I flew up to Vancouver this week to attend the cast and crew screening for Robson Arms Season II.It was held at one of the theatres at the Paramount on Burrard and the place was packed. We screened the first three episodes: Ordinary Assholes by Karen MacLellan, Saultology by yours truly, and I Did Not Have Sex by Susin Nielsen.
The response was quiet and polite as we began but as the screening continued it was relief to hear what sounded, to my admittedly biased ears, like geniune laughter fill the screening room.
I'm not particularly objective about this, but I believe everybody was kind of surprised, even though they worked on the show, how different it was from the first season. And not to take anything away, but this season feels bolder, more confident, and frankly a lot funnier.
I think everybody raised their game. The directors, actors and writers took a lot more chances. We shot on HD and Kamal and the camera crew have made everything look great. The original songs by our "troubadours", these incredible musical summaries of the episodes, are tightly integrated into the show. By the end of the screening there was a real buzz through the theatre.
We still don't know when season two will hit the air, myself I've got my fingers crossed for a mid-season launch in January, but that's up to somebody working away in Toronto.I'd been reading Denis McGrath's blog lately and can't help but wonder how many of his concerns about the state of canadian television are addressed in our production. More on that in another post.
In the meantime, I worry: How the show will be received by the audience? Will anyone even remember season one? Will they tune in? Will they love and appreciate the show... not because everybody worked so hard on it but because it's smart and funny and entertaining? That's been the goal.
Congratulations and thanks to everybody that worked on the show. I'm sorry to say that the job is only half done. Now we have to make sure, when it makes it to air, that everybody sees it.
