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Martin Edwards

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Apr 9, 2012, 3:39:13 AM4/9/12
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If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
with illegible shoulder flashes? We have real forces portrayed in the
UK, so the Crown cannot be a problem.
--
Myth, after all, is what we believe naturally. History is what we must
painfully learn and struggle to remember. -Albert Goldman

Z...@gmail.com

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Apr 9, 2012, 1:05:23 PM4/9/12
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On Mon, 09 Apr 2012 08:39:13 +0100, Martin Edwards
<big_m...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

>If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
>be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
>with illegible shoulder flashes? We have real forces portrayed in the
>UK, so the Crown cannot be a problem.
Bear in mind shows that film in Toronto are portraying themselves
as police in a major US city. On a number of shows they do have the
name of the city on the police car.

Porter Smith

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Apr 9, 2012, 1:59:11 PM4/9/12
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Martin Edwards <big_m...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in news:Cmwgr.218228
$jE5.1...@fx15.am4:

> If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
> be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
> with illegible shoulder flashes? We have real forces portrayed in the
> UK, so the Crown cannot be a problem.

Often police department names, insignia etc are copyrighted. It is possible
Toronto either won't allow their use, or want more money than the producers
are willing to pay.

David Johnston

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Apr 9, 2012, 2:08:22 PM4/9/12
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On 4/9/2012 1:39 AM, Martin Edwards wrote:
> If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
> be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
> with illegible shoulder flashes?

Because Americans don't like foreign television.

David Johnston

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Apr 9, 2012, 2:09:12 PM4/9/12
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No, that's not it. They just don't want to make it obvious that the
action is not occuring in an American city.

theget

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Apr 10, 2012, 12:17:00 AM4/10/12
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On Apr 9, 2:09 pm, David Johnston <Da...@block.net> wrote:
> On 4/9/2012 11:59 AM, Porter Smith wrote:
>
> > Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>  wrote in news:Cmwgr.218228
> > $jE5.108...@fx15.am4:
>
> >> If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
> >> be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
> >> with illegible shoulder flashes?  We have real forces portrayed in the
> >> UK, so the Crown cannot be a problem.
>
> > Often police department names, insignia etc are copyrighted. It is possible
> > Toronto either won't allow their use, or want more money than the producers
> > are willing to pay.
>
> No, that's not it.  They just don't want to make it obvious that the
> action is not occuring in an American city.

When actually, it is occurring in an American city.

Yes, I am feeling pedantic. Why?



David Johnston

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Apr 10, 2012, 12:28:15 AM4/10/12
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No. Canadian cities are not American cities.

Martin Edwards

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Apr 10, 2012, 5:52:16 AM4/10/12
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On the other hand, in some a crown is visible on some part of the uniform.

Martin Edwards

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Apr 10, 2012, 5:54:08 AM4/10/12
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See the reply which should come in above. Incidentally, Universal
announcers in the UK actually do think that "Rookie Blue" is American.

Martin Edwards

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Apr 10, 2012, 5:57:53 AM4/10/12
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Hey, we all have days like that. Actually UK Universal announcers do
think that "Rookie Blue" is American.

Z...@gmail.com

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Apr 10, 2012, 2:20:08 PM4/10/12
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Ok i've got to ask.....if filming in Toronto how is it occurring in an
american city?

theget

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Apr 10, 2012, 6:42:10 PM4/10/12
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On Apr 10, 5:57 am, Martin Edwards <big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 10/04/2012 05:17, theget wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Apr 9, 2:09 pm, David Johnston<Da...@block.net>  wrote:
> >> On 4/9/2012 11:59 AM, Porter Smith wrote:
>
> >>> Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>    wrote in news:Cmwgr.218228
> >>> $jE5.108...@fx15.am4:
>
> >>>> If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
> >>>> be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
> >>>> with illegible shoulder flashes?  We have real forces portrayed in the
> >>>> UK, so the Crown cannot be a problem.
>
> >>> Often police department names, insignia etc are copyrighted. It is possible
> >>> Toronto either won't allow their use, or want more money than the producers
> >>> are willing to pay.
>
> >> No, that's not it.  They just don't want to make it obvious that the
> >> action is not occuring in an American city.
>
> > When actually, it is occurring in an American city.
>
> > Yes, I am feeling pedantic.  Why?
>
> Hey, we all have days like that.  Actually UK Universal announcers do
> think that "Rookie Blue" is American.

