CBC has greenlit a new sketch comedy fronted by Toronto-based comedy troupe TallBoyz II Men.

The half-hour series, TallBoyz, follows troupe members (and show creators) Vance Banzo, Guled Abdi, Franco Nguyen and Tim Blair as they explore themes of friendship, toxic masculinity, race and more. It is directed and executive produced by The Kids in the Hall comedian Bruce McCulloch and produced by Susan Cavan through her Accent Entertainment banner.

The eight-episode first season begins filming in Toronto next month and will launch on Gem and CBC’s linear channel this fall. Paula Smith works as a supervising producer on the comedy, while Accent’s Caitlin Brown is a coproducer and Jen Goodhue serves as a consulting producer.

TallBoyz is the most recent collaboration between McCulloch and Cavan, who previously exec produced the Citytv comedy, Young Drunk Punk (2015). The semi-autobiographical, half-hour series was coproduced by Accent and Seven24 Films and followed two recent graduates who try to continue their punk-rock ways in Calgary in the ’80s.

Recently, TallBoyz II Men won the award for best comedy short at Toronto Sketchfest, in addition to other awards at Montreal SketchFest and Toronto Fringe Festival.

The commission follows the recent announcement that CBC has renewed a raft of series for its 2019-2020 schedule, including Schitt’s Creek (Not A Real Company Productions), recent CSA-winner Still Standing (Frantic Films), Kim’s Convenience (Thunderbird Entertainment) and Baroness Von Sketch Show (Frantic Films). Additional renewals are expected later this spring.

McCulloch will be honoured with his Kids in the Hall colleagues at the Canadian Academy’s Sunday broadcast gala, receiving the Icon Award.