Editor’s note: Our Top 10 Canadians of the 2009-10 TV season continues with No. 5, whose particular brand of TV stardom is best served by “Scara,” who runs GhoulsonFilm.net, a tremendous site for ladies and by ladies who happen to be fans of horror films and TV.

Now, let’s sink our teeth into our choice for No. 5…

By Scara
Special to Canadian of the Week

Few of TV’s Top Canadians talents are so readily visible as Anna Paquin’s – who comes in a at No. 5 on our list.

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Previous choices:
10. Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”)
9. Graham Yost (“Justified” and “The Pacific”)
8. Pamela Anderson (“Dancing with the Stars”)
7. Howie Mandel (“America’s Got Talent”)
6. Erica Durance (“Smallville”)

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Everyone’s favorite star of “True Blood” brings a special perkiness to the part of Sookie Stackhouse, the sunny lover of those who can’t go out in the day. You’ve got to hand it to this Winnipegger, she has done things onscreen that would make the average actress shiver with fear. Maybe it’s the hearty Canadian blood coursing through her veins that keeps her warm during her ever-increasing nude scenes. Or her northern pluck that allows her to go that extra mile when outrunning a Maenad, shooting a werewolf, giving advice to a newborn vampire and delivering lines like “BEEEEELLLLLLL.”

While not everyone is a fan of Paquin’s attempts at a traditional Louisiana accent, no one can deny that she has made the character of Sookie her own and fully embraced the campy aspects of the show including some thoroughly outlandish sex scenes. She claims those scenes are no big deal when the one you’re embracing is your fiancé. A fact she joked about to the Huffington Post:

“I’m really close with all of our cast, and we’ve all seen each other in various compromising and odd situations,” she told them when asked about her scandalous sex scenes. “I think that one great bonus is we don’t need a fluffer.”

Editor’s note: Getting back to our Top 10 Canadians of the 2009-10 TV season, we check in at No. 6, which is brought to us by a big fan of “Smallville” and, in particular, Canadian actress Erica Durance.

If you hadn’t figured it out yet, No. 6 is Calgary’s own Erica Durance. Here’s why…

By Nadia Costa
Special to Canadian of the Week

Erica Durance has been playing the iconic Lois Lane on “Smallville” for the past six years, and her growth has been clear to see. Over the years, Durance has earned praise for her professionalism and the great understanding she has for the character she is portraying. Lois has been on an amazing journey and Erica has done a great job playing her.

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Previous choices:
10. Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”)
9. Graham Yost (“Justified” and “The Pacific”)
8. Pamela Anderson (“Dancing with the Stars”)
7. Howie Mandel (“America’s Got Talent”)

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Last season, for the first time, Erica had the most screen time on the show (second only to star Tom Welling’s Clark Kent). Lois finally got a chance to shine and, boy, did she deliver. Lois Lane was linked to every major storyline, from the materialization of Zod’s evil plans to the emergence of Checkmate. Having Lois at the forefront gave “Smallville” a new lease of life. The Lois-centric episode, “Idol” was an instant fan favorite, achieving higher ratings than the season premiere. Not many shows have the ability to keep things fresh for its fans but in its ninth season, “Smallville” pulled it off.
 
Portraying a character as complex as Lois Lane isn’t an easy task. One minute she’s the Army brat fighting bad guys and the next she’s the woman with a crush on Clark Kent’s alter ego, “The Blur.” Erica has truly shown her versatility, which is why this girl from Calgary, Alberta, can easily be regarded as one of TV’s Top Canadians.

Nadia Costa runs Durance Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @ericadurancetv.

The countdown of the TV’s Top Canadians of the 2009-10 season continues. And, yes, we’re a few days late in getting entry No. 7 up onto the site, but is anyone really setting their watch by Canadian of the Week? Really?

Coming in at No. 7 on our list is America’s favorite Canadian germaphobe. Howie Mandel has had himself quite the resurgence in the last few years with a hosting gig on “Deal Or No Deal” getting things jump-started.

