The existence of a new Canadian sitcom is always a cause for celebration, and this year, after a long drought, viewers will be treated to new comedies with Dave Foley, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Harland Williams and Catherine O’Hara.
But at a recent industry conference, a noted TV and film director claimed that the problem with Canadian sitcoms has been that local TV executives act as if they’ve never seen HBO. Meaning there is no edge to recent attempts and that the style and characters are 20 years out of date.
If you agree with that statement, then there’s a new show waiting for you way down the dial, on Super Channel, called 24 Hour Rental. The show is edgier than any comedy I’ve seen on Canadian TV. It doesn’t have any big stars, it’s cheap-looking and it doesn’t always work, but it has attitude to burn. I liked this line from the press release: “Forget about gallows humour, 24 Hour Rental is black comedy two weeks after the execution.” Well, if a press release can make me smile.…
Shot in Hamilton, which only adds to the general seediness, the show is set in an on-the-skids video store that happens to be a front for drug dealing, illegal pornography, loan sharking and a lot of violent mayhem.
When I first heard about it, I thought it might be another take on The Sopranos, but it’s grittier than that. Watching it, I couldn’t believe it was produced, written and cast in Canada. The show spans 13 episodes in an arc that has one continuous story and a large ensemble cast.
The actors are believable as low-life scum, starting with the star, Romano Orzari, who portrays a fallen middle-aged Mafia boss named Tracker. You can really feel the desperation in his character.
Michael Biehn, who is closest to a marquee name in the series, plays a corrupt ex-cop who is brilliantly philosophical about his current vices. Aaron Berg, best known as the edgiest stand-up comic in the country, shines as Tracker’s driver, confidante and enabler. Gavin Crawford of 22 Minutes fame is a hoot as a Tarantino-like film geek. The Tarantino connection is not accidental. The Oscar-winning director still maintains his films, including Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, are comedies, even though they make us wince from the graphic violence.
And this is the challenge of 24 Hour Rental. There are scenes of bloody violence, of explicit beatings, followed by scenes of great wit and satire. I never quite got a rhythm of laughter going before I had to look away from the screen. The bad guys are really, really bad.
There’s always been a slapstick tradition in comedy. As Mel Brooks once wonderfully said, “Tragedy is when I stub my toe, but comedy is when you fall down a manhole.”
Comedy has often danced with cruelty but never so often or so explicitly as in our modern era. The violence in 24 Hour Rental stings. Yet it’s also darkly comic.
A TV comedy more influenced by film than by other TV shows? Shocking? I’d call it a breath of fresh air — except that it does take place in Hamilton.
Post City Magazines’ humour columnist, Mark Breslin, is the founder of Yuk Yuk’s comedy clubs and the author of several books, including Control Freaked.