Billable Hours
| Billable Hours | |
|---|---|
| Genre |
Legal drama Comedy |
| Created by |
Fab Filippo Adam Till |
| Starring |
Fab Filippo Brandon Firla Jennifer Baxter |
| Opening theme | Working Man |
| Ending theme | Working Man (instrumental) |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Frank Van Keeken David Fortier Ivan Schneeberg |
| Location(s) | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Temple Street Productions Shaw Media |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Showcase |
| Original run | April 16, 2006 – December 3, 2008 |
Billable Hours is a Canadian comedy series that was aired on Showcase.
Set in the fictional Toronto law firm of Fagen & Harrison, the series focuses on three young lawyers struggling to balance their expectations of life with the difficult realities of building a career in law.
The series debuted on Showcase in 2006 and was produced by Temple Street Productions. The second season premiered in April 2007 and was accompanied by a 10-part webisode series entitled Billable Minutes. The third season of the show premiered in October 2008.[1]
The series ended on December 3, 2008.
In Australia, series one, two and three were all aired back-to-back on ABC2 each Thursday at 10:30pm from 27 August 2009 and have since been repeated on a later timeslot.[2]
Cast
- Brandon Firla - Clark Claxton III
- Fabrizio Filippo - Sam Caponelli
- Jennifer Baxter - Robin Howland
- Dov Tiefenbach - Stu Berger
- Jane Luk - Cam Belter, office manager
- Aron Tager - Mortie Fagen, head partner
- Enis Esmer - Zoltan
- Mike Beaver - Murray Stipple
- Ron Gabriel - Seth Kaplin, managing partner
- Jayne Eastwood - Maxine Bingly
- Robin Brûlé - Millie Larkin, Clark's assistant
- Arnold Pinnock - Vic Laghm
Episode list
Season 1
| Episode | Total | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | 1 | "The Nicotine Gum" | April 16, 2006 |
| Sam's high school bully, now a prominent actor, visits the firm to research a role. | |||
| 102 | 2 | "The Parking Spot" | April 23, 2006 |
| Sam and Clark battle for a parking spot while Robin has relationship troubles. | |||
| 103 | 3 | "The Jewish Holiday" | April 30, 2006 |
| Sam and Clark compete for religious favouritism while Stu tries to win Robin's affection. | |||
| 104 | 4 | "The Jedi Mind Trick" | May 7, 2006 |
| Sam uses the Jedi mind trick on his colleagues and thwarts Clark's attempts to acquire a new office chair. Robin tries to convince a partner of her worth. | |||
| 105 | 5 | "The Foosball" | May 14, 2006 |
| Robin's boyfriend Tim dies before she has a chance to break-up with him. Sam and Clark convert Tim's office to host their foosball tournament -- best 50 of 99 games. | |||
| 106 | 6 | "The Handicapped Bathroom" | May 21, 2006 |
| Clark convinces Sam to use the handicapped bathroom. Sam gets interrupted thinking Clark is playing a prank, in return opening the door and cursing to find out it is Fagen's young disabled nephew. Sam in return is sent to counseling on a lower floor. Fagen's nephew becomes lustful towards Robin. | |||
| 107 | 7 | "The Chocolate-Covered Almonds" | May 28, 2006 |
| Sam buys chocolate-covered almonds from a secretary who is selling them on behalf of her daughters fund-raiser, while constantly having to give them away due to every female co-workers astonishment towards them. Clark and Sam compete to win the affection of a Spanish custodian who is fed up of cleaning after Fagen's dog. Robin becomes worried after having a dream with a possible sexual meaning that involved Sam. | |||
| 108 | 8 | "The Strip Club" | June 4, 2006 |
| The mutually disliked man named Murray is new to the office. He announces he is going to be married Sam feels obligated to host a bachelor party, at the local strip club | |||
Season 2
| Episode | Total | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | 9 | "Birthday Suits" | April 22, 2007 |
| Robin is depressed on her birthday, even after Murray throws her a surprise party. Sam loses big to Fagen in a poker game. | |||
| 202 | 10 | "Cancer, Baby!" | April 29, 2007 |
| When it is rumored that Robin is pregnant, she decides to pretend that it is Clark’s baby to check out the firm's maternity package. Meanwhile, Sam pretends to have cancer. | |||
| 203 | 11 | "15 Minutes of Shame" | May 6, 2007 |
| Sam is chosen as the legal news presenter for a business-oriented TV show. Robin is revealed to be a former movie "scream queen." | |||
| 204 | 12 | "Corporate Retreat" | May 13, 2007 |
| It's time for the firm's annual spiritual retreat. | |||
| 205 | 13 | "One Hit Wonder" | May 20, 2007 |
| After Clark turns a boring story of Sam's into a hit one-liner, Sam tries to do the same. Meanwhile, Robin pretends to be an alcoholic so she can use AA for networking. | |||
| 206 | 14 | "The Sting" | May 27, 2007 |
| Clark seeks revenge on the wasp that stung him, while Sam tries to protect it. Meanwhile, Robin uncovers a secretarial plot after declining to contribute money for a baby-shower gift. | |||
