CALGARY– In a well-known trope for residents of Canada’s most put-upon province, Albertans reacted to this week’s news that HBO’s The Last of Us is moving production to Vancouver by claiming they never liked the show, couldn’t see what the big deal was, and frankly just never cared.
“It’s just a TV show, big whoop,” claimed Kenneth Thurman, former proprietor of the Instagram account “LastofUsAlta”, which had become popular for showing the real-world locations where various scenes had been filmed. “I don’t think anyone will notice that it’s gone.”
Likewise, the province’s tourism board, which celebrated the apocalyptic drama in their recent annual review and hosted watch parties for new episodes, said that no one cares and there’s no reason to make a big deal out of it and really it’s only you people in Toronto who think about this stuff.
University of Calgary psychologist Kendra Evans gave some insight into the Mass Deflection Event. “You need to remember, this is a province full of people that actually convinced themselves that Jimmy Carson was a better hockey player than Wayne Gretzky after Gretzky left for L.A. in ’88. We come by this honestly.”
Ex-fans of the show like Mr. Thurman are ready to move on. “I rebranded the account so it’s about higher-quality shows that are still made here. You know that show Heartland? It’s on CBC or maybe CTV? That’s a proper television program,” he said, staring out a window at the rain until our reporter ended the interview.
Meanwhile in Vancouver, reaction to the news was mixed. “I wasn’t excited by the project at first,” said school teacher Mary Ford. “But when I found out Alberta couldn’t have it anymore, and that they were sad about it? I got onboard real quick.”
