If you didn't already know about Hiccups and Dan for Mayor, you either didn't watch the Olympics, don't normally watch CTV, or just didn't care. Three of the main characters from CTV's hit sitcom, Corner Gas, have resurfaced in new shows, and new roles.
The two premieres took up an hour of prime time, and the first half-hour was occupied by Hiccups, which features the instantly recognizable duo of Brent Butt and Nancy Robertson from Corner Gas. The show is based around the life of Millie Upton (Robertson), a rather unstable children's author who is prone to what she calls 'hiccups' - seemingly random bursts of emotion that repeatedly get her in trouble. In the pilot, Millie is thrown out of a coffee shop after a hiccup, at which point she sees an advertisement for "Stan Dirco, Life Coach" (Brent Butt), who agrees to help Millie try to control her emotions, referring to her quite accurately as an "over-reactionist". The first episode focuses mainly on Millie and Stan, but the later episodes introduces the viewer to the other people in Millie's life, including her womanizing agent and impatient and grumpy publisher, among others.
The latter of the two shows, Dan for Mayor, takes place in the fictional city of Wessex, Ontario (which is actually Kitchener/Waterloo), which is facing an election with only one candidate for mayor - the incumbent Bud Calgrove. Dan, played by Fred Ewanuick (also famous from Corner Gas), is a bartender who sees a campaign ad for Bud and passively asks his friend, "how much do you think that guy makes?" When his ex-girlfriend announces she's getting married, Dan tries to top her by blurting out that he's running for mayor. Even though it started as a spontaneous way to try and impress her, he decides to go through with it, and spends a great deal of the opening episodes trying to convince people that he's not a joke candidate. It, too, focuses on Dan a lot during the first episode and expands later to introduce the other characters.
Both shows are great, and possibly every bit as good as Corner Gas. They both use the subtle, ironic, and sarcastic humor of Corner Gas, and have a few familiar scenes where there would be three or four jokes going on at one time, but both shows also have their own appeal. Hiccups puts a great deal of weight on Nancy Robertson's acting ability and experience from Corner Gas, where her character had similar spurts of rage. What worries me is Brent Butt - originally, he only wanted to help write and produce the show for Nancy Robertson, his wife, but agreed to play Stan at CTV's request. Don't get me wrong, Brent Butt is a great actor and I couldn't think of anyone better to play the part, but I'm worried that Robertson might be overshadowed by Butt, which would mean that she wouldn't get the recognition she deserves for her great acting. Dan for Mayor plays a lot more on Fred Ewanuick's genuine "average guy" aura, making it easy to believe that he could be just an average guy running for mayor.
I would recommend both shows for anyone who enjoys a good laugh, or who just needs an hour to relax.
5/5
