Bell Media and CBS Corporation Announce Agreement for SHOWTIME® in Canada

[mtlguy]

Bell Media and CBS Corporation Announce Long-Term Content Licensing and Trademark Agreement for SHOWTIME® in Canada

– For the first time ever, the SHOWTIME brand comes to Canada –
– Bell Media’s streaming service, CraveTV, to imminently launch new SHOWTIME Collection featuring hundreds of hours of SHOWTIME series, specials, and documentaries –
–New SHOWTIME-branded programming block to debut on Bell Media’s Pay TV service,
The Movie Network –
January 29, 2015



TORONTO and LOS ANGELES (January 29, 2015) – Bell Media, Canada’s premier multimedia company, and CBS Corporation announced today a long-term, content licensing and trademark agreement for SHOWTIME® in Canada. The exclusive, landmark deal will bring the SHOWTIME brand to Canada for the first time, with hundreds of hours of past, present, and future SHOWTIME programming being made available across Bell Media platforms in English and French, including its new premium TV streaming service, CraveTV, as well as its leading pay television service, The Movie Network (TMN).

Showtime Collection

The agreement marks a significant expansion for SHOWTIME programming in Canada, and builds upon the previous CBS/Bell Media agreement that licensed current SHOWTIME series on pay TV in the country. Over the course of the new agreement, CraveTV and TMN will become Canada’s exclusive home of SHOWTIME-owned first-run programming as well as almost its entire catalog of scripted and unscripted series, documentaries, and specials.

“This new partnership with CBS Corporation illustrates Bell Media’s commitment to provide additional value to subscribers of CraveTV and The Movie Network, while significantly extending CraveTV’s advantage over its streaming competitors,” said Kevin Crull, President, Bell Media. “SHOWTIME has clearly become one of TV’s preeminent brands, and its slate of world-class and award-winning scripted and unscripted series, documentaries, and specials guarantee our subscribers more of the premium TV they want on the platform of their choice.”

“The SHOWTIME premium brand is growing in stature around the world as well as in the U.S., with acclaimed, highly successful programming that will stand out anywhere,” said Armando Nuñez, President and CEO of the CBS Global Distribution Group. “We’re excited to expand this business in a major way with Bell Media and shine a big spotlight on SHOWTIME in Canada.”

“This is a great moment in the history of SHOWTIME, when for the first time our award-winning programming will be distributed and aggressively marketed as one brand beyond the United States,” said David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks Inc. “This ground-breaking new deal was driven by the depth and breadth of our critically acclaimed original series. Bell Media, with their incredible range of platforms, is uniquely positioned to present SHOWTIME to Canadian audiences in whatever form they choose to watch us.”

CraveTV will launch a new SHOWTIME-branded environment imminently, featuring the SHOWTIME Collection with hundreds of hours of exclusive SHOWTIME series and specials. At launch, the collection will exclusively feature the immediate past seasons of current hits like THE AFFAIR, RAY DONOVAN, and PENNY DREADFUL. Also part of CraveTV’s SHOWTIME Collection are big-buzz SHOWTIME originals like MASTERS OF SEX, NURSE JACKIE, BROTHERHOOD, SLEEPER CELL, WEEDS, THE BIG C, THE UNITED STATES OF TARA, PENN & TELLER: BULLSHIT!, and more. The SHOWTIME Collection will also feature the complete star-studded and exclusive library of acclaimed SHOWTIME music, documentary, and comedy specials, all adding up to the addition of nearly 600 assets at launch.

Later in 2015, a SHOWTIME-branded programming block will debut on The Movie Network, providing a home for SHOWTIME content on The Movie Network and promoting the SHOWTIME Collection on CraveTV.

SHOWTIME and its critically acclaimed, award-winning original series continue to make their mark on the cultural landscape. In 2014, the network was honoured with 24 Primetime Emmy® Award nominations, including the most lead actor/actress nominations of any television network (broadcast or cable). SHOWTIME also received nine 2015 Golden Globe Award nominations, the most ever for the network, and was awarded two wins for THE AFFAIR, including Best TV Drama Series. SHOWTIME has grown by 90% over the past decade to cross the 23 million-subscriber mark in the United States. The growing lineup of SHOWTIME programming includes THE AFFAIR, RAY DONOVAN, PENNY DREADFUL, HOUSE OF LIES as well as the upcoming series HAPPYISH. In addition to original series, the premium network features comedy and music specials, provocative documentaries, and hard-hitting sports programming.

