According to Jayme Pfahl of Vancouver production company Gang of 2, CBC Television has passed on Fancy as a possible series.  Pfahl gives a March 2011 prospective airdate for the pilot itself.  The exact airdate is subject to change by CBC.

Fancy is about children’s show host Maureen Fancy (Kate Hewlett.)  Fancy is cheery on-set, and miserable away from the camera.  Playback and Hollywood Reporter scribe Etan Vlessing also mentions Patrick McKenna and Jana Peck as part of the cast.

Pfahl co-founded Gang of 2 with Angus Fraser.  Pfahl and Fraser recently produced The Cult, a pilot which aired on CBC earlier in 2010.

While Fancy‘s premise isn’t original, I think the idea could sustain a series.  CBC Television has shied away from dark comedies as of late, given CBC’s shift to lighter dramas and reality shows.

100 Things Every Man Should Know and Floorwalker are still in development with CBC.  A third CBC/Gang of 2 project, After, is no longer being developed.

I’d like to see at least one Gang of 2 product get past CBC Television’s pilot stage.  I’m not one to complain about CBC’s existence, but why does CBC keep rejecting shows I might be interested in?  There’s something scary about HBO Canada, APTN and Showcase being the vanguards of edgier comedy in this country.

When I published an article about Tangled (CBC: CBC/Shaftesbury Films/Colossal Entertainment/Salient Point Productions Ltd., 2010) last week, I figured it would get a slightly above-average number of readers for a day, then flatline.  Pilot news and reviews generally don’t do well on URBMN, with the exception of B Team.

Tangled is by far the most-searched-for program this month on URBMN.  The article promoting Tangled has 13 comments (not including mine) so far.  Think about it – thirteen comments for a pilot aired in the dead of summer.  I’m usually lucky if one person gives a tinker’s piss about an unsold pilot on CBC, never mind thirteen.

Tangled is the sort of show that fits with CBC’s desired female demographic, yet can also attract a decent male audience.  Aside from the budgetary restrictions that can hobble a show like Tangled, I have no idea why CBC would reject this.  Foreign references are copious, but The Tudors gets away with worse.

Sarah Wayne Callies is Sally or Chloe – it depends on which part of her life one follows.  A sham marriage is planned around Sally/Chloe and Nick Hobbes (Bill Ward.)  Hobbes is seen as a rogue freelancer/former CIA golden boy stealing intel from Sally/Chloe’s employer, the North Atlantic Intelligence Agency (NAIA.)  NAIA is also trying to nail down main antagonist Oleg Gasparian.

Needless to say, there are the twists and turns common to an espionage show.  It’s all familiar stuff, but Tangled at least couches the espionage in proper human drama.  As a pilot, Tangled gives viewers a reason to care about Sally/Chloe’s life, convoluted as it is.

Callies is a bit stiff and monotonous as Sally/Chloe, but serviceable enough as a lead.  Ward plays Hobbes almost effortlessly.  Leslie Hope plays Sally/Chloe’s sister Marlene rather well, understandably miffed that Sally/Chloe has been playing dead for twelve years.  Hope doesn’t have a big part in the pilot, but she makes the most of her role.

I’m not exactly fond of the acting in Tangled.  The acting is a bit underplayed in general, aside from Ward’s character and a few minor characters I can’t name.  At the same time, the balance of action and drama sells Tangled.  Had Tangled made series, I’m sure it would have found its own level.

This isn’t the best pilot I’ve seen on CBC in 2010.  The Cult ranks highest on my list, for its excellent acting and choice of subject matter.  Tangled is still very good, better than the bet-hedging of the concept would suggest.  I sincerely hope Shaftesbury Films sells the series to another network or cable channel.

Sometimes the best programs on CBC Television are the pilots aired once, then dropped in the middle of the harbour.  The Cult (CBC: New Kingdom Productions Ltd./Crescent Entertainment/Big Dog Productions/Chokolat Inc./ITV?, 2008) is one such program, a drama unlike anything else currently on CBC.

Nathan Fall (Henry Czerny) is determined to retrieve his daughter Rachel (Alexia Fast) from the Apostles of the Second Son, a cult perverting(?) Christian mythology.  Nathan has not seen Rachel for five weeks, as he and soon-to-be ex-wife Evelyn (Torri Higginson) have neglected her.  Nathan plans to infiltrate the cult, which sells itself on television as New Eden.

The Cult also focuses on the life of Lucas (Richard Harmon), a teen living in what looks like a halfway house.  He notices the commercial for New Eden, of which Rachel is its figurehead.  Lucas is not initially aware of how New Eden will soon control his life.

