Due South: One Cup American, Two Cups Canadian? (pt. 1)

Without a doubt, one of the most long-standing controversies right now in American/Canadian controversy is the question..."Was there one "Due South" series, or two?" If you're Canadian, you don't even have to think about the answer. Why, there were TWO, of course.

But to American viewers, who are presented the series as though it was three seasons of one series, the answer is a little more difficult. (There were two series, with two seasons apiece [both seasons of the spin-off had 13 episodes apiece] -- ergo, four seasons of "Due South".) Actually, from the American point of view, you could make an excellent argument that there were THREE "Due South"s.

"Due South" began as a 1994 made-for-TV movie that aired on CTV, but was soon turned into a series. (Similar to "Poltergeist: The Legacy", "John Woo's Once a Thief", "F/X: The Series", and countless other short-lived CanCon inventions.) Following the misadventures of Canadian mountie Benton Fraser (Paul Gross), "Due South" was co-produced by CTV (in Canada) and CBS (in the States).

Although the show was rife with the stereotypical American view of Canadians -- Benton Fraser encompassed every single stereotype that Americans could possibly have about Canadians, except for the erroneous stereotype that Canadians all say "eh" (I don't know any that do) and actually use the word "a-boot" (what does that mean, anyways?) -- the show was neatly balanced out with the presence of American actor David Marciano, who played Fraser's well-dressed, slightly cynical partner-in-justice, Chicago cop Ray Vecchio, who easily met every stereotype people could possibly have about an Italian Catholic cop living in Chicago.

We were introduced to Ray's large, boisterous family, which included sister Francesca Vecchio, who developed an immediate "crush" on Fraser (and was bumped up to recurring guest status in the spin-off), brother-in-law Tony, the formidable Mrs. Vecchio, and Ray's seldom-seen ex-wife.

"Due South" enjoyed a full season run of being co-produced by both Canada and the US, but after the first season, CBS began to get cold feet. No matter what time they aired it or how much money they put into it, it just didn't fly in the US. People didn't seem to be interested in tuning into a show about an Italian cop and his perfectionist mountie friend. The show wasn't picked up by CBS for a second season (which is called "Due South"'s first cancellation by many news articles), which meant CTV had to do some scrambling. Although CBS eventually did pick the show up again (mostly due to major viewer complaints), the damage had been done by that point.

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