Twitch City

I really don't know how to describe this show. On the one hand it's a situation comedy, with a rather odd set-up. On the other it has no laugh track, apart from a few main people the cast keeps changing, and the main character is most likely seriously agoraphobic.

Don McKellar plays Curtis, who is antisocial to the point of never leaving his apartment. And I do mean never. Roommates come and go, he just stays home and watches TV. It sounds terribly dull, but the show is shockingly addictive. It's not for everyone, but if you see one episode you won't want to miss the rest.

Directed and produced by Bruce McDonald we follow Curtis (Don McKellar), a tv addict in Toronto, Canada who near refuses to leave his apartment and all the outlandish ways he goes about continuing and justifying that lifestyle. Honestly a show that is difficult to describe in a pitch, or even explain what it was after the fact, when the back of the box mentions inspiration from Marshall McLuhan and promises meta-commentary on television from within a satire laced sitcom itself, I was of course sold. Shot quite interestingly, although unfortunately a bit too dark and grungy for my tastes, the ascetic of the apartment felt something off about it, almost surreal, but very purposeful. Some sequences also utilize some neat tracking zoom shots that you typically don't see from sitcoms, theres interesting editing stylizations, and not to mention it being all single camera format. Without even getting into episode plots as its really something you just gotta experience yourself if you choose. Many circle around Rex Reilly, the in universe parody of Jerry Springer, played by both Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney across the two seasons which was fun to see, and throughout the show none of the characters are really good people in any sense, much the guests on the show he watches. Molly Parker joins as Hope, Curtis' roommates' girlfriend and eventual love interest, which was very fun, though unfortunately her character felt the most underwritten. It was also fun to see Al Waxman appear in the pilot, who I honestly wouldn't have recognized had it not been for wikipedia. The whole show feels a love letter to television, it the most cynical, almost depressed way, and I can understand why its gained its cult following. I honestly wanted to like this more than I ultimately did, but perhaps a show about a tv obsessed shut in hit a bit too close to home. If it sounds like something you'd enjoy, would recommend, was good if not a bit ridiculous.

Canada's up-and-coming media-hopper Don McKellar is a phenomenon you must see to believe. McKellar was writer, director, and star of last year's Apocalypse Canadian-style, Last Night, as well as co-writer and co-star of Francois Girard's internationally praised indie The Red Violin. He also had a part in eXistenz, another Canadian export, and he is working on new episodes of his television brainchild Twitch City.

The disturbing irony of Twitch City is that it makes you adore and revile at once the medium of television. McKellar's Curtis is probably the most repulsive example of human life one is likely to find on Canada's stellar network, the CBC. Lying around 24/7 in grungy attire while snacking on Fruity-O's with his eyes and ears glued to the most abhorrent garbage the idiot box has to offer, Curtis supports his agoraphobic lifestyle by over-charging the sketchiest characters in Toronto for the extra room in his seedy downtown flat. He even manages to rent out the closet for $100 a month. He is assisted by fellow TV-junkie Newbie, the wisecracking clerk at the corner market who supplies his old University buddy with expired edibles and vintage TV trash. Closet-dwelling Hope, the impossibly understanding girlfriend of Curtis's former roommate Nathan, attempts to keep their abode civilized (but of course fails miserably).

The enigma of it all is that this unlikely cast, surrounded by the ever-changing gaggle of extraneous roomies, may be the most ridiculously hilarious and intoxicatingly original ensemble on television. From an American point of view, this is a diamond in the rough. Would that we Stateside slobs could get a little more exposure to this kind of artistry.

With all the recent exposure and a near-sweep at the Genies (Oscar's Canadian red-headed step-child), McKellar may be on his way to the international recognition he deserves, both as a comic screen-writer of genius proportions, and as an unconventionally arresting actor. Don't look for him in People's year-ending soft-porn layout (a.k.a. 50 Most Beautiful People), but those with a sophisticated palate where humor is concerned should get ready to make room for him--somewhere between Oscar Wilde and Woody Allen.

'Twitch City' is one of television's best kept secrets here in Australia. Only shown on cable TV very briefly, if you even managed to HEAR about it you deserve some kind of medal. It's a pity none of the commercial TV channels over here had enough foresight to broadcast it during a reasonable time-slot, as I'm sure it would have eventually have found an appreciative audience.

The brains behind this incredibly cool series are director Bruce McDonald, and writer/actor Don McKellar, whose previous collaborations were the wonderful movies 'Roadkill' and 'Highway 61'. 'Twitch City' share a similar refreshingly original and quirkily subversive world view. McKellar stars as unrepentant couch potato Curtis, who after the unfortunate arrest of his uptight housemate Nathan, manages to woo Nathan's girlfriend Hope (Molly Parker, who gave such an outstanding performance in the controversial 'Kissed'), while dealing with the never-ending series of oddball situations created by their potential new housemates. All this while never missing a minute of his beloved Rex Reilly talk show.

'Twitch City' displays more originality and smarts in one episode than most American or British sit-coms do in a whole series, and manages to be clever and unpredictable while, most importantly for a comedy, being genuinely FUNNY. To me it's as good as ANY comedy series anywhere in the last decade, but sadly it remains one of the least known great shows of the small screen. I'm hoping that one day it will get the attention it deserves, but until then try and see it you WILL enjoy it, believe me!

Quirky, odd, and extremely funny. We loved this series. If you ever have the chance to see it...do not miss it. The series takes place in the Kensington Market area of Toronto, although outdoor shots are few, as most of the action takes place in the apartment (in close proximity to the television set). A cast of interesting characters wind their way in and out of the series, making for some great viewing.