Bruce McCulloch's Young Drunk Punk morphs into a 1980s-set TV series

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      Bruce McCulloch's theatrical hit Young Drunk Punk, which sold out shows in Vancouver, is about to debut as a TV series on City.

      In the one-man show, the Kids in the Hall alumnus recalled his shit-disturbing youth in Calgary in the 1980s, and that will be the exact setting for the TV series of the same name.

      It's to centre on two teen rebels, Ian McKay (Tim Carlson) and his buddy Shinky (Atticus Mitchell), living in the suburbs of Calgary, and comes complete with a soundtrack that includes Pointed Sticks, the Buzzcocks, the Demics, and the Diodes.

      This time out, McCulloch—in a suave moustache—plays Ian's father. McCulloch has said the TV version of Young Drunk Punk is not as autobiographical as the stage rendition, but we can't wait to see how he characterizes the dad here: in his one-man stage show, he managed to make his less-than-ideal upbringing hilarious, with one of its highlights a section reflecting on the death of his own father (who wasn’t exactly Ward Cleaver from the sound of things). 

      For the new series, his real-life wife Tracy Ryan plays Ian's mom, a woman works in the wig department at Woolco.

      The 13-episode show, produced for television by Accent Entertainment and SEVEN24 Films, debuts on January 21 at 8:30 p.m.

       

      Comments

      2 Comments

      Carol Post

      Jan 17, 2015 at 6:36am

      Thanks for this, GS! I am a huge Bruce McCulloch fan and I am so looking forward to this series. The 80s were a blur and it will be great to see what music McCullch has chosen for the show.

      Calgary in 1980; isn't that Dante's description of Hell?

      David Fleming

      Jan 21, 2015 at 6:52pm

      I lived in Calgary in 1980 when I was in my twenties. I'm sure I lived in the house where the cowboy's party was in the 1st episode. A real "Time Warp"!