Tag Archives: The Stanley Dynamic

The Stanley Dynamic Returns to YTV with New Season Beginning February 27

From a media release:

YTV’s  original  series, The Stanley Dynamic, is back with an all-new season (26 x 30) of hilarious adventures airing Monday to Friday at 6 p.m. ET/PT starting February 27, 2017.

In Season 2, twins Luke (voiced by Taylor Abrahamse, George of the Jungle, Beyblade: Metal Fusion) and Larry (Charles Vandervaart, Murdoch Mysteries, Camp Rock 2) are navigating their sophomore year at South Ridge High School. Try as they might, boys will be boys, and the pair find themselves in constant trouble. Luke survives a shark attack, goes undercover as a secret agent, and is nearly launched to the moon. Larry becomes a rodeo clown, starts up an uber-successful ice-cream/skateboard company, and finds himself caught between his best friend Darnell (Isiah Lea, Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool) and Darnell’s cute sister Mina (Tamina Pollack-Paris, The Next Step). Meanwhile, their sister Lori (2016 Canadian Screen Award-nominee Madison Ferguson, Bellevue, The Shape of Water) falls for a new cartoon puppy, gets locked in a magic chest, and befriends a rebellious kid named Razor. All this, and Grandpa (guest star Michael Gross, Family Ties) comes back for an extended visit.

Other special guest stars for Season 2 include, Alan Thicke (Growing Pains) as himself, Jaleel White (Family Matters) as Principal Webber, David Hewlett (Stargate: Atlantis) as the Astronaut, Geri Hall (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) as Barb Dewhurst, Matt Baram (Shoot the Messenger) as Kale, Pat Thornton (Air Farce, Sunnyside) as the Exterminator, and Charlie Storwick (winner of The Next Star Season 4) as herself.

Recently nominated for a 2017 Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing in a Children’s or Youth Program or Series and a finalist at the 2016 Cynopsis Kids !magination Awards for Best New Series, The Stanley Dynamic is a 26-episode, half-hour, live action sitcom revolving around a typical family with a big twist – one of their teenaged twin sons is animated. But in the eyes of the Stanleys and the world around them, he’s a regular kid, living in a three-dimensional world.

The series also stars Michael Barbuto (Star Spangled Banners, Ash Global) as cartoonist dad Lane Stanley who chronicles his family’s adventures in his comic strip and Kate Hewlett (Remedy, Degrassi: The Next Generation) as overworked mom, Lisa Stanley. Rounding out the cast are Josette Jorge (The Beaverton, Beyond Redemption) as Pam, Bill Turnbull (Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Home Alone: Holiday Heist) as Doop, Isiah Lea (In Real Life, Bruno & Boots: Go Jump in the Pool) as Darnell, Graeme Jokic (Franklin and Friends, Adam Avenger) as Ronnie, Eliana Jones (Hemlock Grove, Nikita) as Summer, Natalie Ganzhorn (Make It Pop, Wet Bum) as Morgan, and introducing Tamina Pollack-Paris (The Next Step, So You Think You Can Dance Canada) as Darnell’s younger sister, Mina.

Shot in Toronto, The Stanley Dynamic is produced by Amaze Film + Television Inc., in association with YTV. Animation is produced by 9 Story Media Group. The series is co-created by Ken Cuperus, nominated for a 2017 Canadian Screen Award for his writing on The Stanley Dynamic, Jocelyn Hamilton and Jamie Piekarz. Cuperus (Stargate: Atlantis, My Babysitter’s a Vampire) is executive producer/showrunner with Michael Souther (Being Canada, Call Me Fitz) and Teza Lawrence (Being Canada, Call Me Fitz) also serving as executive producers. Victoria Hirst (Away from Her, Mr. Young) is producer. The series is distributed by Nelvana Enterprises.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail

Groundbreaking Stanley Dynamic bounds onto YTV

Acceptance of others is a common theme in family programming, but The Stanley Dynamic certainly breaks new ground in the way it’s done. Debuting Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on YTV, the live action series boasts a two-dimensional star: Luke Stanley, an animated 14-year-old who interacts with his three-dimensional family and world.

“This is a gentle nod to inclusion, diversity and acceptance,” says Michael Souther, co-founder of Amaze Film + Television, the show’s production company. “No one bats an eye at Luke. He is one of the family, he’s at school, he has crushes, but he’s different. And no one focuses on his difference.” At least, not in a negative way. There are plenty of positives to having an animated kid around: his twin brother, Larry (Charles Vandervaart, Murdoch Mysteries), appreciates the fact his sibling can stretch out his arms to reach the cookie jar on a faraway shelf.

Amaze is most recently known for producing four seasons of the ribald, adult comedy Call Me Fitz. Souther says he was interested in creating a family show that was different from everything already in the genre. They quickly settled on a new approach, combining animation with live action in a multi-camera series. With co-creator Ken Cuperus (Mr. Young) on board, Souther says the 26-episode first season is consistently entertaining.

It hasn’t been easy from a production standpoint. Taylor Abrahamse (Beyblade: Metal Fusion), who voices Luke, rehearsed and did initial takes with his TV family—cartoonist dad, Lane, (Michael Barbuto, Banner 4th of July), who chronicles the family’s adventures in his online comic strip, “The Stanley Dynamic”; mom Lisa (Kate Hewlett (Remedy); Larry; and bug-obsessed, genius sister Lori (Madison Ferguson)—before stepping off-stage during real takes. The next process involved inserting Luke’s action into scenes—in Thursday’s debut he squishes himself into a high school locker and is squeezed in a group hug—a time-consuming gig that is keeping Cuperus busy long after cameras stopped rolling.

The result is astounding: Luke has shadows behind him, makes eye contact with his co-stars and fits seamlessly into the world around him. Just like he’s supposed to.

The Stanley Dynamic airs Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on YTV.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail