Trump-free TV: Six alternative political realities to distract you from the inauguration | Canada Voices

Last month, The West Wing was briefly dropped from Max – HBO’s streamer in the United States – a move that instigates panic among Americans seeking the comforts of the fictional two-term administration of President Josiah Bartlet in the lead-up to a very different president-elect’s second inauguration.

The situation was quickly rectified, however, and all seven seasons were back up and streaming a couple weeks ago south of the border.

For Canadians who would also rather immerse themselves in alternative political realities on Jan. 20 while Carrie Underwood sings America The Beautiful for Donald Trump, here are some streaming suggestions from J. Kelly Nestruck, Amber Dowling and Rebecca Tucker.

Da Vinci’s City Hall

This single-season CBC series (2005-2006) from Chris Haddock followed coroner Dominic Da Vinci (Nicholas Campbell) after he was elected mayor of Vancouver – in an echo of the character’s real-life inspiration, Larry Campbell. The gritty show is a tonic to The West Wing – showing a left-leaning mayor with the best intentions to solving housing and drug crises running into the brick wall of political reality. The pilot elegantly sets up intertwined plots involving low-grade city council corruption over the awarding of an advertising contract, a proposal to expand gambling at the racetrack, and a shooting that further politicizes the issue of a bloated police budget. Campbell is endlessly watchable as a man of principle trying to learn compromise and keep his cool. The closest Canadian TV’s ever had to The Wire, the show is comforting insofar as it shows that many of the problems North American cities are currently dealing with are far from new.

Streaming on Prime Video and Tubi.

La Maison-Bleue

This half-hour satire, co-created and directed by Quebec filmmaker Ricardo Trogi that ran from 2020 to 2022, exists in an alternative reality where la belle province voted 50.2 per cent Yes in the 1995 referendum and became an independent country. A quarter century on, Jacques Hamelin (The Sticky’s Guy Nadon), the fourth president of the Republic of Quebec, and his highly strung staffers are dealing with rising public support for rejoining confederation, the threat of the city of Westmount becoming an independent principality and an annoying federalist who bought the home next door to The Blue House in Quebec City where the head of state lives and works and keeps having loud hot-tub parties.

Luckily, along comes the President of the United States (Bruce Dinsmore) to offer a potential lifeline for Hamelin’s political career: An enticing offer to trade part of Florida for the resource-rich northern part of Quebec. (By the end of the series, he’s upped the proposal – pitching that Quebec become the “51st state”.)

Streaming on ici.tou.tv EXTRA (in French).

The West Wing

This Aaron Sorkin-created series that popularized the acronym POTUS with its pilot is no less attractive to jaded and nervous Canadians than Americans. It’s completely unrealistic, of course, but nevertheless heartening to watch politicians and hard-working staffers – both Democrats and Republicans – who are fundamentally human, sincere in their beliefs and read white papers for fun before bedtime.

Unfortunately, fans of the show starring Rob Lowe, Allison Janney and Martin Sheen that originally ran on NBC from 1999 to 2006 will be stuck searching for their old DVD box sets in the basement or buying seasons and episodes individually on Apple’s iTunes Store, where the first four episodes are available to watch for free before you have to fork out to find out what happens next.

The Good Wife

It’s not uncommon to see a wife standing at a podium behind her politician husband as he apologizes for some sin, even when she’s the one he’s wronged. Writers Michelle and Michael Patrick King were fascinated by “that woman” and created a nuanced world for her with The Good Wife. Over seven seasons, Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) transforms from the protective wife of former Cook County state’s attorney Peter Florrick (Chris Noth) into an independent woman and successful litigator at a top New York firm.

That through-line, inserted into a legal series format, produces an edge-of-your-seat drama that tackles current issues like algorithmic discrimination, copyright infringement and bitcoin. The strong supporting cast, including Christine Baranski, Archie Panjabi and Alan Cumming, is bolstered by unique, trope-breaking guest characters played by stars like Michael J. Fox, Matthew Perry and Carrie Preston. The result is a master class in world-building, tone-setting and never dumbing things down for an audience. Many episodes are an operatic stage play come to life, making this series worth a rewatch – even if you’ve moved on to its spinoffs, The Good Fight and Elsbeth.

Streaming on Paramount+

Yes Minister

You don’t need to be immersed in politics to appreciate the satire behind Yes Minister, the 1980s, BAFTA-winning gem of comedy that ran for three seasons and produced a sequel, Yes Prime Minister. The series revolves around the newly elected James Hacker (Paul Eddington), who has just been appointed the Cabinet Minister to the Department of Administration. Although Hacker is excited to produce actual change in his new position of power, he quickly realizes that politics requires much more politicking than he thought.

The real fun of the series is watching Hacker and his Principal Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne), go toe-to-toe as they outmanoeuvre each other. Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds) and Hacker’s wife, Annie (Diana Hoddinott), add to the overall banter and dry wit. The series makes for an escapist rewatch when you need a laugh (there’s a reason Margaret Thatcher once called it her favourite telly program), whether you’ve watched it once or a half dozen times.

Streaming on BritBox Canada.

The Thick of It/Veep

These two series, both from British comedic mastermind Armando Iannucci, combine mile-a-minute punchlines with observational humour that cuts to the bone of institutional politics in Washington (Veep) and London (The Thick of It). Using the same brand of whip-smart satire, Iannucci manages to pillory both U.K. and. U.S. politicians from the top down: through the harried frustration of vice-president Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) in Veep, and the seething, foul-mouthed sarcasm of political communications manager Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) in The Thick of It.

It’s the ideal viewing choice for anyone looking not quite to escape the news of the day, but to find solace in a show that recognizes just how frustrating, self-serving, corrupt, and downright dumb politics can be, and often is. And a quick note to Iannucci: this writer can think of another Westminster model government that could probably use the same treatment.

Veep streams on Crave; The Thick of It streams on Apple TV+.