History Series / MadeInCanada

** In "Producer's Cut" from Series 5, Alan mentions watching ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''; apparently he didn't notice that one of the regulars on the series, Colin Mochrie, is a dead ringer for his older brother Frank, as seen in "Alan's Brother" from Series 4.

* {{Gaslighting}}: Mentioned by name during its use in "Alan's Brother" from Series 4. When Alan's older brother Frank (special guest [[Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway Colin Mochrie]]), technically the majority owner of Pyramid, is released from a mental hospital and comes up with programming ideas that make Alan's look sensible, the Pyramid gang employ this tactic by replacing his coffee mug with other mugs when he is out of the office and then accusing him of theft. This escalates until he finds the entire office's supply of coffee mugs in his desk drawer, at which point Veronica, dressed as Frank and Alan's mother (for whom she is a dead ringer), confronts him and drives him to re-commit himself.

* ThemeTuneCameo: "Blow at High Dough" by The Tragically Hip plays on Richard's CD player in the Series 2 episode "Buy the Book", while Alan gives a karaoke performance of the song in the Series 4 finale "Wrap Party".

* RealSongThemeTune: "Blow at High Dough," Music/TheTragicallyHip.

The main characters are Richard Strong (Rick Mercer, who co-created the series), the Machiavellian head of television production at Pyramid; Alan Roy (Peter Keleghan), Pyramid's arrogant yet clueless CEO; Veronica Miller (Leah Pinsent), the overworked and underappreciated senior production adviser ("a fancy title for 'does everything, paid nothing'" according to Richard); Victor Sela (Dan Lett), the sycophantic head of film production; and Wanda Mattice (Jackie Torrens), Alan's put-upon office manager. Other recurring characters include producers Lisa Sutton (Janet Kidder) and Raymond Drodge (Ron James), Alan's ruthless aspiring actress daughter Siobhan (Creator/EmilyHampshire), television executive "Network" Brian Switzer (Chas Lawther), and dimwitted actor Michael "Damacles" Rushton (Alex Carter).

** ''Beaver Creek'' is an equivalent of the various ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' series. To reinforce the connection, in the Series 3 episode "Beaver Creek - The Movie", Megan Follows, who played the title character in the 1985 ''Anne of Green Gables'' series, appears as her in-universe equivalent, Mandy "Adele of Beaver Creek" Forward.

* SnarkBait: The ''Beaver Creek'' cast are unamused to hear that the show is seen as this InUniverse by most of its audience, and that there are whole websites devoted to poking fun at its flaws. %%InUniverse

* SpecialGuest: Several episodes feature notable Canadian media personalities appearing as themselves; for example, Kiefer Sutherland appears as himself giving a videotaped address in "New Office" in Series 2, while media mogul Moses Znaimer appears as himself in the Series 2 finale "NATPE".

** Megan Follows' appearance as Mandy "Adele of Beaver Creek" Forward when she reprises the role for the TV movie ''Return to Beaver Creek'' in "Beaver Creek - The Movie" from Series 3 parallels Follows' own return to the role of [[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne Shirley]] for the 2000 miniseries ''Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story''. The same episode references Alan's callous treatment of the now old and infirm author of the ''Beaver Creek'' books, referencing the legal battles between ''Road to Avonlea'' producer Kevin Sullivan and the literary heirs of ''Anne of Green Gables'' author L.M. Montgomery.

* TheShowMustGoWrong: The Pyramid executives' decision to air a LiveEpisode to celebrate 150 episodes of ''Beaver Creek'' when the network rejects their ClipShow inevitably leads to this. The few readthroughs and dress rehearsals are marred by cast infighting and technical problems, and the actual airing is plagued with visible crew members, malfunctioning sets, actors freezing or otherwise forgetting their lines (or resorting to spite-fuelled ad libs), and finally an invasion by an [[MoralGuardians anti-TV violence campaigner]] which forces the network to [[WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties cut the transmission]] and air a ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinterland_Who%27s_Who Hinterland Who's Who]]'' segment about beaver.

