''Still Standing'' is a Canadian television series, which premiered on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

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 dramatic 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. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

and

reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways. Philosophical questions abo ...

series, the program features actor and comedian

Jonny Harris Jonathan Harris (born 22 September 1975) is a Canadian actor and comedian from Newfoundland and Labrador.stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

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, Canada. The commu ...

, 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 ...

'', 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 to land the role of a character in a script, screenpla ...

. 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 In European militaries, a billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. In American usage, it refers to a specific personnel position, assignment, or duty station to which a soldier can be assigned. Historically, a billet w ...

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 th ...

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 with humour that 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. I ...

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 COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course o ...

. 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 consisted of 10 episodes broadcast during winter 2023.

Season 9 (2023)

The ninth season of ''Still Standing'' consisted of ten episodes broadcast starting in September 2023. Harris stated that he had been interested in featuring

Dawson City Dawson City is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest municipality in Yukon. History Prior t ...

on the show, but the city never "fit the bill as a struggling town" until the decline of tourism to the city following the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Season 10 (2024)

Broadcast

The series is available on

Tubi Tubi (stylized as tubi) is an American over-the-top ad-supported streaming television service owned by Fox Corporation since 2020. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023, Tubi, Credible L ...

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

, and

The Roku Channel The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the UK. The service was launched in 2017, and is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. It is the most popular free ad-supported streaming televisio ...

in the US. Seasons 6 and 7 were released exclusively on Tubi in April 2022. The series is also available on

Pluto TV Pluto TV is an American free ad-supported streaming television service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global. Founded by Tom Ryan (business executive), Tom Ryan, Ilya Pozin and Nick Grouf in 2013 and based in ...

in the US.

Reception

Television critic John Doyle, writing in ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', 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 stand-up comedy television series 2010s Canadian reality television series 2020s Canadian stand-up comedy television series 2020s Canadian reality television series