Should Vision TV’s Lord Have Mercy get the green light from its funding sources, the new series will be the only true-to-form sitcom – three cameras, studio audiences and only a handful of sets – being produced in Canada.

But if the sitcom turns into a ratings success, don’t expect a rush to produce more. Generally speaking, while comedies can be excellent investments, broadcasters in Canada avoid sitcoms like the plague.

The reason for this is simple. Developing a sitcom that can compete with what is being produced in the U.S. is both too expensive for the domestic market and has little hope for gap financing through foreign sales.

In the U.S., the rule of thumb is you need 100 scripts in development to produce 10 programs, of which one will survive, says Ed Robinson, senior VP comedy and variety programming at CTV.

‘Here we can’t afford to produce that many and not somehow try and move forward with them.’

The costs per episode, too, are way above those of a standard Canadian-produced half-hour. Successful sitcoms generally employ an army of writers and usually are built around at least one headline comedian. None of this comes cheap. U.S. sitcoms are typically three times as expensive to produce as Canadian comedies.

And in the end, says Slawko Klymkiw exec director of programming at CBC, you are competing against what Americans do best. ‘It’s really difficult to find a formula that’s going to break through.