Trio (or TRIO) was an American cable and satellite television channel. The network was originally owned and operated jointly by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Power Broadcasting Inc. (a subsidiary of Power Corporation of Canada) as a venue for airing the CBC's arts, culture and entertainment programming in the U.S. It was sold to USA Networks in 2000, and was subsequently transferred to Vivendi Universal and later NBC Universal. With the slogan, "pop, culture, TV," Trio programming under Vivendi/NBC Universal ownership focused on television as a cultural tool and artform. In January 2005, DIRECTV dropped Trio, eliminating about two-thirds of the homes that could receive the network. On November 21, 2005, NBC Universal announced that the Trio brand would be transferred to a broadband initiative under the Bravotv.com banner on January 1, 2006. Cable and satellite providers still carrying Trio were offered a new NBC Universal cable channel instead, Sleuth.
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Notable Trio programs (Vivendi/NBC Universal ownership)
Original
- The N-Word, Peabody Award-winning documentary starring Whoopi Goldberg, Samuel L. Jackson and many other African American celebrities discussing the origin and power of the n-word
- The Awards Show Awards Show, examination of America's obsession with awards
- The Christmas Special Christmas Special
- Film Fanatic, cinema, hosted by Amy Sedaris
Reruns
- Battle of the Network Stars
- The Dame Edna Experience
- EGG, the Arts Show
- Judy Garland Show Christmas Special
- Kath & Kim
- Late Night with David Letterman
- Once Upon a Hamster
- Queen for a Day
- Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
- Sessions at West 54th
- Young People's Concerts
Brilliant But Cancelled
This was the umbrella title under which Trio aired repeats of series that had very short lives on mainstream broadcast television, yet were still considered to be programming that "broke the mold" of what was normally expected from the "Big Three" networks. Series that appeared under the Brilliant But Cancelled umbrella included:
- Action
- Bakersfield P.D.
- Brideshead Revisited (the only one of the programs that was not a cancelled series; this was a miniseries adaptation of the famous novel)
- East Side/West Side
- EZ Streets
- Fargo
- God, the Devil and Bob
- Johnny Staccato
- Kolchak: The Night Stalker
- Lookwell(also not a cancelled series; this was a pilot that was not picked up. Only one episode was made.)
- Now and Again
- Profit
- The PJs
Brilliant But Cancelled was later used by Universal as a title for a series of DVDs that feature samples of short-lived series. Two of these have been released so far -- one of these a sampler of short-lived crime drama series; another was selected episodes of EZ Streets. Brilliant But Cancelled lives on as a website, BrilliantButCancelled.com.
Flops
Special airing of shows that flopped.
