The Rez

... you've got to visit "The Rez". The Rez is set in a "Rez" ("Indian" Reservation) in Ontario. It is a gritty half-hour show that gives a realistic, if somewhat gritty, portrayal of everyday teen life in a reservation. The dialogue is realistic. Anyone who liked Madison, Northern Exposure, North of 60, or even Due South should find The Rez to their liking...

This short lived series was based on characters created by W. P. Kinsella, who also wrote Shoeless Joe(which was filmed as Field of Dreams). It was spun off from Bruce MacDonald's very good film "Dance Me Outside" and retains much of the same cast. A very good 1/2 hour program it jumped between serious issues and humour very well. The last episodes had the cast actually leaving the rez and travelling to Toronto. Unfortunately the CBC canceled the show and we never got to see what happened next.

I live in the US in NJ, so this show was never on TV here, but when i saw the advertisement for it on my comcast on demand, i immediately went to see what it was about. I was so happy to finally see something about natives that didn't have to do with annoying stereotypes, or the "white vision" of what we are, and unlike most things on TV about natives, it takes place in the present on a reservation, instead of that "in the old days" documentary type things, which seem to imply that we've just faded away. Anyway back to what i was saying, I loved this show, I have to admit the first few episodes were'nt that great, but i kept watching for the reason that it was a modern native show, and I'm glad i did, once you get past the first 3 episodes the show gets better and better, especially because of Tamara Podemski ^_^ , also from episode 7-17 they bring back one of my favorite native actors Adam Beach. The thing was, the show was a continuation of the movie, "Dance me outside", which i had never seen, I've just finished watching the last episodes of "The Rez"...which i wish could've kept going for a lot longer than it did, and now i've bought the movie, and am going to watch it! I recommend this show to all, but especially other American Indians who want to see a refreshing change to how we are usually portrayed on TV and in movies.

I think this series is a good continuation of the film "Dance Me Outside". Although I do believe that Adam Beach SHOULD HAVE REMAINED as Frank Fencepost throughout the series as well. I really like Darrell Dennis too but I don't think that he should have replaced Adam Beach as Frank. Its just not the same. I've been always wondering why the show's producers and directors chose to pick Darrell to replace Adam as Frank. Who knows! :D

Well............ anyways............. this is how I see this series. Thanks a lot once again for allowing me to post these comments! :D

If u liked 'Spirit Bay' check out this Canadian show 'The Rez'. It's more mature than Spirit Bay and is enjoyable Canadian aboriginal TV programming. The show is centered around the goings-on of young Canadian natives on a reservation. Much of the time the characters are hanging out at a small marina/restaurant ran by a white woman, who's daughter she gave up for adoption and who comes for an interesting visit. The show introduced some fairly famous up-and-coming Canadian actors- the most famous being Adam Beach, who incidentally played Frank Fencepost in Dance Me Outside. The role of Frankie was played by Darrell Dennis in 'The Rez'. A lot of guest appearances and minor roles were actors who 1st appeared on 'Spirit Bay' back in the mid 1980s.