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Previous choices:
10. Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”)
9. Graham Yost (“Justified” and “The Pacific”)
8. Pamela Anderson (“Dancing with the Stars”)

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This summer, though, the hairless Howie fills the recently vacated seat of the finely coiffed David Hasselhoff on “America’s Got Talent.” The selection of Howie completes a judges’ table that is made of two Brits and a Canadian, meaning America may have talent, but it apparently lacks the capacity to judge talent.

The pick was a wise one, though, as Howie has brought new life to the show. He’s genuinely funny, his observations are unique and he replaces The Hoff, who seemed to think the show was more about him than about the performers on the stage trying to catch a break and a $1 million performing contract.

Check out this clip, in which Howie talks about the show’s wildest acts:

She finally did it.

After what host Tom Bergeron said was an effort that began with the show’s first season, Pamela Anderson took to the “Dancing with the Stars” hardwood in the show’s 10th season.

No one quite knew what to expect, and former winner/Olympic speedskating gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno said Pam was “a little top-heavy” to be a serious contender.

After falling into the bottom two in the first round of voting, Pam did herself and her country proud by blending some classiness with her inevitable sexiness and landing squarely in the middle of the final results in sixth place. For her weeks of entertainment, witty one-liners (when asked by Brooke Burke if America was going to see a different side of her on the show, Pam quipped, “I think America has already seen every side of me.”), Pam lands in the eighth spot on our countdown of the Top 10 Canadians of the 2009-10 TV season.

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Previous choices:
10. Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”)
9. Graham Yost (“Justified” and “The Pacific”)

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Week after week, Pam’s confidence grew and eventually the competition just caught up to her as she exited behind Chad Ochocinco, Niecy Nash, Erin Andrews, Evan Lysacek and winner Nicole Scherzinger. She proved she belonged, as you can see from this clip below.

Pay no attention to the man in the photo. Well, that’s usually the case, anyway.

You likely don’t recognize his face because he typically is the man behind the proverbial curtain, but trust me when I tell you that Graham Yost has had a hell of a TV season, and that’s why he’s the No. 9 choice in our countdown of the Top 10 Canadians of the 2009-10 TV season.

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Previous choice:
10. Cobie Smulders (“How I Met Your Mother”)

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The 50-year-old Toronto native snuck up on everyone by giving FX its latest bona fide hit in “Justified” midseason. The testosterone-fueled cop drama stars Timothy Olyphant as a U.S. marshal reassigned from beautiful Miami to his old stomping grounds of Kentucky.

It received “universal acclaim,” with most TV critics roundly praising the show, on metacritic.com. Matt Roush of TV Guide called “Justified” “the best new series, network or cable, of the midseason,” and Jonathan Storm of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that it is “an instant entrant in the best-new-show sweepstakes in a TV season that already has several solid candidates.”

If that wasn’t enough, Yost also co-wrote and directed an episode of the HBO miniseries, “The Pacific,” which also won universal acclaim and is sure to rake in some awards later this year.

Without giving away too much, I’ll tell you now that Yost’s contribution to fine television this season earns him the distinction of being the only “behind-the-camera” personality on our Top 10 list.

If you’re into watching tremendous TV, check out the season finale of “Justified” here:

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm
7. Christian
6. Chris Benoit
5: Trish Stratus

4: Owen Hart
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 227 lbs.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Greatest Match: Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart – Wrestlemania X

If this list was about the most beloved Canadian wrestlers of the modern era, you’d have had to wait three more weeks for the Owen Hart article.

Sure, some will say that people view Owen with rose-colored glasses since his unfortunate accident in May 1999, but I’d disagree. In a business fraught with con men, carnies, and creeps (how’s that for alliteration) you never really heard a bad thing about Owen Hart.

Maybe it was his legendary sense of humor. Seriously, if the WWE released a three-DVD set of former superstars telling Owen prank stories, I’d buy it in a second.

Maybe it was because he was a family man. In his book “Have a Nice Day,” Mick Foley tells stories about how Owen rarely went out after shows so he could save money. Apparently the only reason Owen wrestled was to make enough money so his family could live comfortably. Owen’s goal wasn’t championships or magazine covers, it was early retirement so he could spend his days with his kids in Calgary.

