
Shane can afford to buy life's necessities like Asian import DVDs, cat food, and thermal underwear by writing for a variety of television shows — mostly Canadian, mostly for kids. Here's an overview of what pays the bills and eats up the airwaves with relentless reruns.
Turbo Dogs
Inspired by a popular children's book, this cartoon series about dogs who love to drive fast will start airing in the early morning on the CBC sometime in the coming year. Shane wrote two of them.
Kid vs. Kat
The tales of strife and struggle between a normal everyday kid and the very strange cat his sister brought home. YTV and Jetix will probably start running these somewhere in the 2008-2009 season. Shane wrote four of them.
Ricky Sprocket, Showbiz Boy
From the Academy Award-winning creators of Bob and Margaret comes this cartoon show about the world's biggest child star and his adventures at home and in Hollywood. Shane wrote five of the episodes that are now airing on Teletoon.
Pucca
Based on the Korean
merchandising phenomenon, a series of seven-minute cartoons were
commissioned to introduce Western audiences to the titular bun-haired
kung-fu powerhouse known as Pucca, and her ninja boy-toy, Garu. Jetix
airs them in the U.K., but they also play in dozens of other countries
and languages. Shane wrote fourteen of these shorts, one
of which earned him an Elan Award nomination for best writing in an
animated production.
The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom
Words like "wacky" and "zany" naturally leap to mind when trying to describe this series of cartoon shorts featuring the adventures of talking sushi in the monster-besieged Happy Kingdom. Produced for the CBC, episodes come in both the eleven-minute and three-minute varieties. Shane wrote one of each. The perfect answer to the munchies for the decriminalized toking public.
Fries With That?
Shane wrote eight of these episodes that detail the misadventures of a teenaged fast food restaurant staff who do as little work as possible to earn their minimum hourly wage. Aired on YTV for two seasons, it was nominated for a Gemini Award in 2005.
Radio Active
This sitcom about high schoolers operating a radio station ran seventy-eight episodes, of which Shane accounted for fourteen. It was produced for YTV by the same people who brought you Fries With That? Shane only worked on the second and third seasons, so if you want to catch one of his scripts in action, make sure you're watching an episode from after the cast switcheroo they pulled between seasons one and two.
Back to Sherwood
This was a short-lived adventure series about a time-travelling descendant of Robin Hood. Comedy and swashbuckling were the order of the day, but unfortunately the production company went bankrupt after only thirteen episodes. Shane wrote one script that went on to be a finalist in the Writers Guild of Canada Top Ten Awards that year.
Sci-Squad
Created for Discovery Kids, this one featured a gang of youths who solve science-related problems for people, under the guidance of the Charlie-esque voice-in-a-box, Mother. This info-tainment combo of sitcom and science show lasted a dozen episodes. Shane theoretically wrote two of them.
Student Bodies
Bearing no relation to the 1981 slasher-film parody of the same name, this was Shane's first real gig in the industry. Reportedly aired in forty different countries and dozens of languages, this teen sitcom about a group of high school kids who publish an underground comic/newspaper included plenty of romantic dalliances that accounts for its soap-opera following among the 10 to 16-year-old target demographic. Shane wrote two of the sixty-five episodes that still air regularly. Bits and pieces of his work also appeared in the obligatory clip show episode, for which he once earned a royalty cheque for eighteen cents. Despite warnings to the contrary, he spent it all in once place.
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