Canadians have less of a celebrity star system, but we’re getting there.
 
I can’t explain it, but people seem to enjoy watching actors they know.  With some exceptions, we seem to get over stereotyping, and want to see people we’ve seen in new roles on new shows or in new movies.  We get as much excitement out of small stars as we do big stars.  The only reason why some people are bigger starts worth more, is because more people will know them.

I don’t have kids, and I’ve never been married but I am old enough to do at least one thing I remember my parents doing.  It seems to be an age thing, but maybe I just see it that way now, being old.  I am aware of all the “when I was a kid” moments.  Things I do I saw my parents do, and thought I never would.
 
This is one of those.  When I watch a show or a movie, I get a thrill out of actor recognition.  I like to point out, often loudly the other roles an actor has been in.  I steal some pride too, if I am better at it than you… which sadly I seldom am, buy it still feels good to see somebody and know – or say; hey, that’s the dude from that Trek episode, or hemorrhoids commercial.

It’s also fun to watch old movies again and now recognize a whole slew of secondary characters from later roles. It’s a side game that adds value to the enjoyment package that is TV.

With the invention of the new online medium, we can not only view an even wider variety of re-casting opportunities of every budget, but we can also study up, or cheat – and use http://imdb.com – an online database of every role ever played by an actor.

Long before IMDB came about, I had books. I never read much fiction for pleasure, but I do own several consecutive years of Leonard Maltin’s gigantic movie book. 　I’ll be honest, I almost shocked myself when I remembered that. I had a lot more books than I would have expected. 　I was always a pop culture fan.

I watch shows and I see faces in the background. I see the desk Sargent or evidence locker guy, or lunch lady, cab driver or Bartender, and remember the roles they played in other shows, and feel some comfort and happiness.  I wonder why we don’t see it more.  why are a lot more roles not played by actors from other roles? Hollywood may mirror the music industry that way.  The business has to give is a balance of constantly new, mixed with the pleasure of familiarity. As the spectator, most people would be happy if all media was familiar old stuff.

I love the music I know. At my age, I could listen to an iPod for the rest of my life and even with no repeats, hear all my faves forever New music can be irritating till the seconds time. Like beer or olives. TV isn’t quite the same.  Movies need to be new to fuel the industry, and the TV season is based on new vs old, but even within new shows, we COULD use old familiar players.  If we didn’t hire a single new actor for 15 years, we’d probably start to get sick of seeing The same actors everywhere. At the start, I wanted to see more of it, but now I re-think and blog, I think maybe is just right.

Smarter people than me run the universe.

This post started with the idea that Canadians are catching up.  We have more and more Canadian actors that we do see in several shows.  Each new sitcom re-uses the best from the last.  Sketch comedy and commercials have people we could almost call STARS – at least in Canada.  The West Jet babe sells me Kraft Tex Mex cheese and the fat bearded guy is the fat bearded guy on four or five shows.

I am glad.  I like Canadians getting a better deal