Three new original comedy series coming soon from CBC

There are some exciting new comedies in the works here at CBC Comedy, including two new shows that we can announce today. 

First, let's talk Run the Burbs. This new show stars Andrew Phung as a stay-at-home dad, living in the suburbs with his young family. The comedy is co-created by Phung and his best friend and collaborator, filmmaker Scott Townend. 

Next, we finally get to tell you about Strays. This one is a spin-off of Kim's Convenience, and stars Nicole Power, following her beloved character Shannon as she takes on an exciting new career in Hamilton, Ontario. 

"Both of these series were planned to join Kim's Convenience on our comedy slate this upcoming year, to reflect how many young Canadians are forging new lives outside of urban centres in Canada. We look forward to watching Andrew and Nicole as they explore these new stories," said Sally Catto, General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports here at CBC.

These new shows will join an exciting and evolving CBC Comedy line-up along with Sort Of, which we announced last fall. Sort Of follows Sabi Mehboob, a gender-fluid 25-year-old who balances their identity as a nanny, bartender and youngest member of a large Pakistani family. 

Here's just a little more you need to know about each of these new shows:

Run the Burbs

In Run the Burbs, Phung (previously seen as supporting character Kimchee on Kim's Convenience) takes the lead in this original comedy about a young, bold Canadian family taking a different approach to living life to the fullest in the suburbs. 

Phung will play a stay-at-home dad with an entrepreneur wife and two kids. As a father of two kids himself, expect Phung to bring an enthusiastic level of authenticity to the role.  

Series co-creator Townend previously co-directed the award-winning documentary The Secret Marathon, which is about a filmmaker and her mentor training in secret to run in the Marathon of Afghanistan.

Pier 21 Films is signed on to produce, and are known for their work on news satire The Beaverton and the Jason Priestley starring series, Call Me Fitz.

Strays

Embarking on a new career in Hamilton, Ontario, Strays follows the perennially positive Shannon Ross (played by Power), in this Kim's Convenience spin-off. 

The cast includes Tina Jung (Suits, Second Jen), Nikki Duval (Rosie on Workin' Moms), Kevin Vidal (Mo on Workin' Moms, as well as a few CBC Comedy videos with Soul Decision Comedy), Tony Nappo (Pretty Hard Cases), Frank Cox O'Connell (Anne of Green Gables: Fire and Dew) Paula Boudreau (Workin' Moms, Tiny Pretty Things) and Emily Piggford (The Sounds, Warigami).

Strays was created by Kevin White, who in addition to co-creating Kim's Convenience, helped launch the Emmy-winning CBC comedy Schitt's Creek and has also worked on comedy series such as Corner Gas, Dan for Mayor and Insecurity.

Kim's Convenience producer Thunderbird Entertainment is also set to produce Strays.

Sort Of

As previously announced, Sort Of is created by Bilal Baig (Acha Bacha) and Fab Filippo (Save Me), and is about the journey of Sabi Mehboob (Baig), as they decide to turn down a dream opportunity to live overseas and remain as a nanny for a family dealing with a devastating accident.

The eight-episode series is directed by Filippo and Renuka Jeyapalan (Kim's Convenience, Workin' Moms), with Sienna Films' Jennifer Kawaja and Julia Sereny serving as executive producers. 

Baig and Filippo wrote the series with Jenn Engels (Transplant), Nelu Handa (who is now part of Lilly Singh's late night writer's room) and screenwriter, poet and filmmaker, Ian Iqbal Rashid.

We'll have much more on Sort Of, Strays and Run the Burbs in the months to come, so follow CBC Comedy on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for updates.