'The Cable Guy' series to be shot in Vancouver is missing a key element
The Cable Guy, an American comedy film from the mid-90s directed by Ben Stiller, is getting a reboot in TV form, but it’s missing something that made the original so memorable: Jim Carrey!
Writers include Rob Rosell, who is known for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Joe Piarulli and Luan Thomas, who are known for Cobra Kai.
UBCP/ACTRA’s active production list states that North Vancouver is the home base for the pilot, and shooting begins in late July this year.
Upon release in 1996, The Cable Guy was panned by critics.
It was released right in the middle of a flurry of incredible releases starring Carrey, including The Mask, Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Liar Liar, and The Truman Show.
Compared to those other flicks, The Cable Guy didn’t land the same way for critics. It also wasn’t as big a box-office success as some of those other classic Carrey titles. In later years, sentiments surrounding the absurd dark comedy have changed, and it is considered a cult classic.
Bee Movie star Matthew Broderick also had a co-starring role in the film, but Carrey’s unhinged performance was largely what made the movie shine.
Aside from Carrey, the film also featured comedy icons like Jack Black, Owen Wilson, David Cross and Leslie Mann. Even Bob Odenkirk made a small appearance.
The film was also ahead of its time in some of its themes, and even prophetic. Carrey’s character Chip once claims, “Soon every American home will integrate their television, phone, and computer.”
The new Vancouver TV production of The Cable Guy is without the talents of Carrey or Broderick, but according to Deadline, stars Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr.
Deadline points out that the pilot serves as a reunion for Johnson and Wayans Jr., who were both part of the original New Girl cast.
UBCP/ACTRA states that the Vancouver pilot shoot is scheduled to last just under two weeks, wrapping up in early August.
There are a couple of other notable productions that have either recently gotten underway or will soon, including two from Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine. R.L Stine’s Afraid of Clowns and R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2, both classified as “New Media,” are scheduled to shoot in Vancouver in June and July.