Soon, Rachel speaks to Lucas through the television.  Lucas eventually sees rain and fish fall from inside the halfway house.  Could Rachel really be the second coming of Mary, Mother of Jesus, or is Lucas suffering from mental disabilities?  The Cult doesn’t answer this question, not that first episodes of serial dramas ever do.

The best thing about The Cult is that the show is ambiguous about Apostles of the Second Son’s intentions.  Apostles of the Second Son has allegedly been around since Christianity itself.  Outsiders who reveal the Apostles’ existence, like Dr. Frank Hollingshurst (Vincent Gale), tend to die.  The Apostles like to cover the bases for when the Rapture comes.

There’s been mention at TV, Eh? of The Cult, albeit confined to comments on a Republic of Doyle piece.  One commenter wonders why The Cult was passed up for Republic of Doyle.

I grant Republic of Doyle its existence, although I haven’t revised my thoughts on the show since its first episode.  Keeping RoD in mind, why would CBC pass on The Cult?  I see no reason why The Cult couldn’t work as a series, especially when Henry Czerny’s the lead actor.

Maybe I’m overhyping a pilot that has fallen through the cracks of government-aided obsolescence.  It happens.  Show co-creator Angus Fraser is responsible for The Movie Network/Movie Central’s 2005 series Terminal City, and it would be nice to see more Fraser on Canadian television.

Jeff Spriet and James Wilkes’ 11 Cameras was dumped on CBC’s summer schedule in 2006, and that show is surprisingly good.  The Cult‘s three creators can obviously spin something watchable, so why not let them do it?  Does Debbie Travis need a feel-good reality show so badly?

In the year and change I’ve written about television for URBMN, CBC has never aired a standalone pilot that has gone on to become a series…until now.  B Team (CBC: Buffalo Gal Pictures/Company Name Here Productions/Vérité Films, 2009) has made series, as InSecurity.

I’m not sure if B Team is a preview of what will air on CBC in 2010-11.  If it is, then I don’t have hope for InSecurity.  B Team is an unfunny execution of a surprisingly good concept.

B Team is set at the Canadian Intelligence and Security Establishment, the fictitious government organization du jour.  CISE has functions similar to other spy agencies.  Alex Taylor (Natalie Lisinska) leads her team into mediocrity, though no fault of her own.

Alex is too nice, allowing herself to be pushed around by boss Janet Brown (Veena Sood.)  The pilot helpfully points out every character’s role and/or personality traits.  Karl Lesage (Rémy Girard) is The Civil Servant.  Burt Lancaster (Matthew MacFadzean) is The Wiener.  JoJo Lum (Jeananne Goossen) is The Translator.  Lisa Hampton (Carolyne Maraghi) is The Friend, and so on.

In B Team‘s pilot, Alex is stuck monitoring a Chechen shoe salesman.  Her job isn’t glamourous, as Alex’s ex-husband Peter McNeil (David Jones) leads the respected, well-funded team.  Alex’s team mistakes yellow plasticine used on the Chechen’s model train set as C4 explosives.

Peter’s team somehow interprets the model as prelude to a real attack, and the situation devolves from there.  The espionage part of B Team isn’t that strong, the show relying on an ensemble cast to carry it.  For an action-comedy, B Team contains very little action and tons of desk jockeying.

I respect B Team for its intricate plotting, but the pilot is just not funny.  It’s the typical CBC sitcom – predictable, no laugh track, underacted in places.  B Team‘s underlying concept is solid, yet there’s little in the way of satire.  Espionage should be rife with satire.  B Team has no excuse for being as weak as it is.

I want to like B Team, but I can’t.  It’s safe, bland and almost stereotypically “Canadian.”  It’s as if B Team wants to talk about surveillance, and yet avoid the issue altogether.  That’s like Pure Pwnage not showing Jeremy pwn n00bs.  I sincerely hope InSecurity isn’t as bad as B Team, as the pilot doesn’t afford me much hope.

It’s the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and CBC needs content during the lulls between playoff rounds.  That’s right, it’s CBC Pilot Burn-Off Time again.  Memory Lanes (CBC: Memory Lanes Productions LLC, 2009) aired last week, and I’m publishing the review the week after it aired.  I try to be timely.

Memory Lanes features Ryan Stiles and Sean Masterson prominently.  Stiles should be familiar to viewers as Lewis on The Drew Carey Show.  He is a main castmember on the British and American versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?  Masterson is Stiles’ longtime friend, appearing on Whose Line Is It Anyway? from time to time.  The two are stars/writers/executive producers, as per CanCon carte blanche laws.

Memory Lanes‘ plot is simple.  Bud Murray dies.  His two sons, Ryan (Stiles) and Sean (Masterson), each obtain half-ownership of his heavily-mortgaged bowling alley.  Ryan’s life is the alley, while Sean is a successful restaurateur.  Ryan and Sean are diametric opposites.  You should know what happens next.  You’ve seen The Odd Couple, right?

