"Due South" (1994)TV series 1994-1996

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:

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

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 (33 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

Filming Locations:

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Trivia:

For a time, this was considered the most popular Canadian-based and produced TV series ever shown on a US network. After its cancellation, the series was later spun-off into "Due South" (1997) after the producers were able to obtain international funding a year after the original was cancelled.

Quotes:

Inspector Meg Thatcher: I don't dislike animals, Fraser. I've had pets.
Fraser: Really?
Inspector Meg Thatcher: Small ones. A dachshund.
Fraser: Ah.
Inspector Meg Thatcher: He died.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in City of Heroes (2004) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Robert Mackensie

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.