, now often just '''Showcase''', is a
Canadian Cable Television Specialty Channel owned by
Alliance Atlantis . A predominantly
Fiction -based service that promises "television without borders", since its launch it has indeed moved increasingly towards controversial and otherwise
Risqué fare. It is in some respects the Canadian equivalent of both general-interest U.S. cable channels such as
TNT and
USA and the increasingly edgy premium service
Showtime (which has no direct relationship other than the similar name).
Licensed in . It launched at midnight on
January 1 ,
1995 .
When the network premiered, it garnered some negative publicity due to a
Disclaimer it would broadcast prior to reruns of older series. The disclaimer, which advised viewers to remember that "attitudes were not always the same as they are now" was applied to relatively recent programs such as ''
Seeing Things ''. Following media scorn and accusations of
Political Correctness and being condescending to viewers, Showcase abandoned this form of disclaimer. In fact, lately, it has frequently been
criticized by the industry's self-regulatory standards council for not airing enough disclaimers.
From the beginning it has aired frequent series repeats of Canadian (or Canadian-filmed made-for-America) series such as '''' series after their original broadcast windows.
However, such foreign programs can only air in primetime beginning at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern / Pacific), as a result of a condition of
licence obligating Showcase to air 100% , Showcase began promoting 10:00 as its flagship timeslot, even
hiring branded taxis in major markets, driving people home for free by 10:00 p.m. on selected evenings.
Showcase has also added first-run Canadian series, dubbed "Showcase Originals", which include ''
Paradise Falls '', ''
KinK '', ''
Naked Josh '' and ''
Trailer Park Boys ''. The success of these rather risqué series have driven the service towards an even more edgy bent, with nearly all of its programmes now considered "adult" in one way or another, whereas family and children's programmes were more frequent in Showcase's early days.
Showcase also carries regular movies, mostly
Independent and
Foreign Film s.
British series like ''
Prime Suspect '', the original ''
Queer As Folk '', ''
The Second Coming '', ''
Little Britain '' and ''
Cracker '' have also been present since Showcase's launch. Overnight, Showcase shows a number of films and shows that could be considered
Soft Porn , such as ''
Red Shoe Diaries '' and ''
Sin Cities ''.
Two spinoff
Digital Television services have launched, the male-oriented
Showcase Action and the more feminine
Showcase Diva .
