Fort Erie comedy ‘Cows Come Home’ receives half-hour TV adaptation

Fiasco Global Media has optioned ‘Cows Come Home,’ a Bell Fibe TV1 digital comedy series filmed in Fort Erie, for development as a half-hour scripted television series following the show’s two wins at the 2026 Canadian Screen Awards.

Fiasco, a female-led scripted development studio based in Winnipeg and Los Angeles, secured the rights to the six-episode comedy series after winning best web series and best direction at last week’s Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto.

Jennifer Beasley, president of Fiasco Global Media, will develop the half-hour series alongside co-creators Lindsey Middleton and Katie Uhlmann and writer-executive producer Garry Campbell, whose credits include Canadian comedies ‘North of North’ and ‘Kids in the Hall.’

Executive producers David Carruthers, whose credits include ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ and manager Perry Zimel also join the television development.

“We did a lot with very few resources the first time around, so now it’s kind of like adventuring into a new landscape where there’s a bigger team and a lot of folks believing in it,” Middleton told Fort Erie Radio.

Middleton and Uhlmann first pitched a half-hour version of the first season at the TIFF Series Accelerator in 2023 before the digital series took shape on Bell Fibe TV1.

Uhlmann told Fort Erie Radio that characters, locations and storylines from the original six episodes will work their way into the half-hour scripts now being developed.

“We’re keeping a lot,” said Uhlmann. “Definitely keeping the friendship between the two women, and the cow showing element isn’t going anywhere.”

Uhlmann said the team is expanding the world with new characters, new locations and a romance storyline centred on the lead character’s dating life.

The pair are pushing to deepen the intergenerational story by expanding what the older and younger characters are each going through. Middleton said she’d like to see Rick, the older farmer from the first six episodes, have a larger role in the show.

“We’re allowed to just think a little bit bigger in general in terms of locations and certain elements,” said Uhlmann.

The one element Middleton said the team refused to lose was the female friendship at the show’s centre.

“We grew up in a media culture where women were always pitted against each other,” said Middleton. “It’s something that we really bonded over while writing the show, just wanting to make sure that we celebrate the beauty and joy of female friendship.”

Fiasco committed to the project before the Canadian Screen Award nominations were announced, but the wins strengthened the show’s position with broadcasters.

“It definitely helps prove to broadcasters that it’s an idea that people are excited about and want to see more of,” said Middleton.

The series held a top favourite position on Bell Fibe TV1 continuously since launching in June 2025. On the platform, it is the only series listed under Fort Erie when searched by region.

The original series was filmed primarily in Fort Erie, but where the television adaption shoots has not been decided.

“We love Fort Erie, but there are so many farming communities in this country and so many possibilities,” said Uhlmann, adding that the exact filming locations are still being decided with the larger team.

Middleton and Uhlmann traced the project’s beginning to Thanksgiving 2022, when the Miller family at Walnutknoll Dairy Farm in Ridgeway became the first to commit to the production.

“Really that was the very first yes, at Walnutknoll, and without that yes I don’t know if we’d be having this phone call,” said Middleton. “Without the farm and the cows I don’t know if we would be here right now.”

The original series was also filmed at I CAN-T.E.R., the Fort Erie therapeutic riding charity, whose executive director Karen van der Zalm gave up her own bedroom for crew members during the shoot.

“It’s a really beautiful, special place and we were so welcomed when we filmed there,” said Middleton.

‘Cows Come Home’ follows Tabby Acres, played by Middleton, a woman who hits rock bottom and rebuilds her life through competitive cow showing with her best friend Cara Matheson, played by Allie Dunbar.

Uhlmann directed all six episodes and co-wrote the series with Middleton.

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