Vancouver: Producers of a new spec sitcom – the first U.S.-style, three-camera sitcom format to shoot in Vancouver – are hoping for divine intervention for the future of the project.

The concept for The Rev, according to the project’s publicist, came to its Canadian creator and lead actor John Carmen after 40 nights of dreaming. His central character Johnny Starr, a white Las Vegas preacher who saves souls and rock ‘n’ roll, was compelling enough for Carmen, who has had no previous exposure to the television industry, to leave his family business in Oakville, ON and recruit sitcom veterans to help build the family-oriented series.

The pilot’s writer Jim Geoghan (whose career credits span Three’s Company to Family Matters) came aboard first, followed by two other Family Matters alumni: director Kelly Sandefur and actress Jo Marie Payton, who plays ‘Mama’ in The Rev. Other cast members in the 22-minute presentation include David Leisure (Caroline In The City) and movie veteran Tom ‘Tiny’ Lister (Jackie Brown).

Local producer Deboragh Gabler (Legacy Filmworks) oversaw the five-day shoot at Lions Gate Studios that wrapped April 16.

Publicist Jessica Fraser says the show’s ‘gently religious’ Christian themes are a major draw for the privately financed program. ‘The actors are all very excited to be participating in a show that shares the gospel with the viewing audience,’ she explains. ‘They’re building momentum off the craze around Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.’

The pilot was not attached to a network at press time and producers were unsure whether a successful placement would mean production in Vancouver or Los Angeles.

Last year, ABC’s sitcom Slice o’ Life, starring Janeane Garofalo as a TV producer, was ready to go as Vancouver’s first sitcom-format production, but then died, reportedly because of Garofalo’s anti-President George Bush sentiments.