From its premiere, The West Wing has been must-see-television among politically-savvy Canadians. It's gotten glowing reviews from national and regional media critics and has consistently drawn higher percentages of the viewing audience - and hence higher ratings - in Canada than in its home and native land. The question is, why?
More than ever, Canada is in "fiercely independent" mode. A new brand of young, smart, in-your-face patriotism - picked up on, but by no means spawned by, the "Joe Canadian" Molson beer ads -has taken hold in recent years. How does that jibe with our embrace of a television program unabashedly American?
John Spencer ("Leo McGarry"), speaking at a press event in Toronto, mused that the reason for the series' success in Canada might be related to "curiosity about 'the other'", and that's no doubt true. It is particularly fascinating to realize, in spite of misconceptions about Canada merely being "America North", how enormously different the Canadian system of governance is from America's.
Canadians are highly politically savvy. Voter turnout for Federal elections hovers around 60%, and debating politics is a pastime in pubs and coffeeshops from St. John's, Newfoundland to Squamish, BC. Tightly-written political drama is right up the alley of a population for whom politics is a near-religion.
It also helps to realize that Canada's newfound patriotism in no way means rejection of all things Yankee. While American imports, from hip-hop music to reality TV, are embraced in Canada as always, they are no longer embraced wistfully as the embodiment of the "best". With one foot on Europe, one in America, and a rich multicultural environment, Canadians see the world - including its politics - as much more multi-faceted than simply "The United States Ideal" and "Everybody Else". Canadians are in an ideal position to objectively study the intricacies of life in The West Wing.
Finally, as a country that spawned Norman Jewison and David Cronenberg, Donald Sutherland and Saul Rubinek, we know a little something about making top-quality entertainment - and appreciating it. And that, in the end, is the answer - great tv will find an audience among intelligent people, regardless of where it's from. And that's a good thing, no matter where you're from.
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