Tag Archives: Jared Keeso

Letterkenny introduces new characters in snowy Season 3

The world of Letterkenny is expanding in Season 3, and switching up the setting too. It’s the mark of a program that has got its base fully established and mixing things up to keep things interesting for those working on it and the fans.

With six new episodes of Letterkenny arriving Saturday, July 1, on CraveTV, the ludicrousness and hilarity continues in that small Ontario town of 5,000 where the Skids, Hockey Players and Hicks interact among their own groups and sometimes with each other. Summer on the farm at the produce stand (where nothing is ever sold, it seems) is swapped out for winter at a fishing shack. Wayne (Jared Keeso), Dan (K. Trevor Wilson) and Daryl (Nathan Dales) are decked out in bright snowmobile outfits and straddling roaring machines out in the brush, drinking and discussing hifalutin topics like when farts are allowed to be ripped. (Inside the fishing shack? Hard no.) Katy (Michelle Mylett), meanwhile, has returned home from a modelling gig accompanied by new male friends with major self-esteem issues.

As for Jonesy (Andrew Herr) and Reilly (Dylan Playfair), things are looking up for the hockey players, who have become a major hit with the fans and their coach (Mark Forward is back, thank goodness). Finally, the Skids—led by Stewart (Tyler Johnston)—are in disarray following the departure of a key member until a gal named Gae (Sarah Gadon) wanders into their midst.

Die-hard fans of Letterkenny will be thrilled the humour and catchphrases that make the series so darned good is still intact. Dan, in particular is a hoot, first in Episode 1 when he chides Wayne and Daryl for adding unnecessary eses to several words and at the beginning of Episode 3. The standout episode for me is the fourth, with a truly outrageous and gut-busting scenario involving some folks from Quebec who bear a striking resemblance to Wayne and his crew. (And as funny as Keeso and Jacob Tierney’s scripts are, I find myself laughing out loud at Keeso’s silent facial expressions as Wayne.)

Punches are thrown, beers are consumed, insults are thrown, the soundtrack is crunchy, innuendoes are suggested, butt talk is approached and farts are ripped. Oh Canada, Letterkenny is back.

Season 3 of Letterkenny is available on CraveTV this Saturday. Previous seasons are available on CraveTV.

Image courtesy of Bell Media.

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Letterkenny’s K. Trevor Wilson teases Season 2

It sounds like the type of thing that would happen in a Letterkenny storyline at Modean’s, but K. Trevor Wilson’s experience in a Montreal bathroom is fact. He scored a Jan. 4 booking on Jimmy Kimmel Live! moments after relieving himself.

“I was invited to be the Canadian participant in the Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle tournaments at Just for Laughs and went up against Tony Hinchcliffe and the judges were Seth Rogen and Jimmy Kimmel,” Wilson recalls. “After, I had a very good chat with Jimmy in the men’s room. I was leaving and he was coming in. I found myself locked in a conversation with a man who was peeing. Great chat, but always awkward when one of you has their penis in their hand.” The next day, he was contacted by the show and the ball started rolling on his late-night TV gig.

And while we’ll be tuning in on Jan. 4, it’s what’s happening on Dec. 25 that has us really pumped. That’s when the six Season 2 episodes of Letterkenny drop on CraveTV, spotlighting the hicks, skids and hockey players living in a small town where drinks are consumed, smokes are tossed, fights are brewing and chirping is an art form. In fact, the first two minutes of Episode 1, “A Fuss at the AG Hall,” are spent following Wayne (Jared Keeso) as he spouts insults into the camera while Daryl (Nathan Dales) rates them. (Check out the footage below.) Wilson reprises his role as “Squirrelly” Dan, an overall-wearing hick who has an interesting way of speaking. Adding an “s” to most of Dan’s dialogue was something Wilson came up with on his own, and series creator and co-writer Keeso insisted he keep doing.

“It was in there, in the writing, that Dan was in there with the other hicks,” Wilson says. “I wanted to do something that Jared and Nate weren’t already doing with their characters and something I noticed while touring small towns doing standup was there was always a guy who turned things into a plural and doesn’t quite know all of the pronunciation. Jared came up to me afterwards and said, ‘That’s what I want you to do. Keep messing up the words.'”

