The CBC did not want to air the dark comedy The Altar Boy Gang, but was forced to under its agreement with the Canadian Television fund. Several people and Catholic groups found the program offensive.
In a letter to the National Post, CBC Television executive Richard Stursberg said he agreed with the Post’s previous opinion piece that the show was unlikely to appeal to audiences. “That is why, after making the pilot episode, we determined not to proceed with turning the program into a series.”
“Unfortunately, because the pilot was financed with public funding, including tax credits and Canadian Television Fund (CTF) monies, we were required to put it on air.”
Stursberg says he believes more reasonable tax credit and CTF regulations would allow broadcasters to produce pilots, focustest them and use that feedback to make decisions about which programs to develop further. “A pilot isn’t usually a fair or full representation of what a program would look like, if the network proceeded to turn it into a series,” he writes. “Since a pilot’s purpose is to help network programmers determine whether a script can be turned into a viable show, it is unfair to both the network and its audience to insist that failed pilots be aired.”
(Before coming to the CBC, Stursberg was Chairperson of the Canada Television and Cable Production Fund.)
“Had we decided to turn the pilot into a series, we would have followed the same process we did when developing Little Mosque on the Prairie and worked with a consultant to ensure religious practices were treated sensitively. And the consultant on Little Mosque was hired only after we determined it was a show we were interested in proceeding with.”
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Sheesh, is it too late to change the decision about Little Mosque? I found the ad blitz annointing it as “Canada’s fave new comedy” (or something to that effect) before the *actual* public had seen the show a bit odd but not as lame as the show itself – not to be harsh but the show seemed dated and recycled right from the start.
I grew up Catholic and harbour no ill will. I saw both episodes of this show in post-production a couple months ago, and thought it was hilarious. Nasty, classic CODCO kinda stuff (recall what happened there…), and Linda Kash as the new altar boy’s mother (she forces him into the vocation after catching him in his room…er, pleasuring himself) was amazing as the quintissential status-seeking good Catholic wife. Of course, Andy Jones is there as well doing his thing, actually in quite a sensitive way. It is a scathing, but not mean-spirited satire not just of Catholicism, but of religion in general when fallible humans lose the plot. I think this story is a good adjunct to the discussions going on about Air Farce, 22 Minutes, etc. I’m afraid there’s no “edge” allowed until maybe after 11pm, or at least that’s when “edge” is sold as such.
I haven’t seen the pilots, but something about the Ottawa Citizen article you linked tells me that this show is going to be an accidental hit.
This “they made us do it thing” is a load. The CTF says CBC approved the script for the show to get access to CBC’s CTF funding envelope:
“CTF communications director MaryBeth McKenzie said the application for CTF funding followed their guidelines. She noted the broadcasters abide by Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics, ensuring programs contain “no abusive or unduly discriminatory material or comment” based on religion, race, sex and so on.
“It’s the broadcaster that determines what kind of program they want to support and air,” she said in a telephone interview from Toronto May 22. She said the CBC would have been fully aware of what was in the program and approved the script prior to production. ”
http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=24177
Dick’s got some splainin’ to do.
Forced to air it? Really? Is this a precedent, or has there ever been another bad show that CBC was “forced” to air?
The devil made them do it!
[...] CBC “forced” into airing Catholic sitcom pilot “Unfortunately, because the pilot was financed with public funding, including tax credits and Canadian Television Fund (CTF) monies, we were required to put it on air. … Had we decided to turn the pilot into a series, we would have followed the same process we did when developing Little Mosque on the Prairie and worked with a consultant to ensure religious practices were treated sensitively. And the consultant on Little Mosque was hired only after we determined it was a show we were interested in proceeding with.” [...]
Is the ghost of Flip Wilson hiding under the Stursberg desk?
“Richard, tell ‘em de debil made you do it.”
Does it make sense for public monies to be going to shows that never see the light of day? No it does not. Basically, Stursberg is saying that they’ll take CTF money, thank you very much, but want to ignore the rules when it suits him. This is a typical ‘have your cake and eat it too’ kind of entitlement that doesn’t wash.