[InMontreal]

And here we go with Bell playing the same "hide the show" game Rogers started. I looked at TMN.ca, couldn't find it, looked at SuperChannel.ca, couldn't find it. I had to do a Google search, turns out Showtime's new series "Happyish" has been dumped to Bell's CraveTV service.

http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/sta...ning-april-26/

Slow clap. I wouldn't care for a show made for specialty channels like Bravo or Space being dumped to CraveTV, but TMN subscribers pay $15 to $20 a month to get the whole she-bang of HBO and Showtime shows. Now they're expected to subscribe to CraveTV for an additional 4$ per month AND switch to a participating provider (Bell or Telus are the only major brands here), for any or all future Showtime shows they'll launch ? Wow. Bell lacks total respect. Astral would have never pull a "hide the show" stunt like this.

[ottawasnowdog]

And here we go with Bell playing the same "hide the show" game Rogers started. I looked at TMN.ca, couldn't find it, looked at SuperChannel.ca, couldn't find it. I had to do a Google search, turns out Showtime's new series "Happyish" has been dumped to Bell's CraveTV service.

http://www.bellmedia.ca/pr/press/sta...ning-april-26/

Slow clap. I wouldn't care for a show made for specialty channels like Bravo or Space being dumped to CraveTV, but TMN subscribers pay $15 to $20 a month to get the whole she-bang of HBO and Showtime shows. Now they're expected to subscribe to CraveTV for an additional 4$ per month AND switch to a participating provider (Bell or Telus are the only major brands here), for any or all future Showtime shows they'll launch ? Wow. Bell lacks total respect. Astral would have never pull a "hide the show" stunt like this.

If they put all future shows on Crave there would be outrage.

[PokerFace]

Outrage? I doubt it. Canada is often late to the party for various debuts, so as long as the big hits like Game of Thrones don't end up as Crave exclusives (or first-window airings), Canadians will politely pay what is necessary.

Showtime already aired the Happyish pilot episode on April 5th, and at least based on the pilot episode, I don't think most Canadians will even watch beyond the pilot episode. It was rather dull (with only a few good moments scattered throughout), although since I'm a fan of the actors involved, I'll keep watching online.

Being locked out of content (unless you're a cable/satellite subscriber) is also a problem that many Americans run into, so if you're a cord cutter, regardless of where you live, you'll still need to turn to the free version of the Internet to get that content at an affordable price (until at least the cost of unlimited Internet rises even higher).

[ottawasnowdog]

Outrage? I doubt it. Canada is often late to the party for various debuts, so as long as the big hits like Game of Thrones don't end up as Crave exclusives (or first-window airings), Canadians will politely pay what is necessary.

Showtime already aired the Happyish pilot episode on April 5th, and at least based on the pilot episode, I don't think most Canadians will even watch beyond the pilot episode. It was rather dull (with only a few good moments scattered throughout), although since I'm a fan of the actors involved, I'll keep watching online.

Many are paying $16 and if there told most of the shows will only be on Crave yes people would be upset and likely cancel.
Being locked out of content (unless you're a cable/satellite subscriber) is also a problem that many Americans run into, so if you're a cord cutter, regardless of where you live, you'll still need to turn to the free version of the Internet to get that content at an affordable price (until at least the cost of unlimited Internet rises even higher).

Many are paying $16 and if there told most of the shows will only be on Crave yes people would be upset and likely cancel

[PokerFace]

HBO Canada doesn't carry some of the sports-related content that the "real" HBO airs in the US, so Canadians are used to missing out on content. HBO Canada also airs exclusive content that the American HBO doesn't air, so there will always be gaps in programming no matter where you live.

Showtime content has always been skipped or dumped to other Canadian channels, and since Happyish is only a first-window exclusive, I assume that it will eventually appear on TMN (Showtime Canada) and other Bell-owned channels.

I assume that the Showtime deal occurred simply because CraveTV exists. To stay relevant, CraveTV needs some first-window exclusives, so as long as the exclusives aren't that popular, most people won't even notice, or even care.

CraveTV and Shomi are simply smokescreens designed to keep an addicted Canadian audience entertained in a walled garden. I'm not sure how much longer the garden will be tended and the walls will remain, but since the majority of Canadians seem to be supporting the current system, there's no need to worry about them. Let them keep paying, so that others can remain outside the walls, sampling the other gardens without having to always look over their shoulders. The grass is truly greener on the other side of the wall, but if enough people cancel their services, the wall will fall, and then who knows what will happen next.

