Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 February 2

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February 2

Mayday (Air Emergency/Air Disasters) in US vs. Canada

I noticed that this TV series is narrated by the same person (Stephen Bogaert) in both the US and Canada. Since the narrator himself is Canadian, I noticed that he uses some Canadianisms for the broadcasts in Canada (e.g. pronouncing "lieutenant" with an f sound at the end of the first syllable). Are these Canadianisms "edited out" in the US broadcasts, or are they left in? 173.52.209.154 (talk) 06:10, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

I seriously doubt if they would bother. Canadians can be understood just fine in the US, unlike Americans trying to understand a Cockney accent. StuRat (talk) 21:18, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Not all Canadians can be understood by Americans. I once watched a show about a ferry in Newfoundland (island) and everything the captain said was subtitled. CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 17:59, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

True, but not all Americans can understand all Americans, either. I've seen subtitles used there, too. I don't think it's any harder for Yanks to understand Canadians than other Americans. I'd also guess that non-Newfie Canucks would have trouble with the old sea captain's accent. StuRat (talk) 20:45, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Newfoundland English can be pretty strange...but on Mayday, the narrator has a completely neutral Canadian accent that is largely indistinguishable from a neutral American one. Aside from saying "leftenant", I'm sure I also recall him using kilometres or other metric measurements, so would those also be changed for an American audience? There seem to be full episodes of the show on YouTube, taken from National Geographic Channel, which is American, so we could check those to see if they have been redubbed. But doesn't it also air on the National Geographic Channel in Canada? Does it air on any other specifically Canadian channels that aren't available in the US? If not, then logically it would appear that the narrator uses Canadian words/pronunciations and nothing is changed. Or, perhaps in this case he was talking about a Canadian lieutenant and used the appropriate pronunciation, and if it had been an American he would have used the American pronunciation.

Incidentally, American shows are of course never redubbed for Canada. People talk about miles and Fahrenheit and say "lootenant" and we get by just fine. In fact I would say that "leftenant" isn't even the standard Canadian pronunciation anymore, partly because of American TV. (I, for example, almost always say lootenant, honestly just because of Star Trek. I always have to correct myself if I'm talking about a Canadian lieutenant, or a lieutenant governor, or something.) On the other hand, American measurements are always changed in newspapers, if a Canadian news service picks up an American wire story. Someone says "100 miles", it's converted, even if they are using it figuratively and they don't literally mean 100 miles...it's kind of ridiculous. Adam Bishop (talk) 09:57, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Those darned Canadians, you give 'em 2.54 centimeters and they take 1.609344 kilometers ! StuRat (talk) 23:39, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Well according to Mayday (TV series) it has two different narrators. One for Canada/US and another for Australia, Asia and the UK. It's on Discovery Channel (Canada) but I'm not sure if it's on the Canadian version of National Geographic Channel (Canada). CambridgeBayWeather (talk) 17:36, 5 February 2012 (UTC)

Law & Order SVU Season 11 Episode 8: Turmoil

trollin'
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
I was unable to understand most of the events in the Episode called Turmoil. Is someone able to answer my questions about the Episode Turmoil? Did Shane's father kill Shane on Purpose?Since Richard Stabler doesn't get along with Elliot Stabler, is it because Richard's mad at Dick Finley for murdering an Innocent Woman? Is Shane's father glad that Shane's dead? Is Shane's father sad about Shane's death?(76.20.90.53 (talk) 08:02, 2 February 2012 (UTC)).