In fact, if the pay at the fire station had been equal to that of a WWE superstar, Owen would have rather done that and stayed home.

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But alas, this list is more based on a person’s in-ring work, microphone skills, and overall influence than it is on their behind-the-scenes attitude.

As luck would have it, Owen excelled in all of those areas too.

In-Ring Work: Anyone who’s ever seen Owen’s matches with his brother Bret Hart, his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, or his family’s natural enemy Shawn Michaels will attest that Owen was in the upper echelon of workers in the ’90s. Tippity top on the list of Owen’s best matches would have to be his Wrestlemania X classic with Bret and his European Title tournament final against Davey Boy. Both matches are excellent examples of flow and storytelling without having to lean on gimmicks or weapons.

Microphone Skills: Owen may be responsible for one of the most memorable slip ups in interview history with his classic “Kick your leg out of your leg” miscue from the ’94 Royal Rumble, but other than that he was usually very solid. Both Bret and Owen had to walk a very fine line in their feud so as not to make Owen look sympathetic to his more successful brother, but they both pulled it off perfectly. And then there were the Slammy Awards…

Championships come and go, but once you win a prestigious Slammy Award they can never take it away from you. When Owen claimed his second award (I say claimed, he didn’t technically win it, he just took it) the bragging speech that followed was pure gold.

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Overall Influence: Owen very well could have been the prototype for the geeky heel characters that were later perfected by Edge and Christian. You could even make the argument that the Blue Blazer persona that Owen was developing before his tragic accident (“I always take my vitamins, say my prayers, and drink my milk!”) was a big influence on Shane Helms’s Hurricane gimmick and Kurt Angle’s World’s Toughest Nerd character.

More important than that is Owen’s influence on North American wrestling. Owen helped usher in a style that was more focused on technical wrestling and highspots after the steroid trials forced out the muscle-bound brawlers of the ’80s. In fact, Owen helped pave the way for such smaller, Japanese Junior-inspired wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, and Eddie Guerrero.

Not bad for a guy that would have rather have been a fireman.

Now, normally I put my pithy ending at the end of these posts and call it a day, but writing this has made me realize how much I truly miss Owen Hart. If you were a fan back in 1999, do yourself a favor and dig up the clip of Vader trying to keep a straight face after Owen knocked a waiter onto him at the 1997 Slammys. If you weren’t a fan back then, break out a copy of Wrestlemania X and discover for yourself what the fuss over Owen Hart was all about.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta
8. Lance Storm

7: Christian
Height: 6’2”
Weight: 227 lbs.
Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Greatest Match: Edge and Christian vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Dudley Boyz – Wrestlemania X-Seven – TLC Tag Title Match

When one member of a tag team goes on to become a bigger star than the other member, that less successful member isn’t referred to as “The Jim Neidhart” or “The Ray Rougeau.”

They’re known as “The Marty Jannetty.”

Maybe it isn’t fair for any wrestler to have to live up to the legacy Shawn Michaels has crafted for himself during his post-Rockers career, but such is life. After Shawn ended their tag team run by shoving Jannetty face first through Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake’s storefront window, Michaels went on to enjoy four World Championships and some quality time with Tammy “Sunny” Sytch in her prime. Meanwhile, poor Jannetty was left to bounce around the independent circuit.

So, when the WWE was enjoying a bit of a tag team renaissance around 2000-2001, me and my friends would debate who would become the Shawns and who would become the Martys.

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The charismatic daredevil Jeff Hardy? Future superstar. His more fundamentally sound, yet microphone challenged brother Matt? Less so.

The angry redneck with a fetish for smashing women through tables Bubba Ray Dudley? Maybe not up to Shawn Michaels’ talent level, but seemingly destined for bigger things. His testimonial-requesting half brother D-Von? Not so much.

Then there was Edge and Christian. Surely Edge had to be the Shawn Michaels in this scenario. He had the cool gimmick of the club kid who would stalk the arena and enter the ring from the audience. He had the double awesome Stanley Cup-inspired trophy he received after winning the 2001 King of the Ring tournament. And, he even had a brief Intercontinental Title reign before he ever began teaming with Christian.

