"Due South" (1994) TV series 1994-1996

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Creator:

Paul Haggis

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

15 September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Comedy | Drama

Plot:

The cases of a cynical American police detective and a upright Royal Canadian Mounted Police constable in the city of Chicago.

Plot Keywords:

Mounted Police Officer | Police Officer | Chicago Illinois | Wolf Hybrid | Rcmp

Awards:

17 wins & 32 nominations

Cast

Paul Gross	...	Constable Benton Fraser (41 episodes, 1994-1996)
David Marciano	...	Ray Vecchio / ... (41 episodes, 1994-1996)
Catherine Bruhier	...	Elaine Besbriss (40 episodes, 1994-1997)
Beau Starr	...	Lt. Harding Welsh / ... (37 episodes, 1994-1996)
Tony Craig	...	Jack Huey (34 episodes, 1994-1996)
Daniel Kash	...	Louis Gardino / ... (28 episodes, 1994-1996)

Also Known As:

"Direction: Sud" (Canada: French title)
"Due South: The Series" (Canada: English title) (working title)

Runtime:

60 min (68 episodes)

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M (some episodes) | Australia:PG (some episodes)

Filming Locations:

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Trivia:

The first season episode "Victoria's Secret" was originally the season finale for that season and the series finale but when it was announced the series would be renewed, "Letting Go" was created to answer the questions of what happened after VS.

Quotes:

Fraser: I'll just be a minute.
Ray Vecchio: All right, I'm counting down. 1... 2... 3... 4...
Fraser: Technically, that's counting up.
Ray Vecchio: Get the hell outta here! 9... 10...

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Royal Canadian Air Farce: (1997-12-31)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Ride Forever

They never should have cancelled it.

I loved the show first-run and was thrilled last December (2002) when a local tv station in southern Sweden began to replay every episode as a daily filler. It's extremely clever, with wonderful, witty dialogue. The exchanges that Fraser has with the deaf Dief and his father's ghost are priceless as is the subtle (and not so subtle) sarcasm.

Just a few complaints:

*My favorite storyline was "Victoria's Secret" -- but what happened to Victoria? There should have been an ending there.

*By the time I got used to the "other" Ray (Stanley) being in the cast, they made him cartoonish and dumb.

*I think at the end, there was too much junk about women mooning over Frasure. All the googly-eyed stuff from his superior just plain embarassed me.

*Fraser should have ended up with a woman -- a good woman who would make him more human and save him from his own perfection.

It was a clever, clever bit to use actor Paul Gross' (Fraser) real-life wife as the ghost of his mother in the last episode. I have read that Gross "is sick of" this show and resents being remembered for it. If it's true, that's a shame. "Due South" will forever be one of my favorite television programs.