The fact that the majority of Canadians still pay for cable/satellite subscriptions, is proof that they're a captive audience.

[PokerFace]

More from: http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/...vice-1.2338300
[Happyish to premiere on CTV this Saturday]

CTV boss Phil King is unabashed about whom he's targeting with a new deal to bring the entire Showtime slate to Canada. "Netflix got a four-year head start on us in this country and they're terrific," King said Tuesday as he trumpeted the arrangement at a joint press conference with Showtime boss David Nevins.

King says the long-awaited arrival of the premium U.S. channel will take the form of a branded block on The Movie Network, and there are no plans to expand that to a full-fledged channel. The focus, instead, is bolstering the content of Bell Media's streaming service CraveTV, which will benefit from a massive influx of past, present and future Showtime series, including "The Affair," "Penny Dreadful" and the upcoming "Happyish."

"The main reasons we did this deal was frankly to get our streaming service going with Crave," said King, CTV president of sports and entertainment programming.

...

And while he [Showtime boss David Nevins] regards the TV channel to be "the bedrock" of Showtime, he considers himself "platform agnostic."

"If you want to wait for it to come to The Movie Network, great. If you want to watch it on CraveTV, great. I don't care. As long as you like our stuff."

The second season of "Penny Dreadful" premieres May 3 on TMN/Movie Central, while "Happyish" will preview Saturday [Apr 25] on CTV [10pm EDT] before beginning its run Sunday on CraveTV.

[ottawasnowdog]

So it sounds like at some point Happyish will be on Tmn.

[mtlguy]

I am not happy with this. I subscibe to TMN mosty for series. HBO and Showtime series and a few others I watch. If they are going to stop showing all their shows on TMN and have some exclusive to Crave I will not be happy. Even if the reviews are not very good for it, I might like it and I was looking forward to Happyish. I will not subescibe to Crave just for it and even if I wanted to I am with Videotron and they are probably not going to have an agreement with Bell over it anytime soon.

[PokerFace]

Since Crave isn't available to all cable/satellite subscribers, Bell will have to be careful not to pick the "wrong" things to suddenly become Crave exclusives. Most people won't have a problem waiting 3 months or longer for the debut of Happyish on TMN, but if it somehow became a big hit (can't see how that's possible, but since the next two episodes are apparently better than the pilot episode, it might warrant a bit more attention from the masses), it might help to increase the fine art of piracy.

The Internet is often used to even the playing field and destroy the agony of exclusives. Frustration often leads to theft. CraveTV and Shomi, at least in their early stages, are making it more likely that Canadians will turn to the Internet to get what they don't otherwise have access to. And as more and more Canadians join the world of piracy, it might end up forcing Bell, Rogers and the gang to admit defeat, and finally stop this childish behaviour of making Canadians jump through hoops to watch what they want. If you can't or won't jump to the Internet, ... perhaps the masses will eventually come to their senses and finally realize that cutting the cord (even the Internet cord) is the fastest way to send a message to those calling the shots.

Live television is being embedded on websites all over the world. The more popular the content, the easier it is to find. If Bell, Rogers and the gang want to play games with the Canadian public by keeping the less popular content away from non-subscribers, so be it. Amazon Prime content is all over the Internet, it's just sad that even with the arrival of CraveTV and Shomi, it's not easy to gain access to it all without breaking any laws, or breaking the bank.

Let's hope that things get better before they get any worse.

[PokerFace]

The main thrust of this thread is supposedly the Showtime brand coming to Canada ... or more accurately coming to CraveTV.

This Showtime announcement is nice publicity for CraveTV. The Showtime boss (Nevins) doesn't really care how much it costs Canadians to watch Showtime content, as long as the money keeps rolling in.

Television is devalued more now, than ever before. Global, CTV and the like have had their content available for free, online for years, but once you start adding other foreign websites to the mix, it's easy to see that there's simply too much available at any one time. We can watch free OTA content, or simply wait until our local public libraries get the content. Even without the Internet, there is not much that I'd have to pay for.

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of Canadians with fewer options than I have. For example, if you just have the Toronto Public Library at your disposal for free Blu-rays, you're screwed ... because the TPL is too poor (and/or mismanaged) to buy any (they get a few Blu-rays when they get Blu-ray/DVD combo packs, or have some Blu-rays donated, but practically nothing worth mentioning).

