Source : Globe & Mail

If the CBC were a person, you'd advise it to see a shrink, pronto.

That's because the CBC has multiple problems. For a start, it is loved and loathed in equal measures. Those who loathe it are unlikely to change their opinion. Resenting the money that goes toward supporting the public broadcaster and perceiving the CBC as a left wing organization bent on undermining conservatism in all its forms, they won't be happy until the CBC ceases to exist.

The CBC's biggest problem, however, is with those who cherish it. To many Canadians, CBC TV and radio represent an oasis of good taste and common sense in a media world gone mad with celebrity-coverage and other forms of mindless frivolity. They are fiercely loyal to CBC TV for that reason. They see it as a place for smart, intelligent drama and comedy, news coverage, and documentaries.

The key word in that summation is "intelligent."

You see, Friday's announcement by the network about its returning shows failed to mention the drama called Intelligence. It didn't mention MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives, either, or jPod, but those shows had, at best, a mixed response from viewers and the press. Cancellation was expected. But Intelligence has been universally acclaimed as a smart, compelling and provocative drama. Many viewers considered it the best sort of television. And the show, which is now being aired in several dozen countries, met the same response abroad.

So, in getting rid of Intelligence, CBC TV has left itself open to the rage of its fiercely loyal viewers. Over the weekend, numerous readers wrote to me, all latching on to the same theme: "Cancelling Intelligence pretty well sums up CBC's decision to scrap this brilliant program." As many of those loyal CBC viewers see it, CBC has simply swapped intelligence for stupidity.

CBC itself was obtuse about the cancellations. "We certainly recognize they were frankly terrific shows and in many cases they attracted quite a degree of critical acclaim, but unfortunately they were unable to attract an audience. Audience is not our only consideration, but it is an important one," the CBC's spokesman told Canadian Press on Friday, speaking about the cancelled shows.

There's the rub - CBC TV really wants to be a big shot broadcaster, just like the commercial channels, and boast about audience success. And there's the problem - CBC doesn't know what it wants to be. A shrink would ask, 'Do you want to be popular or do you want to be smart?' CBC would probably answer, 'Well, popular is not the only consideration but it's an important one.' Then the shrink would tell CBC to make a decision, grow up and quit alienating those who love and cherish it.

MVP was obviously positioned to be a popular, mass-appeal show. It's sexy, dumb and trashy entertainment. (You can see the final episode tomorrow at 9 p.m. on CBC.) That's fine. It didn't work out. In the case of jPod, the series was obviously meant to be a success with younger viewers - the audience for the work of Douglas Coupland, on which it is based. CBC craves that audience because most of its viewers are in the 50-plus age group. More so than the sexy stuff on MVP, the tone and style of jPod was CBC TV trying to get hip, trendy and dead-cool.

Intelligence is the sticking point here. The show, made and set in Vancouver, and largely about drug baron Jimmy Reardon (Ian Tracey), is about drugs, family, policing and criminality. It's about corruption and the tricky, slippery relationship between the cops and the criminals and the relationship between the U.S. and Canada.

It attracted around 350,000 viewers per episode, about the same as many episodes of both jPod and MVP. But the difference is that it was meant for a smaller, smarter, niche audience. For the audience that loves and cherishes CBC TV. Now it's gone.

Ironically, it could turn up on U.S. network television this fall or winter. The Fox network is considering a U.S. version because it's a smart, entertaining and compelling series.

Maybe CBC has something brilliant up its sleeve to replace the cancelled shows. Maybe not.

All we know right now is that CBC doesn't know what it is or what it wants. It seems it wants to be a commercial success when it is a public broadcaster that doesn't need to define itself by commercial success. It seems it wants to be popular and younger, but has so far failed to be that. It seems it has alienated those who love it. It seems to have swapped intelligence for stupidity.

© Globe and Mail