Mark (left) and Andy (uncomfortable).
Cavendish was a CBC sitcom that debuted in January of 2019, created by and starring Mark Little and Andrew Bush of Picnic Face, and also starring Kathryn Greenwood, Kevin Eldon and Kelli Ogmundson.
Mark and Andy Tennesen are two brothers, who drive back to Cavendish, Prince Edward Island (the first shot of the series is, in fact, the Confederation Bridge) to live in their childhood home with their estranged father, Rollie. Rollie now runs a small museum with his partner, Ruth, and Ruth's very odd niece, Bryn. Mark and Andy have mixed feelings on being back home - Mark is ecstatic, Andy is an embittered "Well Done, Son" Guy to Rollie - but their feelings get even more mixed when they realize that Cavendish is a little weirder than they remembered. Creepy, even.
It built up a modest following in its brief run, but unfortunately, on May 29th, 2019, Andrew Bush announced on Twitter that the show was not renewed for a second season.
Tropes associated with Cavendish include:
- As Himself: Fred Penner of all people. Episode 3 is devoted to Andy's obsession with a Fred Penner statue he found, and the real Fred Penner shows up in a fantasy sequence.
- Born Lucky: While the universe seems to have it out for Andy, Mark smiles and the whole world smiles with him. Rollie adores him. He gets offered an audition for a big role in Anne Of Green Gables, just by walking down the street. He lands a job interview with the Mayor and comes away with a job offer, even after giving textbook bad answers to every single question. And even after weird, scary stuff happens to him, it's Andy that usually gets the worst of it, while Mark gets off scot-free. Mark attributes it to "saying yes to the universe."
- Butt-Monkey: Andy is this for Mark, for Rollie, and pretty much for life itself.
- Cannot Tell a Joke: This gem (or anti-gem) from Bryn.Bryn: My middle name is potato.Mark: What?Andy: What?Mark: What did you say?Bryn: My middle name is potato.Mark: [Beat] No it's not.Andy: Yeah, it's definitely not 'potato.'Bryn: [flatly] ...gotcha.Mark: No, you didn't.Andy: You didn't "get us," we literally just said-Bryn: My middle name is actually "Big Tony."Mark: Is this the first time you've ever tried a prank?Bryn: [flatly] ...gotcha.
- Car Radio Dispute: The very first episode begins with Mark and Andy driving over the Confederation Bridge, as Mark cheerfully sings along to the Anne Of Green Gables soundtrack until a brooding Andy turns it off. (Since this is set on Prince Edward Island, an Anne Of Green Gables reference was probably inevitable).
- Caught in the Bad Part of Town: "Charlottetown Nights" sees Andy, Mark and Molly get themselves into the rough part of Charlottetown, and face gang violence. Apparently, there's numerous gangs, and Andy made fun of the wrong gang member's speech impediment!
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Bryn is the Tina Belcher of Cavendish. She draws wolf hentai, speaks in a monotone, and seems completely off-kilter from everyone around her.
- Cult:
- There's a very eerie "theater group" in episode 2, "The Annes," consisting almost entirely of women in Anne of Green Gables costumes, who have taken turns playing Anne in local theater for decades.
- Averted in "The Coven" when Ruth's coven is just a community group.
- Disproportionate Retribution: "The Coven" gives some insight on how Andy and Mark handle rejection. When Andy's writing gets rejected by another publication, he sits around the house and mopes. When Mark gets rejected from joining Ruth's coven... he forms his own, darker coven, and they vandalize the other coven's picnic.
- The Dreaded: Episode 1, "The Beast," and the titular legend. The "beast" shakes up Cavendish so much that Bryn even says grace at the table asking for protection from it.
- Evil Counterpart: Mark's Darker and Edgier coven in "The Coven," as opposed to Ruth's and Andy's, which isn't really much of a coven, and more of a fun club that has fun community activities.
- Forgotten Birthday: From "It's An Andyful Life," Rollie, Ruth and Bryn somehow forgot Andy's birthday despite the fact that it's literally the exact same day as Mark's.
