Assuming it makes it to air, Episode 69 of Toronto's newest TV show, Metropia, offers more than enough proof that this is not your mother's soap opera -- especially if mom is from the old country.
The episode features a multi-ethnic gay sex scene involving three young men, one of whom is supposed to wed the other's sister in an arranged marriage, but alas, found the brother to be the bigger hottie.
Steamy as it sounds, it's typical of Metropia, a nightly serial drama, set and shot entirely in Toronto, that premieres Oct. 18 on the multicultural Omni channels. Whether it's typical of real life for the hip, diverse, twentysomething urbanites the characters portray will be up to viewers to decide.
The promotional material calls Metropia "an effort to offer a unique and honest portrayal of the Canadian experience" through an ethnically varied cast of characters dealing with "contemporary themes that transcend culture, including social issues, career, education and sex."
It only takes a quick run through the advance tapes, or a brief visit to the show's Scarborough studio where Episode 69 was shot this week, to see that sex is miscast at the bottom of that list.
When they're not actually having it, Metropia's 14 characters are by turns talking about it, chasing it, running from it, or helping each other get it.
And if that's not obvious enough, look at their hangouts: the Bang nightclub, the Hot Spot café, and a funky loft apartment (complete with communal shower) rented by a guy and two girls.
Abundant as the sex is, it's Toronto's multi-ethnic flavour that producers are banking on to hook local viewers. "You don't ever see, on television, this kind of ethnic mix, ever," Metropia's co-creator and producer, Paula Smith, said on the set this week as monitors showed the three male actors kissing, petting, even fellating, though shot discreetly from behind.
The big question now is how such scenes will play at home.
Ms. Smith is convinced younger viewers will go for the concept, which she called "probably first out of the gate" in depicting the kind of multiculturalism you won't see on a government poster -- but she expects it will leave some of their elders spitting mad, given the cultural divide that can exist between immigrant parents and their Canadian-raised kids. "The switchboard will be lighting up," she said. "I suspect there will be some controversy, but that's a good thing."
Indeed, the show's racy content already posed challenges during the casting phase, she said. One South Asian man, who turned in a particularly strong audition, dropped out after his family vowed to disown him if he went ahead.
Still, it's precisely that kind of tension that the show's producers aim to expose through the fictitious, if not over-the-top, exploits of its characters.
"This generation, being born in Toronto, say they reject a lot of that," said Ms. Smith, 44. In that context, it made sense to cast local and relatively unknown actors from various ethnic backgrounds, she said.
Toronto-born Yasin Sheikh, 27, plays Rajeev, a "bleeding-heart vegetarian radical" whose parents don't know he's gay. In real life, he's the heterosexual son of a Pakistani father and Greek mother who met in an elevator on Spadina Avenue.
Asked what his parents thought of his role, in which he is supposed to marry the sister of the man he winds up in bed with in Episode 69, Mr. Sheikh said his father "actually received it really well. He felt a little squeamish, but he laughed it off."
His mother, alas, "may not want to watch it, but she's still proud."
His scene mate, Zaib Shaikh, plays Jayesh, a sexually conflicted art student and brother to Maya (Dharini Woollcombe), the naive and virginal woman in the arranged courtship with Rajeev.
Mr. Shaikh, the Toronto-born son of Pakistani immigrants, said his risqué role in Metropia is simply the latest challenge in a career that his parents have come to accept.
"They've gotten used to the fact that that's what it takes," said Mr. Shaikh, a 30-year-old (and also straight) stage actor who has appeared in 19 plays.
Metropia viewers will also have to get used to a few things beyond copious sex that comes in many shades. Compared with the soft-lit, soporific daytime dramas that typify the genre, this soap opera clips along at breakneck speed -- not unlike its 20-week, 78-episode shooting schedule. The result is an edgy, low-budget look, with dialogue that often seems to stray into the unintentionally humorous.
On the upside, the show's Hot Spot café will rotate local artwork on its walls, which viewers will be able to research and arrange to buy through Metropia's website. Toronto bands will also perform at the fictitious Bang club on Friday night episodes.
Metropia airs Monday to Friday at 10:30 p.m. on Omni.2 starting Oct. 18, with all five episodes repeating back-to-back on Omni.1 Sundays starting at 9 p.m.