Why do you think so?

Do they say something like, "Now stay tuned for the American cop
series, 'Rookie Blue"? Sounds like it might be a bit of marketing
hype. Like the audience might be hoping for a bit of action and yet
they're not overtly saying that it's not Canadian. Or do they say "US
cop series"?

I've read a few websites that dispute the possession of various lands
by the US that may or may not have been Mexican territory at one time
and you got me curious and I took a look at Southland, which isn't
shown in Mexico. So I guess we don't have to worry about if they call
it an American or US cop show there.


theget

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Apr 10, 2012, 6:33:51 PM4/10/12
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I admit it. I like to play a fun game with people called "Guess what
continent that country is on." For example, Russia straddles Europe
and Asia and used to have territory in North America. Egypt is in
Africa and Asia if you put the Sinai in Asia. Canada is in North
America.

Would it be fair to characterize the inhabitants of Canada as North
Americans? If they're North Americans, can we call them Americans?

Australia is the easiest country to ask about!

Now let's play with Great Britain and the, uh, Falkland Islands!

I'm not the only one who plays, and sure, there are lots of times
people want to get their guns out to play this game.

theget

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Apr 10, 2012, 6:20:53 PM4/10/12
to
I knew a few Canadians whose complaint when US officials called
themselves and their country "America" was "We're Americans too."

But that was many summers ago and perhaps this attitude has changed
and they no longer consider themselves to be American. Or they don't
worry about it anymore, or they consider themselves to be American,
but think the communities they live in are Canadian.

David Johnston

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Apr 10, 2012, 8:50:12 PM4/10/12
to
On 4/10/2012 4:20 PM, theget wrote:
> On Apr 10, 12:28 am, David Johnston<Da...@block.net> wrote:
>> On 4/9/2012 10:17 PM, theget wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Apr 9, 2:09 pm, David Johnston<Da...@block.net> wrote:
>>>> On 4/9/2012 11:59 AM, Porter Smith wrote:
>>
>>>>> Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in news:Cmwgr.218228
>>>>> $jE5.108...@fx15.am4:
>>
>>>>>> If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
>>>>>> be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
>>>>>> with illegible shoulder flashes? We have real forces portrayed in the
>>>>>> UK, so the Crown cannot be a problem.
>>
>>>>> Often police department names, insignia etc are copyrighted. It is possible
>>>>> Toronto either won't allow their use, or want more money than the producers
>>>>> are willing to pay.
>>
>>>> No, that's not it. They just don't want to make it obvious that the
>>>> action is not occuring in an American city.
>>
>>> When actually, it is occurring in an American city.
>>
>> No. Canadian cities are not American cities.
>
> I knew a few Canadians whose complaint when US officials called
> themselves and their country "America" was "We're Americans too."
>

That's a minority point of view. Most of say that our continent is
North America, and that "Americans" without the "North" are the
inhabitants of that place to the south that the TV comes from.

Martin Edwards

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Apr 11, 2012, 3:29:19 AM4/11/12
to
On 10/04/2012 23:42, theget wrote:
> On Apr 10, 5:57 am, Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 10/04/2012 05:17, theget wrote:
>>
>> Hey, we all have days like that. Actually UK Universal announcers do
>> think that "Rookie Blue" is American.
>
> Why do you think so?
>
> Do they say something like, "Now stay tuned for the American cop
> series, 'Rookie Blue"?

