By Diane Wild of TV, eh?
After the forced defection of Murdoch Mysteries to CBC, City debuts its first scripted series in ages on Monday. Seed has enough comedic and storytelling confidence to signal hope for the network’s recent rebrand and its upcoming series such as Package Deal and Mother Up. It’s also the first new Canadian show in a while that’s compelled me to add it to my regular viewing list after viewing the first two episodes.
But before I put too much weight of a network and an entire industry on one enjoyable series, I spoke to Toronto born-and-bred Seed star Adam Korson about the emotional appeal of a potentially prurient premise.
Korson plays Harry, a charming and manipulative bartender whose longest relationship seems to be with a sperm bank. Seed‘s premiere, “Ill Conceived,” has Harry meeting a couple of the fruits of his labours: nine-year-old Billy and 15-year-old Anastasia, and the families who reluctantly let him into their lives.
“At the root of it all it’s about a family, a group of strangers who come together to form a family, and what’s your responsibility as a parent to your child,” said Korson.
“The topic could lend itself to potty humour but it’s really not. Joseph Raso, Mark Farrell, and all the other writers make sure it has heart. They push the envelope with the humour but there are stories, there are relationships, you really get invested in these characters. It’s grounded.”
It’s also laugh-out-loud funny, including a great turn by Carrie-Lynn Neales as Rose, a single woman ready to have a child on her own who sees Harry as a potential one-night-stand sperm donor.
Korson was drawn to acting after a grade 7 assignment to give a presentation on the life of an explorer. “In my mind I took that as ‘do a one-man show,’ so I picked Christopher Columbus and did a one-man show on his life. I got perfect on the assignment which was nice, but getting the response from my classmates like that it was like a drug. That was it for me.”
He’s seen some initial audience reaction to his latest production — the Seed pilot was released online a week prior to its television premiere — and is gratified at the response already. Soon he and the network will see if Seed takes root with a larger audience.
Seed premieres Monday, February 4 on City.
