Toronto comic Pat Thornton and S&S Productions have been given the go-ahead for Hotbox, a half-hour sketch series for Comedy Network.

The sketch comedy show will incorporate cartoons, commercial parodies and puppets — and builds on the success of Thornton’s The Owl and the Man, a series of six shorts that ran on the web and in-between shows on Comedy.

‘The response [to Owl] was quite positive,’ says producer Andrew Barnsley of S&S (History Bites, The Red Green Show). The development deal for Hotbox was initially for a web-based show, but Comedy greenlit a broadcast version earlier this month.

Thornton, also known for his work on Comedy’s Punched Up, is looking to move fast with Hotbox, which will be comprised of eight to 10 sketches no longer than 90 seconds apiece. The show will also feature green-screen work, puppets and stills, with animation from Toronto’s Smiley Guy Studios (Odd Job Jack).

Casting is currently underway. Thornton will star, co-write and coproduce with S&S. Vivieno Caldinelli will direct.

Barnsley says they have a ‘comfortable’ team in place, having worked with both Thornton and Caldinelli on other projects.

Hotbox is set to begin shooting in Toronto at the end of August for broadcast in early 2009.