This Space for Rent

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This Space for Rent
From right to left: Elliot, Iona, Rumour, Lucky and Burnaby
Genre	Dramedy
Running time	45 minutes
Starring	Dov Tiefenbach Emily Hampshire Rainbow Sun Francks Kea Wong Jason Bryden
Country of origin	Canada
Original channel	CBC
Original run	January 4, 2006–

This Space for Rent is a Canadian dramedy on CBC starring Dov Tiefenbach that premiered on January 4th, 2006 as a 'special' CBC pilot as part of its "Comedy Week". Tiefenbach plays Lucky Carroway, a recent University graduate and writer who finds that life after University is not as perfect as it might seem. The show begins shortly after his valedictory speech, when his world comes crashing down after his first book is rejected by his literary agent. His life becomes worse as his arch-nemesis becomes a published author who appears in "Vancouver Magazine's" top 10 writers list. He becomes a recluse who constantly wears his graduation robe (a reminder of his more successful times) and plays video games all day. However, he quickly recovers by writing a vicious 'letter to the editor' to Vancouver Magazine where he decries the seleiction of his arch-nemesis as a top 10 writer. This letter angers so many readers of the magazine that they offer him a job as an anonymous "Hate Male" article writer.

He lives in downtown Vancouver in a flat with several friends. Emily Hampshire plays a recent law school graduate named Iona Goldenthal, a binge drinker (and perhaps an alcoholic) who must deal with the chauvanistic world of Law. Rainbow Sun Francks plays a recent graduate named Barnaby Sharpe who majored in Economics and Russian Literature. He fails his first audition (a PSA for genital warts) and ends up working at a Jar Heads, a Starbucks parody, as a "coffee jerk". Kea Wong plays Rumour Wong, a medical intern and Lucky's girlfriend, who must deal with Lucky's mental breakdown and reclusive nature. Jason Bryden plays Elliot Hayden, a mutual gay friend who speaks Mandarin and frequents Chinatown. He teaches English to immigrant children and acts as a foil to the rest of the characters.

Like Lucky, Iona and Barnaby must deal with the problems in their burgeoning careers and achieve success by the end of the episode. Iona angrily (and drunkenly) declares that she cannot stand the chauvanistic nature of the law firm she works at while Burnaby angrily quits his job as a "coffee jerk" to audition for another part, which he lands.

Three of the characters, from right to left: Emily Hampshire as Iona, Dov Tiefenbach as Lucky and Rainbow Sun Francks as Burnaby

In 2004, the CBC aired several comedy pilots, including Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, which were turned into full series for the 2006 season. It is possible that the show, along with two other new CBC comedy pilots that aired on January 3rd, 2006, will be developed into full series for the following season. Filming begins on at least two additional episodes in April 2006.

This Space for Rent, along with the two other pilots Cheap Draft and Rabbittown are currently available online (link below). The CBC is soliciting comments for all three shows, which may or may not determine their future programming decisions.