Blackfly

I rather thought of F-Troop when I first saw this show. The concept of the show is quite funny and has lots of potential.

It seems like a sketch from the show, "History Bites," hosted by Rick Green stretched out for a half-hour sitcom.

As most Canadian comedy series go, there are many gags that would go over the heads of our American cousins.

I believe that while this series is probably about 25 years late on the screen, this type of historical comedy needs to be continually explored in different ways for new possibilities.

Blackfly was a great, under-rated Canadian comedy. It was as funny as anything on TV at the time, and if it had been an American show, we'd still be watching it. It had that dark anything goes underdog's point of view, sort of like a period version of Trailer Park Boys, another hilarious Canadian TV series. The big difference? Blackfly was set in the 1700s, and maybe TV viewers just can't wrap their heads around the concept of a historical comedy. But the jokes and situations in Blackfly were totally fresh and contemporary. The creator of the show, Ron James is a terrific standup comedian, and he did a good job of translating his stand-up persona into a sitcom context. Shauna Black, as Lady Hammond, a reluctant pioneer with a very active libido, was hilarious; James Kees was sharp and funny as the fort manager; Sherie Maracle (Misty Moon) and Lorne Cardinal (Chief Smack Your Face In) did an amazing job playing 1700s' Natives as bewildered suburbanites; Richard Donat, the fort commander, was as loony as anything you could imagine on TV; Marcel Jeanin, as a voyageur, stole every scene he was in; and Colin Mochrie (Colin Mochrie!) was totally endearing and hilarious as a hapless British officer. They should play re-runs of this show, endlessly, until viewers finally get it!

I found "Blackfly" by accident one Saturday afternoon. It lacks the finesse and bite of such Canadian comedies as "Corner Gas" or "Royal Canadian Airfarce" but it still has its moments and it makes me feel good. It's one of those shows, like "History Bites" that is destined to remain within the sphere of Canadian broadcasting, because a lot of the humour will go right over the heads of non-Canadians watching it. I particularly like the little "in-jokes" such as this exchange here:

Ti-Jean: Someday a Frenchman will run this country! Blackfly: You're talking out the side of your mouth, my friend.

Who else immediately pictured Jean Chretien? One drawback of jokes like this is that they might be too sophisticated for a younger audience. I teach History to teenagers and have thought about using this, but after trying them on "History Bites" and having moments where I was the only one laughing, I might give the matter some thought.

I gave this show the benefit of the doubt. I was patient and gave it time. But it didn't really progress much, has it? Ron James is a great comedian and has his own style of performance (when doing stand up). He has some good actors such as Colin Mochrie, Richard Donat, and James Kee. He had good writers, even Dan Redican was the story editor. But somehow they couldn't make it work. The jokes aren't funny, and many of them too cliché. It does have its moments, but mostly the ones to pull them off are Colin Mochrie and Richard Donat. I still say it would be much better as a drama, like it was originally meant to be. Even a dramatic comedy; the best shows recently in this country are dramatic comedies. The best episodes are stuff like "the second son" and "fools gold". One problem is that this is supposed to be historical satire but the history is totally irrelevant. It just uses stereotypes and old sex/gender jokes to poke fun at... I can't even tell what anymore. Is it ourselves? Is he really trying to say anything? It even misses the Maritime feel-good humour, and instead settles for the NS lost-at-sea mindset, where the outlook is so small you can hold it in your hand and crush it. I thought this show could get better, but it needs a lot of improvement.

This series was advertised in Canada for several months before it actually premiered. It was hardly worth the wait. The show is a loosely structured comedy set during the 1800s or something and follows a Mel Brooks-like format. It's kind of like Mel Brooks' 70s show "When Things Were Rotten". Apparently, no one told the producers that this style of goofball/spoof comedy isn't really popular anymore. All of the characters in "Blackfly" dress American Revolution-style and most of the gags (many of which involve outhouses) fall flat. Ron James who stars and co-wrote many of the episodes, can be funny but this is not one of his better projects and "Blackfly" is not the kind of TV series that will make Canada look good.