CBC, ABC Team Up for Comedy Pilot

TORONTO/MONTREAL, July 29:
Alchemy Television has brokered a deal that sees Canada’s CBC aligning with ABC
in the U.S. for a half-hour, prime-time comedy pilot, 18 to Life, which centers on the life of teen newlyweds.

The comedic sitcom looks
at a couple who get married at the age of 18, and how their parents, who are
also their next-door neighbors, deal with the in-love youngsters. Stacey Farber
(Degrassi: The Next Generation)
and Michael Seater (Life With Derek,
The Zack Files) star in the new
comedy.

Galafilm developed and
will produce the show, alongside Anton Leo, the creative head of comedy for
CBC. 18 to Life is created,
written and executive produced by Derek Schreyer (The Murdoch Mysteries, Cold Squad) and Karen Troubetzkoy (15/Love, The Magician’s House)
and directed by Peter Wellington (Slings and Arrows).

“What’s so appealing about
the show is that the kids are being subversive and rebellious, but they’re
doing that by entering into the most conventional institution there is:
marriage,” said Burrad Marsh, Alchemy’s head of series. “What really jumped out
at us was the concept. Because these kids are 18, their marriage becomes public
property—everyone has an opinion—and it gives the show a
multi-generational appeal.”

Kirstine Layfield, CBC’s
executive director of network programming, commented: "For the CBC to have
ABC invest and collaborate in the pilot for an all-Canadian half-hour comedy series
is truly remarkable. It's a great tribute to all the talented Canadian writers,
actors and producers that we are now making television series that are being
sold to U.S. and international broadcasters and watched by audiences around the
world."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski