Hot in Cleveland heads to Ontario

The cast of Hot in Cleveland. From left, Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves. (Peter Kramer/Associated Press)

Forget beavers, Mounties and maple syrup -- Canada's newest stereotype may be our tolerant stance towards same-sex marriage, as evidenced in tonight's season finale of the sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

In homage to The Hangover, the episode focuses on a bachelorette party gone horribly awry as Elka (Betty White) prepares for her upcoming nuptials. Her three roommates Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli), Joy (Jane Leeves) and Victoria (Wendie Malick) throw the senior citizen bride a raging bash only to awaken with no recollection whatsoever of the night's events, including a voyage north of the border.

"Joy and Victoria find out that they both got married to each other the night before in a wedding ceremony performed on Canadian soil - Ontario," according to a CTV press release. No word on whether the scene was actually filmed in Canada's most populous province but the shout-out is much appreciated.

It's nice to see an American sitcom that, on paper, at least, does not fall into the all-too-familiar trappings of a typical visit to Canada. There was widespread disappointment among Canadian fans when The Simpsons much-hyped visit to Toronto in 2002 turned out to be not much more than a few jokes about beer, free health care and curling.

Hopefully, the Hot in Cleveland finale will be able to rise above typical Canadian stereotypes.

The episode airs on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. on CTV.

-- Ryan Charkow