‘Hyper-Manitoban’ television series set in Winkler hits the air

As the saying goes, representation matters.

This winter, Manitobans can look forward to a hearty helping of representation in the locally set “Maria and the Mennos” – a new sitcom that kicked off its 13-episode run this week.

“It’s very, very hyper Manitoban,” said Chuck Fefchak, an actor who plays one of the titular ‘Mennos.’

Set in Winkler, Man., the series follows a newlywed Filipino-Canadian woman who moves in with her in-laws in a conservative Mennonite household.

Cultures collide on the Prairies, as the fiercely independent Maria partakes in borscht cook-offs and karaoke sing-offs in an attempt to bond with her new family.

Kenton Dyck, a Steinbach radio host, landed the part of Nate – husband to Maria.

He knew one of the show’s creators and writers Paul Plett after interviewing him on his radio show.

Dyck had a theatre and improv background, but this is his first major television role.

The story was all too familiar to him.

“I'm from Steinbach. That's a very Steinbach story, too. We've had a lot of recent immigration from the Philippines, so it's definitely something that we can connect with here,” he said.

The cast and crew of "Maria and the Mennos" pose in between filming the Manitoba-set sitcom. (Source: Maria and the Mennos)

Fefchak, who plays the Friesen patriarch Hank, also has a theatre background.

He started working in local theatre over 40 years ago, even starting a drama club in a small town where he took a teaching gig.

“The idea of going to television and film didn't even occur to me,” he said.

“I thought ‘That's not for me. That's not what I'm about.’ But when the opportunity arose and at the age that I was at, I said, ‘Well, if I don't do it now, I won't ever do it.’ That's what got me onto TV.”

The series was filmed over 10 weeks last January at a Winkler dairy farm provided by a local family, as well as a number of other locations in the area.

The first episode aired on YES TV on Wednesday, with 12 more to come.

Fefchak has already heard from friends and family who tuned it.

“My phone has blown up,” he said.

Dyck and the rest of the cast are hoping for a second season.

Even if it isn’t to be, he says the show was a success because of how much fun the cast and crew had making it.

“This is the sort of opportunity that rarely comes up in a place like Manitoba, to make a Manitoba-based sitcom, so they give us this really cool opportunity, and now we're just going to have to kind of see how it goes.”