TORONTO — Canada has produced a lot of funny people so it may be surprising to learn that Working The Engels, which debuts Wednesday night on Global, is the first homegrown sitcom with a U.S. network on board.
The made-in-Toronto show stars American actors Andrea Martin (SCTV) and Azura Skye (Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane) and Canadians Kacey Rohl (The Killing) and Benjamin Arthur (Less Than Kind).
Working The Engels is about a family coping to stay afloat after the patriarch passes away, leaving them with a pile of debt. They keep his law firm running even though only one of them is licensed to practice.
Or, as Rohl, described the show: “It’s a hugely relatable sitcom about a dysfunctional family that’s trying to function.”
Martin, who plays matriarch Ceil Engel, said she jumped at the chance to work in Toronto again.
Martin said the experience brought back memories.
“I feel very grounded when I come to Canada.”
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Martin also got to share the screen with fellow SCTV vets Martin Short and Eugene Levy, who have guest roles on Working The Engels.
“We see each other all the time so it wasn’t like old home week, it was just kind of a continuation of our lives,” she said.
Martin said a formal SCTV reunion isn’t something the remaining cast members (John Candy died 20 years ago and Harold Ramis passed away last month) have considered.
“It was so special a time. We considered it a magic moment and we wanted to preserve it,” explained Martin. “Who wants to see older people come back and then you’re judging them not by how they made you laugh but by how they look. I don’t think anyone’s interested in that.”
Martin’s fans might be interested, though, in her forthcoming book. Entitled Andrea Martin’s Lady Parts and set to be published in September, it is described as a collection of stories.
“It’s not a memoir,” Martin explains. “It’s kind of a hybrid. It’s musings on life and stories about squirrels and raccoons in Toronto. There’s a chapter about getting older and dating.”
Skye called it a “tremendous privilege and a true pleasure” to work with Martin.
“She really set such a lovely tone for our work day,” said Skye. “She’s extremely professional. She’s a comic genius yet she is so warm and maternal and nurturing and sweet with each and every one of us. She has kind of turned into a second mom.”
Skye, whose credits include serious fare like American Horror Story, Bones and Grimm, said she was delighted to work on a comedy.
“I’ve been able to do a couple comedies in my past but the majority of my work has definitely been dramatic and I’m definitely thought of more so as a dramatic actress,” she said. “Sometimes it can even be hard for me to get in the door of comedic projects because it’s just not the way that people see me.
“So I feel like I’ve managed to do a little bit of a reinvention with this show. It’s been really exciting and very liberating.”
Arthur said he gets a kick out of cracking jokes.
“I feel life is a little bit heavy and if you can make people laugh that’s a nice gift,” he explained. “To be able to take people out of whatever terrible thing is happening in their lives and lighten their day is the best.”
The stars of Working The Engels are anxious to see how viewers react to the series — but only two of them will be tweeting about it. Skye and Arthur eschew the social media tool.
“It scares me. I’m a bit of a ludite,” said Skye.
Ditto for Arthur. “It scares me. I feel like I’d offend people,” he explained. “People would just latch on to things and that’s the part that freaks me out. I’m better staying off it.”
Martin and Rohl have Twitter accounts, though.
“I find it such a good exercise in not caring what people think,” said Rohl.
“In my day to day life I’m so conscious of how people are perceiving me and I try to fight that so much, so if I put something stupid out there on the Internet that I know I can never get back, I’m like — done!”
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