Heated Rivalry‘s Robbie G.K. will next up be seen in a Bell Media series adaptation of cult classic comedy pic Meatballs.
The series, which is from Bell-owned Blink49 Studios and Incendo, was among the highlights of Bell’s 2026/27 slate announced today.
Other notable orders include Mark-Paul Gosselaar-starring comedy Bulges, and The Littlest Hobo, the first project from Bell’s development and production deal with Lionsgate and Point Grey Pictures, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s production house.
Also on the slate are a revival of Big Brother Canada, unscripted series Balls Deep set in Miami’s world of elite sports and perfect bodies, the latest show from Jared Keeso, and Salty, a female buddy comedy about a pair of millennial mermaids.
Meatballs reimagines the 1979 film of the same name for Bell streamer Crave, and is billed as “a coming-of-age way-too late story that’s equal parts sweet and sexy” set in a failing summer camp that still has the potential to be the best place on earth for 200 kids – or the 30 counsellors who calle it their home away from home.
The movie is notable as Bill Murray’s first starring role and for launching the career of director Ivan Reitman, who would go on to direct Murray and Harold Raimis in the likes of Stripes and Ghostbusters. The box office smash focused on counsellors-in-training at a cut-rate camp in Ontario. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures.
Justin Stockman, who was recently upped to Vice-President, Global Content at Bell, told Deadline: “Meatballs is one of those classic IPs that has been talked about but hard to nail down. I’m happy to say we’ve now nailed down the rights, and can bring it back and modernise it.”
He noted there would be elements such as gender role switches to make it more appropriate for modern audience, but would “still be racy and funny, with a great script.”
G.K., who plays Christopher “Kip” Grady in Heated Rivalry, will star in the eight-part series, with Bell’s Sphere Abacus distributing internationally.
The casting is no coincidence, with Stockman saying: “Part of the strategy is trying to look at globally-known Canadians and work with them to elevate what people think of Canadian content around the world.”
Workplace buddy comedy Bulges follows on from a 2024 Crave special, The Dessert Presents: St. Bulges Day. It follows Gosselaar (Saved By the Bell) and the eccentric staff at an iconic and once-thriving all-male, not-so-family-friendly restaurant in Niagara Falls. LaRue Entertainment and Platonic Friends Productions are making the show, with Sphere Abacus distributing. Stockman said the show’s tone was “if Hooters was designed for women.”
Also on the comedy front is Avalon half-hour workplace comedy Golden Mile from Joyce Wong and Brian Keith Etheridge; Redcloud Studios and Frantic Films’ I Can’t Save You, about a Winnipeg single mom who stumbles into stand-up comedy; and Salty, in which Callie and Serena, a pair of mermaids, come ashore in small-town Atlantic Canada looking for love, also from Frantic. Sphere Abacus is selling I Can’t Save You and Salty, the latter of which Carlyn Klebuc, Bell’s General Manager, Original Programming, said was “very unexpected” as she talked up its chances.
The Littlest Hobo will be a live-action drama reimagining of the classic Canadian TV series, which first aired in Canada in 1979 about an ownerless German Shepherd dog who wanders from town to town helping people. Rogen and Goldberg will write and direct, with their Point Grey imprint producing alongside Lionsgate Canada.
Another new drama is Thunder Point, from Reel World Management in association with Bell and Fremantle and based on Robyn Carr’s NYT bestseller. Running on CTV, the ten-part mystery series comes from the same team behind Sullivan’s Crossing, with Roma Roth showrunning and Christopher E. Parry among the executive producers.
Previously announced shows include the Hudson Williams-starrer Yaga, USA Network co-pro Anna Pigeon, Blink49 Studios drama series I’m Not Here to Hurt You, 1970s-set drama Seoul Palace, Chris Lavis’ live-action/animation fantasy horror series Sigil and I Kill the Bear, a Jared Keeso comedy.
Keeso, who has a multi-year deal with Bell, is working up Cats in the Plateau, a six-part comedy about two garbage men in Montréal, who start a gang. The Letterkenny creator’s long-term production partner, New Metric Media is producing for Crave. Keeso and New Metric are already in production on I Kill the Bear, another comedy for Crave.
Bell has content deals with Keeso, Elliot Page’s Page Boy Productions, and Lionsgate Canada/Point Great Media. These have yielded Crave comedy Slo Pitch from Page Boy, while more details from the series coming from Seth Rogen’s Point Great via its deal with Lionsgate are understood to be coming soon.
Klebuc told Deadline the Canadian broadcaster is working on signing further multi-year agreements, which will be unveiled later in the year. “We have a pipeline of talent who we need to work with,” she added. “We would want to do more of those deals.”
The most eye-catching unscripted order is for Big Brother Canada, which will be hosted by Andrea Bain and goes into production next spring in Montréal. It comes from Entourage, the team behind the French-language Québécois series Big Brother Célébrités and produced in association with CTV and Crave. Casting details will follow a later date on the 30-part program.
This marks a return for reality competition series Big Brother in Canada. It has been off air since the final season on Global in 2024, when it had 12 seasons in total after transferring from smaller channel Slice.
Stockman called it an “iconic show that does well online,” noting that reality series such as The Traitors and The Amazing Race have performed strongly on Crave and that the existing Big Brother house used for the Québécois series meant costs were more “efficient” and made the commission “more financially feasible.”
He added: “When it was against us, Big Brother was a show that would hurt us.”
Another notable order is Balls Deep, an unscripted series from Blink49 about “the hidden side of Miami’s perfect bodies and elite sports rivalries.” Matthew Solomon and Blink49’s Toby Dormer and Allison Brough are exec producers.
Klebuc joked the series was “a real-life Heated Rivalry set in the world of beach volleyball.” She also talked up Bell’s expanding true crime slate, including the story of disgraced Olympic showjumping champion Éric Lamaze in Dark Horse and Ice Dreams (working title), a reality series set in the world of youth hockey.
In total, Bell will launch 62 English-language originals, which sit alongside 56 French-language originals announced earlier this week.
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