| 207 | 15 | "Peer Review" | June 3, 2007 |
| Robin's displeasure at the peer review she got from Clark escalates into a prank war. Meanwhile, when Sam doesn't receive any such evaluation, he worries that he's about to be fired. | |||
| 208 | 16 | "Lunch Stealers" | June 10, 2007 |
| Clark tries to find out who is stealing his lunch. Meanwhile, Robin tries to prove to Sam and Clark that she does not hate other women, and Sam loses his office to Vic. | |||
| 209 | 17 | "Monopoly Man, II" | June 17, 2007 |
| Sam tries to motivate Clark by getting him a pet hamster, but the office is unprepared for the emotions that are released. Meanwhile, Robin tries to write a children's book. | |||
| 210 | 18 | "Killer Comma" | June 24, 2007 |
| A medical evaluation makes Clark think he is going to die soon. Meanwhile, while playing hide and seek in the heating vents, Sam overhears news about a problem with a major company deal. | |||
Season 3
| Episode | Total | Title | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 301 | 19 | "My Millie For a Muffin" | October 15, 2008 |
| In an effort to win a $500 bet made with Clark, Sam weasels a deal with Maxine. Clark decides that his food cravings are unbearable and hastily trades Millie for a snack. Robin finds it impossible to concentrate without the usual noises around the office. | |||
| 302 | 20 | "Shortstop" | October 22, 2008 |
| When a new firewall threatens the sanity of everyone at Fagen & Harrison, Sam befriends the I.T guys, Stacey and Keach. After discovering that she has a powerful pitch, Robin joins the firm's softball team. | |||
| 303 | 21 | "Lil' War Photo" | October 29, 2008 |
| After dropping Fagen's prized war photo into an aquarium, Robin attempts to remedy the situation by recreating the photo with the help of Sam. Meanwhile Clark, deals with a crisis of his own when he is exposed in the company calendar. | |||
| 304 | 22 | "Pigeon Lawyer" | November 5, 2008 |
| When Robin refuses to turn over a joint to Clark for his enjoyment, Clark retaliates by telling Kaplan that Robin has a drug problem. Instead of reprimanding Robin for her drug use, Kaplan mistakes Robin for a dealer, asking her to hook him up. Sam is forced to dress up in a pigeon costume for Fagen's Children's Charity. | |||
| 305 | 23 | "Citizen Clark" | November 12, 2008 |
| Clark returns home from a holiday to discover that his father has entered him in the electioneering for City Council. His campaign hits a snag when his opponent starts a smear campaign. Determined to win, Clark pretends to be gay to get media attention and community support. | |||
| 306 | 24 | "Creepy Artwork" | November 19, 2008 |
| After hearing that Sam wasn't happy with his office artwork, Vic generously gives him some artwork of his own, forcing Sam to feign a profound appreciation of the borrowed art. Fagen and Harrison initiates mandatory lie detector testing for all its employees, resulting in Sam and Clark learning some surprising news about Robin. | |||
| 307 | 25 | "A Manson For All Seasons" | November 26, 2008 |
| Tired of watching men get promoted over her, Robin invents a fictitious male lawyer, Allen McBeal. Sam is ecstatic when film producer Leonard St. Cross wants to make his movie, but has second thoughts when the film begins to move in a more adult direction. | |||
| 308 | 26 | "Insane in the Membrane" | December 3, 2008 |
| Having never had the chicken pox, Clark tries desperately, and fails miserably, to quarantine himself when an outbreak reaches employees at Fagen and Harrison. Robin looks forward to the tropical vacation she's been awarded for billing the most hours at the firm, but is unpleasantly surprised when all she gets is an old fashioned roasting. | |||
Notes
- In the opening of the episode 201, "Birthday Suits", a lawyer attempts to demonstrate the strength of the office building windows by throwing himself against one of them, but the window shatters and he falls to his death. Such an incident actually took place in a Toronto law firm in 1993.[3] The plot device of falling through a shattered skyscraper window also figures prominently in the Canadian film waydowntown, starring series co-creator Fab Filippo.
- In episode 203, "15 Minutes of Shame", it is discovered that Robin played a zombie in a low-rent horror movie. This was a joke referencing Jennifer Baxter's 2005 appearance as a zombie in George Romero's Land of the Dead.
References
- ↑ Third Season of Billable Hours on Showcase
- ↑ "ABC2 Programming Airdate: Billable Hours (episode one)". ABC Television Publicity. 27 September 2010.
- ↑ "Through a Glass, Quickly". 1998.
External links
- Billable Hours official website.
- Billable Hours at the Internet Movie Database
- Billable Hours at TV.com.
- Labour Pains article from the CBC.
- Double billing in dark humour department article from the Toronto Star.