They knew that by accessing CTF money they would have to air the show right from the get-go. If there was any doubt, they should not have accessed CTF money and made up the difference out of their own pockets. Simple as that.
If Hockey Canada can get hauled on the carpet for its selection of Shane Doan for something that he was found not to have done already, then it would be the height of hypocracy for MPs not to investigate the CBC for this ACTUAL offensive action.
A large percentage of the Canadian population identifies as being Catholic, so it would be shocking if at least a portion of the Catholic population would be offended by this. I want to hear explanations about why the host was “accidentally selected” for denigration since a religious advisor had not been hired.
I will be writing the Prime Minister and my member of Parliament demanding to know why this happened and why my tax dollars were put into this “celebration of being Canadian” and giving “Canadians a voice that otherwise would not be heard.”
has anyone noticed that most of the “publicity” that the cbc has been getting for it’s shows lately has been in the form of “controversy”?
i could be wrong, but i thought the reason little mosque was such a hit had more to do with the fact that it was on cnn and on the cover of the arts section in the new york times and not because they gave out free shwarma’s in dundas square.
controversy sells.
Anonymous: the CBC’s official position is that normally, they are proud to air those bad shows.
Still regret watching even five minutes of “Being Alone,” and regret even more eagerly anticipating it,
Mr. Stursberg once again demonstrates, how this administration shifts blame elsewhere and refuses to take responsibility for their own actions. Another example of the poor leadership that runs this place.
Just like they said last year! Come and bring your best creative efforts to the CBC! Bring us your best concepts and series, so that when you do them, a feckless bureaucrat will immediately sell your ass down the river just like he did on this show, and Tommy Douglas and on, and on, and on–Stursberg has no shame.
This will be a good test of the CBC’s balanced programming. I wonder what the name of the program that demonizes Islam will be. Or maybe a show that focuses totally on the negative stereotypes of natives. Balance? I think not!
I’m sorry I missed this show. Any chance it will be repeated?
The 4-woman sketch show on the following Friday (likewise zero-promoted) – was that also a pilot? It was funny. I’m glad I happened to catch it.
What happened to promoting a trio of comedy pilots and letting viewers vote on them? Last year, as I recall, the best of the three (Rabbittown – hilarious) was discarded, and the second-best of the three (Ally McFriends or something – dumb) was sent to development and never heard of again. So, not a perfect system. But at least we (or more to the point, I) knew when these things would be aired and could plan to watch them.
It is discouraging to see the CBC apologize and make chickensh!t excuses in an effort to placate people who claim to be offended by a program, as if their being offended should be anybody’s problem but their own. Far better the CBC defend their programs, even the ones that “fail,” and stand up for the artists whose work they commission, than surrender to grievance collectors and offense-junkies.
It’s important to see the shows first before commenting. Most stuff is a knee jerk reaction to buzz words. I was raised catholic and was not offended. Keep in mind that it is fictional and no host was actually mistreated – they were props. The people I did watch the show with were engaged immediately in a discussion about their beliefs and religion. Good and bad. Pros and cons. That the overall message in the shows were — that faith is something that is personal. It’s up to the individual — it doesn’t matter what the other person believes or doesn’t believe. It showed a priest that wasn’t a pedophile but a man questioning his faith but a good person at heart. I knew good and bad catholic boys. Some even more lost than the ones in the show. Yes, it pushed boundries and maybe there should have been a disclaimer but watch the shows first before knee jerk reactions.
“Forced” into airing? I haven’t heard of that kind of jargon before on Canadian television.
If the stories are all true and such, it sounds like the CBC is one unhappy child indeed, being “forced” to air Canadian public-funded television. That sounds just about right…
Lost Acre has a valid point about watching these shows before comment negatively. The problem is the shows that the CBC doesn’t air as a balance to the ones they do. How do I watch and then comment on negative (but hopefully funny) portrayals of Muslims’ and natives’ worst aspects if the CBC only demonizes a certain element of Canadian society?
[...] TV executive Richard Stursberg responded by saying the Corporation had no choice but to air it because it had been funded by the CTF. [...]