An American in Canada (2002–2004)

Creator:

Howard Busgang

Stars:

Helene Joy, Rick Roberts, Stewart Francis

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Helene Joy	...	Judy Surgick (6 episodes, 2002-2003)
Rick Roberts	...	Jake Crewe (6 episodes, 2002-2003)
Stewart Francis	...	Dennis Macilvane (6 episodes, 2002-2003)
Timm Zemanek	...	Bill Robinson (6 episodes, 2002-2003)
Robin Brûlé	...	Mara (6 episodes, 2002-2003)
Sugith Varughese	...	Aftab (6 episodes, 2002-2003)
Matthew Ferguson	...	Derrick (5 episodes, 2002-2003)

Storyline

---

Plot Keywords:

canadian stereotype | television station | fictional news show | doughnut shop | american expatriate

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 January 2002 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Frostbite

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min 22 min (16 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Pretty funny and too short-lived

I was sorry to see that this series didn't get renewed, as it was really just starting to find its feet. I'm an American living in Canada, and I really enjoyed it even though it was about a guy who wasn't here by his own choice and was constantly looking for ways to get "back home". At the end of the season (in what now seems to have been the final episode) we saw that Jake was finally getting past the stage of looking at Canada as a temporary annoyance, and was starting to think of it more as his new home and was finding many things about it that he enjoyed; now he's not even sure he'll take the job back in the States that he thought he wanted so badly. A highlight was Jake's frequent conversations with the wise, inscrutable middle-eastern owner of the doughnut shop; rather a more sophisticated version of the relationship between Tim the Tool Man Taylor and his over-the-fence neighbor Wilson, it also allowed us to watch our hapless American grow from selfishly considering him just someone to dispense his coffee and listen to his whining, into realization that he (and everyone else he knew in Canada) was a real person with life experience, and had something to teach him if he would shut up and listen.

It's really a shame that so many clever satiric Canadian programs don't have the big budget that American cookie-cutter schlock has. The writing is better and the ideas are fresher because they aren't simply trying to copy what worked on another show. If they ever got a chance, American audiences would probably enjoy "Made in Canada" or "An American in Canada"; instead they keep getting force-fed the same stuff over & over (whether it's called "Friends", "Will and Grace", or whatever) and they'll never know what they're missing.