This theory was seemingly proved shortly after the team broke up in the Fall of 2001. Edge would quickly go on to unify the WCW U.S. Title and the WWE Intercontinental Title while Christian was promptly lost in the shuffle of the WCW/ECW Alliance mess.

Surely, Christian was on his way to a plate-glass facial.

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But something funny happened on the way to the Barber Shop. Christian managed to survive misguided angles such as throwing temper tantrums after every loss and Steve Austin dubbing him a “Creepy Little Bastard.” In spite of all of that, he found his groove.

The nickname “Captain Charisma” and the catchphrase “That’s how I roll” started to catch on. Signs from fans proclaiming themselves to be one of his “Peeps” started to show up in the audience. And his feud with Chris Jericho over the lovely Trish Stratus was one of the highlights of the WWE’s very strong 2004.

From there, Christian enjoyed a successful run in TNA which helped him hone the character we’re seeing today.

Christian may not be among the higher echelon of WWE superstars today, but I wouldn’t bet against him eventually getting there for one reason; he can make the fans care. Watch a Christian match; even when he’s paired with a questionable worker like Ezekiel Jackson, the fans are into the finish. He clearly has the talent to carry the move, catchphrase, or angle that’s needed to finally propel him through the glass ceiling.

(OK, I swear that’s the last glass-breaking metaphor.)

So, does all of that make Edge the Marty Jannetty? Absolutely not. But I will say this about Christian; everyone else you’ll see on this list will probably stay in their spot until someone bumps them lower. Nothing against those workers, they’ve just either retired, reached their peaks, or passed on.

But if we revisit this list in a few years, Christian is the only one I can see in a higher position.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

Maybe not quite everything is better in Canada.

Bad hotels are bound to be found anywhere, and TripAdvisor.com’s new 2010 Dirtiest Hotels list tells you exactly where. The site put together a Dirtiest Hotels list for the fifth year, but it’s the first time that it included a Top 10 (er, Bottom 10) specifically for Canada, and two of the worst places — according to TripAdvisor user ratings — are located at Niagara Falls.

The popular tourist site is home to the worst spot on the list, a motel which customers have called “the worst of the worst,” and an “embarrassing dump.” One user reported “Blood in the bedding, spatter across the walls, carpet saturated with black filth, empty beer bottles piled outside the door, discarded rotting furniture at the bottom of the stairs, disgusting odour.”

To see the complete list of TripAdvisor’s Dirtiest Hotels in Canada, click here.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous picks:
10. Andrew “Test” Martin
9. John “Earthquake” Tenta

8: Lance Storm
Height: 6’
Weight: 228 lbs.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta
Greatest Match: Lance Storm vs. Edge – SummerSlam 2001

My buddy Mike likes to hit me with random questions every now and then. Nothing too heavy, just the kind of questions Gordie would ask Vern around the campfire in “Stand by Me.”

Who’d win in a fight between Mighty Mouse and Superman? Where were they going in the show “Wagon Train?” What the hell is Goofy?

The one that always stuck with me was: If you had to give up either pork or chicken for the rest of your life, which would it be?

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Upon first hearing this question, I reasoned that I eat chicken far more often than I eat pork, so I’d probably choose to stop eating pork.

Mike countered by saying, “Chicken is always good, but pork has more potential to be great.”

What does this have to do with Canadian wrestlers? Well, I’ll tell you…

Lance Storm is chicken.

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OK, let me rephrase that so I don’t have a super kick waiting for me from an angry retired wrestler. Lance Storm was a consistently good wrestler, I don’t recall ever seeing him have an off match. But, he was rarely great.

You could argue that Lance Storm wasn’t given the opportunity to be great. For as technically sound as his matches were (and Lance’s work was second to none) he was never truly given a sustained push or a super-heated feud.

I think that’s a shame, as when he was given the ball during the dying days of WCW he definitely ran with it. For those of you who weren’t following WCW during 2000, (and there weren’t many of us) Storm managed to win the U.S. Championship, the Hardcore Championship, and the Cruiserweight Championship in a little over two weeks.

