Showcase rolled out a darker second season (10 x 30) of its law office comedy Billable Hours earlier this month, thanks to U.S.-style showrunning by new executive producer Frank van Keeken.

‘My mandate was to make the show really dark, really fast,’ he says. ‘We wanted to make our lead characters suffer as much as possible.’ He was brought on board as showrunner last year by prodco Temple Street Productions, ending a stay in Hollywood where he worked as a writer on comedies including Mad About You.

‘The sensibility of the show was close to mine and I liked the world that had been created in season one,’ van Keeken says.

Van Keeken ran an American-style room with ‘bright, funny’ writers that included co-creators Fabrizio Filippo and Adam Till, plus Sarah Glinski (Life with Derek), Dwayne Hill (What It’s Like Being Alone) and Max Reid (What It’s Like Being Alone).

‘Frank brings with him a wealth of experience in comedy writing,’ says John Gill, SVP of content for the dramatic networks at Alliance Atlantis. ‘We knew he would increase the pace of the series, include more jokes, make the writing even tighter and crisper, and further develop the characters.’

The show stars Filippo, Brandon Firla and Jennifer Baxter. Joining the regular cast this season are Arnold Pinnock (Life with Derek), Robin Br°lé (Puppets Who Kill) and David Alpay (Ararat).