- The Gadfly: Rollie seems to get a kick out of messing with Andy, which only makes Andy resent him more. His Establishing Character Moment is him coming downstairs for dinner with an oxygen mask and a hobbling limp, collapsing by the table, and popping back up and yelling "Surprise!" Mark thinks it's funny. Andy... doesn't.
- Green-Eyed Monster: "The Story Of Ruth" sees Rollie's new caregiver, June, getting incredibly close to him, and Ruth's feelings on Rollie's affections being stolen are obvious. At Mark's urging, they bubble to the surface.Ruth: She has her imperfections...Mark: Good!Ruth: ...but who doesn't?Mark: Sure! That's a good place to start! Okay, she's got imperfections. I wanna hear some of those imperfections.Ruth: I don't... she's... she's... I sometimes wonder if she's as generous as she pretends to be.Mark: Yeah! Now we're talking, Ruth, now we're speaking the same language! What else?Ruth: She's... she's... she's had her eyes on Rollie since the moment she saw him!!!Mark: That's my shit right there, that's exactly what I'm talking about!Grocery store clerk: Everything okay over there?Mark: She's tapping into her anger, stay the fuck out of it!!!Grocery store clerk: [smiles] Okie dokie!
- Guyliner: Mark sports some in "The Coven" when he forms his own coven.
- Impossibly Awesome Magic Trick: The magician in "It's An Andyful Life," Quantum The Unyielding, pulls a gold coin from behind Mark's ear - simple enough - and then pulls a dildo from behind Andy's. And then Andy finds another dildo in his jacket pocket despite Quantum The Unyielding not even being near him.
- It's a Wonderful Plot: The season 1 finale, "It's An Andyful Life," sees Andy go through one of these, brought along by an angel who looks an awful lot like an elderly version of Mark. Turns out that without Mark having been born, Andy is rich, Rollie completely accepts him, and Ruth is kind of an asshole.
- Museum of the Strange and Unusual: Well, the sign actually says "strange and fantastic." It still applies, though, albeit it's a rural, small-scale version of this trope. But hey, there's a sarcophagus!
- The One That Got Away: Molly Field. She was a girl Andy had a schoolboy crush on, but never, y'know, actually talked to, so she doesn't know him. Unfortunately, in "The Beast" Andy accidentally jabs her son with a knife, and judging by her reaction, that ship's definitely sailed now.
- Pass the Popcorn: In "The Story Of Ruth" we never see the violent altercation that happens in the bathroom between caregiver June, Ruth, a bathing Rollie, Mark and Andy. But we do see Bryn just casually eating rice, watching it all going down and not liking it.Mark (offscreen): Dad, did I touch your peter?!?
- Perpetual Smiler: Ruth! She's a bundle of good cheer even in the face of family drama and the weirder, darker side of Cavendish. Becomes a Stepford Smiler in "The Story Of Ruth."
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Mark is a whirlwind of Red, Andy is a sulking heap of Blue.
- Revenge: June, the new caregiver from "The Story Of Ruth" only became Rollie's caregiver so she could kill him for driving her husband to drink himself to death. Because Rollie's museum was more popular than her dead husband's museum.
- The Stoic: Bryn, which makes her odd even by Cavendish standards.
- That Came Out Wrong: Andy standing up to the gang in "Charlottetown Nights" by calling out the leader and threatening to "suck his ass in front of his friends." Wait, what?
- The Unfavorite: Rollie really couldn't care less about Andy's feelings, and he's probably tried.
- The Unintelligible: Felix, one of the townspeople, has a strong eastern accent to the point that you barely get the gist of what he's saying.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Andy is not at all shy about calling Rollie out for abandoning him and Mark when they were kids.
- Will They or Won't They?: There's ambiguity over Rollie's and Ruth's relationship, as they don't really call it anything. In "The Story Of Ruth," Rollie finally confirms he does love Ruth.
