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Preview: CBC’s Cavendish brings the weird and wonderful

“That’s a weird show, man.” Mark Little says that during an ad for Cavendish on CBC. And though it’s not clear which show he’s talking about as he looks at a television set, the inference is he’s talking about Cavendish. And he’s not wrong.

Premiering Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. on CBC, Cavendish is weird and wonderful, second only to Crawford in its strangeness, creativity and difference from the rest of the network’s winter lineup.

Created, executive produced, showrun and starring Little and Andrew Bush (Carter‘s Garry Campbell is credited as a creator too), the pair play Mark and Andy, brothers who have spent the decades following their parent’s divorce living with their mother in Toronto. Now the pair has returned to Cavendish, PEI, to care for their ailing dad, Rollie (Kevin Eldon), and reacquaint themselves with the community they left behind. (Look for Kathryn Greenwood, Kevin Hanchard, Joe Cobden, Teresa Pavlinek and Carolyn Taylor in Season 1.)

Little is probably best-known for playing Simon Hunt on Mr. D, but he and Bush have extensive backgrounds in writing and performing sketch. These skills are the bread and butter of Cavendish, which begins in Tuesday’s debut with Andy and Mark driving to the red-soiled province. It’s obvious within seconds the personalities at play here; Mark is innocent and looks on the bright side of things while Andy is quiet, morose and to many townsfolk, forgettable. This Ying and Yang results in plenty of funny moments, from Mark wondering if they’ll be able to converse with their Dad or if he’ll be “a husk,” and arguing over Andy’s high forehead.

Oddities rule the day in Cavendish, from the stuffed baby deer, fetus in a jar and sarcophagus—all pieces in their father’s home—to the beast living in the forest that emerges once a year to consume someone and an Anne of Green Gables cult. Yes, Cavendish isn’t like other towns. And Cavendish isn’t like other series.

Cavendish airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on CBC and CBC Gem.

Image courtesy of CBC.

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Production begins on new CBC comedy series Cavendish

From a media release:

CBC and Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Studios, announces the start of production on Season 1 of the original comedy series, Cavendish (8×30). The half-hour series shoots on location in Nova Scotia (Halifax, Dartmouth, and Windsor) and in and around Cavendish, PEI until the end of September. Cavendish is created by leading Canadian comedians Andrew Bush (Funny or Die) and Mark Little (Mr. D) along with Garry Campbell (Less Than Kind) and will premiere in winter 2019 on CBC and stream on the CBC TV App and at cbc.ca/watch.

Bickering brothers Andy (Bush) and Mark (Little) haven’t been to their hometown of Cavendish since their parents split up 30 years ago. When they return to take care of their ailing father, they find that Cavendish is…not like other towns. Each week, Mark and Andy get embroiled in some new misadventure involving local superstitions, and through it all, Mark remains the golden boy, buoyed by the adoration of family and strangers alike, while Andy remains the striver, desperate for the love and respect he knows he’ll never receive.

Rounding out the cast of characters is their father, Rollie (Kevin Eldon, Hot Fuzz), a grumbling malcontent who runs a museum of curiosities; Rollie’s partner Ruth (Kathryn Greenwood, Whose Line Is It Anyway), an absolute beacon of positivity; Bryn (Kelli Ogmundson, Supernatural), Ruth’s morose niece; Molly (Zoe Doyle, Workin’ Moms), the town’s resident game hunter; and the various townsfolk who weave in and out of their lives, unfazed by the weird goings-on.

Canadian Comedy Award-winner Andrew Bush is a leading writer, actor and director whose credits include head writer for the International Emmy award-winning show Street Cents, writer/director for the Comedy Network show Picnicface, Will Ferrell’s Funny Or Die, and the feature film Roller Town. He directed the Lionsgate comedy Dirty 30 and was also a director on season two of The Beaverton for The Comedy Network.

One of the founders of the sketch comedy group Picnicface, Mark Little stars in the CBC comedy Mr. D. He has won a combined 15 Canadian Comedy Awards, including Best Feature for Roller Town. He also topped Canada’s two most prestigious stand-up comedy competitions, the Yuk Yuk’s Canadian Laugh Off and the JFL Homegrown Competition. He made his American television debut on Conan in 2015 and his voice can be heard in the new Netflix cartoon Cupcake and Dino: General Services.

A CBC original series produced by Temple Street, Cavendish stars Andrew Bush and Mark Little. Executive Producers are David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg (Orphan Black), Kerry Appleyard (Orphan Black), and Bush and Little. Co-Executive Producer is Kurt Smeaton (Kim’s Convenience); Supervising Producer is Lesley Grant (X Company), Co-Producer is Scott Montgomery (The Beaverton); Halifax-based Marc Almon is Producer (Weirdos), and the series is produced by Ginny Jones-Duzak (Pure). Jeremy LaLonde (How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town), Aleysa Young (Workin’ Moms), Mars Horodyski (This Hour Has 22 Minutes) and Andrew Bush each direct two episodes. The director of photography is Cabot McNenly (Little Dog), and Matt Likely (Seed) is production designer.

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