Dan for Mayor, a half-hour scripted comedy starring Corner Gas‘ Fred Ewanuick, is ‘about a small — but not too small — town and a bartender who suddenly finds himself running for mayor,’ says creator and exec producer Kevin White.

A fan of the Australian TV series The Games, which followed the ramp-up before the Olympic Games in Sydney, White searched for a way to translate that show in Canada.

‘I wondered what we’d follow with the same intensity, and an election campaign came to mind,’ he says. ‘It had to be a big enough town that a regular Joe — in our case a bartender — winning would be a long shot.’

Paul Mather and Mark Farrell, also of Corner Gas, exec producer and write with White. The trio pitched CTV in the fall of 2006, and the network asked for three scripts.

Production on the pilot starts Oct. 20, shooting for five days in and around Waterloo, ON with a crew of 60-plus and a cast of nine recurring roles. Doomstown‘s Sue Murdock produces, with Ron Murphy of Billable Hours directing.

‘It’s a reasonable-sized budget, comparatively,’ says White.

White calls the show ‘accessible by all, like Corner Gas,’ pointing to a range of ages and cultural backgrounds in the characters. ‘I’m sure unemployed bartenders will root for Dan.’

Ewanuick was pegged early for the role.

‘When he was suggested, it made sense,’ says White. ‘The chemistry’s there.’

The pilot follows Dan, who’s had the same friends since high school and now has an ex engaged to someone else. Suddenly, Dan’s on the path to election night.

‘There’s a slightly soapy element to the relationship between Dan and his ex,’ says White. ‘And there’s more of an arc to the stories than would have been typical to Corner Gas.’

Production companies Sad Glasses and QVF, working in association with CTV and The Comedy Network, plan to deliver the pilot at the beginning of December.