''Still Standing'' is a Canadian television series, which premiered on CBC in summer 2015. The show's

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

slogan is "towns that are against the ropes but still hanging in there", reflecting the show's premise to tell the "story of small towns in Canada and how they overcome struggles". It is based on the Danish television series '' Gintberg på kanten'' (''Gintberg on the edge''). A hybrid

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

and

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, r ...

series, the program features actor and comedian

Jonny Harris Jonathan Harris (born September 22, 1975) is a Canadian actor and comedian from Newfoundland and Labrador.stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

show for the town's residents, into which he integrates some of his newfound insights about life in their community. In the television format, however, clips from the comedy show are interspersed throughout the episode rather than occurring specifically at the end. The show is produced by

Frantic Films Frantic Films Corporation is a Canadian branded content and live action production company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Frantic Films is known for producing live action reality shows, documentaries and for its work in feature film visual effects. ...

. The show premiered on June 23, 2015, with an episode set in

Bamfield Bamfield is a community that is surrounded by Crown Land, First Nation Lands belonging to the Huu-ay-aht Nations, and portions of the Pacific Rim National Park, located on Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The community, with ...

, British Columbia.

Filming

To be considered for a show, a community must submit a proposal to the show's producers, who then select a subset of those proposals for inclusion in that season's programming. The order of filming is independent of the order of episode broadcasting. Filming occurs during the three hiatuses in the filming of ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick B ...

'', in which Harris is part of the

main cast In the performing arts industry such as theatre, film, or television, casting, or a casting call, is a pre-production process for selecting a certain type of actor, dancer, singer, or extra for a particular role or part in a script, screenp ...

. A producer visits the town before the filming crew arrives to become familiar with the community. The crew then spends five days in the community, the first four of which are spent filming scenery and conducting interviews. Most of the segments are planned in advance, including Harris interviewing local individuals. The filming schedule is flexible to allow the crew to film events "on the fly". The crew consists of 10 to 16 members who are

billet A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier. Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...

ed during the filming.

Comedy show

The visit culminates in a comedy performance by Harris at a local venue on the fifth day. The event is free to attend on a

first come, first served Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. A queueing model is constructed so that queue lengths and waiting time can be predicted. Queueing theory is generally considered a branch of operations research because the ...

basis, and features performances by other stand-up comics. In the show, Harris discusses the residents, and the community's difficulties and response to those difficulties. Harris said he was "worried that they (local residents) might be apprehensive" about the show and its subject, but found that instead "they were laid back". He stated that "people are not overly sensitive, and are just up for the laugh". The stand-up routine typically includes

inside jokes An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It ...

that may not be included in the episode that is broadcast.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2015)

Season 2 (2016)

Season 3 (2017)

Season 4 (2018)

Season 5 (2019)

Season 6 (2020)

Season 7 (2022)

Filming for the seventh season was delayed because of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

. As a result of the ongoing pandemic, filming followed screening tests and other protocols, and during the show guests were seated in physically separated cohorts. After the show, Harris did not meet with the guests as he had done in previous seasons. Ten episodes were made for season 7.

Season 8 (2023)

The eighth season of the show will consist of 10 episodes broadcast during winter 2023.

Broadcast

The series is avalible exclusively on

Tubi Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...

, as well as on Amazon Prime and The Roku Channel in the US. Seasons 6 & 7 were released on Tubi in January 2022.

Reception

Television critic John Doyle, writing in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', stated that Harris is "extremely good at connecting with the local people".

Awards

Canadian Screen Awards

References

Notes

External links

* * {{CBC Television Shows (current and upcoming) 2015 Canadian television series debuts CBC Television original programming 2010s Canadian comedy television series 2010s Canadian reality television series 2020s Canadian comedy television series 2020s Canadian reality television series