User Reviews

Imagine a really bad idea for a TV show as dreamed up by Guy Caballero ("it's like "The Young and the Restless, but on wheels!") and you've got Train 48. The actors are okay (except for the ones playing Johnny and Brenda who ham it up way too much), but they can only do so much with the ludicrous material. The show might have worked better if the script had stuck to chit chat about current events. But by the time the second season rolled around there wasn't a character who hadn't been beaten up/stabbed/shot/deported/abused by her father/duped by a transsexual.....

Anyway, I read that the idea for the show come from a similar program aired in Sydney, so blame Australia.

I can't sit through this show because it lacks story structure, drama, action...all the key elements of film and television. It's like a poor soap opera with absolutely nothing going on. While it is symptomatic of the times to see such a cost-saving television project, this show seems to be created without regard for compelling story telling. As a viewer, it is worse than a waste of my time, it doesn't even deserve my consideration. Furthermore, the acting and video/broadcast quality is very low.

I watched this show with my parents. They shot each other shortly after the opening 5 minutes of this show. And I was planning to shoot myself too, but they hogged all the bullets. If there is anyone that reads this and that was in the show, you should follow my parents example and shoot yourself. Or someone might throw you into a train. But I feel bad for you because there's no chance you'll ever get a job in the acting field again, not that anyone watched this sh*tty show for that matter. Well anyways the show was a f*cking disaster on wheels, and if you plan on watching this show, make sure you have a gun, or a balcony, or a noose or something. Thanks for reading.

This is one of the worst Canadian comedy TV series ever produced. I just reviews The Toronto Show which I think had the same problem as this show. They were trying to make a TV show every single day but probably only had a very tiny Canadian budget so they could not do it or at least not do it well. This show had characters on a train into the city every morning and it was half improvised so that right there should tell you how bad this show was. The writing was the worst but the actors also could not pull it off. The characters were annoying and just plain dull. I can't believe it was on TV for more than a couple episodes but again I'm sure it helped that it was the same hour of TV every day that probably cost next to nothing to make.

This show was a complete train wreck (pun intended). I don't know what they were even thinking when they made this. Several actors from the most iffy form of comedy in the world, improv, were put on an urban Toronto train every morning to get to work etc, and they would have stories and improvise through their dialogue and situations. It was unsurprisingly never good or funny, and also failed at being compelling or dramatic. Just a full hour of complete boredom and failure every day. I give it 2 instead of 1 because they obviously had a budget of about fifty cents a day to work with and the actors clearly had no scripts or anything so it must have been a difficult job. Especially when they had to know going to work every day that they were associated with such a cheap and amateur piece of televised garbage.

Talk about getting the most bang for your entertainment buck. LOW budget? Try NO budget! Looked like it was videotaped inside an authentic GO Train and the actors often seemed like they are actual commuters. The first time I saw it, I had to ask if this was a real thing, or if these people were actors. The producers got not only the effect they wished by doing it this way, but saved them a trainload of toonies.

Overall, I was amazed they made the idea work as well as it did and I thought Train 48 was largely successful in its goal of portraying a realistic view of southern Ontario commuters. My favorite shows were the ones with comedian Gary Pearson, but the entire cast did a great job of doing improv, with a skeleton script. And then again, I am still waiting for the DVD release of Global Television's "Night Ride" series from the 1990s.

This was a Canadian gem! Was it low budget? Yes. Did we care? Not at all. It was quite a unique idea to film a show in the morning and then have it air on television that same evening. The characters talked about whatever was in the news the day before and then tied it into the various character plot lines. Pretty innovative! I had never watched anything like it before. The production quality was low but some of the performances were great plus they had Canadian icons on the show from time to time as guest stars. Politicians too. The actors all improvised their dialogue and because they intertwined real daily news with the storylines, it felt like these were real people riding the train. I know of some folks who thought this was a reality show. It was ahead of it's time and fun to come home and watch. I see it airing on Amazon Prime now. Way to go, nananananana Train!

I tried to watch this show. I tried to enjoy it. I watched it for a month and a half, followed the characters, never missed an episode... but I just couldn't take it.

The previews made the show seem like a reality TV show where they just filmed people on a subway, which would have been an amazing idea... but apparently the creators thought TV needed another tacky sitcom.

