''The Parker Andersons'' and ''Amelia Parker'' are a pair of related

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television sitcoms, which premiered in 2021 on Super Channel.Kelly Townsend
"Giving life and authenticity to the Parker Andersons"
'' Playback'', April 9, 2021. The shows both depict a blended family living in the suburbs of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

following the remarriage of widower Tony Parker (

Arnold Pinnock Arnold Pinnock (born 1967) is a Canadian actor who is perhaps best known for his appearance as Paul Greebie, Casey's guidance counselor, in ''Life with Derek''. Pinnock was born in Birmingham, England. His career began with sketch comedy at Toro ...

) and divorced single mother Cleo Anderson (

Kate Hewlett Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

); while they share interconnections of character and storyline, ''The Parker Andersons'' centres on the whole family, while ''Amelia Parker'' focuses more specifically on the particular experiences of Tony's teenage daughter Amelia (

Millie Davis Millie Davis (born 6 December 2006) is a Canadian actress who plays Ms. O / Big O in the TVOKids/ PBS Kids series ''Odd Squad'', Riley in the television show ''Dino Dana'', Summer in ''Wonder'', and Gemma Hendrix in ''Orphan Black.'' She was nomi ...

), who is still coping with the death of her mother and struggling with the anxiety disorder of

selective mutism Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder in which a person who is otherwise capable of speech becomes unable to speak when exposed to specific situations, specific places, or to specific people, one or multiple of which serving as triggers. ...

.Radheyan Simonpillai
"How an all-BIPOC Canadian team made a TV show for a Mormon network in the U.S."
''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

'', April 5, 2021. The cast also includes Agape Mngomezulu,

Akiel Julien Akiel Julien is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as LaTroy in the teen drama series ''The Next Step (Canadian TV series), The Next Step'', for which he was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance in ...

, Charlie Zeltzer, Devin Ceccheto, Chris River, Sandy Jobin-Bevans, Jaida Grace,

Kimberly Huie Kimberly Huie is a Jamaican-born Canadian actress,"An `exotic in the land of blondes' wants to move the masses She covets meaty roles exposing disturbing sides of the human psyche". ''Toronto Star'', March 12, 1995. best known for her lead roles ...

, Arista Arhin, and Madison Brydges.Greg David
"marblemedia starts production on two new family sitcoms, The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker"
''TV, eh?'', October 13, 2020. The series is 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 ancho ...

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 Ca ...

, and production commenced in October 2020. In advance of production, writer and showrunner

Anthony Q. Farrell Anthony Q. Farrell (born May 13, 1977) is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer. He has written for ''The Office'', presided as executive story editor for ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' as well as produced and performed in various stand-up and s ...

, who was already working with Marblemedia on the series ''

Overlord and the Underwoods ''Overlord and the Underwoods'' is a Canadian television family sitcom co-created by Anthony Q. Farrell and Ryan Wiesbrock, and is a co-production between MarbleMedia and Cloudco Entertainment. The series first premiered in the United Kingdom on ...

'', was brought in to rewrite the scripts to ensure that they more authentically represented the show's Black characters. The shows premiered on Super Channel Heart & Home on April 19, 2021. They are also carried in the United States by

BYUtv BYU TV (stylized as BYUtv) is a television channel, founded in 2000, which is owned and operated as a part of Brigham Young University (BYU). The channel, available through cable and satellite distributors in the United States, produces a number ...

Controversy

The series launch was a topic of some controversy in the Canadian television industry, when Radheyan Simonpillai's article in ''

'' about the series launch included the statement that BYUtv series "couldn’t feature characters who are clearly identified as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

" due to the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...

' views on LGBTQ sexuality. The controversy roped in both ''The Parker Andersons/Amelia Parker'' and ''Overlord and the Underwoods''. Within days, BYUtv responded with a statement that "As a young network committed to bringing together religious and non-religious audiences, BYUtv is learning and exploring ways to partner with diverse content creators, writers and talent to implement meaningful co-viewing experiences for our target audience (children 8-15 and their parents). While BYUtv has not referenced LGBTQ+ topics and characters in the five original scripted series it has aired to date, we desire to address subjects – including LGBTQ+ – that are important to our growing and diverse audience. There are no policies that would exclude the network from including characters who identify as LGBTQ+, and BYUtv is exploring ways to do so," and Marblemedia indicated that ''The Parker Andersons'' and ''Amelia Parker'' will include LGBTQ-related storylines in future seasons.

Awards

Farrell received a nomination for Best Direction in a Family Series at the 2021

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assistant ...

awards, for the episode "Father & Sons". Further nominations for the

WGC Screenwriting Awards The WGC Screenwriting Awards (previously Canadian Screenwriting Awards) are administered by the Writers Guild of Canada, and are awarded to the best script for a feature film, television or radio project produced within the Guild's jurisdiction, ...

were received by Ian Steaman, Amanda Joy, and Murry Peeters for their respective scripts "Father & Sons," "Joy," and "This Wasn't the Plan."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parker Andersons, The 2020s Canadian sitcoms 2020s Black Canadian television series 2021 Canadian television series debuts Canadian black sitcoms Super Channel (Canadian TV channel) original programming