** Victor delivers a blistering one to Alan when [[spoiler:he fires him in the series finale.]]

* TheShowMustGoWrong: The Pyramid executives' decision to air a LiveEpisode to celebrate 150 episodes of ''Beaver Creek'' when the network rejects their ClipShow inevitably leads to this. The few readthroughs and dress rehearsals are marred by cast infighting and technical problems, and the actual airing is plagued with visible crew members, malfunctioning sets, actors freezing or otherwise forgetting their lines (or resorting to spite-fuelled ad libs), and finally an invasion by an [[MoralGuardians anti-TV violence campaigner]] which forces the network to [[WeAreExperiencingTechnicalDifficulties cut the transmission and air a documentary about beaver.]]

* SpringtimeForHitler: In "Beaver Creek - The Movie", Alan has written a script called ''Water'' on the basis that many successful television series revolve around water in some way. Richard, Victor, and Veronica all know the script is terrible and, dreading the prospect of countless production meetings for the series, try to kill it by sticking it in DevelopmentHell. Richard also gives a copy to ''Adele of Beaver Creek'' star Mandy Forward, who wants revenge on Alan for making a pornographic parody of ''Beaver Creek'' using the same sets and relishes the prospect of telling him to his face that his idea is garbage. However, to everyone's surprise, Mandy loves the script, and offers to make two more ''Beaver Creek'' movies if she can play the female lead in ''Water''. Veronica, Victor, and especially Richard are not sure whether to be delighted that the full ''Beaver Creek'' trilogy can now be made, or frustrated that their efforts to strangle ''Water'' at birth have failed.

* BlatantLies: In "Beaver Creek - The Movie", Richard and Victor flee a production meeting for Alan's new series idea, ''Water'', in favour of spending a couple of hours at the driving range. When Veronica calls Richard to check in on him, he claims to be on the ''Beaver Creek'' set, and Veronica says that he won't have to meet with Network Brian for at least an hour anyway, as he is tied up in a meeting. Within moments of Richard hanging up, Brian appears at the next tee, carrying his golf clubs. This does not stop Richard and Brian from telling each other they're tied up in meetings for the next several hours.

** Megan Follows' appearance as Mandy "Adele of Beaver Creek" Forward when she reprises the role for the TV movie ''Return to Beaver Creek'' in "Beaver Creek - The Movie" from Series 3 parallels Follows' own return to the role of [[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne Shirley]] for the 2000 miniseries ''Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story''.

* BabiesEverAfter: In the series finale, [[spoiler:Richard and Veronica marry and have a son whom they name after Victor.]]

** Though they are usually {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s whose attempts at manipulation backfire, Victor and Alan have their genuine chessmaster moments as well. In "It's a Science" from Series 2, Richard and Veronica are competing for a position at a rival production company, and make a point of sabotaging each other; Richard claims that Veronica is adopting a large family from the developing world despite being unmarried, while Veronica claims that Richard is on strong anti-psychotic medication. However, at the end of the episode, the interviewer is revealed to have been employed by Alan to [[SecretTestOfCharacter test their loyalty to Pyramid]], and he declares Victor the most loyal of all - not knowing that Victor has been pulling a scam of his own (see ChurchOfHappyology).

* DrivenByEnvy: Some of Alan's more ridiculous decisions are motivated by his envy of other television production companies or executives. His envy of the success of Paul Gross' ''Film/MenWithBrooms'' prompts him to turn Veronica's documentary ''She Aims, She Achieves'' into a gender-flipped version of ''Men with Brooms'' in "Babes with Blades", while his envy of the classy decoration of Rhombus' offices in "Alan's New Studio" leads him to have the Pyramid offices re-decorated at great expense (and with few visible results).

* {{Gaslighting}}: Mentioned by name during its use in "Alan's Brother" from Series 4. When Alan's older brother Frank (special guest [[Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway Colin Mochrie]]), technically the majority owner of Pyramid, is released from a mental hospital and comes up with programming ideas that make Alan's look sensible, the Pyramid gang employ this tactic by replacing his coffee mug with other mugs when he is out of the office and then accusing him of theft. This escalates until he finds the entire office's supply of coffee mugs in his desk drawer, at which point Veronica, dressed as Frank and Alan's mother, confronts him and drives him to re-commit himself.

* GoingColdTurkey: In Series 3's "Alan's Diet", Alan wants to lose four pounds in three days, and decides to go on a carb-free, high-protein diet that includes no fruits, vegetables, or dairy. Veronica warns him that cutting down on carbohydrates so drastically releases chemicals into the bloodstream that cause headaches, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, bad breath, short temper, heart disease... and, Alan adds, weight loss. Sure enough, Veronica's warning proves prescient when Alan becomes woozy and irritable; he dozes off during a meeting and doesn't wake up until nearly 24 hours later, then gives a thoroughly incoherent interview for his first appearance as an analyst on ''Marketwatch''.

