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By Trudy Handel and Don S. Williams
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Yahk is a tiny town in the interior of British Columbia,
largely untouched by the progress of civilization, for which most Yahkers are
eternally grateful.
While Yahk really does exist, it also has a mystical life. From London theatre
circles to Greek highlands, you can talk to total strangers and mention Yahk,
and they’ll say, “Yes, I drove through Yahk once.” Improbable as it seems, many
famous people have already made their “pilgrimage” through Yahk on the road to
somewhere. Just about anybody might turn up at our Yahk’N Back hotels.
Our premise exists on two plains – the primary focus is a family that has
returned to Yahk for a brief visit, only to become stranded in this town on the
road to somewhere else. Our secondary focus is a “hook” at the end of each show
– someone famous comes to Yahk – perhaps their car breaks down, perhaps they are
caught in a snowstorm – only to be given something less than their “just
desserts” as a celebrity by our Yahk’N Back population.
We start with the two ancient hotels (that actually exist) in Yahk. In our
premise, elderly sisters – Ida and Violet, who for reasons initially unknown
hate each other, own these two run down hotels. Their animosity for one another
has its roots in some shadowy historical time. The feud causes problems for the
whole community – and for visitors as well, who get caught in the crossfire.
Yahkers, including Charlie, the local bearded curmudgeon, split their loyalties
between the two sisters. Their only local business rival, Todd Churney, rubs his
hands in glee every time the sisters sabotage each other.
Into this battleground comes Ida’s son, Ted Shirk. Although raised in Yahk, he’s
left at an early age to become an accountant on the West Coast. Ted married
Marilyn, a city-raised doctor. The pair lived the good life in the suburbs as
they raised their two children, Devon and Courtney. They have become dismayed to
find their children developing “mall crawl” syndrome. Devon in particular is
causing them sleepless nights, and they feel that he could “go the wrong way”
due to the influence of his friends. They feel that the best solution is to sell
out everything and move to a ski resort in the mountains, where they can resume
their careers far from the maddening crowd. They’ve now sold their home and are
on their way to their new life. Along the way, they decide to stop and check up
on Ted’s mother, Ida.
Ted tries to persuade his mother to sell the hotel and come with them to their
new home. She refuses. Charlie, the local character, chokes on a piece of pie
and is saved by the quick reaction of Dr. Marilyn. Charlie realizes that it
would be good to have a local doctor available at all times for his many
imaginary ailments so he conspires with other locals to stop the Shirks from
leaving. Coincidentally, Charlie finds Ted’s laptop “online” to his broker.
Thinking it’s a computer game, he and Devon move things around and bankrupt Ted
by accident.
Assisting Charlie in his sabotage is Sally, Ted’s highschool sweetheart who is
now a minor country singer/bar maid in Violet’s hotel. Sally feels she can “get
Ted back” if she can keep him in Yahk.
Ted and Marilyn are stranded in Yahk – and they have to make the best of it
while keeping the peace between Violet and Ida and getting two children used to
“real” life.
At the end of every show, there is a brief cameo appearance by a well-known
personality – who tries to check into the hotel for the night because they’re
temporarily stuck in Yahk, only to be summarily dismissed by Ida and Charlie.
Yahk continues to be that mystical place, neither here nor there – but somewhere
on the road in between.
Sitcom
30 minutes
13 episodes
In Development
Contact Information
Trudy Handel
Winterhawk Productions Inc.
- Telephone
- 604 533-3220
- Postal address
- 23395 0 Avenue, Langley, B.C. Canada V2Z 2X3
- Electronic mail
- General Information:
thandel@shaw.ca
Webmaster:
thandel@shaw.ca
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