What if you don't have many OTA channels in your area? What if you can't get cheap unlimited Internet in your area? Well, you can always sign up for cable/satellite service. Nothing wrong with that. A cable/satellite subscriber has loads of options that I might not have, but when you get down to the price and the way the content is distributed to me, I don't find it valuable, or important enough to go out of my way to get a subscription (I used to love it, but not anymore -- even when I had cable tv, years ago, I still often watched most of the content online).

An Internet connection, however, opens up the world to virtually everyone. That's why (even at $100/month for high speeds a lot of folks don't even need), it's much easier to justify letting the BDUs gouge us (and they are happy to do so). We can watch content not available in Canada, long before it appears over here.

As long as the majority of people pay for the content they watch, I can watch free content on websites, through libraries, or on free Over-the-Air TV. Since enough people pay for the content and then many of them also SHARE it, it becomes devalued ... people simply share the content when they are not supposed to ... but until the sharing stops, TV is free. It just is.

Why all this talk about piracy in a Showtime/CraveTV thread? Well, that's because I just read a recent John Doyle article that basically dissed people with opinions similar to mine.

Doyle claims that CraveTV and Shomi make things easier for Canadians trying to watch content. But he's in the business of keeping TV alive. He doesn't have to worry about getting CraveTV and Shomi ... even if he was perhaps only a Bell subscriber ... simply because he can get all of the free screeners that he uses for his early reviews. Isn't that one of the perks of being in the media. It's just that now, with the Internet, most of us have access to many of those same screeners, or some of the same early-bird opportunities that Doyle might have. He'll get a lot more screeners than we would, but we can still get enough of them (from the Internet) to keep us busy.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/...ticle23902141/
[CraveTV and Shomi ... who needs piracy, now?]

Me [Doyle], I don’t get it. And, mainly it’s a matter of being puzzled by seemingly nice, sophisticated Canadians not getting it. I have had readers write to me and explain how, using VPN software to make them appear to be British or U.S. residents, they’re watching series not available here. They want me to write about and review these shows. Seriously. I have been invited to participate in an illegal racket because people watching TV illegally want more information about what to watch.

As a BBC report put it recently, “Media piracy has even become fertile new territory for organized crime rings that previously dealt in drugs and prostitution.” So, you with your software allowing you to watch or download some show you won’t pay to see, you are part of a criminal element you should be embarrassed to be associated with.

. . .

In part, the issue has actually driven some broadcasters and cable channels to make their shows more easily accessible. HBO has made it much easier to watch its series online. With payment, of course. In Canada, the existence of both shomi and CraveTV has meant that dozens of shows not previously available can be accessed with ease, as long as you pay.

There is simply less need for piracy now. Which makes it all the more enraging that some middle-class, well-off Canadians still indulge in it. It’s theft, pure and simple. You’re not a cool pirate dude if you do it. It’s greed. People who mock politicians caught fiddling their expenses and who sneer at greed are often greedy to watch content made by creative people without paying for it. It’s all the same. It’s greed.

You want to see Game of Thrones? Pay for it.

-----

The Internet content is shared or "stolen," but the library DVDs are paid for (usually at reduced rates, but that doesn't matter), so one can argue that even if I watch all my content for free from the public libraries, I'm not supporting organized crime.

If we all stop watching unauthorized content online, and simply stick with the official sites that we have permission to use, what will happen? If we all cancel cable/satellite and our Internet services, what will happen? None of those things are going to happen, so there's no need for me to even speculate.

I still think that many folks pay for content because they want to support the creators of content that they love (and they also like to support Netflix for having a low price and not being linked to a cable subscription), even though they know how to watch all of the content for free. I really like HBO's Silicon Valley, so if they somehow removed all free access to it (including the libraries), I might be willing to pay for the DVDs. However, if they cancel the series, I have plenty of other quality stuff to watch. And that's what I think Doyle refuses to address. It's all just theft in his mind. He'd rather we all were foolish enough to keep paying for free things we don't even need. If Doyle thinks that Happyish or Game of Thrones should only be watched by those willing to pay for it, he's living in a dream world ... a dream that keeps him employed and somehow makes it easier for him to think of the content as valuable enough for everybody to pay for, perhaps simply because somebody created it.

"It's not just television, it's HBO." Sorry, but it IS just television, no matter how good it is.

