From jPod

A giant ball of masking tape connects David Kopp and Douglas Coupland. Not the amateur tape balls you absently made during algebra when not spelling “boob” on your calculator, but a glorious behemoth. You’d think Coupland would simulate a smile and secretly pine for the more universal mix CD or friendship bracelet, but this is a man whose home foyer is manned by a giant GI Joe figure and an enormous ball of yarn. An acclaimed novelist and playwright, hailed as the literary voice of his generation, a giant ball of masking tape sounds is for him.

“I was doing some woodworking, just some real mundane shit, with this incredibly artistic guy,” recalls Kopp over a meal at the carnivorous bordello known as The Palomino. “I like to create stuff, so we ended up using $800 of masking tape to make this ball. We started taking the tape ball home and leaving our tools, but then the ball got too heavy to move. It was our effort to stay creative in this mundane environment. I thought the only person who’d enjoy this tape ball would be Doug. So I gave it to him, and he put it next to his ‘world’s largest rubber band collection.’”

Despite how his official bio reads, Kopp didn’t study to be a male model. He is an actor, and until now, he was the half-remembered face in various genre films and TV shows like Freddy vs. Jason, Romeo Must Die and Blade: The Series. The new CBC comedy jPod stands as his chance to make a larger mark, and for an avowed disciple of the works of Coupland, he couldn’t have asked for more. “I’m incredibly grateful to be a lead on a Coupland show,” says the Calgary-born actor. “I related to [the book] jPod really well. For somebody who’s 45 years old, he’s really attuned to us — my generation. You know, the kind of waffling we do about what we want to do, what’s motivating and uniting us. He’s got a great perception of it all. He’s pointing out things I’m learning about myself now.”

Much like the book, the show follows Ethan, Kaitlin, Bree, Cowboy and John Doe (Evil Mark doesn’t make the translation to television), collectively known as jPod, in their inane attempts to avoid working on their corporately mandated and marketing-vetted skateboarding video game. All while Ethan tries to deal with the problems of his parents, a pot-dealing homemaker and a retired engineer looking to become an actor. While the book was filled with wacky antics and characters with eccentric ticks, a weary desperation cut through it all, as characters avoided finding any real meaning or consequence.

CBC’s jPod is more slapstick than cultural satire, which is amazing considering entire chunks of the book appear in the first three episodes screened. The show is content to amplify the wacky and eccentric aspects of the book into something far broader. While The Office finds the subtle humour in the mundane absurdities of cubicle life, jPod is clumsy and conventional, thanks to Alan Thicke and Colin Cunningham, who ham their way through as if in an unfunny Royal Canadian Air Farce sketch. (Really, is there any other kind?) Still, the core cast of jPodsters delivers a breezy charm and some of that Coupland wit in their cartoon world. Hopefully, as Coupland exerts a stronger influence as a writer on the show, jPod will align more closely with his voice. In the litigious world of television, he might not get the chance.

In the early episodes of the series, it’s jarring to notice the lack of the usual brand cynicism and critique Coupland is known for. In fact, the world of jPod uses imaginary products made by imaginary companies. Unfortunately, it’s all part of being on TV, according to writer and executive producer J.B. Sugar.

“We definitely aim to preserve Coupland’s voice and pop culture irreverence,” he explains, “but when dealing with advertisers and broadcasters, you have to be careful about the brands you’re promoting or critiquing. That’s just the symptom of the TV business. You can’t have free reign over that stuff. I don’t see it as a crutch for us, as we have fun inventing products. I don’t think it makes the show any less relevant. We don’t feel that compromised.”

Kopp is blunter on the issue. “You don’t want to get sued. In Coupland’s new book, he shits all over Staples and how life-sucking big-box stores are. He gets away with it, but on TV you’re more liable to get sued. A lot of stuff in the book— like Ronald McDonald references and that kind of stuff — had to be changed. We have a clown, but he legally needed to be nothing like Ronald. Does it compromise the integrity? Well it takes away a bit of the punch of Coupland’s stuff.

“On the flip side,” he adds, “you can get a shitload of money with product placement. We’ve got a little bit of that — Dell, Pepsi, Quaker, Gatorade. All that is given to us, but to get that free stuff, you’ve got to show those products in a positive light. You can’t crap on them like Coupland does in his books. Advertising destroys so many things, it’s sickening. But, hey, honestly, if somebody asked me to endorse something I’d do it. I’m just as guilty, even if it nauseates me.”