Post Facto TV Review - Shoresy
Originally published on www.thirdsonginpodcast.com
I have come to rely upon the streaming service Hulu to scratch my “quirky television” itch. The network, which is owned by Disney, has been around a lot longer than I realized. It started in 2007 and went through a number of ownership changes before Disney became the outright owner in 2023. Until just a year or two ago, I considered it to be the arm of Disney that re-aired mediocre ABC shows and other boring “network” programming. I certainly did not think of Hulu as the place to find really funny and poignant original scripted programming. However, it has now become the place I scroll through looking for hidden gems. That is how I found “Reservation Dogs.” And “High Fidelity.” And “The Bear.” “Shoresy” is one of those gems.
A spin-off of the equally oddball and hilarious “Letterkenny,” “Shoresy” is the story of an aging semi-professional ice hockey player finishing out a career on the ice in northern Canada. (His first name has yet to be revealed, but his last name is Shores). In “Letterkenny,” Shoresy was a disembodied voice, unseen until the very end of that series. He appeared every few episodes, usually in a closed toilet stall in the locker room of the Letterkenny Irish hockey team, firing off rude one-liners aimed at the other players in the room. At the end of that series, Shoresy, (played by Jared Keeso, who also played Wayne in Letterkenny), strides off screen to join the Sudbury Bulldogs, a step up to AAA-level Canadian hockey.
Keeso, who created both “Letterkenny” and “Shoresy,” has invented a very original character in Shoresy–a classic tough-guy who is also open-minded and sensitive to the ideas and identities of others, both inside and outside his small circle of friends, teammates and associates. Shoresy is crude and blunt but also, if not empathetic, at least willing to listen and learn from what he sees and hears in his world. He is also searingly funny. The Shoresy who crudely antagonized fellow hockey players from the bathroom stall in “Letterkenny” does the same as a referee in a youth league in Sudbury, burying high school players in hilariously off-color attacks on them and the sexual proclivities of their mothers.
Keeso somehow manages to balance this rudeness with a respect for women and their role in Shoresy’s world that feels realistic and grounded. This is presented first through his relationship with the triumvirate of women who run the Bulldogs hockey organization. These ladies, (who are also blunt, profane and very funny), are unquestionably in control of the team and its players, and although Shoresy butts heads with them throughout the show, he clearly respects their roles and his relationship to them as a player/employee. His respect for women is illustrated even more through the show’s depiction of his efforts to woo Laura Mohr, a local sports reporter who covers the team. The chemistry between Keeso and actress Camille Sullivan as Laura is obvious, and Shoresy’s efforts to hit on her are touching and funny, but also clearly defined by his respect for her boundaries as much as his expressions of affection to her.
The fact that Keeso was able to take a minor character from “Letterkenny” whose only trait appeared to be an unerringly hilarious ability to deliver a profane “your momma” joke and make that character the anchor of an entertaining and hilarious ensemble workplace comedy is impressive. Every season of “Shoresy” feels like a self-contained comic story of the trials and tribulations of a small community of (for the most part) loveable characters. The episodes also feel like chapters of a novel and installments of a series that could last forever. I commend Hulu for bringing this type of television to us on a regular basis, and I am looking forward to every season of Shoresy it delivers to me. (5/5 Egg Burritos with Sour Cream).
Tom Polacek (March, 2025)