''Our Hero'' is a Canadian teen comedy-drama television series. It ran for 26 episodes over two seasons on CBC and WTN from October 5, 2000, until January 20, 2002, and was syndicated in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

on WAM! and in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on Channel 5.

Premise

The series resolves around 17-year old Canadian Kale Stiglic (

Cara Pifko Cara Pifko (born March 15, 1976) is a Canadian actress known primarily for her work on television shows produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Life and career Pifko was born in Toronto, Ontario. A graduate of the National Theatre Sch ...

) who creates a

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

about her life in suburban

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 ...

with her friends Ross Korolus (

Justin Peroff Justin Peter Papadimitriou (born October 13, 1977), family name changed to Peroff, is best known as the drummer for the Toronto-based indie rock collective Broken Social Scene. He is a credited actor, appearing in the major motion picture '' How t ...

), Mary-Elizabeth Penrose (Jeanie Calleja), and Dalal Vidya (

Vik Sahay Vikram Sahay is a Canadian actor best known for playing Kevin Calvin on '' Radio Active'', Lester Patel on the NBC television series '' Chuck'', and Rama in the '' Roxy Hunter'' saga. Life and career Vik Sahay was born in Ottawa, Ontario, to Ind ...

). Each episode was named after an "issue" of her zine. Similar to Disney's ''

Lizzie McGuire ''Lizzie McGuire'' is an American comedy television series created by Terri Minsky that premiered on Disney Channel on January 12, 2001. The series stars Hilary Duff as the titular character, who navigates the personal and social issues of her t ...

'', plot segments were interspersed with quirky animated sequences narrated by Kale, with the animation reflecting the illustrations used in that issue's zine.

Cast

as Kale Stiglic, the protagonist who writes a zine about her life. * Jeanie Calleja as Mary Elizabeth Penrose, Kale's best friend since childhood and Dalal's girlfriend. She lives in a strict Catholic family. *

as Ross Korolus, Kale's friend, who discovers he is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

during the course of the series. He is of Ukrainian descent. * Michael George as Ethan Stiglic, Kale's older brother and an aspiring comedian. *

as Dalal Vidya, Mary E's boyfriend and Kale and Ross's friend. *

Christopher Ralph Christopher Douglas Ralph (born May 13, 1977) is a Canadian actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Tobias in the 1998 TV series ''Animorphs ''Animorphs'' is a science fantasy series of children's books written by Katherine Applega ...

as Malachi, an environmentalist and zine writer who dates Kale in season 2. * Jesse Nilsson as Rollins, who Kale has a crush on. * Robert Bockstael as Joey Stiglic, Kale and Ethan's father. *

Mimi Kuzyk Mimi Kuzyk (born February 21, 1952) is a Canadian actress. Early life Kuzyk was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to Fred and Kay Kuzyk, both of whom are Ukrainian immigrants, and received her early education at the Immaculate Heart of Mary School. Sh ...

as Mila Stiglic, Kale and Ethan's mother. * Daniel Enright as Bill Fisher, who works at the photocopying shop Kale uses to print copies of her zine. He dates Kale for a few episodes. * Tory Cassis as Gordon, Kale's friend who uses a wheelchair after having cancer. He dies in "The Last Laugh Issue". * Erin Hickock as Shana, a teen mother who works at the health food store with Kale briefly.

Episodes

Season 1 (2000–01)

Season 2 (2001–02)

Production

''Our Hero'' was created by John May and Suzanne Bolch who also had writing credits on all but two episodes. May also directed a number of episodes. Along with Karen Lee Hall the three formed Heroic Film Company, a Toronto production company that is mainly focused on creating youth oriented television programming. The series was filmed in the

Canadian Broadcasting Centre The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the CBC Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp ...

at Front St and

John St John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. To save time and money, there were always two episodes shot at once. Some still and Super 8 photography for the zine sequences was shot with a very small crew along the city's streets.

Awards

Wins

* 2003 – Writers Guild of Canada Award for Writing ("The Karma Issue") * 2002 – Writers Guild of Canada Award for Writing ("The Unresolved Issue") * 2001 – Writers Guild of Canada Award for Writing ("The Shallow Issue")

Nominations

* 2002 – Canadian Comedy Award – Pretty Funny Female Performance for Jeanie Calleja * 2002 – Canadian Comedy Award – Pretty Funny Male Performance for Vik Sahay * 2002 – Canadian Comedy Award – Pretty Funny Writing for TV Series for Suzanne Bolch & John May * 2002 – Gemini Awards – Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series * 2002 – Gemini Awards – Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program and Series * 2001 – Gemini Awards – Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series

External links

* *{{IMDb title, 0262980
Heroic Film Company official site
CBC Television original programming 2000 Canadian television series debuts 2002 Canadian television series endings 2000s Canadian teen drama television series Television shows set in Toronto Television shows filmed in Toronto Television series about teenagers Television series by DHX Media Television shows about comics Canadian television series with live action and animation