“We need a forest in the studio by Tuesday. Oh, and a hot air balloon.”

Throw in a couple of bears, some rats and a raccoon and it’s just another day on the set of Some Assembly Required, jokes Alex Raffe, head of production, Thunderbird Films.

Adding to the craziness is the fact that the Burnaby, B.C.-shot series  is filmed in front of a live studio audience. But the mix of elements is resounding with viewers, according to the series broadcaster YTV, which calls Some Assembly Required its top-rated series. 

Success in TV is a fickle thing, so it’s no surprise that this week Corus greenlit the youth-focused series to a third, 13-ep run. A pickup of the first two seasons by Netflix also didn’t hurt, notes said Jamie Piekarz, director of content, Corus Kids. “It seemed like a great time to commission more episodes.”

Live audiences for scripted Canadian TV series are also rare and Raffe says the Thunderbird team has had a steep learning curve over the first two seasons of producing the show. The biggest thing, she says, is managing the budget, which can spiral upwards quickly with so many unusual elements (like a hot air balloon) in play.  

“Now, we push ourselves to do as much as we can, physically, through special effects on the stage, rather than letting bundles of things pile up and saying ‘well, we’ll do that CG.’ We don’t want to overspend on that resource.” 

Typically an episode will be completed over the course of about three days, with one day dedicated to prepping the stage props and special effects, and then two days of on-stage filming. 

The show centres on the story of Jarvis Raines, who becomes the CEO of a toy company after he sues them when a chemistry set blows up his house. It is produced by Thunderbird Films, was created by Dan Signer (A.N.T. Farm, Mr. Young) and Howard Nemetz (Mr. Young, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) and stars Kolton Steward, who is repped by AMI in Canada.