Winnipeg Gets Its Closeup In New Comedy Series Less Than Kind
Posted October 10, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s no surprise the creators of Less Than Kind chose The Weakerthans’ One Great City, with its lyric “I hate Winnipeg,” for their theme song.
Shoot in -48C conditions and you might have a few choice words for the chilly metropolis as well. As Mark McKinney, producer and writer for the new half-hour TV program, deadpans, “It’s great to write a show in Winnipeg because after October there’s absolutely no reason to go outdoors.”
Set in the Manitoba capital, Less Then Kind stars Jesse Camacho as overweight, bright 15-year-old Sheldon Blecher, who’s not only dealing with the pitfalls of high school but a family that drives him crazy. His dad (Maury Chaykin, pictured) runs the failing Blecher Driving School, his mother (Wendel Meldrum) is a pyromaniac, and his older brother (Benjamin Arthur) is a failed actor living back at home.
Series creator Marvin Kaye, who grew up in Winnipeg and based the show on a one-act play he wrote, told CityNews.ca in a recent interview that he wanted the Blechers to be relatable.
“We wanted a family whose emotions could go to that extreme and have that hugeness. But in their core real,” he explains.
Adds Kids In The Hall alum McKinney: “It’s like All In The Family. You want to take wacky, sometimes unsympathetic characters and make (them) completely watchable.”
The creators were thrilled when Chaykin signed on for the role of Blecher patriarch Sam, saying he was their first and only choice for the role. The Canadian-American actor, who has had a long and varied career in television and film including recent appearances in Atom Egoyan’s Adoration and Fernando Meirelles’s Blindness, obviously had a lot of fun playing the character he describes as a “schmuck.”
“I am extremely critical of the things I work on myself but this show has a special place in my heart and I hope people watch it and share some of the joy we had in making (it),” Chaykin enthuses. “I think (that) comes across.”
Less Than Kind premieres October 13, 10:30pm on Citytv.
