As an 'arrogant American', I want to weigh in because I love Canadian television programming, almost as much if not more than my own country's fare. I'm sick of constant gun/drug violence, constant sexualization and objectification, and pointless sensationalism. The overpowering dramatic soundtracks and formulaic, predictable storylines are aggravating.
Cut to Canadian programs, specifically those filmed and produced by Canadian companies, including Hudson & Rex. Y'all rock! Background music isn't unobtrusive. Episodes aren't needlessly bloody. Storyline and scripts are rooted in reality. Medical conditions aren't always the rare and unheard of that makes worry worts turn into hypochondriacs. Conversations are actual conversations and not laced in fifty million undertones. And one thing that I love more than anything else about Canadian productions over American: you make it a point to highlight the racism against indigenous peoples and treat the people like people instead of acting like there isn't a systemic problem or painting it as though all Natives are criminals. American television rarely talks about it and when they do, it's treatment is the same as any other non-white culture. Mexicans all work for cartels, Chinese/Japanese work for the Triad/Yakuza, Blacks are all in gangs, and Natives are all lazy drunks. What-the-hell-ever.
Animal shows are typically gimmicky, and every character treats the animal like a child, speaking in sing-songy baby voices. Hudson & Rex is different. I don't talk to my dog like she's a baby. I talk to her like she's a member of my family. We have conversations, even if they're one-sided, and for once we have characters on tv treating the animal as another character in the show. Rex is really a cop to them, because he is. Hudson talks to him the way he would talk to a human partner. Asking questions, awaiting responses, using full sentences, reserving single words for commands related to police work. Stay, easy, find, search. Police dogs are trained with simple one to two word commands that a human officer could bark out quickly, pardon the pun, and when Hudson uses that tone and those commands, Rex responds appropriately. The only gimmick here is the way the camera zooms in on Rex when he is the one detecting a clue. But it's no different than when cameras zoomed in on Charlie from Numb3rs, Dr. Murphy from The Good Doctor, Dylan Reinhart from Instinct. The actor is just canine instead of human.
Reality isn't constant sensationalism and this show highlights the fact that ordinary can be entertaining, relaxing, and a much needed respite from the jaw-dropping special effects of Hollywood style productions.
Then again, I'm just a farm girl hick who has no use for the glitz and the glam and am happy that Canada provides me with entertainment that is closer to what exists in my own world rather than fantasy and lights. What could I possibly know about the entertainment business? I mean, besides what actually entertains me?
