Tag Archives: Letterkenny Problems

Letterkenny touches down Super Bowl Sunday on CraveTV

Sunday is a big day for television, and I’m not just talking about the Super Bowl. Yes, the annual gridiron slugfest is happening for the 50th time, but it’s also the day Letterkenny lands on CraveTV.

The Canadian comedy, created by Canadian Screen Award winner Jared Keeso, debuts all six episodes Sunday at 9 a.m. ET, offering a slice of homegrown comedy we haven’t seen since, well, ever. Letterkenny is an amped-up Corner Gas, a hilarious, expletive-filled romp around the small town of Letterkenny, where the hicks, skids and hockey players butt heads when they’re not busy taking the piss out of their own cliques. Keeso stars as Wayne, a squint-eyed, burly fellow who hurls rapid-fire insults at anyone who comes into his space. His buddy, Daryl (Nathan Dales) is capable of trading barbs too; in the first episode, “Ain’t No Reason to Get Excited,” they double-team hockey players Jonesy (Dylan Playfair) and Reilly (Andrew Herr), out-insulting the pair with awe-inspiring turns of phrase.

“It’s really hard not to crack up during filming,” Dales said during a set visit to Sudbury, Ont., last year. “I can’t look Jared in the eyes because if I do I know I’ll break.”

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Letterkenny the TV series evolved from Letterkenny Problems. Spurred by Keeso’s urge to create his own characters, Wayne and Daryl became Internet stars, racking up millions of views on YouTube. Television production companies came calling and Keeso, soon to be seen in Season 3 of 19-2 on Bravo, teamed with New Metric Media. After pitching it around to networks, Bell Media signed on. One of the biggest challenges for Keeso was turning a two-minute webisode into 30 minutes of television.

“I used the same formula to write the series as I did the web series,” Keeso said. “Character arc and continuing story are not my strong point as a writer. I tried to get as many laughs on a second-to-second basis as possible.” He turned to executive producer, director and co-writer Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky) for help finding the characters’ voices, though some script work was altered on the fly as the actors began reciting the lines.



In addition to hicks Wayne and Daryl are Wayne’s younger sister Katy (Michelle Mylett) and Wayne’s buddy, Dan (K. Trevor Wilson), the aforementioned hockey players and the skids, represented by Stewart (Tyler Johnston) and Devon (Alexander De Jordy). Rounding out the key characters are bartender Gail (Lisa Codrington) and Christian leader Glenn (Jacob Tierney).

Dales is still pinching himself over the fact something he and Keeso filmed over two years ago has grown into a television series. He recalled thinking Letterkenny Problems might have some legs because the guys in the crew were cracking up, but had no inkling a television series would be the result.

“I had no idea that, fast-forward, I would be in Sudbury making a TV show with my buddies,” he said at the time. “That people would pay us to come here, shoot on location and we’d have a great time.”

Season 1 of Letterkenny is available Sunday, Feb. 7, on Crave TV. It will be broadcast on The Comedy Network later this year.

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CraveTV’s first-ever original Letterkenny to launch Super Bowl Sunday

From a media release:

− All six episodes to debut at once, exclusively on CraveTV –
− World premiere of LETTERKENNY to screen at Canadian International Television Festival (CITF) November 20 −
− LETTERKENNY to premiere Spring 2016 on The Comedy Network −

It really is a great day for hay. CraveTVTM announced today that its original comedy series everyone’s been yapping’ about, LETTERKENNY, will begin streaming on Sunday, Feb. 7, otherwise known as Super Bowl Sunday (pretty huge day for TV bud, so watch ‘em all before kickoff). Commissioned by CraveTV, in partnership with The Comedy Network, the entire six-part, half-hour series launches exclusively on CraveTV  a coupl’a weeks after the premium TV streaming service goes direct to consumers in January 2016, and will be followed by its specialty debut on Comedy in Spring 2016.

Created by hotshot Jared Keeso of Bravo’s hit original drama 19-2, LETTERKENNYis based on the Internet sensation Letterkenny Problems, Keeso’s series of shorts which have raked in more than 10 million views and landed a Canadian Screen Award nomination in 2014 for Best Web Series. LETTERKENNY is executive produced, directed, and co-written by Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky).

To get everyone cranked up about the new series CraveTV has acquired Letterkenny Problems and will begin streaming the shorts on Friday, Nov. 20, the same day LETTERKENNY receives its world premiere at the Canadian International Television Festival (CITF) at Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox. As a tribute to the fans that have made Letterkenny a cult hit, CITF will screen LETTERKENNY’s debut episode “Ain’t No Reason to Get Excited” as well as provide a panel discussion with creator, co-writer, star, and executive producer, Jared Keeso. Executive producers Mark Montefiore and Patrick O’Sullivan of New Metric Media will be on hand for panel discussion, but no chirpin’ please and thanks.

CraveTV also confirmed today that building on the success of Letterkenny Problems, six brand-new shorts will accompany each episode streamed on the service. Beauty.

LETTERKENNY revolves around the dustups Wayne (Keeso) and his buds get into with their small-town Ontario rivals. There’s The Hicks, the Skids, and the Hockey Players, who get at each other about the darnedest things, often ending with someone getting their arse kicked. Wayne, his best bud Daryl (Nathan Dales, KING & MAXWELL), and Wayne’s free-spirited younger sister Katy (Michelle Mylett, ASCENSION) are all Hicks. On the ready to take the piss outta Wayne and Daryl,Dylan Playfair (Mr Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story) and Andrew Herr (also, Mr Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story) reprise their roles as The Hockey Players, “Jonesy” and “Reilly,” from Letterkenny Problems. Tyler Johnston (MOTIVE) stars as lead Skid, Stewart; Stewart’s “sideskid” Devon is played by Alexander De Jordy (19-2); Lisa Codrington (COPPER) stars as Modeen’s bartender, Gail; Jacob Tierney as the Christian Leader Glenn; and K Trevor Wilson stars as Wayne’s buddy, Dan.

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