"US series" actually. On the other hand, they are not usually the
sharpest tools in our very variegated box.

theget

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Apr 11, 2012, 3:22:17 AM4/11/12
to
On Apr 10, 8:50 pm, David Johnston <Da...@block.net> wrote:
> On 4/10/2012 4:20 PM, theget wrote:

> > On Apr 10, 12:28 am, David Johnston<Da...@block.net>  wrote:
> >> On 4/9/2012 10:17 PM, theget wrote:
>
> >>> On Apr 9, 2:09 pm, David Johnston<Da...@block.net>    wrote:
> >>>> On 4/9/2012 11:59 AM, Porter Smith wrote:
>
> >>>>> Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>      wrote in news:Cmwgr.218228
> >>>>> $jE5.108...@fx15.am4:
>
> >>>>>> If the NYPD can be portrayed as itself, why does Toronto Police have to
> >>>>>> be portrayed as various brands of "Metropolitan Police" or just "Police"
> >>>>>> with illegible shoulder flashes?  We have real forces portrayed in the
> >>>>>> UK, so the Crown cannot be a problem.
>
> >>>>> Often police department names, insignia etc are copyrighted. It is possible
> >>>>> Toronto either won't allow their use, or want more money than the producers
> >>>>> are willing to pay.
>
> >>>> No, that's not it.  They just don't want to make it obvious that the
> >>>> action is not occuring in an American city.
>
> >>> When actually, it is occurring in an American city.
>
> >> No.  Canadian cities are not American cities.
>
> > I knew a few Canadians whose complaint  when US officials called
> > themselves and their country "America" was "We're Americans too."
>
> That's a minority point of view.

Ah, diversity.

> Most of say that our continent is
> North America, and that "Americans" without the "North" are the
> inhabitants of that place to the south that the TV comes from.

When in fact the "TV" we're discussing comes from Toronto? Is that
because Toronto is so far to the south? And the inhabitants? Good
Americans all?



theget

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Apr 11, 2012, 10:21:01 AM4/11/12
to
On Apr 11, 3:29 am, Martin Edwards <big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 10/04/2012 23:42, theget wrote:
>
> > On Apr 10, 5:57 am, Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>  wrote:
> >> On 10/04/2012 05:17, theget wrote:
>
> >> Hey, we all have days like that.  Actually UK Universal announcers do
> >> think that "Rookie Blue" is American.
>
> > Why do you think so?
>
> > Do they say something like, "Now stay tuned for the American cop
> > series, 'Rookie Blue"?
>
> "US series" actually.  On the other hand, they are not usually the
> sharpest tools in our very variegated box.

Well there we are. Through the power of intercultural hegemony
Canadians aren't just American, but evidently they're part of the US
too.

Maybe it's because Toronto doesn't seem to get much snow (no cite) so
they seem more American?

English? No, I speak American.



Martin Edwards

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Apr 11, 2012, 12:07:32 PM4/11/12
to
You are missing the point with grim determination. The announcer simply
had not noticed the maple leaves, the crown on the station sergeant's
stripes and so on, and I don't think there were any obvious Canadian
accents even where the actors, like Onuka Okuma, were Canadian.

David Johnston

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Apr 11, 2012, 1:23:53 PM4/11/12
to
Often it's filmed in Toronto but the lead actors, scripts and money come
from the United States.


theget

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Apr 11, 2012, 8:44:01 PM4/11/12
to
On Apr 11, 12:07 pm, Martin Edwards <big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> ,On 11/04/2012 15:21, theget wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Apr 11, 3:29 am, Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>  wrote:
> >> On 10/04/2012 23:42, theget wrote:
>
> >>> On Apr 10, 5:57 am, Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>    wrote:
> >>>> On 10/04/2012 05:17, theget wrote:
>
> >>>> Hey, we all have days like that.  Actually UK Universal announcers do
> >>>> think that "Rookie Blue" is American.
>
> >>> Why do you think so?
>
> >>> Do they say something like, "Now stay tuned for the American cop
> >>> series, 'Rookie Blue"?
>
> >> "US series" actually.  On the other hand, they are not usually the
> >> sharpest tools in our very variegated box.
>
> > Well there we are.  Through the power of intercultural hegemony
> > Canadians aren't just American, but evidently they're part of the US
> > too.
>
> > Maybe it's because Toronto doesn't seem to get much snow (no cite) so
> > they seem more American?
>
> > English? No, I speak American.
>
> You are missing the point with grim determination.

There is really nothing grim at all about my determination.

> The announcer simply
> had not noticed the maple leaves, the crown on the station sergeant's
> stripes and so on, and I don't think there were any obvious Canadian
> accents even where the actors, like Onuka Okuma, were Canadian.

