Shoresy

 

Much like his first Hulu hit, LetterKenny, Jared Keeso's Shoresy, a spin-off of the aforemention LetterKenny, is an acquired taste. It tests the patience and attention of non-Canadians far and wide, but rewards aforementioned patience and attention abundantly with belly laughs and a suprising amount of genuine humanity.

Keeso, with his creative partner Jacob Tierney, who directs Shoresy, immerse viewers in the alien minutiae of a Canadian backwater with stories that are eminently relatable even though the dialogue is regionally and culturally dialectal when it's not amazingly vulgar. We may not understand every word being said but the main elements are as a clear as a Canadian sunrise.

In Shoresy, Keeso plays the title character, an aging, cantankerous hockey player whose life, such as it is, revolves around the game. When the owner of his team (Tasya Teles) announces she's ready to fold the Bulldogs because they haven't won a game in ages, Shoresy assures her that with an investment of some marquee older skaters he could turn the team around. She agrees and promises at the first loss, the team would be gone.

How Shoresy, an unbelievable piece of work without a hint of cliche or predictability (a wonderful creation), tries to fulfill his promise and stave off professional uncertainty is what the show is all about. Yes, some of the delivery is deadpan, but that's the franchise's signature: lacerating putdowns delivered without ornamentation.

In this scene, the team's young coach and Shoresy proxy (Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat) announces the lineup in a ritual that would not fail to thrill even those without the remotest interest in the game. Shoresy, the team's erstwhile "C"aptain, addresses the crew with the weight of his promise and the team's future clearly in mind. It's brutal and a great television moment.