Animax Ent. is taking viewers to the Great White North with Bob and Doug, a primetime animated comedy based on characters created by comedians Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas for the ’80s sketch comedy series SCTV. Set to premiere in January of 2009 on Global TV in Canada, the long-gestating 22×26 series continues the adventures of the McKenzie brothers, last seen on the big screen in the 1983 cult favorite feature film Strange Brew. Moranis and Thomas also did a moose version of the act in the 2003 Disney animated feature Brother Bear.
In addition to lending their voices to Bob and Doug, Thomas and Moranis are exec producing the series. Thomas, who co-founded Animax and is heading up the writing team, comments, ‘Animation today is all about the writing. The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy are famous and successful because of the clever writing. We have a team of 12 writers working on Bob and Doug, and I think this writing is as good as anything on TV.’
Bob and Doug is set in the fictitious Canadian town of Maple Lake, where the title duo mix it up with their addled mom, their cousin Rupert and his girlfriend Mary Beth, their arch enemies the LeDoux brothers, wanton neighbors and even a raging reverend. Fans will also get to see the brothers on the job and holding court at the Skate N’ Bowl.
The series will be produced and animated entirely in Canada. Animax controls foreign distribution for all territories excluding Canada, and is working with Radar Cartoons to secure sales. Worldwide rights outside of Canada are now available.
The McKenzie Brothers were born in 1980 when the Emmy Award-winning SCTV ran on CBC and NBC. Originally designed as filler segments aimed at Canadian viewers, the ‘Great White North’ skits quickly became the most popular part of the show and spawned a platinum selling, Grammy-nominated comedy album and a movie. The characters have since appeared on national television commercials for Pizza Hut, Molson’s and other companies.
