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Alexander Calvert and Robert Bazzocchi, two leads of of the new Montreal-shot Crave TV series Cats in the Plateau, pose for a portrait in Montreal. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nThere are fewer and fewer major TV series shot in English in Montreal and it\u2019s even more rare to have a show that shoots Montreal as Montreal. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so cool to learn Jared Keeso \u2014 creator and star of the inspired Canadian comedy hits Letterkenny and Shoresy \u2014 is currently in town directing Cats in the Plateau, a six-part series he wrote and also stars in.<\/p>\n
Cooler yet, it\u2019s the story of two guys from Ontario who come to Montreal to try to reinvent themselves, and when that doesn\u2019t work out, they are forced to make ends meet by working as garbage collectors in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough. And when that also falls by the wayside, the two decide to form a criminal gang.<\/p>\n
The production was shooting in Parc De Lorimier in the Plateau on Thursday and executive producer Kara Haflidson was explaining the show was inspired by Keeso\u2019s years living in the Plateau while he was filming the cop series 19-2, which he starred in.<\/p>\n
\u201cJared spent quite a lot of time in Montreal,\u201d Haflidson said. \u201cHe lived here for quite a few years with 19-2 and his wife is from here. Jared lived in the Plateau and he\u2019s been obsessed with it since he did. He\u2019s wanted to make a show based in the Plateau for years. The thing is Letterkenny is (the fictional version of) his hometown of Listowel, Shoresy is Sudbury, and this is Montreal. He\u2019s been able to make a show about every city that he loves. And he\u2019s so specific. Every bar we shoot at is the actual bar in Montreal. St-Sacrement. Les Torch\u00e9s. Le Rouge Gorge. He really wanted to create something where the audience can step into the world of the Plateau because he thinks it\u2019s so special and unique. He thinks it\u2019s the best neighbourhood so he wants to show it off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexander Calvert and Robert Bazzocchi, two leads of of the new Montreal-shot Crave TV series Cats in the Plateau, pose for a portrait in Montreal. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
The two lead actors are Robert Bazzocchi and Alexander Calvert. They play the two Ontarians who end up collecting garbage in the Plateau and they prepared for the roles by spending some quality time running alongside real-life garbagemen. For insurance reasons, they weren\u2019t allowed to do the actual work. That on-the-job training was set up by Simon Par\u00e9-Poupart, a Montrealer who wrote a bestselling memoir about his life on the back of a garbage truck, titled Ordures! Journal d\u2019un vidangeur. He is acting as a consultant on the project.<\/p>\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have a perception of what garbagemen do and how they do it, but they take so much pride in their work,\u201d said Bazzocchi, who is a Toronto actor. \u201cThey\u2019re incredibly athletic and they\u2019re doing a job that no one else wants to do. And it was cool seeing that first-hand. Simon, our consultant, he said this quote to me that I hold dearly: \u2018G-men, we\u2019re one with trash.\u2019 Every day when you\u2019re out there throwing trash, if it breaks on you, if something happens, you don\u2019t let it bug you. G-men are able to take that in stride and get the job done. \u201c<\/p>\n
One day, Par\u00e9-Poupart told them they could throw the bags into the truck, saying they were the lightest bags in Montreal \u201cand they were definitely the heaviest bags in Montreal, about 50 pounds each,\u201d Bazzocchi said.<\/p>\n
Calvert, who\u2019s from Vancouver, said it\u2019s fun to be in a Canadian series that isn\u2019t trying to shoot Canada for some nameless U.S. city. Producer Haflidson agreed it\u2019s great to showcase a cool Canadian city like Montreal.<\/p>\n
![\"Jared](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0704-city-col-kelly-1592_304064200.jpg\")
Jared Keeso, writer, director and star of the new Crave TV series, Cats in the Plateau, on set in Montreal. Evan Buhler \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
\u201cI think with Jared\u2019s shows we\u2019ve proved that the more specific it is, the broader it is,\u201d Haflidson said. \u201cI think Letterkenny is so specific to small town experience. Shoresy is set in Sudbury and it\u2019s so specific to Sudbury. And so this is specific to Montreal. I think that when something is based in a real place, the audience is able to understand it better. I think maybe a decade ago, shows would be generic pretend cities and we wouldn\u2019t show off Canada. But I think we\u2019ve done a better job of showcasing Canada over the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
But still there aren\u2019t many shows that showcase Montreal in English, I note.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I think after they see our show, they\u2019ll definitely want to do it,\u201d Haflidson said. \u201cMontreal is cool and sexy and the summer here is so fun. And we do a nice job of showing that off. I think we\u2019ll start something.\u201d<\/p>\n
It also won\u2019t hurt the city\u2019s profile as a place to shoot that another rather famous TV show, Heated Rivalry, will be in town this summer filming Montreal as Montreal for the second season of the steamy LGBTQ hockey drama. That show was created by former Montrealer Jacob Tierney, who worked closely with Keeso on Letterkenny, as a writer and director.<\/p>\n