** Recurring guest star Gordon Pinsent, who plays aging actor Walter Franklin Sr. in Series 1 and the dairy farmer who [[spoiler:buys Pyramid and fires Alan, Richard, and Veronica]] in the series finale, was also a regular on ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'' as tall tale spinner Hap Shaughnessy. Also, Leah Pinsent's father.

** Series 4's "Beaver Creek Commercials" features Shirley Douglas as [[StrawmanPolitical ultra-conservative]] aging film star Cybill Thornbush, who has rather prickly debates with the other cast and crew members about the virtues of trickle-down economics and the pointlessness of gun locks.

** The merger of Pyramid Productions and Prodigy Entertainment in the Series 2 opener "Merger" was inspired by the 1998 merger of Alliance Communications and Atlantis.

* RealSongThemeTune: "Blow At High Dough" by The Tragically Hip.

* LameExcuse: In "Beaver Creek - The Movie" from Series 3, Richard returns from the set of ''Beaver Creek'' having failed to speak to Mandy Forward about signing on for two more ''Beaver Creek'' movies but having a meeting with Network Brian on set in an hour. Alan proceeds to pitch what he believes is his best idea yet: a series about - in fact, ''starring'' - water. Richard immediately changes his mind and says the meeting with Brian is not in an hour, but right now, and hurries out. Alan tries to get Veronica and Victor to help him put ideas for the series on paper, but Veronica simply declares that she does budgets, not ideas, while Victor claims that with the network on set and Mandy yet to sign on for two more movies, he and Richard should both be on set at all times.

* SnarkBait: The ''Beaver Creek'' cast are unamused to hear that the show is seen as this InUniverse by most of its audience, and that there are whole websites devoted to poking fun at its flaws.

* SnarkBait: The ''Beaver Creek'' cast are unamused to hear that the show is seen as this in-universe by most of its audience, and that there are whole websites devoted to poking fun at its flaws. %%InUniverse

* SnarkBait: The ''Beaver Creek'' cast are unamused to hear that the show is seen as this in-universe by most of its audience, and that there are whole websites devoted to poking fun at its flaws.

The main characters are Richard Strong (Rick Mercer, who co-created the series), the Machiavellian head of television production at Pyramid; Alan Roy (Peter Keleghan), Pyramid's arrogant yet clueless CEO; Veronica Miller (Leah Pinsent), the overworked and underappreciated senior production adviser ("a fancy title for 'does everything, paid nothing'" according to Richard); Victor Sela (Dan Lett), the sycophantic head of film production; and Wanda Mattice (Jackie Torrens), Alan's put-upon office manager. Other recurring characters include producers Lisa Sutton (Janet Kidder) and Raymond Drodge (Ron James), Alan's ruthless aspiring actress daughter Siobhan (Emily Hampshire), television executive "Network" Brian Switzer (Chas Lawther), and dimwitted actor Michael "Damacles" Rushton (Alex Carter).

** Recurring guest star Gordon Pinsent, who plays aging actor Walter Franklin Sr. in Series 1 and the dairy farmer who [[spoiler:buys Pyramid and fires Alan, Richard, and Veronica]] in the series finale, was also a regular on ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'' as tall tale spinner Hap Shaughnessy.

** Dian Del Largo, the title character in the Series 2 episode "Diva" as played by Margot Kidder, is every inch a ''prima donna''. Before shooting begins on her guest appearance on ''Beaver Creek'', she orders the director (hired specially for the episode) removed from the project and replaced with Pyramid executive Lisa Sutton, whom she then orders fired and replaced with Victor. Though her character is written as an immigrant Irish peasant who dies of scurvy, Del Largo demands that she be re-written as a seductress wearing plunging necklines. And when shooting finally begins (several hours late), she immediately has a mental breakdown and locks herself in her trailer.

** The Series 2 episode "Diva" features Margot Kidder as volatile fallen movie star Dian Del Largo, who begins demanding inappropriate script and personnel changes before the cameras begin rolling.

