Next Stop (TV series)
NEXT STOP is a Canadian comedy anthology web series created by Jabbari Weekes, Tichaona Tapambwa, and Phil Witmer. It premiered on a dedicated YouTube channel on February 26, 2019. The series is executive produced by Amar Wala[1], Founder, Scarborough Pictures and set in Toronto.
At the beginning of 2020, Scarborough Pictures optioned the series. In October 2020, the series was added to CBC Gem and is currently in development for a second season.
Plot
NEXT STOP chronicles the lives of Black Torontonians struggling to stay afloat and sane in the sprawling city. The show charts a course through chaotic, surreal, and hilarious vignettes of Toronto "yutes" confronting the challenges of life in a competitive, expensive, and rapidly changing city.
History
According to the creators, NEXT STOP was created out of necessity. Just before the show was created, Jabbari Weekes, Tichaona Tapambwa, Phil Witmer and some of the core cast were laid off from work within the same time period[2]. This is when the team started looking for shows about black life in Toronto but saw a void[3]. The void was a show that navigated between the over earnestness of local dramas and the heightened nature of comedy sketches. Consequently, the question that would propel the birth of the series was, “What about the people in-between who can be silly and serious?”
They decided to self-fund the first season using their savings and severance packages according to co-creators Jabbari Weekes and Tichaona Tapambwa[3][2]. Due to the steady popularity of the series, Scarborough Pictures picked it up for production rights. In October 2020, the series was picked up later by CBC for their digital platform CBC Gem[4].
Cast
Jordan Hayles as Good Yute #1 (3 episodes)
Vanessa Adams as Good Yute #2 (3 episodes)
Mahlet Tilahun as Confused Yute (1 episode)
Sharine Taylor as Narrator (1 episode)
Denise Yohannes as Chibi Duppy (1 episode)
Episodes
Some characters appear in one or more episodes as the protagonist, and in other episodes as background characters or new characters entirely. Jordan Hayles and Vanessa Adams are the protagonists in one episode, and in another play the roles of random Uber passengers who inadvertently incite a debate with the protagonist.
| Season 1 | Episodes | Originally Released | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2019 - 2020 | |
Season 1 (2019 - 2020)
| No. in
Season |
Title | Directed by | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BEEF | Jabbari Weekes | Jabbari Weekes & Tichaona Tapambwa |
| A tale of two good yutes from the diaspora engaged in a legendary bakkle over which ends has the superior Jamaican patty.
Cast: Vanessa Adams & Jordan Hayles | |||
| 2 | MOSQUITO | Tichaona Tapambwa | Tichaona Tapambwa |
| On her way to buy churros, one yute describes her encounter with a “Mosquito” with a unique taste for white blood.
Cast: Vanessa Adams | |||
| 3 | DUPPY | Jabbari Weekes | Jabbari Weekes |
| A Toronto fairytale about a jobless man at the mercy of LinkedIn and seasonal affective disorder when a mysterious spirit appears.
Cast: Xander Hall, Denise Yohannes, Sharine Taylor | |||
| 4 | POOL | Phil Witmer & Jabbari Weekes | Jabbari Weekes & Tichaona Tapambwa |
| In a dutty and cramped car not worth naming, two friends and a stranger question whether you need to leave Toronto to be successful or not.
Cast: Mahlet Tilahun, Vanessa Adams, and Jordan Hayles | |||
Reception
NEXT STOP has been received positively in the press. Radheyan Simonpillai, in NOW magazine, called NEXT STOP “a promising new show[4].” The Globe and Mail’s John Doyle wrote that it was “a small scale jewel of a series[5].” Kathleen Newman-Bremang praised the series in Refinery 29 comparing it to Issa Rae’s The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl saying "These 4-5 minute pops of joy are just the beginning while calling Vanessa Adams a "standout" and “formidable Black talent[6].”
In the media
References
- ↑ Wilner, Norman (2019-12-20). "Celebrating film's local heroes of 2019". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Next Stop brings a snapshot of Black life in Toronto to CBC Gem". Retrieved 2020-10-18.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "How 'Next Stop' broke through barriers to bring the 'bittersweetness of being a Black Torontonian' to screen". thestar.com. 2020-09-26. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Simonpillai, Radheyan (2020-09-28). "Diversity in Canadian TV: From Schitt's Creek to Next Stop". NOW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
- ↑ "The first weekend of fall TV is packed with politics and thrills". Retrieved 2020-10-18.
- ↑ Newman-Bremang, Kathleen. "If You Love (Or Hate) Toronto, This CBC Gem Series Is For You". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
External links
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