Fun Fact: In the storylines, Storm renamed those titles the Canadian Heavyweight Championship, the 100-kg-and-Under Championship, and the Saskatchewan Hardcore International Title.

Even the bizarre booking of his match against Mike Awesome at New Blood Rising (Lance was booked to drop several falls in front of his hometown crowd) and the adding of American “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan to his Team Canada stable wasn’t enough to truly derail him.

By the time WCW folded in the spring of 2001, Storm was still one of the organization’s top heels and was one of the bigger names that made the transition to WWE in the Invasion storyline.

Unfortunately after a brief reign as Intercontinental Champion, he spent the majority of his time in tag teams with Shane “Hurricane” Helms, Christian, and William Regal and never again had the opportunity to break through to the upper level.

After Mike’s good vs. great answer to the chicken vs. pork question I changed my initial decision. It’s always nice to have the good, but you truly appreciate the great. Lance Storm is the best of the chicken, the next seven Canadians you’ll see on this list are pork.

And Goofy is a dog.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.

By Gordon Holmes
Special to Canadian of the Week

From Alberta’s Hart Family to Quebec’s Rougeau Brothers to Ontario’s Edge and Christian, the tradition of Canadian wrestling is full of larger-than-life personalities and unforgettable matches. Join us every week as we count down to Wrestlemania XXVI by taking a look at the Great White North’s finest contributions to the squared circle.

Editor’s Note: The “Modern Era” is defined as the period of wrestling that exists from
SummerSlam 1988 to the present day. Why 1988? Because that’s when I started watching wrestling. I know, I’m lame.

Previous pick: 10. Andrew “Test” Martin

9: John “Earthquake” Tenta
Height: 6’7”
Weight: 462 lbs.
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
Greatest Match: Earthquake vs. Hulk Hogan – SummerSlam 90

Wrestling was better when it was real.

Editor’s Note: Yes, I’m aware wrestling hasn’t been an actual competition since the days when Frank Gotch would hold a kangaroo in a headlock for 12 hours.

But to me, there was a time when wrestling was an actual contest. There was a time when Hulk Hogan overcame amazing odds because he fed off the power of his Hulkamaniacs and stayed true to his three demandments. And there was a time when the diabolical Earthquake had killed Hulk Hogan dead on “The Brother Love Show.”

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Now I know wrestling is two fine athletes working together to put on a complex show…like figure skating.

Now I know Hulk Hogan always won because he sold tickets.

And now I know that John “Earthquake” Tenta was just one in a long line of super huge wrestlers brought along so Hulk Hogan would have someone impressive to body slam.

But man, there was a time when the Earthquake (originally billed as “Canadian Earthquake) scared the crap out of me.

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In his very first appearance he squashed the Ultimate Warrior like a bug. Later that summer he blindsided Hulk Hogan and delivered Earthquake Splashes so devastating that the only way to bring the Hulkster back to life was by brandishing a “Get Well, Hulkster” bracelet.

Don’t judge me.

And then, in the lead up to the big Hogan vs. Earthquake grudge match at SummerSlam 90, he splashed the Tugboat (no pun intended) into oblivion.

But I wasn’t worried. We’d seen it a hundred times before. Hogan is attacked by a guy twice his size, Hogan kicks out of the villain’s biggest move, Hogan emerges victorious. Lather, rinse, repeat.

So, you could image the look on this young mark’s face when Hogan wasn’t able to get the job done. Sure, Hogan had his hand raised that night in the Philadelphia Spectrum, but it was only by countout.

In hindsight, I doubt I’d like Earthquake very much if he came on the scene today. Don’t get me wrong, he was very mobile for a big guy, but you watch wrestling with different eyes once you’ve seen behind the curtain. The fear for the well being of the good guy is impossible to capture once you know they’re both headed out to Cracker Barrel after the show.

But when I was a kid? The Earthquake was awesome.

Gordon Holmes is the wrestling correspondent for Comcast.net’s SlamCast wrestling coverage and the “Survivor” correspondent for Fancast.com. He was also trained to take a beating by WWE Hall of Famer Afa “The Wild Samoan” Anoa’i. You can follow Gordon on Twitter at twitter.com/gordonholmes.