* DrivenByEnvy: Some of Alan's more ridiculous decisions are motivated by his envy of other television production companies or executives. His envy of the success of Paul Gross' ''Men with Brooms'' prompts him to turn Veronica's documentary ''She Aims, She Achieves'' into a gender-flipped version of ''Men with Brooms'' in "Babes with Blades", while his envy of the classy decoration of Rhombus' offices in "Alan's New Studio" leads him to have the Pyramid offices re-decorated at great expense (and with few visible results).

''Made In Canada'' (generally known as ''The Industry'' outside of UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}) was a 5-season Canadian sit-com that ran on Creator/{{CBC}} Television from 1998 to 2003. As a satire of the film and television industry, it featured the inner workings of a fictional Canadian production company, Pyramid Productions.

** Victor, however, is a much more hapless comic victim. Alan uses his YesMan tendencies to get him to perform all sorts of demeaning tasks, and generally blames him first if something goes wrong for Pyramid. He is by far the most common victim of schemes by Veronica and especially Richard to humiliate or discredit him, while most of his own attempts at counterscheming blow up in his face (unless he has enlisted the help of another character). He is also the most likely to sustain some sort of absurd injury (such as when he gets an infected body piercing in Series 3's "Ohm Dot Com") or public humiliation (such as being made an unwilling participant on Pyramid's behalf in the Toronto Pride Parade despite being straight in "Buy the Book" from Series 2).

* CanadaEh: The series' satirical eye occasionally expands beyond Canadian showbusiness to general Canadian life and culture.

--->'''Alan:''' Look, how much would it cost to get a crew in for a few extra days provided we can find a location that looks like ancient Greece? ''(Veronica hands him an invoice)'' HOLY SH-\\
''(cut to Richard being interviewed)''\\

''(cut to Richard and Veronica)''\\

-->'''Richard:''' ''(being interviewed)'' As executive in charge of that production [''The Sword of Damacles''], I'm very hands on.\\
''(cut to Richard entering Alan's office)''\\

'''Richard:''' ''(thinks for a moment)'' I don't know, about a month ago?

'''Michael:''' Whoa. Damacles nailed that one. Bless you, everybody! ''(begins "blessing" boom operators and grips by placing his hand on their foreheads and shoving them backwards)''

''(later in the episode, after a new Chief Administrative Officer has been hired at Veronica's recommendation and has hired fourteen further executive vice presidents with power of veto over film and television ideas)''\\

* PutOnABus: In the Series 3 episode "Alan's Ex", Siobhan leaves for Hollywood with the title character with plans to further her acting career.

-->'''Richard:''' ''(uncertain)'' I... ''think'' that went well?

* TemptingFate: In the Series 3 episode "Alan's Diet", Alan takes a high-protein, low-carb diet a step too far and ends up with such low blood sugar that he gives a rambling, incoherent interview for ''Marketwatch'' in which he rails against the evils of fruits, vegetables, and dairy. As Richard and Victor watch the interview in their office, Richard says, "Well, let's just hope nobody saw it." Their phones immediately ring with dozens of calls from offended farmers and concerned shareholders.

'''Victor:''' ''(sighs)'' We'll be fired by the end of the week.\\

* DVDCommentary: In "Arcadia 3000" from Series 3, Alan is neglecting all other responsibilities at Pyramid in favour of recording a director's commentary track for ''Prom Night at Horny High''.

* HollywoodHistory: In-universe, in the Series 4 episode "The WarOf1812", an American network contracts a film about the title war to Pyramid, but has the uniforms of the British Redcoats changed to teal (as they film better) and the ending of the war changed to an American victory because American schoolchildren have been taught that the USA has never lost a war and would never believe such things as the invasion and burning of Washington, DC. This is apparently a running theme for the network's historical productions, as their representative says of an upcoming production on the fall of Rome, "At least we know the Americans won that one!"

* YouLookFamiliar:
** Peter Blais appears as a Film/Theater professor in the Series 1 episode "The Mill Show", and later has a recurring role as Geoff, the gay actor who plays Parson Hubbard on ''Beaver Creek''.
** Gordon Pinsent appears as Walter Franklin, the lead actor of ''Beaver Creek'' who dies in Series 1, and later as Myron Kingswell, the dairy farmer who [[spoiler:buys Pyramid and fires everyone except Victor and Wanda]] in the very last episode.