I looked at a trailer for the show somewhere on youtube. I didn't see
those things. But there's a bit more violence than I normally
associate with Canada, absent those IMF protests, so maybe it is a US
series after all. It didn't look like anything the NFB would have
made.


theget

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Apr 11, 2012, 9:01:10 PM4/11/12
to
IMDB only lists Toronto as a location for the show. Do they ever
shoot in the US?

> but the lead actors, scripts and money come
> from the United States.

Yes, that happens. The movie Aliens was filmed in the UK (probably
another big win for IA) I don't know where post was done.

OTOH, HBO's BoB was shot in the UK with AFAIK US money and their lead,
Damian Lewis, was born in the UK. So were Shane Taylor and Philip
Barantini.

I've heard there are sometimes tax advantages in shooting in Canada
and the UK if at least some of the cast are natives. And I've heard
the crews are significantly cheaper and much more flexible. No cites
for this.

I've heard that many years ago that the UK, perhaps others, had laws
that the studios couldn't take their earnings out of the country, so a
few films were made in Europe because of this. For those films things
are perhaps less clear.

However, I think of BoB and Aliens as being US productions, so maybe
Rookie Blue is as well, despite it's being American.


David Johnston

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Apr 11, 2012, 10:45:52 PM4/11/12
to
On 4/11/2012 7:01 PM, theget wrote:
> On Apr 11, 1:23 pm, David Johnston<Da...@block.net> wrote:
>> On 4/11/2012 1:22 AM, theget wrote:
>
>>>> Most of say that our continent is
>>>> North America, and that "Americans" without the "North" are the
>>>> inhabitants of that place to the south that the TV comes from.
>>
>>> When in fact the "TV" we're discussing comes from Toronto?
>>
>> Often it's filmed in Toronto
>
> IMDB only lists Toronto as a location for the show.

Uh...what show?

theget

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Apr 12, 2012, 1:27:01 AM4/12/12
to
"Rookie Blue".

David Johnston

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Apr 12, 2012, 12:46:28 PM4/12/12
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Rest assured, when I said "the TV" I meant more shows than Rookie Blue.

Martin Edwards

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Apr 13, 2012, 7:50:32 AM4/13/12
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On 12/04/2012 17:46, David Johnston wrote:

>> "Rookie Blue".
>
> Rest assured, when I said "the TV" I meant more shows than Rookie Blue.

We now have the one about the SWAT team, I forget the name, and King,
which feature two different "Metropolitan Police"s with different
uniforms. Interestingly at one point Sgt King says "south of
Yellowknife". If it had been in America presumably she would have said
"south of Hibbing" or something of the sort.

Martin Edwards

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Apr 14, 2012, 3:39:52 AM4/14/12
to
On 13/04/2012 12:50, Martin Edwards wrote:
> On 12/04/2012 17:46, David Johnston wrote:
>
>>> "Rookie Blue".
>>
>> Rest assured, when I said "the TV" I meant more shows than Rookie Blue.
>
> We now have the one about the SWAT team, I forget the name.

Flashpoint.

Jeff Gersten

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Apr 14, 2012, 5:58:50 AM4/14/12
to
big_m...@yahoo.co.uk (Martin Edwards) wrote:

>On 13/04/2012 12:50, Martin Edwards wrote:

>>On 12/04/2012 17:46, David Johnston wrote:

>>>>"Rookie Blue".

>>>Rest assured, when I said "the TV" I meant
>>>more shows than Rookie Blue.

>>We now have the one about the SWAT team,
>>I forget the name.

>Flashpoint.

And Flashpoint does not pretend to be in the USA. They are not ashamed
to be known as a Canadian based show.

theget

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Apr 14, 2012, 3:20:20 PM4/14/12
to
On Apr 14, 5:58 am, JeffGers...@webtv.net (Jeff Gersten) wrote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashpoint_%28TV_series%29

Sounds very nationalistic.

