“Because of the extra marketing and publicity and scrutiny that being involved with a US network brings, that will hopefully heighten awareness for Canadians that there is a show out there that is about them and they'll be drawn to watch it and continue to watch it,” Ellis said.
Though it’s unflinchingly set in Toronto, Flashpoint’s provenance is beside the point anyway. “The stories are really universal,” opined Morgenstern. “I think these stories all happen at a really visceral level and make us ask ourselves questions about what would I have done if I had been cornered that way, if I had to fight for the life of my daughter," she said, referring to the second episode's plotline. "I think there does come a certain point where you get drawn into the character the drama and the emotion and the country or city that it's set in is really just part of the background."
“I think that's an important evolution in Canadian television — I'm not saying we're driving it because lots of others are doing it too — but we need to stop thinking of ourselves as telling Canadian stories and think of ourselves as telling stories,” Ellis added.
Airing on summer Friday nights at 10 p.m. might seem like a disadvantage, though Ellis pointed out that the series would likely have been overlooked if it had to fight for attention on the fall schedule.
“There’s definitely two sides to the coin. It is a lot lower pressure,” he said of the timeslot that brings lower expectations for ratings. “We're very consoled by the fact that the original CSI premiered in our timeslot, so it’s a great opportunity to grow.”
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