CBC Radio's "Afghanada": 2006-2011

[Flip]

See that's what my wife, the Operating Room Nurse, says about "Gray's Anatomy

One of my sisters is an OR nurse - The other is in child psych.

They will watch ER.
They agree about Grey's Anatomy. - silly.

It's obvious, even too me. So it's harmless, IMO

 

[X-mo-1979]

First off thank you for your replies thus far.

IHS,
I'm glad you posted the video's.My idea of the type of people who made the film are changed quite a bit.However I have not had a great permutation of feeling towards the program itself.What I really enjoyed was the apology from the writer in not getting the details right.At least he realises that with Scott Taylor and a Sgt who refuses to be named,he is proably not getting the full picture/veracious accounts.

All the talking, the overemphasized newfie accent and the PC 3-person section....

I think this is what bugged me the most.The 3 man det,with a brillant woman in charge of three idiots.I'm glad another person mentioned the Newfoundland accent.I went to school with two people who went on to become actors (both live in B.C now).Why do shows always throw a kid from Ontario into a roll he obviously cannot play?What it reminded me off was one of my friends from years ago would say by' and try the slang and thought he was "turning into a newfie" due to the copious amount of time he spent with us.

And yes we did tell him he sounded like a wanker.

Next the coach thing.It really bugged me.I think it may be the writers trying to put a Canadian twist on it.Think of hockey.
Very lame in my opinion.

Flip/IHS your proably right with your comparison to shows like Grey anatomy and your family's.

However it scares me that people like Dsquared thinks of it as a inside look into military life.(Please don't take offense)

A 3 person Det,taking on Afghanistan.Coach keeping 3 idiots together,who cannot make a decision to save their life's.
The discusting newfie accent.The lack of chain of command.The list goes on.

However my 2 yr old is curled up on me having a whimper,I'll try to reply better later.

 

[Greymatters]

I thought it was pretty lame myself.  All the talking, the overemphasized newfie accent and the PC 3-person section....

Sorry but that made me laugh - its a radio show, of course there's too much talking...

 

[Neill McKay]

I don't care much for it (starting with the name).  Radio drama has been hard to come by for a few years and it was nice to see at least an attempt being made.

I agree with others who mention that it's nice to see the CF portrayed in the popular culture -- even if the accuracy isn't spot-on.  Between that and Truth, Duty, Valour we might have the Forces appearing on a few more peoples' radar.

 

[geo]

I think that any media that shows the CF in a "non-negative" manner is a good thing... regardless of how inaccurate and exagerated.

Don't know how much longer the series will continue but, I say - "bring it on"

(BTW - Mea Culpa on the CBC)

 

[deedster]

X-mo, no offense taken.   
Thanks for the insight though 

edit: I didn't mean offence in an offensive way

 

[Sig_Des]

I'm onto episode 5.

Usually jack up people who say "Repeat" over the net.

 

[hamr37]

I rarely ever listened to CBC Radio however I came across this series at the library. I was hooked up to season 4, then I lost interest. Good series while it lasted - had some good laughs.

 

[Panzertech]

I was reading the news on CBC.CA and they had an advertisement for this radio show. My view on this show is much the same as a lot of the members and our civilian friends on here that, good PR is good even though it is not that accurate. What really drives me though, inaccuracies and out right falsities that make soldiers look either look incompetent or like jet setting frat boys (or girls). I would think that there is a lot in military life that is very factual (based, as it is a story afterall) that would be interesting enough to keep the public engaged. I think the Coach nick given to the Sgt has a several purposes, most everyone knows (in the civi world) the Coach is the head and brains of the team, when Called "Coach" persons with out a schmick of military knowledge can identify this person as the boss. AS for the other soldiers being dithering, undecided idiots, it is just stereo type of Jr. NCM's. Most average people think of a Pte. or Cpl as being a mindless automatons, non questioning waiting for direction. We have all run in to that hippy moron that thinks that we are all uneducated fools. It would be hard to explain in limited time that NCM's ARE permitted to think and make decisions on the fly, to do otherwise would render the team ineffective. When to think and make decisions, while of course respecting the CoC, is an Art that is very hard to communicate for people that do not live the life. Go with what the people expect and what they think they know about the military. Of course you have to be PC at all times  : . The show that really gets my Goat is "Combat Hospital". I spent some time at the Role 3 after an IED strike blew my vehicle apart and tried to take me and my gunner with it. That show is a travesty to the great work of the Medical people there. I was so angry after watching the first episode I wrote letters to the Show and the network, voicing my disappointment, with their poor portrayal of CF members. With the supersized luxury suites for Doc's and everyone screwing everyone else (something my very jealous wife, and a lot of other wives think happens anyway. I assured her (over and over again) that the No frat policy is followed by most members but to say it never happens would be dishonest, especially how on that show relationships are public knowledge). I don't want to hijack the thread but that is a show that bugs me far worse then then Afghanada.

 

[OldSolduer]

You do realize that every time you utter the name "Scott Taylor" a kitten dies? Please, he is about as credible as a poltician.

Oops.....a kitten has died......my apolgies. :'(

 

[Strike]

I sort of used to like the subject radio show...until there was an episode in which a padre was given a firearm to carry during a patrol (they were in a high risk area or some other stupidity).  I know it's not reality, but that's just going a bit too far with the creativity thing.

 

[Highland Padre]

I sort of used to like the subject radio show...until there was an episode in which a padre was given a firearm to carry during a patrol (they were in a high risk area or some other stupidity).  I know it's not reality, but that's just going a bit too far with the creativity thing.

That exact episode turned me off the series, as well.  The chaplain asks for the rifle, telling the others, "I went through the same basic training as you did" or something similar -- and I knew the writer had no clue what he was doing.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

You do realize that every time you utter the name "Scott Taylor" a kitten dies? Please, he is about as credible as a poltician.

Oops.....a kitten has died......my apolgies. :'(

I don't suppose he is part fairy? Let me test if he is.  I do not believe in Scott Taylor.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped to include the latest - today's the last episode:

After five seasons, CBC’s popular war-themed radio drama series Afghanada shuts down for the last time Thursday.

On Radio One at 11:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m., it ends Dec. 29 (11:30 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. on Radio One), with a reunion between the surviving soldiers of 3-1 Bravo at the wedding of one of the company members in Prince Rupert, B.C., and an unsettling engagement with the perils of civilian life.

Described in a recent interview by one of its creators, playwright Jason Sherman, as “a Canadian grunt’s-eye view of the war in Afghanistan,” Afghanada grew from a commissioned four-part experiment in radio drama into a 103-episode weekly juggernaut. It had a 15-person crew, including actors, producers, writers, directors and technicians, with an audience of between 300,000 to 600,000 a week on radio and online, CBC brass estimate ....

Toronto Star, 21 Dec 11

 

[eurowing]

I won't miss the series at all.  I listened to a few episodes early on and left it in the dirt.