Vancouver: Alice, I Think, a new 13 x 30 comedy series for CTV and The Comedy Network, is underway in Vancouver, with local girl Carly McKillip in the leading role.

An Ontario/B.C. coproduction between Slanted Wheel Entertainment and Omni Film Productions, Alice is about a teenaged outsider and her kooky family in Smithers, BC. The series is based on the books by B.C. author Susan Juby and, according to Omni producer Brian Hamilton, the writers have tried to stay as faithful to her novels as possible.

‘There are a lot of fabulous storylines in the books that translate well to television, but there was a lot of work that had to be done to adapt storylines that might take place over an entire book into a half-hour,’ says Hamilton.

Slanted Wheel’s Jon Slan (Kissinger and Nixon) and Omni’s Gabriela Schonbach (Quiet Places) are the executive producers, with Rachel Rafelman coproducing. Susin Nielsen (Madison) and Gary Harvey – both of whom worked on the Omni/Creative Atlantic series Robson Arms for CTV – are coexec producers, with Nielsen doubling as head writer and Harvey as lead director. Harvey will direct the pilot and second episode, but only after episodes three, four and five are in the can. According to Hamilton, this backwards way of working comes from a lesson learned while putting together season one of Robson Arms.

‘The inevitable first few days have learning curves for the crew, and the pilot [for Robson Arms] was having to roll with those,’ he says. ‘We added a couple of shoot days at the end of our schedule to add more material for the pilot. With Alice, we want an opportunity to explore the world and get the actors and crew up to speed and comfortable before we turn to making the pilot. It’s a model I think many series are following these days.’

Director Mark Sawers (Lonesome Joe) is handling episodes three to five. Dwayne Beaver (The Rhino Brothers) and David Storey (Corner Gas) will also helm episodes in the first season.

After an extensive search, McKillip (The Marshal) beat 60 other hopefuls for the role of Alice because she embodied many of the qualities the producers were looking for, says Hamilton, including the ability to walk the line between ‘outrageous and loveable.’ She stars with Rebecca Northan (The Joe Blow Show), Dan Payne (John Tucker Must Die) and Haig Sutherland (Valentine).

Funding comes from CTV/Comedy, the CTF, provincial and federal tax credits and the Shaw Rocket Fund. The 47-day shoot will wrap in November, with the production partners delivering the first episode to CTV in December.