"In an interview, the creators of the show stated that they like to
cast only Canadians in the show; the only non-Canadian that has been
on the show is Amy Jo Johnson.["

Martin Edwards

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Apr 15, 2012, 2:58:22 AM4/15/12
to
Yet it does not say what the city is, and the force are yet another
"Metropolitan Police". As I have pointed out before, this is rather
silly, as there is a real Metropolitan Police, in DC.

theget

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Apr 15, 2012, 4:20:18 PM4/15/12
to
On Apr 15, 2:58 am, Martin Edwards <big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 14/04/2012 10:58, Jeff Gersten wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk (Martin Edwards) wrote:
>
> >> On 13/04/2012 12:50, Martin Edwards wrote:
>
> >>> On 12/04/2012 17:46, David Johnston wrote:
>
> >>>>> "Rookie Blue".
>
> >>>> Rest assured, when I said "the TV" I meant
> >>>> more shows than Rookie Blue.
>
> >>> We now have the one about the SWAT team,
> >>> I forget the name.
>
> >> Flashpoint.
>
> > And Flashpoint does not pretend to be in the USA. They are not ashamed
> > to be known as a Canadian based show.
>
> Yet it does not say what the city is, and the force are yet another
> "Metropolitan Police".  As I have pointed out before, this is rather
> silly, as there is a real Metropolitan Police, in DC.

Ah, the things we aspire to.

Martin Edwards

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Apr 16, 2012, 3:36:11 AM4/16/12
to
Are you saying I want to be a DC cop? Other considerations apart, I am 62.

David Johnston

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Apr 16, 2012, 12:24:58 PM4/16/12
to
On 4/15/2012 12:58 AM, Martin Edwards wrote:
> On 14/04/2012 10:58, Jeff Gersten wrote:
>> big_m...@yahoo.co.uk (Martin Edwards) wrote:
>>
>>> On 13/04/2012 12:50, Martin Edwards wrote:
>>
>>>> On 12/04/2012 17:46, David Johnston wrote:
>>
>>>>>> "Rookie Blue".
>>
>>>>> Rest assured, when I said "the TV" I meant
>>>>> more shows than Rookie Blue.
>>
>>>> We now have the one about the SWAT team,
>>>> I forget the name.
>>
>>> Flashpoint.
>>
>> And Flashpoint does not pretend to be in the USA. They are not ashamed
>> to be known as a Canadian based show.
>>
> Yet it does not say what the city is, and the force are yet another
> "Metropolitan Police". As I have pointed out before, this is rather
> silly, as there is a real Metropolitan Police, in DC.
>

Well yeah, but Toronto's cops until 1998 were in fact the Metropolitan
Toronto Police Service. (Now they aren't because Toronto absorbed its
metropolitan area.)

Martin Edwards

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Apr 17, 2012, 3:35:19 AM4/17/12
to
Thanks for that. I knew about the aggregation, but not the police. Je
regarde télé-journal presque chaque jour.

theget

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Apr 17, 2012, 11:21:11 AM4/17/12
to
On Apr 16, 3:36 am, Martin Edwards <big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On 15/04/2012 21:20, theget wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Apr 15, 2:58 am, Martin Edwards<big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk>  wrote:
> >> On 14/04/2012 10:58, Jeff Gersten wrote:
>
> >>> big_mart...@yahoo.co.uk (Martin Edwards) wrote:
>
> >>>> On 13/04/2012 12:50, Martin Edwards wrote:
>
> >>>>> On 12/04/2012 17:46, David Johnston wrote:
>
> >>>>>>> "Rookie Blue".
>
> >>>>>> Rest assured, when I said "the TV" I meant
> >>>>>> more shows than Rookie Blue.
>
> >>>>> We now have the one about the SWAT team,
> >>>>> I forget the name.
>
> >>>> Flashpoint.
>
> >>> And Flashpoint does not pretend to be in the USA. They are not ashamed
> >>> to be known as a Canadian based show.
>
> >> Yet it does not say what the city is, and the force are yet another
> >> "Metropolitan Police".  As I have pointed out before, this is rather
> >> silly, as there is a real Metropolitan Police, in DC.
>
> > Ah, the things we aspire to.
>
> Are you saying I want to be a DC cop?

No. Not you. My feeble attempt at humour fell flat.

> Other considerations apart, I am 62.

But these are tv cops. So age forms no part of the qualifications.


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