Atlantic Canada — Not since everyone’s favourite vagabond dog discovered a senile veteran harbouring a bomb has Atlantic Canada been as glued to their TV sets as they are tonight, intently watching the U.S. election results unravel.
It was reported by Nielsen television ratings that the U.S. presidential election has become the most watched program ever broadcast on CTV, narrowly passing the huge number set by The Littlest Hobo back in 1985 when the show aired its series finale. The U.S. election has also been watched more than twice as much as the Canadian election last year.
“Atlantic Canada has a lot at stake when it comes to the race for president,” explained self-proclaimed political expert Rodney Johnson-Wang of Halifax. “I mean we all know that the prime minister doesn’t really have any bearing on what happens here, but the president of the United States of America — now, that’s a big deal.”
Johnson-Wang went on to tell The Manatee that he isn’t the least bit surprised that Atlantic Canadians had nothing better to do on a Tuesday evening than watch another country’s leadership race.
“Really though, what else was going on in P.E.I., Newfoundland or New Brunswick tonight?” he asked. “It’s pretty easy to work watching television into your busy schedule of drinking beer and eating chicken wings.”
Nielsen reported that as many as 1.2 million people have been watching the election Tuesday evening, representing about half of the total population; the previous record saw slightly more than 1 million people tune in to watch the last-ever aired episode of the iconic Canadian show The Littlest Hobo.
“I just loved that scruffy little hero of a dog,” fondly recalled Rebecca Stevenson of Dieppe. “I totally remember watching that final episode and how big of a deal it was. I honestly never thought I’d ever see something as exciting as that, but now I have. It’s kind of ironic that we all so eagerly watched a dog back then and we’re doing it again with Donald Trump.”