CBC plans ‘Pham Pharewell’
‘Run the Burbs’ will go out with a viewing party
Fans of “Run the Burbs,” Andrew Phung’s CBC comedy about the children of immigrants raising their own kids, will get a chance to say goodbye to the show with a party.
Phung, who rose to fame as a cast member of the series “Kim’s Convenience,” announced on X that the show will hold “A Pham Pharewell” — the name of the fictional family in “Burbs” — on May 16 at CBC headquarters.
The event will include a screening of the show’s last two episodes at 8 p.m. followed by a Q&A with the cast and a “Pham After Party” at 9:30 p.m.
CBC announced last week that it had decided not to renew “Burbs” for a fourth season.
According to The Canadian Press, the public broadcaster said in a statement that although it wasn’t renewing the show, it was proud of the way it reflected Canada’s changing social landscape.
Phung, who created “Burbs” with his best friend, Scott Townend, told the Star in 2022 when the series debuted that he “wanted to tell a story of a very Canadian family that isn’t being told right now.”
His character, Andrew Pham, is a Vietnamese-Canadian stayat-home dad raising a son and daughter in the suburbs (Roman Pesino and Zoriah Wong) with his South Asian wife, Camille, played by Rakhee Morzaria.
In real life, Calgary-born Phung is the son of Vietnamese immigrants raising two sons in Toronto.
In a thread on X the day the cancellation was announced, Phung said he and his cast and crew were saddened, “but it’s also offered a chance for us to reflect on the three seasons we’ve made. Making Run the Burbs was an absolute joy and we’re so incredibly proud of what this show has accomplished on and off screen …
“We set out to make a funny, heartfelt, high-energy show about the suburbs and the families that make them great … Three years later, we are so proud to have made one of the most diverse and culturally specific comedies to ever come out of this country.”
Fans called the news sad and painful. “This gives me actual grief,” wrote one. “Sinceriously, this is ugly cry inducing.”
“Run the Burbs” was one of a dwindling number of original Canadian TV series and one of a very few featuring Asian lead casts, made by Asian creators.
The popular CBC comedy “Kim’s Convenience,” about Korean immigrants who run a corner store in Toronto, ended early in 2021 with its fifth season.
Phung became a fan favourite on that series as Kimchee, a friend and co-worker of the Kims’ son Jung, who was played by Marvel superstar Simu Liu.
Fans can find all three seasons of “Burbs” on CBC Gem, while the third season has yet to air on the CW in the U.S. The first two seasons are also available to American viewers on Hulu.