If TV is so important, it won't go away. People will pay the creators to keep making their favourite shows. But some things are just not worth paying for, even if they're worth the time it takes to steal them.

As slanted as my opinions are, Doyle's seem to be just as slanted, it's just that as a whole, his opinions "might" reflect the greater good, whereas my opinions seem to reflect my own individual situation. I'm more selfish, than greedy. If I have nothing better to do than watch content just because it's free, shouldn't you just feel sorry for me, instead of trying to put me in an orange jumpsuit? Organized crime? Really? Wow. Do you know that the Hospitality Network charges Canadian hospital patients $11 a day (or even more) for channels 2-60 or thereabouts (actually more like $13 a day)? Sure, you can get a better deal if you pay for an entire week or month in advance (I think it's "only" about $140 month), but even though some of the money goes to the hospitals, that still seems like a legalized version of organized crime, not to mention the fact that the HDMI and composite inputs don't work unless you pay that $11/day fee. What a ripoff!

[ottawasnowdog]

I can't see Bell putting most of the new series on Crave and not Tmn maybe people on Tmn will have to wait longer but I am sure they will get all the series.

[SportsFan]

I just read a recent John Doyle article that basically dissed people with opinions similar to mine. ... It's all just theft in his mind.

It is against the law.

He'd rather we all were foolish enough to keep paying for free things we don't even need.

Foolish enough to keep paying for things we don't even need like chocolate bars, for example?

Doyle claims that CraveTV and Shomi make things easier for Canadians trying to watch content.

They do make it easier (assuming you already have an eligible provider), but some people are willing to put in more effort to get content without paying for it.

“Media piracy has even become fertile new territory for organized crime rings that previously dealt in drugs and prostitution.”

This is ridiculous. Trying to demonize piracy by linking it to drugs and prostitution weakens the column. Most piracy is peer-to-peer and no one makes money from it.

[PokerFace]

The Internet threatens the livelihood of so many businesses, and it also helps many others.

The Toronto Star now allows us to read it online for free (after removing the previous paywall). It's an exact duplicate (EDIT: but as of May 13, the Toronto Star replica edition is now $1.99 for print subscribers and $9.99 for anybody else), or you can read the individual articles (as well as bonus ones) in the standard website way. If I want to, I can also decide to buy the newspaper at the store or have it delivered ... but I'd be duplicating what I already have, although in a different format.

If I want to watch Amazon Prime content, I could subscribe to Bell TV and Rogers Internet, so that I can watch the content via CraveTV and shomi. Would I do that if those were my only options? Not in a million years. There's a much easier and cheaper way, but it's the cheap factor that can make watching some content that's less appealing to me, suddenly become more appealing. I see them all as free samples that you might get at Costco. Here, try this stuff out, you might like it enough to buy some later on. Sure, no problem. But honestly, I'm too busy sampling content to need to pay for anything but the rare stuff that occasionally pops up. The stuff that's only available at a few places, but you have to pay for it. It's very difficult to stop the duplication from appearing online, so laws constantly need to be changed to make sure that the majority of people just pay for what they watch ... and if you don't pay for it, you better watch the commercials. So, if I taped the show from an OTA broadcast with my VCR or PVR, I should watch the commercials (even if they make me sick because I've seen them all before several times). No thanks. I'll skip the commercials on taped content and online, whenever possible. So, they like to make it more difficult (or perhaps even illegal) to skip commercials by limiting hardware or software.

I put in much more effort to watch paid content than the same free online content (unless it's live content, then it's equal). Online content is also handled by others. They curate it all and don't charge you for their time. Technically, I'm still paying for what I watch online with my own personal time ... which is much more valuable than money. The more time I spend watching content, the more foolish I am with my time. I don't need to watch all the stuff I do. I just keep waiting for it to all disappear. That's why I'll watch some free HD streams whenever they appear, because I know that they will eventually go bye-bye.

The Internet is like a box of chocolates ... you don't always know what you're going to get. That's one reason why it's so addicting to have unlimited Internet service. The hunt never ends ... until the plug is pulled and you have to pay incompetent people to deliver less content, in an inferior way (hello, Canadian Cable/Satellite TV boxes).

I'm a better curator than CraveTV or shomi, that's because I'm not limited to what I own the rights to ... unless I get brainwashed into thinking that I am, or simply lose access to the Internet (for whatever reason).

