't have is Game Show Network, home of lots of classic game shows and a few new ones.

For a while now, I've been trading DVD's with a guy from Ontario. I send him LOTS of DVD's of specific shows, and he sends me Canadian shows.

Really! Canada has a lot of interesting shows I wish were shown here. For example, they have a political comic named Rick Mercer who can match up with Jon Stewart any day. He has a weekly show on CBC, and must have quite a time mocking his country's politica and ours. That's especially true since Canada's about to have an election a couple of weeks before we do. Before him, though, there is a group called Royal Canadian Air Farce who had been a hit on radio for years before moving to TV in the late 1980's. This year is their farewell year, but it looks like there will be someone picking up where they'll leave off. They also have a show called Little Mosque on the Prairie, with Muslims hoping to cope with lfe in Saskatchewan. The CW tried this with Aliens in America, but no one watched. Thank goodness YouTube has examples of these shows. Once you see them, you'll wish there was a CBC America channel on cable.

Trading tapes is not that unusual. I traded with a guy from Ontario in 1997 to get episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer because it wasn't available where I lived. This was when very few people thought the WB existed. Of course, people can now watch TV episodes on the network websites, and later DVD's. How times have changed.

It's a strange hobby, providing old game shows to a guy in Canada, but he's a collector of game shows, too. I'm just helping him out, and benefitting as well. Thanks to him, I'll get lots of Canadian comedy and shows I'd never get otherwise. I only wish someone out there had copies of old MuchMusic Video Awards Shows, especially the one with wrestler Bret Hart playing poker with Ed the Sock.