Men with Brooms, the 2002 Paul Gross film about a small-town curling legend who returns home and ends up taking a shot at (relative) glory, made less than $5-million at the box office.

But, being a Canadian film, that almost qualifies as a smash hit. It certainly puts it on a short list of English language homegrown films that many Canadians have seen and enjoyed, which means that CBC had something to work with when developing a show by the same name.

So when the public broadcaster announced the half-hour comedy at its fall preview last spring, it didn’t have much explaining to do. Men with Brooms: curling, comedy. Got it.