Day 2 of Live with Kelly and Ryan could not possibly top Day 1 for Canadian content. Monday's show at the Oakes Garden Theatre had two of the hottest (in more ways than one) Canadians right now. But let's see how the show's Canadian content.
Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest spent part of the open talking about how dreamy Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Monday's interview. Seacrest went on more about Trudeau's eyes than even Ripa did. You could imagine Regis Philbin saying the same words in a way that was more funny. I don't know much about Seacrest, and he is new to the show, but his approach is not as clear to your humble narrator.
Ripa and Seacrest tried on funny Canadian hats, something that was reminiscent of the show's time in Banff, Alberta in 2012. I will absolutely agree that Ripa looks good in all different kinds of hats. She can sell the comedy in a silly hat really well.
Howie Mandel came into the interview with a pair of RCMP officers. He made the rather funny joke about the Mounties always getting their man-del.
Ripa and Seacrest played up Mandel's Canadian background. Mandel grew up in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and often went down to Niagara Falls as a young adult.
Nathan Fillion grew up in Canada, specifically Edmonton. But Live with Kelly and Ryan went well out of their way not to play that up. Ripa and Seacrest mentioned Mandel's Canadian roots but not Fillion's roots. Seacrest mentioned in a question that Fillion grew up in Canada but not near Niagara Falls. Fillion did point out that this was his first trip to Niagara Falls.
The show is on Canadian soil. You have a Canadian star. You talked about Saskatchewan with Tatiana Maslany in a segment that lasted less than 3½ minutes. This was a missed opportunity by the show.
What came across as more of a way to get companies to pay for the birthday celebration of Kelly's son Michael might have been a subtle presentation on the differences between being a young adult in Canada versus the United States.
Michael Consuelos, Ripa's oldest child, just turned 20. His weekend included gambling at the Fallsview Casino (more on that later) and drinking at the Two Sisters Vineyards at Niagara-on-the-Lake. These are activities Michael can do in Ontario but not the United States. "My son is legal to drink in your country," Ripa said about Michael being able to drink in Canada. She might be unaware but the drinking age in Canada is 19, except for the provinces where the age is 18: Quebec, Alberta, and Manitoba. Ripa was in Banff, Alberta in 2012 but might not have paid attention to the drinking age in that province.
Ripa is old enough to know about U.S. states that were able to experiment with different drinking ages. This was one of the few times the U.S. audience has been able to see an "underage" person drink legally in Canada. This might have been the most Canadian thing on Tuesday's show even it was subtly Canadian.
Day 1 for Kelly and Ryan in Niagara Falls: Justin Trudeau and Tatiana Maslany
Live with Kelly and Ryan goes to Niagara Falls
Fallsview Casino runs some pretty clever ads. I haven't included them in the wrapups from the NHL Center Ice and MLB Extra Innings preview mostly because they were regional ads in a part of Canada where you can literally see the U.S. from your room. And yes, I would feel that way about a business in Windsor.
Turns out the show stayed at the Fallsview Casino hotel property. Presumably, Michael gambled at the Fallsview Casino. The morning trivia game the show plays gave away a trip on Tuesday to the Fallsview Casino property.
They tried to give away a showcase on Monday to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa but the contestant couldn't come up with the answer. The Ottawa package was valued at $6000 while the Niagara Falls package was valued at $4200.
If I run across a particularly clever Fallsview ad next fall, I will consider running one in the preview wrapup.
photos credit: Live with Kelly and Ryan
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