Both Viewer Discretion Productions and its first work – the original two-act play Tough Call, an irreverent dramatic comedy set in the mid-’80s – were born thanks to the serendipitous influence of old television sitcoms.

Co-founder Alex Poirier describes it thusly: “I was in Toronto. It was a warm night, too warm to go outside – and we didn't have air conditioning. I remember I was fanning myself with my girlfriend's little purple hair dryer set to ‘cool.’ It wasn't helping much, so I went to the basement to see if it was any better down there.”

There was a TV in the basement, hooked up to an aging laptop.

What followed was a binge. Somewhere between a “Very Special Episode” of Family Ties and the teary-eyed graduation finale of Saved by the Bell, Poirier “began thinking about what made '80s sitcoms so entertaining – and so limited in some ways – and why they always seemed to work best when serious real-world topics came crashing into the lives of the characters.”

That mixture of comedy and drama, the relationship between what's funny and what's tragic – and what's funny about what's tragic – informed the writing of Tough Call, the first draft of which took four months to complete. Eleven more drafts followed, each successive rewrite better striking the delicate balance between subject matter and character, between humour and drama. At key intervals in the process, Poirier worked with longtime collaborator Ryan Doucette – originally from Clare, now based in Prince Edward Island.

The 2,000 kilometres separating them proved an obstacle, one which necessitated some spur-of-the-moment solutions. The pair stayed up late nights reading, pitching, and reworking the script via phone, Skype, and text message.

Poirier admits his struggles with clinical depression made the job especially onerous for him at times – and also helped inspire the writing process.

Tough Call is all about character. The play’s protagonist is Dean, an underachieving Ferris-Bueller-meets-John-Bender type who answers a mysterious phone call while working on New Year’s Eve, 1986 – and whose young interlocutor eventually lets slip that he’s planning to commit suicide. At midnight.

The year 1986, incidentally, was chosen as the play’s period setting as much for its colourful spirit and familiar pop culture landmarks as for its special place in Poirier’s heart.

“It never occurred to me to set it anytime else. I practically live in 1986,” he says. “The last album I bought was the soundtrack to Ghostbusters II, on cassette – I think in the year of our Lord 2018 that qualifies me as some sort of freak. But the freak show’s got a real groovy beat, I think.”

Once the script was complete, Poirier – with help from Doucette – founded Viewer Discretion Productions to bring to life the dramatic premise that materialized that unseasonably warm night in 2015.