Shoresy

 Yeahso... I binge watched all four seasons of Shoresy last weekend. Might watch it again this weekend. 

Lotsa chirpin', lotsa cursin' and carryin' on. But there's a good story in it, too. The show is a spinoff of another Canadian cult classic, Letterkenny - in which Shoresy was a background character. Both shows were created by Jared Keeso - who also leads both (in Letterkenny as Wayne and in the titular role of Shoresy) Keeso is joined by former pro hockey players Jonathan Diaby (Dolo), Jon Mirasty, Brandon Nolan and Jordan Nolan (the Jims), and Terry Ryan as Ted Hitchcock. (If you say it real fast, it sounds like...)

I'd most likely be a fan of any scripted series centered around hockey but this one really exceeded my expectations and hit the spot after the recent Four Nations tournament. It's a very Canadian show and it's a love letter to hockey, so if you're not familiar with either it might not be as enjoyable. But there's still a lot to like even for the most casual sports fan. I've seen it pop up a lot on TV reviewer sites, which is awesome because this show deserves a wider audience regardless of the endless chirps and "your mom" jokes. 

The diversity of this show stands out to me, particularly at a time when the Musk administration has tried to purge Black heroes like Jackie Robinson and the Tuskegee Airmen from the history books.

[ To be fair  "to be faiiir" "to be faiiiirrrr" "to be fairrrrrrr" Letterkenny has also stood up against racism and fascism - particularly in an episode that echoed the Nazi rally in Charlottesville, VA. ]

Shoresy's team, the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs, are owned and operated by women. The front office,  head coach and three players (the Jims) are all natives ("tough natives" is redundant). Shoresy is tough as nails and a relentless chirper, but he's not afraid to cry in public. His foster family is mixed race and includes a lesbian couple, and even when he goes on a rant about locker room behavior that starts to lean right-wing.. he brings it back by citing a story of how showering with teammates led one player to discover he was gay.  

Dolo's background includes an actual incident involving a racist fan Diaby confronted in Quebec:

The women of Sudbury call the players "sluts" because the boys do all the sleepin' around -- especially the biggest bear on the Bulldogs, Jean-Jacques Francois Jacques-Jean (or JJ Frankie JJ for short). JJ screws around with three different women including actress Laurence Leboeuf, who plays herself (and has caused me to randomly say Laurence Leboeuf in a French accent for no apparent reason.) 

 

The Jims even find themselves in kangaroo court after snitching on the boys' extra-curriculars.  However, the one guy who won't screw around with young models or pop stars.. is Shoresy. 

Our protagonist fancies older women - which won't get filed under Woke DEI Wokeness or whatever, but is against the grain for athletes and fictional shows. The relationship between Shoresy and local journalist / single mom Laura Mohr is perhaps the most endearing part of the show. Even though I'm partial to Ted's waitress girlfriend Pam I'm more invested in the Laura storyline. 

I've got some seasons of Letterkenny to catch up on while I wait for season 5 of Shoresy - but I think the spinoff might be the better show.

Thanks for reading!



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