And Jane, She is a Clerk...

Ah, Sweet Jane.

Anyway, this isn't about the Velvets or the Junkies either. This Sweet Jane is all about a new Canadian comedy, The Jane Show. It airs on Global, at least in Ontario, Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Global's notorious for moving around shows depending on your timezone, so check your local listings.

The development game in Canada can be fraught. Because you don't always do a pilot, a lot of the development is focused on scripts and bibles. That's a problem, of course, because so much has to do with casting and direction and how everything comes together that if you pick over the written details too much, there's no guarantee that you're going to get any closer to quality. And if you spend too much time picking over scripts, there's the ever-present danger (especially with a comedy) that you're going to get comitteed to death. I have several friends in comedy development deals right now who've had so many sets of notes that the joy has been completely leeched out of the script process. Everybody's at the stage where nothing's funny because they've read it too much -- and that's when, unless there's a strong hand at the till, the wheels really come off.

The Jane Show could have easily gone that way, for a lot of reasons. First of all, this show came out of Global's in-house script development program at a time when Global was tagged in the industry for a pretty cynical non-committment to Cancon -- ie: just about the only thing they did was the ultra low budget serial Train 48. I know the Train had its (few) fans -- but I saw the ratings, guys. The public wasn't on board. Doesn't mean everyone involved -- actors and writers -- didn't work hard, or weren't talented. It just means it was conceived and executed with a cynical eye toward maximizing Cancon at minimal cost. It was a loss leader for Global's U.S. shows.

When The Jane Show pilot aired, it seemed a bit dire, and hardly the thing to bring Global back into the "we're actually trying" fold (see Traders.) It was a halfhearted Sex & The City wannabe. It seemed strangely dated, it was trying too hard, characters had likability issues -- it was just a mess.

Then, just about the entire top tier of executives at Global TV changed. You know what happens to old projects when a new team comes in, right? So the chances for the series of The Jane Show to emerge as anything decent seemed long.

Well, the first episode aired last Thursday. And they beat the odds. All of 'em.

It's hard to quantify just how much better this show was than the original pilot. Is it perfect? Nope. But it's solid. The point of view is clear. The performances are enjoyable. And it's funny.

So everybody involved -- Global execs, the creators, the writers brought in to work the material for series -- should all pat themselves on the back. The weakest thing about The Jane Show now is that title.

Teresa Pavlinek (one of the co-creators, along with Ralph Chapman) is Jane. Jane is 33, and has spent the last eight years writing her novel. She's had a poor-paying arts job for so long that she needs a root canal she can't pay for, and she's reduced to debasing herself as a personal assistant to a horribly egocentric famous writer, just so he might one day read her book and give her an entree to the world of publishing.

Of course, he dies. He dies before ever revealing what he thinks of Jane's book. Armed with no money and being back at square one, Jane has a chance meeting with a friend who gets her a job interview with a liquor wholesaler. "We sell hope," they explain.

What's great about the POV of the show -- office work not as drudgery or debasement, as on The Office, but as a saving grace -- is a neat Canadian spin. See, here, personal assistants don't become powerful, and agent's assistants don't move up. Too often, in Canada, in the arts, there is no 'up.' The joke I've been telling for years is the pitch a producer gives to a writer, "hey, listen, buddy -- we're really low budget on this, not much to go around, but if you do me this favor right here right now and make this work, in a year I'll have another project going and I'll come back to you and then I'll ask you to do exactly the same thing."

So it might not read that way to Telefilm, but the dramatization of that attitude is probably the most Canadian thing about TJS; that and the very boss use of CanCon fave, "Sweet City Woman" in the end montage.

Pavlinek has been a fixture of the Canadian comedy scene for years. She's very tall, has expressive eyes, great timing, and is very funny. A bit of a Canadian Alison Janney thing going on, too. She does hilarious character work, which is the one thing that fills me with trepidation about TJS -- is Jane enough of a kook to let Pavlinek really stretch? I hope so, because the ensemble around her is good. The act outs were sharp and clear and filled with choice and the story had nice momentum.

Global could promote it better, of course, and let's not comment on the fact that it's been launched in ... sigh ... June. But you know, that's a structural Canadian TV problem, hardly a Global-centric problem, and it certainly doesn't have anything to do with the individual merits of the show.

After my anemic feelings for Billable Hours and Jeff Ltd. (both of which I've watched since, and I have to admit Jeff Ltd. has gotten a bit better, though the criticisms I had of it I think still hold true) The Jane Show promises greater things from Global.

(Full disclosure: I do actually have something in development at Global, but then again, I've had stuff at CTV, and that didn't make me warmer toward Jeff Ltd. Showcase is probably consistently my favorite channel. I'm a fan of Trailer Park Boys and Naked Josh, and I've worked on two shows for Showcase -- but I gotta say, Billable Hours? Not so much.)

Typing stuff like that gives me hives. Y'know, there really is a strong possibility I'm screwing myself royal by actually saying what I think in this blog. But then again, if people don't start doing that on some level in the Canadian industry, things are never, ever going to get better.

This is the time when I hear my mother's voice. "But why you?"

Simple.

I am dumb.

But I also believe in TV.

Alright. Back to work. On a Sunday. Sigh.