Cavendish on TV 'a lot more spooky and weird'

Andrew Bush was telling his buddy Mark Little about his childhood vacations on P.E.I. one day when they got an idea — let's make a TV show.

Cavendish will air on CBC TV next winter. It's about two brothers — played by Bush and Little — who come home to Cavendish after 30 years to care for their ailing father.

"But the town is a lot more spooky and weird than they remember," Bush said. "It's not specifically the Cavendish of P.E.I., it's a heightened version."

It's a natural role for the Nova Scotians, who have been working together for about 10 years and founded the Halifax sketch comedy group Picnicface. Little said their friendship has "a bit of an Abbott and Costello flavour."

"Our relationship has a bit of a brother vibe to it, in the sense of like that push and pull, like friends but then always arguing and fighting."

They're currently "hammering away" at scripts for the eight episodes in the series. Shooting will begin in the summer in Nova Scotia and P.E.I. They expect to be on the Island in August and September.

Bush said he's looking forward to it.

"I kind of fell in love with Cavendish as a kid," he said.

'Fantastic little tourist town'

"That was sort of the inspiration for this. I would talk about my vacations in Cavendish and how it's distinct and a fantastic little tourist town with all these sort of mom and pop tourist attractions that have popped up around this main Anne of Green Gables site. Mark was like, 'this sounds fascinating we should maybe write a show around this.'"

They are thrilled to have CBC on board.

"It was really nice to have that kind of backing because most of the time when we're working it's literally us and maybe a cellphone camera," Bush said.

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