''Whatever, Linda'' is a Canadian

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

co-created and co-written by

Hannah Cheesman Hannah Cheesman is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. As a performer, Cheesman is known for portraying Lieutenant Commander Airiam in the second season of the CBS television series '' Star Trek: Discovery''. As a filmmaker, Cheesman has written an ...

and Julian De Zotti. The series stars Cheesman as Linda Thoroughbred, a woman in the 1970s who gets a job as a secretary for

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

Barney Lahnar (inspired by

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDA ...

) and becomes the real brains behind the

Ponzi scheme A Ponzi scheme (, ) is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. Named after Italian businessman Charles Ponzi, the scheme leads victims to believe that profits are comin ...

that will eventually bring him down. The series was released on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and via an official website in 2014, but was subsequently taken down and re-uploaded to

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

. Though the series has struggled to find an audience online, it has screened at festivals internationally, winning critical acclaim and numerous awards.

Cast

as Linda Thoroughbred *

Terra Hazelton Terra Hazelton is a Canadian jazz musician, broadcaster and actress. Raised in Calgary, Hazelton began studying theatre with the Loose Moose Theatre Company as a teenager. She later moved to Toronto to pursue opportunities in theatre, discovering ...

as Annabelle Nascimento *

Cara Ricketts Cara Ricketts is a Canadian actress,Richard Ouzounian"People to watch in 2011: Cara Ricketts" ''Toronto Star'', December 31, 2010. best known for her roles as Mary Lacroix in ''Anne with an E'' and Lilly Rue in the 2019 revival of '' Street Legal ...

as Didi De May *

Martha MacIsaac Martha MacIsaac (born October 11, 1984) is a Canadian actress. She has appeared in several feature films, including '' Superbad'' (2007), ''The Last House on the Left'' (2009), ''Dead Before Dawn'' (2012), and, most recently, ''Battle of the Sex ...

as Pepper Bannerman *Mike Shara as Drew Cashton *

Brendan Gall Brendan Gall (born September 2, 1978) is a Canadian writer, actor and producer living in Los Angeles, California. Early life and education Gall graduated from the George Brown Theatre School. Career Gall has written and/or produced for the t ...

as Henry Sullivan *

Julian Richings Julian Richings (born 30 August 1956)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at Ancestry.com is a British-Canadian character actor. He has appeared in over 225 films and television series. Career After touring th ...

as Aloysius Finkle *Graydon Sheppard as Edie *

Sheila McCarthy Sheila McCarthy (born January 1, 1956) is a Canadian actress and singer. She has worked in film, television, and on stage. McCarthy is one of Canada's most honoured actors, having won two Genie Awards (film), two Gemini Awards (television), an AC ...

as Sheila Hardy

Reception

After being released online through

, the series has struggled to find an audience online; despite this, it has screened at festivals internationally, winning critical acclaim and numerous awards. The series garnered a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

nomination for Original Program or Series Produced for Digital Media, Fiction at the

3rd Canadian Screen Awards The 3rd Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 1, 2015, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2014.Vancouver Web Series Festival The Vancouver Web Series Festival, also known as the Vancouver Web Fest, is a web series festival based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is known as the first ever Canadian festival dedicated solely to entertainment and programming cr ...

, including Best Drama Series. WebVeeGuide.com called Cheesman "a revelation, and is more than worthy of the acclaim she and the show are receiving."

Television series adaptation

In 2016, Cheesman announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that they are in development with

Mark Gordon Mark Gordon (born March 14, 1957) is an American politician who has served as the 33rd governor of Wyoming since January 7, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as state treasurer; then-governor Matt Mead appointed him ...

to create a

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

based on the web series.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Whatever, Linda''
Canadian comedy-drama web series 2014 web series debuts Canadian historical television series