Season 2 of Letterkenny witnesses several characters at a crossroads in their lives. Wayne is looking for romance, head skid Stewart (Tyler Johnson) is dating Wayne’s sister, Katy (Michelle Mylett), putting him at odds with fellow skids Devon (Alexander De Jordy) and Roald (Evan Stern). Wilson says Wayne’s journey means the Dan and Daryl dynamic is explored and the pair get into some ridiculous situations. Meanwhile, hockey players Jonesy (Dylan Playfair) and Reilly (Andrew Herr) joined the senior hockey team and find themselves targetted for the sort of abuse they’re used to doling out.

McMurray (Dan Petronijevic) returns in a more expanded role in Season 2, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. McMurray (Melanie Scrofano); the pair go head-to-head with Wayne in Episode 1 over who should be in charge of Letterkenny’s agricultural society.

With Season 3 set to begin production in February, Wilson’s standup career means he’s been on the front line and experienced immediate feedback when he’s been approached by Letterkenny fans after standup gigs.

“Now people are trekking long distances to see the show because they’ve discovered me from Letterkenny,” he says. “I did a show in Ottawa and a family drove in from New Brunswick. They were going to drive in to see the capital and the guy from Letterkenny do standup.”

Season 2 of Letterkenny debuts Sunday, Dec. 25, on CraveTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Link: Letterkenny is as Canadian as it gets

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: Letterkenny is as Canadian as it gets
“I’m kind of living the dream there; I get to make a TV show and cast all my buddies.” Continue reading. 

From David Berry of the National Post:

How Letterkenny puts the mythos of the Canadian dirtbag to bed
Season two of Letterkenny opens with a bit of alphabetic acrobatics as our heroes Wayne (Jared Keeso) and Daryl (Nathan Dales) run down what transpired after the season-one-ending fight that left Wayne on the asphalt. The systematic descriptions of Wayne’s ensuing victory cycle through a thesaurical torrent of choice phrases— “Punched the prick out, played the peasant, pushed proper pugnacity on the pinhead, left him praying for peace while Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” is one of the cleaner vignettes – and amount to a distilled dose of the incredible verbiage that is the absolute best thing about Letterkenny. Continue reading.

From John Doyle of The Globe and Mail:

The best gift this Christmas is the return of Letterkenny
The best gift of all is something good to watch. You’re darn tootin’ on that one. Letterkenny returns to Crave TV on Dec. 25. That’s a gift for Canada. A truly meaningful one. And I mean that sincerely. Continue reading.  

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19-2 closes out Season 3 with conflict and a cliffhanger

Season 3 of 19-2 has been energetic, dramatic and harrowing. There’s been an awful lot of the third thanks to Amelie’s exit, Tyler’s alcoholism, Audrey’s anger-filled past, Isabelle’s transfer and J.M.’s assaults on Justine.

Last Monday’s episode, “Gone,” culminated in a rift between Ben and Nick, with the former announcing to the latter he was transferring to the SQ in Morin Heights to escape the 19. We also know that, because Frank has agreed to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter rather than murder, Ben is looking to dole out his own frontier justice. Will 19-2‘s by-the-book cop put his career on the line to avenge Amelie’s death?

Here’s what Bravo’s official episode synopsis says about “Water,” the Season 3 finale:

Denied justice, Ben sees an opportunity to take his own revenge. Watching Ben spiral out of control, Nick makes a desperate attempt the save his partner. As her case against Ciarelli falls apart, Elise takes extraordinary measures. Nick and Ben confront each other over what they’ve done, and discover the truth of what happened to the woman they loved.

And here’s what we can tell you after watching the episode.

19_2_2

Ben’s gamble
The above image shows just how desperate Ben is to get all the information he can on Frank. Skulking around in the shadows? That’s not the Ben Chartier we’ve been cheering for three seasons. Seeing him like this left an awful feeling in our stomachs, and—sorry 19-2 fans—there’s no light at the end of this tunnel.

The Ciarelli case goes in another direction
An extreme act by Charlie Figo has Elise flummoxed, and—after what happened to Amelie and Martine—reconsidering the actions she’s taken to try to have Ciarelli incarcerated … and what line she’ll cross to make things right.

Isabelle returns
Maxim Roy teased Isabelle would re-appear in Episode 10, and she wasn’t kidding. We can’t say anything regarding the circumstances, but it’s a big deal.

The cast brings their A-game
19-2‘s cast is simply incredible week to week, but the season finale offers truly gifted scenes. Jared Keeso puts in a standout performance not only in the spots where he has lines, but those ones when nothing is said. Ditto for Dan Petronijevic, who deserves a damned Canadian Screen Award for his portrayal of J.M. not only for the finale, but for this season overall.

Let me know what you think of 19-2‘s third season finale by commenting below or @tv_eh.

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