Last week, Canada’s Bell Media announced that production had begun on seasons ten and eleven of hit comedy Letterkenny. In addition to filming two seasons at once, Letterkenny actors and co-creators Jared Keeso (19-2, Monster Warriors) and Jacob Tierney (Dracula: The Series, Are You Afraid of the Dark?) will be developing the series first official spin-off, Shoresy.
While Bell Media has billed hockey-comedy Shoresy as Letterkenny’s first “official” spin-off, the Canadian comedy did produce an off-shoot series of animated shorts dubbed Littlekenny in 2019. Shoresy will thus serve as the first full-length spin-off, focusing on the unseen hockey player chirped by Keeso.
According to the Toronto Star, vice-president of content development and programming at Bell Media, Justin Stockman has been pursuing Letterkenny spin-off for quite some time due to the series success as “an international phenomenon, with celebrity fans including Brad Pitt.” While at first a spin-off about Shoresy struck Stockman as “the most bizarre idea,” he also contemplated the minor character’s impact as “the No. 1 character associated with Letterkenny merchandise” (Toronto Star). “‘Why not take a character that people know so little about and make the entire show about them?” the Toronto Star quotes Stockman “it gives us a lot more opportunity.”
At the time of Bell Media’s press release, not much information about the Shoresy spin-off was divulged aside from the series’ logline. “In this new series,” Bell Media provides the series brief description “Shoresy joins a senior triple hockey AAA team in Northern Ontario on a quest to never lose again.” While Keeso and Tierney will be helming the series, it’s yet to be announced whether Keeso will be playing Shoresy as he does in Letterkenny.
In the tradition of Home Improvement’s Wilson, antagonistic hockey player Shoresy’s face is never seen throughout Letterkenny’s nine seasons, though the character is quite distinctly voiced by Keeso. As Keeso plays stoic Letterkenny protagonist Wayne, re-introducing him into the Canadian comedy universe as Shoresy may present an avenue for jokes about the two character’s similar appearances. However, as the series presents an origin story of-sorts for Shoresy, perhaps the version of the character glimpsed on Letterkenny earned his Keeso-esque voice through the events that will unfold in his spin-off, thus leaving room for a new actor to assume the role.
As puck bunnies eagerly await more news about Shoresy, there’s no shortage of Letterkenny updates for fans as the flagship series just began production on seasons ten and eleven. The announcement was made official with Bell Media’s press release, though Letterkenny actors such as Michelle Mylett (Four in the Morning, El Camino Christmas), Kaniehtiio Horn (Hemlock Grove, 18 to Life) and Tyler Johnston (Less Than Kind, The Killing) have already shared on set photos on Instagram.
It’s unclear how the back-to-back filming of seasons will impact the timeline in which fans can dive back in to the town of Letterkenny and their problems, though it has been said that more hands make less work. Hopefully more news about the flagship series and spin-off Shoresy await fans in the coming months.