Memory Lanes is very American in its approach – laugh track, eccentric supporting cast, some crude jokes, a young girl with ‘tude.  Memory Lanes isn’t outright poor like The Good Germany, but there’s nothing notable or funny about the show.  It’s a paint-by-numbers sitcom on a network more known for paint-by-numbers sketch comedies.

Janet Wright is the best actor on Memory Lanes, remembering the good ol’ days and better ol’ sex.  Wright makes horny ex-lounge manager character Sarah Duggen work, even though Duggen is more one-dimensional than a straight line.  Giancarlo Caltabiano is also notable as Chester Wallace, the loopy bathroom attendant.

Stiles and Masterson are…well, Stiles and Masterson.  They essentially play each other.  While Stiles is okay at straight acting, he’s more at home as an improv comedian.  Masterson I’m not sure about, as I’m unfamiliar with his prior work.  They’re at least acceptable as Memory Lanes‘ stars.

I don’t think Memory Lanes would rate a pilot if Ryan Stiles was removed from the show.  There’s nothing in Memory Lanes‘ concept or execution that makes me want to watch more episodes.  It makes me wonder what CBC passed up in order to exploit Stiles’ name value.  I’ve seen worse shows on CBC, but I can’t see what the network would pair Memory Lanes with.

Memory Lanes is one more reason why CBC Television needs a massive programming enema.  In an age where sitcoms are constantly evolving, CBC airs a throwback to the 1990s.  I’d like to say I don’t get the network, but I’ve felt that way since it cancelled The Vacant Lot.

Wolf Canyon (APTN: Really Real Films, 2009) is a bit too generic to be on APTN.  The show is set on a reservation, and Lorne Cardinal plays a role on the show.  Despite this, Wolf Canyon feels like you could rip the “native” decals off and still have the same show.  This is Kevin Sorbo’s show, pure and simple.

Sorbo plays Rick Denham, a washed-up alcoholic actor.  Denham replaces former star Johnny Wilkes, who has found “greater” success as the star of an independent film.  Denham is also director Quincy Paul’s (Matty Finochio) estranged father.

Lorne Cardinal plays Hoyt Talbot Jr., the out-of-it stuntman.  Diane Wesson-Smythe (Nikki Payne) is the executive producer/Amy Poehler soundalike.  Carol Van Gleason (Barbara Tyson) and Samantha Hollis (Jessica Harmon) are the female cobreasts.

Denham and the other crewpeople try to stave off boredom while shooting on the Horse Head Lake First Nation reserve.  Wolf Canyon sets up a troubled production, somehow remaining in syndication despite itself.  Executive producer Allan Harmon cameos as a production executive who has technically cancelled Wolf Canyon, although the cancellation order is buried by the end of the pilot.

Wolf Canyon is a confusing mix of Corner Gas and 30 Rock.  It’s not as funny or biting as it should be, going for a broad gag every so often.  Sorbo playing a drunk asshole is surprisingly effective casting, but Wolf Canyon lacks a distinctive voice.

I’d rather see a full-on pisstake of cheap, syndicated Canadian television.  Shows like Beastmaster, Painkiller Jane and Blood Ties deserve the Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire treatment.  Wolf Canyon‘s show-within-a-show deserves more air time, as the pilot barely scratches its surface.

Wolf Canyon‘s second episode is currently being written, as APTN mulls whether the show will earn a full season.  Kevin Sorbo has his cadre of fans, so this show’s a lock.  I’m not sure if failed pilots even exist on APTN.

Health Nutz | This show surprises me.  The premise – alcoholic inherits juice bar, but only on condition – sounds like it shouldn’t work.  Somehow, it does.

No, I didn’t learn from my experience with Life’s a Zoo.tv.  Shut up.

Kevin Loring is Buzz Riel Jr., a former hockey player and current heavy drinker.  He inherits part-ownership of the Health Nutz juice bar after Buzz Sr. (Paul Stanley) is run over by an SUV.  Buzz Jr. can only claim full ownership of said bar if he cleans up and goes sober, a habit Buzz Jr. is not willing to give up.  Smug entrepreneur Keith Harris (David Hamilton-Lyle) waits in the wings, hoping to obtain the Health Nutz property for condo development.

Loring doesn’t overplay Buzz Jr., although the script’s choice of profanity is odd (uh, “screwy Louie” and “rat turd?”)  The man is effective in portraying a couldn’t-give-a-shit attitude towards Health Nutz.  Chief Floyd Two-Rivers (Byron Chief-Moon) is just as good as Buzz Sr.’s right-hand man, trying to keep Riel Jr. from self-destruction.

