When I first clicked on “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal” on Prime Video, my initial reaction was, “Ugh.”

Great, another 90-minute documentary that’s been padded needlessly into a limited series because that’s the format that seems to attract the most eyeballs in the streaming era.

In this case, “No Dress Rehearsal” is worthy of its four-hour running time. If anything, it left me wanting a little more.

If you don’t know who or what The Tragically Hip is, you’re not alone, at least not in the United States.

However, in Canada, the rock band was huge and beloved, in part because they embraced their Canadian-ness. They sang about their country’s history without worrying whether audiences outside of the Great White North got the references. All five members — Gord Downie, lead singer; Paul Langlois and Rob Baker, guitars; Gord Sinclair, bass; and Johnny Fay, drums — stayed in Canada. Most of them remained in Kingston, Ontario, the town where they started the band as teenagers. They were fiercely loyal to their country, at least once when it might have been commercially disadvantageous, as the docuseries reveals.

When a country is adjacent to a world’s largest exporter of popular culture, the natural tendency of performers (and the demand of their management and record label) is to try to cross over, but that unique voice is why The Tragically Hip is distinctive.

It’s not as if the band didn’t have some success in the States. According to setlist.fm, The Tragically Hip played Cleveland at least 15 times, mostly at The Odeon or House of Blues but once headlining at Nautica Stage, and it played comparable venues in many major U.S. markets.

That’s a level of accomplishment that most performers can’t fathom, but when you sell out hockey arenas that hold 15,000 people across the Canadian tundra and then play for a 1,000 or so folks just a few hours and a border away, it makes “Why do you think you never broke through in the United States?” a question that is asked in every single interview.

It’s a story that will resonate with Mahoning Valley fans of the Michael Stanley Band or The Clarks, two bands that had similar arcs, albeit on a much smaller scale.

The first three installments of “No Dress Rehearsal” follow the familiar beats of a “Behind the Music” episode — the formation, the early struggles, the first taste of success, the creative tensions, the solo project, the career missteps, etc.

But the group’s impact in its homeland, told by some of their famous fans (such as actors Dan Aykroyd, Will Arnett, Bruce McCullough and Jay Baruschel) gives the story a unique wrinkle, and tthe length allows for more nuance than these tales normally get. There also is an abundance of footage available, both live performances and behind-the-scenes video, to illuminate the story.

Then comes episode four, which is devastating for longtime fans of the band and wrenching for those who just spent three hours immersed in its history.

Much of the band’s appeal came from its poetic frontman, who was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor in late 2015. Instead of withering away in private, Downie and the band embarked on a final tour in 2016, culminating with a show in the band’s hometown of Kingston.

Watching Downie and the band prepare for that tour, particularly with Downie dealing with a tumor that was affecting his memory for things like song lyrics, was both touching and fascinating. The guy who was grumbling about this show being four hours long was wishing director Mike Downie (Gord’s brother) had included more footage from those final concerts.

It’s hard to imagine any American musician getting the teary eyed public statement from a U.S. President that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered following Downie’s death.

I certainly wasn’t a big Tragically Hip fan. About 32 years ago, I was sent a promo copy of the band’s third album, “Fully Completely,” on CD at work. I liked it. Played it several times. Still have it. But it’s the only album of theirs I own, and I never saw the band live.

But those who give “No Dress Rehearsal” a chance are likely to do what I did when it was over — check to see what’s available for streaming (just about everything) and what available on vinyl (quite a lot). It will make you a fan, one that wishes he’d gone to one of those Cleveland shows.

Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com