The ninth season of the Canadian sitcom Letterkenny has made its way to Hulu, where it is exclusively distributed as an original series in the U.S., according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series received forty-episode order in the summer of 2018 in advance of the season six premiere, which means that fans of the series can now look forward to at least three additional six-episode seasons after this ninth one, Bustle reports. Series director Jacob Tierney (Good Neighbors, Game On) confirmed that production on seasons ten and eleven is scheduled to occur in March 2021 in Ontario, and that he’s been sitting on most of the scripts for the better part of the year. “Basically we had all the episodes written, except for maybe two. We’ve been in holding pattern waiting to get back at it… We don’t have big, ambitious plans for the show. We were fine to sit back and wait,” he told The Montreal Gazette.
Tierney’s modesty may seem out of character for someone who is the sole director of an award-winning comedy series, but Letterkenny built its now-formidable reputation by thinking small. The show began as a micro-budget short-form web series called Letterkenny Problems starring creator Jared Keeso (Monster Warriors, A Beginner’s Guide to Endings), who reportedly took comedic inspiration from his own upbringing in rural Ontario, via Flare.
The half-hour incarnation of the web series follows the misadventures of a group of characters in the titular fictional farming town, including Keeso’s tough-talking Wayne and the awkward but eloquent Daryl (Nathan Dales, Backstrom), both of whom acted as the gateway into the show’s world in its web series days, as evidenced by the clip above.
The show’s immense popularity in its home country led Keeso to come up with a ninety-minute stage show called Letterkenny Live, where he and other members of the show’s cast recreate scenes from the show, perform new bits, and share pre-taped material that had been left on the cutting-floor, as reported by The Calgary Herald. Although the show’s voice is uncompromisingly Canadian, Keeso has remarked upon its sustained stateside success: “Letterkenny has been working in the U.S. since we started the web series… Like I say, everyone knows someone from Letterkenny.” The cast had allegedly intended to tour the United States performing Letterkenny Live in 2020, but those plans were put on hold in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Exclaim.
Daniel Fienberg, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, heaped praise on the show’s tight writing and friendly energy: “If you like things that are smart yet stupid, distinctive yet accessible, edgy yet bathed in a communal warmth, and you haven’t watched Letterkenny, get on that!”
All nine seasons of Letterkenny are available to stream on Hulu.