As the Puck Drops on a New Season of LETTERKENNY, TSN Personalities Break It Down and Talk It Up

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede LETTERKENNY and sports; sports and LETTERKENNY; it’s hard to imagine one without the other, isn’t it? With seven new episodes of LETTERKENNY dropping on Crave this Christmas Day, the show has found many fun and creative ways to incorporate familiar TSN faces into the quirky narrative, as viewers will see right away! We spoke to a half-dozen of those well-known TSN personalities, to get their take on the continuing LETTERKENNY phenomenon: James Duthie, Host, TSN: “I think it’s just an awesome show, the most Canadian show out there. So it’s fun to be part of it. We had them on, we did TRADECENTRE I think two years ago, we did a whole bunch of bits with them, and I got to know Jared [Keeso, who stars as Wayne and is the creator of the show]. I already was a fan. We had the hockey boys come on and do a thing, and we did something live from their set where they were all in character. We ALL know guys who are like that, right? And you couldn’t do that show without hockey, because hockey and small-town Canada are just so intertwined.” Darren Dreger, TSN Hockey Insider: “My daughter is in her early 20s, and there are only two things in the history of my career that she insisted that I do. One is being involved in LETTERKENNY, because it’s a cult following, particularly at that age. And the other one was, James and I participated in The Nutcracker with the National Ballet. Those are the two. She doesn’t care about anything else I’ve ever done.” Jeff O’Neill, TSN Hockey Analyst: “I played junior hockey, and just the way they are in the dressing room, and the silly sayings they have, it is just so close to real life. Of course, the expressions are very different now than they were when I played, but it just rings so true to the way that guys talk now.” Bob McKenzie, TSN Hockey Insider: “Documentary, mockumentary, call it whatever you want, but it absolutely touches on the hockey culture. And yet it’s also fascinating how popular it is in various regions in the United States. Someone was saying that it seems to do very well in Texas – so you can just substitute football for hockey, and vice versa. I think there’s a universality to it. Sometimes it’s hard to know what they’re talking about, but having two boys myself, who are in their early 30s now, and having been around the rinks with them growing up, I have translators.” Dan O’Toole, Host, SC with Jay and Dan: “It’s a bit of a snapshot of Canada and Canadians. We like to laugh at ourselves, and even though it is a bit cutting, we know it’s very true. That’s why they’ve found their niche. On farms and in rural Canada, it’s a lot of leaning on trucks, leaning on tractors, just meaningless conversations. And that’s where these things stem from. No one’s in a hurry. And the fact that it came from just doing a little short, right? We saw the original and thought it was hilarious, we watched about 30 times. And the fact that they’ve turned it into this juggernaut of a TV show is just remarkable. It’s a Canadian success story.” Jay Onrait, Host, SC with Jay and Dan: “The characters within the show are quite serious, and I think that’s one of the things that makes it work so well. They’re immersed in that world. It’s like SEINFELD, right? Everything they did was very serious to them. It wasn’t like they were playing for laughs, they were just being themselves. It’s the same with LETTERKENNY, I think. Conversation exists in small towns to a greater degree than in big cities. We’re always moving in big cities. But the pace of small towns lends itself to a unique language. And they’re all around each other, so they all sound like each other. It’s the best. The success of LETTERKENNY makes me smile, you know? I love that it’s authentic. It comes from a real place.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv