We all have friends who've threatened to "Move to Canada!" and they're not going to shut up aboot it. Cool, because Canada has some damned fine TV. Crack a Molson and stream these Canadian series while filling out your passport application.
Letterkenny (Seasons 1-2 on Hulu)
Neckless redneck Wayne, his buds and a cavalcade of characters fight, drink and generally laze about in hick town Letterkenny, trading verbally dense rants and takedowns with the hyper-speed virtuosity of an Eddie Van Halen solo (or, to keep it Canadian, Alex Lifeson). Letterkenny is like a flannel-shirted meld of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and a live-action South Park, but wholly original, and a decidedly love-it-or-hate-it kerfuffle.
Trailer Park Boys (Seasons 1-12 on Netflix)
I couldn't stand Trailer Park Boys at first — and nearly avoided Letterkenny due to comparisons. Now... I'm not completely sold, but the series has its charms. The mockumentary about a group of Nova Scotia trailer park screw-ups and their perpetually doomed money-making schemes strikes a consistent balance of hilarity and cringe, but, should you find yourself relating to any of these characters, discontinue watching immediately.
Schitt's Creek (Seasons 1-3 on Netflix)
Schitt's Creek isn't a Netflix original, nor is it even 'Merican. Like Arrested Development a la Canada, Schitt's Creek pits dumb ex-wealthy folk against small-town rubes with ridiculously funny results: Johnnie and Moira Rose (comedy treasures Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara) are forced to live in the dump town of Schitt's Creek, which they once purchased as a joke. More so than Arrested D, Schitt's Creek is a stealth heart-warmer.
Orphan Black (Seasons 1-5 on Amazon)
In cult sci-fi series Orphan Black, a small-time criminal (Tatiana Maslany) assumes the identity of a dead detective she eerily resembles, only to learn she's a clone and that there are more versions of herself out there. And then it gets crazy. Maslany's performance — multiple distinct performances, to be exact — is stunning.
Mary Kills People (Seasons 1-2 on Hulu)
Canadian actress Caroline Dhavernas has starred in U.S. series like Wonderfalls and Hannibal, but Mary Kills People is the first to fully realize her chilly, sexy potential. Dr. Mary Harris (Dhavernas) kills people — specifically, the terminally ill who want to die on their own terms. Her secret Angel of Death gig spills over into her life, echoing dark-side classics like Weeds and Dexter, and Dhavernas' complex Mary is a near-equal to Nancy Botwin and Dexter Morgan. ♦