I saw another episode recently, and I was amazed at how little the show had moved since I left it a couple years before. This show is humiliating to Canadian TV. Before considering watching this, try a better Canadian show, like SCTV, Red Green, or Kids in the Hall.

Train 48 was incredibly boring. People doing bad improvisation and trying to be dramatic or funny or even worse dramatic and funny at the same time. I don't understand how a show this boring and poorly produced could ever make it onto TV, they didn't even have a writer for crying out loud! Actually I do understand they did it because it was incredibly cheap and a Canadian produced TV show. It doesn't matter that it was horrible and boring it just mattered that it was produced in Canada and gave money to some bad Canadian directors/writers/actors/producers. Then the show finally gets canned and they move on to the next horrible Canadian produced show that has no hope of success and no hope of finding an audience that actually would want to watch it. It was on every day and must have taken about three minutes to write. The problem is when you don't have much going on and you let all these actors "improvise" all their lines you end up with pointless scenery chewing and overly dramatic scenes that nobody wants or needs to see just to fill in the extra time.

It's a shame. Canada produces some very biting programming, but don't look for any originality, cleverness or interest on this show. The premise is simple, a bunch of passengers interact (i.e. talk) while taking a commuter train. The writing attempts to provide a mix of social commentary and ordinary nonsense dialogue (as in Seinfeld) but strives only to highlight uninspired script shortcomings (Hello? Character stakes/goals? Story arcs?) The actors are not bad, but they suffer from inferior lines and direction (this is television, not a play, hence the urgent need for NUANCE.) If I were stuck on a train with these people, I would tune out--which is exactly what I do when I see this playing on TV.

Why do so many shows have to be awful? Especially when you are talking about Canadian comedy shows, not that I would even consider this show to be anything even approaching actual "comedy". Train 48 was just pathetic on every level, with cheap production, no name talent, one single cheap set, and not even a script but having the untalented cast improvise their parts for the shows. It was simply put incredibly painful to watch this pathetic show. Plus it somehow lasted more than one season. What, how on earth could that happen? I have never met a single person who doesn't hate this show, and I don't mean "doesn't watch" or "doesn't like" I mean "Hates" with a capital H. This show is awful. Who are these people and how do they get on TV?

I remember this show but I am positively definitely not at all glad that I do remember it because it sucked.

Train 48 was an awful daily show with some of the worst story lines and acting I have ever sat through in my life.

I saw it from the first episode and tried to get into it (it was kind of like a soap opera) and I desperately wanted to like it because there are not very many good Canadian TV shows especially comedy wise so I pulled for it but after three weeks I was done, I couldn't sit through another minute of it.

You'd think after that long I'd be hooked on a story line or something but no it just sucked that much and I hated it. The writing was just terrible, even though it was mostly improvized on the spot apparently still they write the stories they don't just make everything up, and it was very bad.

I tried watching again the second season but it had not gotten any better, it was a really awful show.

A group of strangers converse on a train in the Southern Ontario area, discussing their lives, loves and dreams.

Some people hate this show. Some don't. I belong to the latter crowd, but I can see how it can be seen as an unlikable show. I think it has some very strong, good episodes. The earlier ones are not very good, but that's because the actors are getting used to the improv formula, now the actors have it down to a fine science. It's really getting good and dramatic, still having its humorous moments, especially with the character Johnny. The show is sometimes derailed (no pun intended) by its own actors though, through no fault of their own. Once in a while the writers who write the outline of the show, and make the actors act it out should write a complete script; but then again the show's uniqueness is in the improv formula. A double edged-sword.

3/5

This show is great you, a bit like heroin, you need a fix every day, and you get that fix everyday cause the show is filmed in the mornings and shown at 7:00 everyday of the week. Its innovative and extremely Canadian, the characters are fresh and funny. You'll fall in love with some of them and love to hate others. All and all it's worth every minute.

