Canadians are already looking forward to Global’s upcoming new comedy Working the Engels, and it looks like our neighbours to the south will also get a chance to enjoy it now that NBC has entered a deal to air the made-in-Canada sitcom.
As Hollywood trade-industry bible Variety reports, NBC has entered a pact with Shaw Media (parent company of Global TV) to co-produce 12 episodes, marking “the first time a U.S. and Canadian broadcaster have teamed to produce a network comedy.”;
The show follows the comic misadventures of the Engels clan after the family patriarch unexpectedly dies and leaves his wife (SCTV comedy icon Andrea Martin) and grown children with a mountain of debt, a situation that inadvertently brings the whole family together to run the old man’s law practice.
In addition to Martin, Working the Engels also features an array of Canadian talent, including Kacey Rohl, Benjamin Arthur and Azura Skye. Upcoming guest stars include Wendy Crewson and Whose Line Is It Anyway?“s Colin Mochrie, while former Beverly Hills, 90210 heartthrob Jason Priestley was recently in Toronto to direct an episode.
“We’re over the moon thrilled to work with NBC and Shaw Media on this series,” said Noreen Halpern, president of Halfire-CORE Entertainment, which is producing the show. “[Series creators] Katie and Jane Ford have created a laugh-out-loud show and we’re delighted to have a comedic legend in Andrea Martin, complemented by a trio of rising stars.”
Neither NBC nor Global has set a premiere date, but Working the Engels is expected to debut sometime in 2014.
