Marc Thibeault This show wasn't very good, and wasn't funny or well written or well acted. I was quite disappointed. Maybe expectations were too high?

Malina Dock jPod is the only show that's caught my fancy in years. Based on the novel by Douglas Coupland, its intelligent, edgy characters make you crave more. The show truly sucks you in and makes you feel as though you're a part of that zany, geeky world.jPod centers around a group of young computer programmers creating a computer game called Board X:a gory skateboarding game featuring Dwight the turtle as it's hero. The personal lives of the "podsters" are intertwined with work life providing for some hilarious adventures. Unfortunately, CBC has just decided to cancel the show. I feel as though I'm loosing a group of friends. Watch it though to increase the ratings and we'll see if we can save jPod. I promise you'll like it!

kabojnk First off, some other comments seem to miss some key ideas behind the show. First off, the "lack of originality" alluding to various parallel plot devices in the movie "Everything's Gone Green" is misconceived. jPod was released as a novel prior to said movie, so the apparent lack of originality in the series seems more of a reflection of poor timing when optioning a book for a series right after making a movie that uses similar elements from the book.As for the series itself, I find it far more enjoyable than the actual novel jPod, mainly because the novel donned the mantle of its predecessor, Microserfs, which differed quite a lot. While the characters seemed annoying and almost purposeless in jPod as a book, which may or may not have been an attempt to contrast the world of 1995 (Microserfs) to the world of today in the tech industry, the characters nonetheless come across as entertaining on television. When I watch the show I no longer try to correlate jPod to Microserfs, and I therefore lose the biggest hangup I had about jPod.The plots that occur in each episode are absurdly unrealistic, even for Douglas Coupland who manages to weave together great tapestries in his novels revolving around chance, coincidence, and philosophical insights into mundane objects and foods. But as long as someone isn't looking for a plausible story in each episode, it will be far easier to enjoy the series. I'd hate to really toss out such a misnomer, but this show is probably the best example I can think of for a great situational comedy that doesn't revolve around the same old characters who live in the same drab world and fall victim to the same cliché'd plot lines.Whether or not there is a sense of verisimilitude in the reflection of the game industry is somewhat irrelevant to me as I am not in the industry. But considering I've known people who have worked at Electronic Arts (they're all disgruntled ex-employees) can attest to similar working conditions of being pieces of a massive company that takes pleasure in overworking and underappreciating their employees--which easily reflects in their turnover rate. As for the interactions between the actual co-workers in the Pod, I doubt it's realistic but how entertaining is an average day working for a video game company? Even if the characters aren't believable employees I think they fit the role quite well for what's needed to be translated to television.While this review is poorly written and disheveled, I maintain that this is an excellent series to try watching if you enjoyed Coupland's books, or the movie "Wonderboys" (or the book it was based on by Michael Chabon), or just happen to enjoy an entertaining movie that brings almost a Seinfeld-like attention to some of the things and situations in life that most of us overlook or don't even think about.

Jason Birring Douglas Coupland's TV show jPod has the potential to be a hit, because of the interesting plot developments, and the chance for the characters to become more deep and realistic. Currently, the characters in the TV series seem too exaggerated, especially the Cancer Cowboy and Steve. However, I think that the show will get better, the pilot was maybe a 5/10 with a couple of genuinely amusing moments, but the second episode was at least a 7/10, because of the refugees.However, much has been lost in the transformation of the funny and original novel to a relatively mainstream TV show, and the acting is mediocre at best.We can only hope that Coupland takes charge and has more input in production of later episodes, because right now it seems a little watered down.