''Backpackers'' is a Canadian comedy

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

, which aired in 2013 on CTV.ca and CW Seed.

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

picked up the series for television broadcast, for which material from the web series was edited into four half-hour episodes, and six new episodes were produced. ''Backpackers'' made its television premiere on July 14, 2014. The series stars

Dillon Casey Dillon Francis Casey (born October 29, 1983) is an American-born Canadian actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Sean Pierce in The CW action-thriller television series ''Nikita''. Early life Casey was born in Dallas, Texas and ra ...

and

Noah Reid Noah Nicholas Reid (born May 29, 1987) is a Canadian voice, stage, and screen actor; and musician. He has performed in several films and television series, including ''Franklin'' and the CBC comedy ''Schitt's Creek''. In 2016, he received a Cana ...

as Brandon and Ryan, two friends on a backpacking trip across Europe after Ryan and his girlfriend Beth (

Meghan Heffern Meghan Heffern (born October 3, 1983) is a Canadian actress. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and lives in Toronto, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic easte ...

) experience

cold feet Cold feet is a phrase that refers to a person not going through with an action, particularly one which requires long term commitment, due to fear, uncertainty, and doubt. A person is said to be "getting cold feet" when, after previously committin ...

over their pending engagement. Ryan's stolen journal is posted on the Internet and goes viral, sending Ryan, Brandon, and Brandon's brother Andrew (

Giacomo Gianniotti Giacomo Keaton Gianniotti (born 19 June 1989) is an Italian-Canadian film and television actor. He studied theater at Humber College and made his acting debut in the Italian television series ''Medicina Generale'' in 2010. He went on to play rec ...

) on another journey, to recover the journal and fulfill Ryan's dream of becoming a published author. The web series was produced by Smokebomb Entertainment, the digital content division of

Shaftesbury Films Shaftesbury Films is a film, television and digital media production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of original content for television and ...

. The television series is produced by Shaftesbury U.S. and Smokebomb in association with The CW. Casey garnered a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

nomination for Performance in a Program or Series Produced for Digital Media at the

2nd Canadian Screen Awards The 2nd Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 9, 2014, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2013.The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

removed ''Backpackers'' from its schedule after just two episodes, and released the remaining episode on CW Seed.

Webisodes

Season 1

Eight webisodes were released on the CTV website, as well as CW Seed, in 2013.

Season 2

In 2015, The CW began releasing episodes for a second season on CW Seed. The 6 episodes filmed for television were split into 24 webisodes.

Television episodes

The television episodes each consist of two webisodes merged.

References

External links

* {{CW Seed CTV Television Network original programming Canadian comedy web series Television series by Shaftesbury Films The CW original programming 2013 web series debuts 2015 web series endings