Marnie Stretch’s latest television project has literally gone to the dogs.
Stretch, who calls St. Albert home, is a producer with Ignition Media, which is bringing a new reality TV special to cable channel Slice. Entitled Fabulous Furballs, the show follows the daily operations at the Fabulous Fur Institute — the Sherwood Park training facility for employees at area pet grooming chain Fabulous Furballs — and debuts on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Stretch said she and executive producer Lance Corbett were approached by Fabulous Furballs founder and CEO Krista Castellarin about launching a reality show, and everyone got on board quickly.
“We were looking for a project to sink our teeth into, and it sounded like a hit, so we went ahead with it,” she said.
Stretch attended Paul Kane High School and the radio and television arts program at NAIT. After 16 years living in Los Angeles, moved back to St. Albert in 2006 with her son. She worked at Citytv in 2008 and 2009, and has been a game day producer for the National Lacrosse League’s Edmonton Rush for the past two seasons.
What makes the pet grooming business a good fit for TV has less to do with the four-legged stars and more to do with the two-legged ones, she said.
“From the students, for sure, to the instructors to the clientele, it’s a wacky group of characters,” Stretch said.
One of the main characters in the show is Castellarin, who started the company when she moved to the area from Las Vegas. She was also featured on season two of Groomer Has It, a pet grooming reality competition that aired on Animal Planet in the United States.
“She’s got a huge personality. She’s dynamic and vibrant,” Stretch said. “She’s a total go-getter. … She’s always on the go and got something going.”
Kathy Hirt, who owns and operates the Fabulous Furballs location in St. Albert, said she thinks the furry clients will be the real stars of the show.
“Dogs are very comedic; anything can happen. They do the strangest things sometimes,” she said.
Still, she can’t wait to see the special on TV, as there will be quite a few familiar faces.
“It’s been a long time in coming out, so I’m really excited,” Hirt said.
The half-hour special airing on Slice on Wednesday was meant to be the pilot episode for a series, but with Shaw Communications taking over Global Television in February 2010, Stretch said those plans got lost in the shuffle.
“A lot of the executives changed and unfortunately our show just kind of got lost in the changeover,” she said. “So [Slice] will not be carrying additional episodes, so we will likely be looking for another broadcaster. But they are airing the pilot, and we think it’s pretty fabulous.”
But she is grateful for the chance Slice has afforded her and the show, even if it is only a one-off special.
“It’s not an easy task to get something on network TV,” she said.
However, when Corbett pitched the show at the Banff World Television Festival a year and a half ago, there were other networks interested.
“TLC initially showed quite a bit of interest, then Slice jumped in there as well and were moving forward quicker, so we went with Slice,” she said.
And even though Stretch is hoping one of them will pick up the series, she isn’t looking at that as the ultimate definition of success, saying that the show has already accomplished so much.
“It’s like hitting a home run in your first turn at bat,” she said. “Some people might not consider it a home run, but it’s good for local television, and it puts us on the map as a viable production company.”
