canadian television

10. CBC Gives 'The Tudors' Royal Treatment
By 2007, long-form historical dramas like 'Rome' and 'Elizabeth I' were established award winners, but incredibly expensive to produce. By joining a multi-national production alliance that includes Showtime in the US, CBC managed to get its claws into a Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning show, which in the US, has set some ratings records. Granted, 'The Tudors' has had a mixed critical reception, but it continues to do well with viewers.

9. Ron Rescued
In 2001, Ron MacLean was ready to leave his job at 'Hockey Night in Canada' and the CBC. When word leaked that the Ceeb wasn't willing to fulfill Ron's contract demands, Canadians revolted. Who else, they figured, would be able to contain Don Cherry to his allotted minutes on 'HNIC'? Public pressure resulted in a quick about-face from the broadcaster, and Ron is still safely ensconced to this day. And really, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

How do you top the competitions in a show that forces two TV schlubs to wear a dead octopus on their heads or consume more beer than an Oakland Raiders tailgater?

You let their crazed fans throw down the gauntlet for them.

The Canadian Jackass-off that is Kenny vs. Spenny wants competition ideas from their viewers for their sixth season.

MTV is coming to Canada in a very big way. For years, MTV was banned from launching on Canadian Radio-Television by television watchdogs. MTV made a brief appearance from 2002 to 2004, but went off the air after receiving a dismal audience. Beginning today at 6 pm ET, MTV will launch on a number of platforms. First, MTV is launching an analog channel that is tailored to the Canadian audience, with original talk shows and documentary programming. It also launches a broadband channel, called MTV Overdrive, which makes all sorts of MTV content available for viewing on high speed internet. There will also be MTVonCTV blocks of programming six nights a week on CTV, video available for download on iPods and the like, and Video on Demand.

Canada, there's something you should know about MTV. It's called Music Television, but there's rarely any actual music.