How to Buy a Baby is a Canadian comedy web series, which premiered in November 2017 on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's web platform and on YouTube. Created by Wendy Litner and based on her own experiences having to pursue fertility treatment to conceive a pregnancy, the series stars Meghan Heffern and Marc Bendavid as Jane and Charlie, a couple going through the fertility treatment process.
It was produced by LoCo Motion Pictures, and debuted on the CBC Comedy YouTube channel on November 13, 2017. It was transferred to CBC Gem when that platform launched in 2018. Season one was directed by Molly McGlynn and season two was directed by Adriana Maggs. The series is executive produced by Lauren Corber and Wendy Litner. It has won several accolades, including Best Comedy Series at the 9th annual Indie Series Awards. At the 46th International Emmy Awards, the show was a finalist for Best Short Form Series.
Episodes
Season 1
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Fertiliflinch" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 2 | 2 | "Fertilifamily" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 3 | 3 | "Fertilifucked" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 4 | 4 | "Fertilifight" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 5 | 5 | "Fertilifeelings" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 6 | 6 | "Fertilifunk" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 7 | 7 | "Fertilifentanyl" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 8 | 8 | "Fertilifinances" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 9 | 9 | "Fertilifear" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
| 10 | 10 | "Fertilifinally" | Molly McGlynn | Unknown | November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13) |
Season 2
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Adopt-an-Inspection" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 12 | 2 | "Adopt-a-Class" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 13 | 3 | "Adopt-a-Profile" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 14 | 4 | "Adopt-a-Party" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 15 | 5 | "Adopt-a-Date" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 16 | 6 | "Adopt-a-Feminist" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 17 | 7 | "Adopt-an-Orientation" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 18 | 8 | "Adopt-a-Thon" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 19 | 9 | "Adopt-an-Arguement" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
| 20 | 10 | "Adopt-a-Future" | Adriana Maggs | Unknown | August 23, 2019 (2019-08-23) |
Reception
Season 1
At the 9th annual Indie Series Awards, the series won the award for Best Comedy and McGlynn won the award for Best Direction. At the 46th International Emmy Awards, the show was a finalist for Best Short Form Series.
At the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019, the series won the award for Best Original Digital Series, Fiction, and Litner was nominated for Best Writing in a Web Program or Series. How to Buy a Baby Season 2 was nominated for 6 Canadian Screen Awards in 2020. Litner won the award for Best Writing, Web Program or Series and Emma Hunter won Best Supporting Performance, Web Program or Series.
The series won Best Comedy Writing and Best Lead Female Performance at the IAWTV Awards, Best Actress and Best Screenplay at the Rolda Web Fest, and Best Editing at the T.O. Webfest.
The series was nominated for Best Fiction Series at The Rockie Awards and was an Honoree Comedy: Long Form or Series at The Webby Awards.
How to Buy a Baby won the Stand Up 'N Pitch competition at Just for Laughs in 2016.
Season 2
The second season was nominated for six awards at the 8th Canadian Screen Awards in 2020; Litner won Best Writing and Emma Hunter won Best Supporting Performance in a Web Program or Series.
It was nominated for six awards at the T.O Webfest and won Best Canadian Series. Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll won Best Supporting Performance.
References
- "New show finds the funny side of infertility". Canadian Jewish News. November 29, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
- "I made a TV show about infertility…and it’s a comedy". Today's Parent, November 9, 2017.
- "How to Buy a Baby a new web series that finds humour in infertility". canada.com, November 10, 2017.
- "How to Buy a Baby on CBC". Playback. November 13, 2017.
- ^ "How to Buy a Baby among winners at Canadian Screen Awards digital gala". Waterloo Chronicle, March 29, 2019.
- Townsend, Kelly. "In brief: GLAAD awards Dan Levy for LGBTQ work". Retrieved 2019-08-19.
- Malyk, Lauren (April 6, 2018). "How to Buy a Baby wins best comedy at the Indie Series Awards". Retrieved 2020-12-17.
- ^ "International Emmy Award Nominations Unveiled". Variety, September 27, 2018.
- "How to Buy a Baby wins best comedy at the Indie Series Awards". Playback. April 6, 2018.
- "2020 Canadian Screen Awards: 'Schitt's Creek' dominates with 26 nominations". ca.hellomagazine.com. Hello! Canada. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "2020 Canadian Screen Awards winners: 'Mary Kills People,' 'Vikings' win big". Global News. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- "International Academy of Web Television Awards (2018)". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
- "T.O. Webfest 2018 Series & Awards!". T.O. WebFest. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
- "How to Buy a Baby -- The Webby Awards". Retrieved 2020-07-31.
- Ronca, Paul. "How To Buy A Baby Archives". Just For Laughs ComedyPRO. Archived from the original on 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2019-08-19.
- "You are being redirected..." www.academy.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
- "TOWebfest 2020". T.O. WebFest | Toronto, Canada. Retrieved 2020-07-31.