[PokerFace]

The second episode of Happyish was similar to the pilot, but it is now starting to grow on me. In the 27.5 minute 2nd episode, I had 4 LOL moments, 2 yawns and 1 good gasp at the end. I felt more of a connection to the characters, which seemed to be just strong enough to keep my yawning to a minimum -- although there were a few times when I felt like I was about to yawn or fall asleep, but I didn't.

I wonder what percentage of CraveTV subscribers will watch all 10 episodes by the the end of the 2 month run (or perhaps a bit longer, so that people find the time to binge on all 10 episodes). If the percentage is high enough, and there aren't too many complaints from TMN subscribers, the Happyish experiment will be considered a really good move ... otherwise, it's back to the drawing bored ... I mean board.

[ottawasnowdog]

The second episode of Happyish was similar to the pilot, but it is now starting to grow on me. In the 27.5 minute 2nd episode, I had 4 LOL moments, 2 yawns and 1 good gasp at the end. I felt more of a connection to the characters, which seemed to be just strong enough to keep my yawning to a minimum -- although there were a few times when I felt like I was about to yawn or fall asleep, but I didn't.

I wonder what percentage of CraveTV subscribers will watch all 10 episodes by the the end of the 2 month run (or perhaps a bit longer, so that people find the time to binge on all 10 episodes). If the percentage is high enough, and there aren't too many complaints from TMN subscribers, the Happyish experiment will be considered a really good move ... otherwise, it's back to the drawing bored ... I mean board.

What do you mean 2 month run?

[sherds]

I watched the preview on saturday and thought that they were going for a world's record in expletives . Not very funny but the occasional witty few seconds . Won't be able to see the rest but not sure if i would have anyway . However with pokerface onboard i would second chance it .

[PokerFace]

By "2 month run", I meant that if one episode airs each week on CraveTV, it should be done by June 28th (2 month span= April 26th to June 28th), but obviously still available beyond that 2 month first-run period. Then, depending on what the Showtime contract states, Happyish would probably soon appear on TMN. However, if Happyish is mostly ignored by CraveTV subscribers, perhaps it would appear even sooner (during the supposed first-run airing) on TMN (perhaps TMN VOD).

Happyish has a talented cast (except for the boy who plays Coogan's son), but if a CraveTV exclusive is simply code for less-popular content that most folks won't mind missing, future attempts at dumping first-run content on CraveTV might cause more harm than good. However, if the first-run rights for CraveTV are much cheaper than the pay-tv TMN rights, it might be a smart move to use CraveTV as a dumping ground, much like CTV2 often is (although not this week, thanks to the 2-hour episode of Grey's Anatomy which should get some good ratings for CTV2 with the ABC simulcast).

http://www.avclub.com/video/happyish...errible-218629
[Warning - Coarse language in video review of the Happyish pilot - they both didn't like it.]

[PokerFace]

It's sad that Canadians are often expected to play by the rules and wait until foreign content is bought by some Canadian entity, until we are given the official green light to watch it.

However, at some point in the future, when CraveTV and Shomi are made even more accessible to Canadians, these "exclusive" releases, like Happyish, shouldn't be as annoying as they are now. It might cost an arm and a leg to stay in the walled garden, but it does look like the walls are the favoured choice of most broadcasters.

Happyish is a hit-and-miss series. So far, I liked episodes 2 and 4 much better than episodes 1 and 3, but I still look forward to each episode. The 4th episode could have easily been used as the season finale, as it seemed to properly express the theme of the series: “The pursuit of happiness is the source of all unhappiness.” It was far from a perfect episode, still plagued by yawn-inducing scenes that should have been deleted, and the various failed attempts to successfully involve that useless moppet (young son) in too many tedious scenes, but at least the episode had something relevant to say.

Staying relevant in a world where content and more choice are king and queen (and everything standing in the way of that "choice content" is the enemy), isn't an easy thing to do. CraveTV and Shomi are hoping that Canadians will no longer worry about having to wait a bit longer for some foreign content to arrive, and instead just be happy that CraveTV or Shomi will eventually deliver that content to them, without having to pursue it.

Don't worry ... Be happy ... Or at least Happyish.

http://gratefulandawake.com/2013/02/...l-unhappiness/
[The Pursuit of Happiness ...]

[PokerFace]

Now I'm worried about Happyish. Episodes 5 and 6 were duds (episode 5 was merely filler, and episode 6 was series suicide). Clearly the worst ones of the series so far.

Happyish ... currently a GraveTV exclusive! Where Showtime exclusives go to die.