Train 48 is getting the kind of critical acclaim in it's home country of canada which is normally reserved for Atom Egoyan and kids in the hall and hockey. This would be understandable if it was coming only from The National Post. But even the Toronto Star is calling this train wreck a piece of " wonder and awe and melding of genre's of drama and documentary and reality tv". It certainly is not. anyone who remember's Fred Silverman's greatest folly "SuperTrain" will remember the unholy wreck of metal and flesh he unleashed unto the world. If only Train 48 we're so memorable. If riding the commuter train we're this exciting and full of naked female sexual lesbian libido everyone would be riding the Go train instead of wasting money getting women drunk for one night stands at singles bars. This train wreck should only last as long as one night. I wish. This is one train ride i think i'll pass. this is one izzy asper finger to the canadian people that everyone should finger back to the right wing of Global and the national post. this is one time we should stand up and be counted.

This is one of the best Canadian made shows since Degrassi. It is produced the same day that it airs, if you look at the newspaper they are reading it is from that day. It is both a very funny,and dramatic show. The character Johnny alone is worth watching. Some people complain about the production values, but I think it fits what they are going for perfected. It is half scripted and half ad-libbed and that makes the show have a sense of realism. The characters are easy to get attached to, and if you watch just a couple of episodes, you'll be hooked just like I was.

I watch this show everyday because it is interesting. It's a GREAT concept but the opening song HAS to go. Also the acting could be a bit better. And who else here cannot stand that Brenda woman? AH! But Zach is cute. Anywho I think it has potential but if it doesnt improve some of its weak points I think it may be cancelled.

Train 48 is a concept show. The entire program is ad libbed by the actors from a rough outline given to them by the producers. The show revolves around a set of unique commuters on a train from Toronto to Burlington. The show is taped each afternoon of the evening performance so the show is topical and up to date. The show needs a couple viewing to truly grow on you. Once you get to know the people and get over the hard to swallow concept that these people would actually become so involved with one another when all they share is a train ride home, the show becomes real fun.

they plugged this show like nobody's business before it came out, and of course i got sorta interested... so i watched it. it kind of drew me in- the interweaving plotlines, the conflicts, the references to the top subjects of the day. it was great. and the characters are so unique... like johnny, brenda, pete, randy.... my favourite [and i'm sorry to admit, one of the reasons i watched it in the first place..] is zach.

anyways, the show can get sort of monotonous at times, but overall it's really quite good.

While I was visiting in Ontario, I happened to watch Train 48.

Loved it. I can hardly wait for it to come out on DVD, it would be great to have the series.

I found the humor amusing and the acting real. I got caught up in the lives of the train riders. I found their experiences something I could relate too and found it humorous. Dry humor, very Canadian.

I liked the show so much, I tried to get Canadian TV here in Tucson, of course it didn't work.

I'm just waiting for it to be released.

I've NEVER watched an entire episode of a soap opera, so I wasn't expecting to like Train 48. Yet I caught snippets of it while channel-surfing and eventually got drawn in. The two characters responsible for that were "Randy" (a nerd's nerd) and (believe it or not) "Brenda". (I hadn't seen "Johnny", but if I had I would have tuned in earlier.)

I'm amazed by the negative comments posted here about Train 48. The show is more difficult to write and act in than a typical soap opera because it has to reference the day's news. Yes, they just tuck in a minute or two for that, but that's on top of the already difficult challenge of putting on a soap opera. That is to say, the writers and actors never get enough time to carefully hone their craft. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the script changes are written on paper napkins. Considering the pressure, I think the writers and actors do a fine job.

I do agree that they could use a new theme song. The "Na, na, na, na, nah-nah traaain" song doesn't have much in the way of lyrics. Maybe it was hastily scribbled on a paper napkin.

Nothing too memorable come award time, but something that's different enough to pique my interest.

How many times have you sat on the train at night on the way home wondering what other people were talking about.

I'm also a big fan of the Canadian shows that manage to find actors to play their parts so real. I understand part of it is improv even? No melodrama.

Begrudginly, Canada often produces horrible shows. (At no fault of their own I belive) But Train 48 is an exception. Set on a Torontioan train, Train 48 follows the lives of 10 regular passagers. Maybe the fact that it's half script half improv or that their conversations are oh so Canadian, but something is truly addictive about Train 48, you can easily find your self getting into the problems of the charaters, even forming opinions of them.

If you want to see something you can proudly call Canadian, get on the Train