CBC has officially put a third show on my radar (the others being Little Mosque on the Prairie and Being Erica). The charming sitcom 18 to Life is not exactly ground breaking but it is incredibly sweet. As the central 18-year-old married couple, Jessie and Tom are fun characters with excellent chemistry. Jessie is played by yet another Degrassialum (seriously, how many of those kids are there?!), Stacey Farber, while oldschool YTV fans get a blast from the past when they realize that Tom (Michael Seater) is Spencer from The Zack Files all grown up. The cast in general is really great including 2 interesting friends, 2 fun siblings and 4 eclectic (read: scene stealing) parents (Slings & Arrows fans will recognize Jessie’s hilarious dad, Peter Keleghan, as the morally questionable bottled water businessman who taunted Richard regularly).

Another great surprise in the cast is a number of familiar faces from my newest favourite Canadian movie, The Trotsky. The lively and painfully clever film (WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL GO SEE!) was set and filmed in Montreal, just like 18 to Life. Whether it’s purely coincidental or not, the two share quite a few actors, including the awesome Kaniehetiio Horn, who is one of my new favourite people to watch. The pilot also starred Tommie- Amber Pirie as Jessie and Tom’s friend Ava but she was mysteriously replaced by Erin Agostino for the series run, she is dearly missed. Their other friend, Carter, is played by Jesse Rath, the target of The Trotsky‘s best line: “are you my Stalin, Dwight?”

With yet another recent TV hit, an awesome new movie (starring Jay Baruchel and Colm Feore, home-grown Canadian boys with cross-border appeal) and one of our best writers (Rob Sheridan) inking a deal with Warner Brothers to develop a comedy script for the American market, the Canadian industry is on the rise. Support it by checking out 18 to Life and going to see The Trotsky, you won’t regret it.