Deaner and Terry hit the small screen
The guys behind FUBAR did not have to look far to find inspiration for the title of their latest venture. He’s in the news every single day. When Calgary actor Dave Lawrence heard U.S. President Donald Trump pontificate about how the “age of computer” had “complicated lives very greatly,” he knew the statement possessed appropriate levels of cluelessness to be adopted by the beer-guzzling headbangers Terry Cahill and Dean Murdoch for their upcoming adventures.
“When we heard that, it was like ‘there’s our title,’ ” says Lawrence, who plays Terry.
“In fact, Rogers (Media) at first told us ‘The Age of the Computer’ and we got pretty white hot and said ‘That’s not funny. Age of Computer is funny.’ ”
So throughout the eight episodes of FUBAR: Age of Computer, neither Dean nor Terry refers to these mystifying new devices as “the computer.”
“We always say: ‘We can record on computer!’ ” says Lawrence.
Dean and Terry’s migration to the small screen began Friday on Viceland and also runs Sunday on City.
It’s a brave new world for the FUBAR gang.
They were introduced in 2002 with the now-classic, low-budget debut feature, a largely improvised mockumentary that became an instant cult favourite after debuting at Sundance.
After a 2010 sequel, a few cameos and a number of live appearances as Calgary’s fun-loving headbangers, Lawrence and actor Paul Spence have returned with director Michael Dowse for the series.
And, as the title suggests, the premise partly revolves around Terry and “the Deaner” discovering computer wizardry for the first time after fleeing the Fort McMurray wildfires and holing up in a basement suite in Calgary.
Thanks to a computer owned by Terry’s unhinged cousin, Shank, the two probe the mysteries of YouTube and other, less savoury corners of the Interwebs.
“You have to suspend your disbelief that Terry and Dean had never had an email address until 2017, which just in itself is hilarious,” says Spence.
When we last saw Dean and Terry — in the 2010 feature FUBAR: Balls to the Wall — the Calgarians had found work in the oilpatch and were givin’r in Fort McMurray. Terry hooked up with local girl Trish (played by fellow Loose Moose Theatre alumnus Terra Hazelton) and Dean attempted to get some easy cash by faking an injury to get workers’ compensation. When Age of Computer starts, Terry’s romance is on the rocks and the boys retreat to the woods to engage in heavy drinking and fits of irresponsible pyromania. They wake up to find Fort McMurray in flames and decide to flee back to Calgary.
It’s not really Calgary. While this might seem sacrilegious to FUBAR devotees, Calgary is actually played by Montreal. Sort of. Age of Computer did not need a lot of hallmarks identifying Cowtown, since most of it takes place in a dilapidated basement that Lawrence cheerfully refers to as a “sh-thole.” And, really, a dump in Montreal doesn’t look all that different from one in Calgary.
So Montreal was used for the sake of practicality, since Dowse and Spence both live there. While FUBAR may seem quintessentially Calgarian, the FUBAR universe, in general, seems to strike a chord nationwide. In fact, in this golden age of television, the medium seems susceptible to the unique charms of the Great White North as of late.
“Who could have guessed that in 2017 there would be three shows in Canada about hoser Canadians all at the same time,” says Spence, referring to FUBAR, Letterkenny and the Trailer Park Boys.
“It really speaks to the Canadian appetite, but also internationally. There’s something about the hoser Canadian, no matter how specific the accent or region is, that somehow translates on an international level. I find it fascinating. I haven’t seen a TV show about small-town Germans that has gone international.”