Running a business is hard. Running it with your family is even harder, especially when you’ve got mouths to feed, work to be done and people to pay – the people, of course, being your children. Along the way, though, there’s bound to be trouble and in season 2 of the web series comedy BILL AND SONS TOWING, all kinds of problems manifest themselves for a family owned tow truck company that’s struggling to stay afloat and to stay one step ahead of their fiercest competition.
12 episodes are set for the show’s sophomore season which premiered March 27th exclusively on the popular video network MyDamnChannel, along with its official web site and Youtube page. New episodes air each Thursday with supplemental content spread throughout the season.
Created by Mark De Angelis and Charles Ketchabaw of Ready, Set, Panic Productions, BILL AND SONS TOWING stars the acclaimed Canadian comedy troupe The Imponderables as the Vanderchuck brothers, the sons of family patriarch and company owner Bill (Nicholas Campbell).
Together, the four brothers work with their dad to keep their fledgling family towing business going. That task is further complicated by their biggest competitor – Sutherland Towing, who’s had it out for them ever since last season and is now out to further intrude on their business.
Each of the boys were raised by four different mothers, and while they may be a family there’s plenty of fussing and fighting to go around. There’s Dave (played by Dave Brennan), the youngest and most childlike of the four brothers who loves his job as the company’s dispatcher but often finds himself caught in the middle of his siblings’ arguments (and who openly discusses those conflicts on his “secret” podcast, which can be heard on the show’s official website). Tony Lombardo portrays Tony, who despite his reliability as a mechanic, locksmith and driver manages to make things more complicated thanks to his constant scheming and scamming.
The cast also includes Eric Toth as Eric, a college graduate who just happens to be the most business savvy of the group. That fact is much to the chagrin of Jon (Jon Smith), who feels he, more than any of his brothers, deserves to assume the mantle of leadership of Bill and Sons Towing.
However, while Eric, Dave and Jon have already met their moms in season 1, Tony hasn’t. When he finally meets her (played by veteran Canadian stage actress Allegra Fulton), he soon realizes that the woman who brought him into the world isn’t exactly who he imagined.
Having already been familiar with the talents and comedic sensibilities of the award winning comedy troupe The Imponderables, it was obvious that De Angelis and Ketchabaw knew just who they wanted to portray the sons in BILL AND SONS TOWING. “Charles and I had worked with The Imponderables on various projects in the past; we all loved working together and wanted to do more of it,” De Angelis says.
“When the IPF (Independent Production Fund) application came across our desks (P.S. we don’t actually own desks), Charles and I thought this might be a great way to work with The Imponderables. So, we sat down and started developing an idea, built specifically around them and their comedic sensibility. There were a few ideas kicked around before we zeroed in on a family tow truck business, but once we hit on that idea, everything really stared to fall into place,” he adds.
After securing funding through Canada’s Independent Production Fund, De Angelis and Ketchabaw set about filming the show’s first season. While both seasons were funded through the IPF, the budget and cast remained largely the same throughout production of season 2. As De Angelis remembers, the challenges that he and Ketchabaw faced only got bigger before the cameras rolled.
“The biggest change going into Season 2 was our desire to do more episodes. While the first season was 10 episodes, we managed to film 12 episodes this time around. The big challenge with that: our budget was still the same, and our shooting schedule was the same. So in order to pull it all off, we knew we had to write shorter episodes so we could pack more into our days.”
As it turned out, De Angelis and Ketchabaw successfully managed to crank out more episodes for season 2 without compromising the qualities that made BILL AND SONS TOWING such a hilarious show in season 1. “I think the end result is really nice. We still have some episodes that are longer (6-8 mins) but the majority of them hover around the 5 minute mark (or less) which is an easy ask for online viewers,” De Angelis says.
Despite the challenges that came with producing season 2, the biggest reward for De Angelis and Ketchabaw came thanks to the talents and professionalism of The Imponderables. “Aside from being incredibly funny guys, they’re some of the kindest people I’ve ever worked with,” De Angelis adds.
Even though BILL AND SONS TOWING is tailored towards viewers who don’t have a lot of time to watch streaming content, De Angelis and Ketchabaw feel that the show’s TV sitcom style approach to its episodic storytelling is perhaps the biggest thing that sets it apart from other web based comedies despite some obvious drawbacks.
“When we sat down to create this web series, we wanted to prove that you could tell a really funny, engaging story on the web. A story that demands a bit of investment from the audience. Sure, you can watch and enjoy any one of our numerous episodes without knowing a thing about what happened 3, 4, or 5 episodes prior, but our core audience (the ones watching every episode) finds another layer in the comedy, with callback jokes, character development, and story lines that span multiple episodes. This has been both a blessing and a curse.”
Through the continuing comic misadventures of a group of brothers who find that just trying to keep a business going is harder than it seems, De Angelis and Ketchabaw have already achieved their goal of bringing viewers of BILL AND SONS TOWING comedy that’s edgy, entertaining and smart.
Yet, their goals for the show’s overall success are the same as every other web series creator – to make an impact with the viewer and to make their mark on the industry without going through the usual gatekeepers and regardless of profit.
“…If you talk to most people making a web series, there’s no illusion about becoming rich. More often than not, it’s people who want to tell a story – a story they can wholly create, shape, and design on their own terms – and they’re not going to wait around to get a network to approve it. When it’s done, you throw it onto the web and see what happens. If you’re lucky, people like it. If you’re really lucky, it opens doors for you,” De Angelis says.
BILL AND SONS TOWING will no doubt open doors to both De Angelis and Ketchabaw, and it will also turn viewers on to the comedic talents of The Imponderables. Yet, the show’s creators say there’s a bigger message that underlies BILL AND SONS TOWING itself: “Underneath all the hilarity, Bill & Sons is a show about a family trying their best to stick together.”
(Note: De Angelis and Ketchabaw say that season 2 of BILL AND SONS TOWING will soon be closed captioned, as was season 1.)
ON THE WEB: www.billandsonstowing.com
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/BillAndSonsTowing
MY DAMN CHANNEL: www.mydamnchannel.com/BillAndSonsTowing
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/BillAndSonsTowing
TWITTER: @BillAndSons