Bell Media promotional image for I Kill the Bear, Jared Keeso’s six-part Crave comedy produced by New Metric Media and premiering November 6, 2026.
Photo credit: Bell Media / Crave
In December 2023, Crave and Toronto-based production company New Metric Media announced a multiyear agreement encompassing 49 new episodes of programming involving Jared Keeso. The plan included further spinoffs of Letterkenny, the comedy that helped establish Crave’s original programming, as well as the development of entirely new series. Nearly three years later, Keeso’s six-part comedy I Kill the Bear is about to premiere, while another new series is already on Crave’s 2027 schedule.
I Kill the Bear arrives November 6, with two episodes released each Friday. Produced by New Metric Media, the comedy was filmed in Sudbury, Ontario, and follows the Thibaults, a fourth-generation Franco-Ontarian family whose work involves handling bears for film productions. Keeso created and wrote the show and stars alongside Georges St-Pierre, Sarah-Maude Beauchesne and Jonathan Torrens as members of the family. Its premise is separate from those of Letterkenny and its hockey-centred spinoff Shoresy.
The original deal left room for both familiar characters and different stories. Bell Media’s subsequent announcements give a clearer picture of how the partnership has developed, although they do not specify which individual productions or seasons count toward the 49-episode commitment.
The agreement that followed Letterkenny
When the agreement was announced on December 6, 2023, Letterkenny was nearing the end of its 12-season run. The series had premiered in 2016 as Crave’s first original production and had grown from the online sketches Letterkenny Problems into a Canadian comedy franchise with an American streaming home on Hulu.
Shoresy was already part of that franchise, with a third season renewed before the 2023 announcement. Bell described its new arrangement with Keeso and New Metric as covering additional Letterkenny spinoffs and the development of new series. The wording allowed the parties to continue existing programming while commissioning projects outside the fictional world that audiences knew.
The agreement also extended an established commercial relationship. Bell said the companies would continue collaborating on merchandise and live productions, activities that had grown around Letterkenny. New Metric founder and CEO Mark Montefiore described the arrangement at the time as an expansion of the company’s “360-degree comedy ecosystem strategy.”
Two new comedies and a returning franchise
Bell Media had listed an untitled six-episode Keeso comedy from New Metric Media in its June 5, 2025 programming slate, with filming expected that autumn and a 2026 premiere planned. On October 1, Bell identified the series as I Kill the Bear and announced that production was underway in Sudbury. Keeso was credited as creator, writer, star and executive producer, with a story credit shared with producer Trevor Risk. Dan Skene and Sean Skene were named as directors and executive producers. New Metric produced the series in association with Play Fun Games.
Crave confirmed the November 6 premiere a year later, on October 6, 2026. Its announcement identified New Metric executives Montefiore and Kara Haflidson as executive producers and Max Wolfond as supervising producer. It also named the Rogers Fund and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation among the participating funders.
In January 2026, Crave renewed Shoresy for a sixth season and said filming would begin in Sudbury that fall. The announcement followed the release of its fifth season and coincided with the Shoresy Classic, an eight-city North American tour in which cast members played hockey against NHL alumni teams. Bell reported that the tour had sold more than 65,000 tickets.
The next newly announced Keeso comedy takes the partnership to Montréal. Bell introduced Cats in the Plateau in its June 2026 programming slate, then confirmed later that month that production was underway on six half-hour episodes. The dark comedy follows two garbage collectors who decide to start a gang, with Alexander Calvert and Robert Bazzocchi playing the central pair. Keeso created and wrote the series, appears in the ensemble and, according to Bell, is directing one of his own television series for the first time. Crave has announced a 2027 premiere.
Like I Kill the Bear, Cats in the Plateau is produced by New Metric in association with Play Fun Games. Its announced creative team includes Jason Kitts, who shares story credit with Keeso, and producers Jonathan “JoDolo” Diaby and Aurèle Gaudet. The different setting and production base also extend the partnership beyond the Northern Ontario locations associated with Letterkenny and Shoresy.
New Metric’s role beyond production
New Metric’s position in the Keeso partnership covers several parts of the entertainment business. The Toronto company produces the television series and markets the resulting properties through live entertainment, licensed products and other formats. Letterkenny Live brought members of the original cast to theatres, while the Shoresy Classic moved the hockey comedy into arenas. These are documented activities of the company’s established franchises; Bell has made no comparable announcement of live or merchandise extensions for I Kill the Bear.
The distribution arrangements require a distinction between the original pact and the individual series announcements. In December 2023, Bell said it would be the distributor of new projects arising from the agreement, with New Metric serving as exclusive sales agent. That same announcement identified New Metric as the company handling international distribution of Letterkenny and Shoresy.
Bell’s 2025 and 2026 releases for I Kill the Bear describe New Metric as handling its international distribution. An official MIPCOM Cannes programme listed a preview of the series at the October 2025 television market, presented by New Metric, while the company said in October 2026 that it was bringing the comedy back to MIPCOM for international sales. The June 2026 announcement for Cats in the Plateau gives New Metric the same distribution role. Those public statements describe its work with foreign buyers without detailing the complete division of rights between Bell and the production company. Bell’s October 6 premiere announcement did not identify an international streaming home for I Kill the Bear.
What the 49 episodes tell us
The 2023 figure remains the clearest public measure of the size of the original commitment, though it is not a published running total. Crave has since announced further Shoresy programming and commissioned six episodes each of I Kill the Bear and Cats in the Plateau, but Bell has not identified how each order is allocated within the 49 episodes or disclosed a remaining balance. The announcements also do not establish whether additional, unannounced spinoffs have been commissioned.
For now, the announced schedule provides two dates for the newer productions: I Kill the Bear begins streaming on Crave on November 6, 2026, and Cats in the Plateau is planned for 2027. Together with the continued production of Shoresy, they document how the partnership has developed from a single successful Canadian comedy into a slate that includes both franchise programming and separate series.