Health Nutz doesn’t deal in cheap, easy humour, which I would normally expect from a show like this.  It’s a show about a juice bar, for crying out loud.  Writer/producer/executive producer Jason Friesen makes Health Nutz‘s premise believable, going for character-based humour.

This is the first APTN comedy I’ve seen where I’m actually interested in following the show.  Health Nutz isn’t going to be Cheers, but it’s one of the better things APTN has greenlighted.  I hope the actual series can match and/or exceed the pilot’s standards. Surprises like this don’t happen on Canadian television very often.

Bionic Bannock Boys | The Bionic Bannock Boys (Sean Dean, Cory Generoux, Keon Francis) let you know how aboriginal they are.  References to bingo, fried chicken and bannocks are copious.  You know you’re watching APTN when this show’s on the air.

Bionic Bannock Boys‘ pilot is a mix of corny humour and political commentary.  It’s an aboriginal version of CODCO spliced with Air Farce, if one can imagine such a beast.  I can see the show’s potential, but I also see a sketch about sasquatch phone sex.  Gorilla suit comedy does not work unless Benny Hill is involved.

Bionic Bannock Boys‘ pilot is a rough draft which needs refining.  While the show shouldn’t be too polished, Bionic Bannock Boys‘ pilot looks like a cable access show with national funding.  Maybe I’m too white to “get” the show, but Bionic Bannock Boys isn’t nearly as funny as it should have been.

Bionic Bannock Boys is going ahead as a series, so airing the pilot is a foregone conclusion.  I hope the series is better-mounted than the pilot, but I’m not holding my breath.

As this year’s CBC pilots go, nothing will be as bad to me as The Good Germany.  Then again, Throwing Stones (CBC: Original Pictures, 2009) is a show about amateur women curlers.  Co-creator/director Mario Azzopardi recently directed ZOS: Zone of Separation, so he and daughter Lara Azzopardi bring their experiences to the table.  The premise still sounds horrible, not to mention stereotypically Canadian.

Thankfully, Throwing Stones is leagues beyond The Good Germany.  The show actually makes the premise of a housewife curling team interesting, if only due to the show’s strong writing and storyline buildup.  The pilot goes through a few motions, feeling forced in parts, but Throwing Stones goes all out in transcending its shitty high concept.

The main draw here is a 62-year-old Patty Duke.  She’s a throwback to the days when a washed-up American name would appear in a Canadian film.  Then again, she’s won an Academy Award, three Emmys and a Golden Globe, so the woman knows acting like the back of her hand.  Oddly enough, Duke plays a Canadian, a strange bit of casting I still can’t figure out.

Duke plays Patti Thom, the feisty leader of an amateur curling team.  Patti’s team is made up of Shirley Campbell (Barbara Radecki), Annette Roi (Caroline Néron) and Cindy Boshyk (Stephanie Anne Mills).  Patti hits a car owned by Marge Merrick (Lolita Davidovich), an American Republican.  I can just see anti-CBC assholes going into epileptic fits at the mere mention of Merrick.

Luckily, even Marge is played against type, in that she has some depth and isn’t a walking parody of right-wing assholes.  She has two sons in Iraq and hates living in Manitoba, but Throwing Stones avoids making easy anti-American jokes.  She’s just a snob with a patronizing husband.

There is one scene where team ditz Cindy is abused by husband Glen Boshyk (Dan Petronijevic), who makes up for his indiscretion with kitchen countertop sex.  The scene is quite false in its execution, as if viewers need to know Cindy has a fucked-up life this early in the series.  Throwing Stones tries to do too much in its first twenty-two minutes, which might explain why it wasn’t picked up for the 2009-10 fall season.

Patty Duke and Caroline Néron are the two best actresses on the show.  Duke effortlessly commands attention, although her character dies midway through the episode.  Néron reminds me of a French-Canadian Kirstie Alley back when Alley wasn’t a weight-fluctuating Jenny Craig shill.

Star! personality Husein Madhavji is surprisingly good as Yasminder ‘The Rock’ Ramhan, announcer for a live curling podcast.  The casting smacks of a need to be culturally sensitive, but Madhavji makes his character work by shilling the on-ice “action” in a blatantly heavy Indian accent.  He steals every scene he’s in.

Throwing Stones isn’t bad for a pilot, especially considering the show was originally pitched as an hour-long drama.  Much worse shows have been given CBC prime-time berths, like An American in Canada and Rideau Hall.

Although Throwing Stones‘ pilot has its faults, there’s no reason to stall this show in pilot stage.  It actually makes curling watchable, something Men with Brooms couldn’t do.  Maybe CBC will commission the show for 2010-11 if Ron James’ show and/or Canada’s Super Speller stiff, and I just know one of those shows is going to die a horrible, fiery death.