''Four in the Morning'' is a Canadian television comedy-drama series, which premiered on CBC Television on August 26, 2016. Starring Lola Tash,

Michelle Mylett Robyn Michelle Mylett (born January 4, 1989) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Katy on the comedy series ''Letterkenny'' (2016–present). Early life Mylett was raised in Ladysmith, a town on Vancouver Island in British C ...

Daniel Maslany Daniel Joseph Maslany () is a Canadian actor, producer and composer. He is known for playing Bondurant Smit in CBC's offbeat and absurd comedy series '' Four in the Morning'', Llewelynn Watts in the series ''Murdoch Mysteries'' and Townes Linder ...

and

Mazin Elsadig Mazin Elfadil Elsadig (born September 2, 1987) is an US-born Canadian actor of Sudanese heritage. He had a role in the 2007 Disney Channel Original Movie ''Jump In!'' and later joined the cast of the CTV/The N teen drama ''Degrassi: The Next Ge ...

, the series focuses on four friends in their 20s who regularly get together at 4 a.m. The series was produced by Serendipity Point Films, on a low budget model of $300,000 per episode."Making TV with an indie film prowess"
. '' Playback'', March 29, 2016. The series was not renewed for a second season.

Development

Creator and show-runner Ira Parker wrote the pilot script, which was meant to feel like a play, when he was in graduate school . He had a season mapped out in his mind, and loosely based some of the characters and storylines on his own experiences. Parker was surprised that CBC picked up the show with its sex scenes, drug use and profanity, and that the public broadcaster allowed them to make the show without creative limitations. Parker wrote all the episodes, then spent a week with playwright Daniel Goldfarb refining the scripts for the season.

Cast

* Lola Tash as Mitzi *

as Jamie *

as Bondurant Smit *

as William Wilson

Production

The series was produced by Serendipity Point Films, on a low budget model of $300,000 per episode. It was set and filmed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, including the Patrician Grill on King Street East and

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to sea ...

. The majority of filming was done overnight, between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. Maslany said this helped develop a surrealist mindset.

Episodes

Themes

The series considers in-between times when anything can happen. Journalist Bill Harris wrote that 4 a.m. marked the behavioural dividing line between "people heading to work rather than staggering home". He noted that the plot is suited to this transitional time, when the characters are both "tired and wired." David Berry of the ''National Post'' noted that experiences at this hour are more definitive for being beyond daily routines. Journalist Melita Kuburas wrote that the show is about the moments when the effects of alcohol wear off which "reveal tender, sweet and sad aspects of young adulthood." Actor Maslany felt the characters are escaping the frustrations of their daily lives and seeking the unexpected. He noted that social codes don't seem to apply in a time when most people are asleep. Creator Ira Parker called it a "genre-bending show", more drama than comedy, with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and twists of the absurd which Parker calls "

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...

". Harris described it as "a televised stage play ..more artsy than raw." Kuburas noted that the characters are "unreliable narrators" of the story that includes moments of magical realism. Maslany stated that these elements show how "anything feels possible" at that hour. Jealousy is a major theme, talked about in the first episode and left to build through the season. This is exacerbated by a lie told to Mitzi by the ghost of her pet pig, and shakes-up the group.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 5671700 2016 Canadian television series debuts 2016 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian comedy-drama television series CBC Television original programming