Newfoundland is a distant island within the North Atlantic and essentially the most easterly province of Canada.
It’s also the locale for “Son of a Critch,” the family-friendly CW sitcom from Emmy-winning “Schitt’s Creek” producer Andrew Barnsley.
Based on the eponymous memoir of Canadian comedian/actor Mark Critch, Newfoundland is miles away, thematically, from the onscreen work of British acting legend Malcolm McDowell (“A Clockwork Orange,” “Caligula,” “Star Trek Generations”), who co-stars as crusty grandfather Patrick “Pop” Critch.
McDowell loves the show a lot that he agreed to talk to The Post about “Son of Critch” — until the SAG-AFTRA strike put the kibosh on that.
Barnsley, nonetheless, can talk in regards to the series, and about how McDowell jumped at the prospect to co-star as “Pop,” who shares a small bedroom together with his 11-year-old grandson, series protagonist Mark Critch (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) who, when the series opens, is anxiously entering a latest school where he doesn’t know anyone.
The ensemble forged includes Mark Critch as Mark’s earnestly goofy dad, Mike — a reporter on the local radio station round the corner to their house — Claire Rankin as Mark’s mother, Mary and Colton Gobbo as Mark’s annoying older brother, Mike Jr. It is going to return for a second season on The CW.
Critch is an executive producer together with Barnsley, Tim McAuliffe and Allan Hawco.
Barnsley said he was “as shocked as you’re” that McDowell, 80, agreed to a number one series role in “Son of a Critch,” which airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
“The 2 roles we knew the heartbeat of the show would come from was young Mark and Pop — they were critical to the series,” he said. “We actually searched high and low for each of those roles, but didn’t really find what we were searching for in Canada … so we decided to have interaction some UK casting directors and broaden the search.
“They were the casting directors from [Channel 4 teen sitcom] ‘Derry Girls’ which we felt was compatible for us,” Barnsley said. “They dug in and searched for these two roles, and within the case of Pop they were like, ‘What about Malcolm McDowell?’
“We were all type of like, ‘Yeah, right,’ and so they were capable of get the pilot script in front of him and he loved it,” he said. “It really became this odd negotiation where he really desired to do [the show] and he and his team made it easy for us to get a ‘yes’ — and when that piece landed it was really a game-changer for us.
“For a Canadian sitcom to land someone like Malcolm McDowell …. that doesn’t occur. He’s so pleased with the show; he’s called me to say, ‘Andrew, now we have a show that individuals are going to observe.’”
Barnsley, whose mother is from Newfoundland — he spent summers there as a child — had just a few elements in his favor vis-à-vis getting the show onto American television.
“The legacy of ‘Schitt’s Creek’ is definitely one that individuals pointed to and we answered the query: can a Canadian show be exported and find an audience?,” he said. “I feel the teachings we learned [from ‘Schitt’s Creek’] is where does the comedy come from, and the best way to make it authentic and grounded and keep the audience connected to the characters and be willing to take a position in that.
“I learned a lot from the business side and the best way to get a show into the US and construct those pieces and work with international shareholders,” Barnsley said. “And there was one other big piece: when ‘Schitt’s Creek’ aired within the US it was on Pop TV and Brad Schwartz was the president of the network on the time and now he’s president of entertainment at The CW.
“He’s Canadian and fought to get ‘Schitt’s Creek’ onto Pop — and when he landed at The CW he said, ‘Let’s see if we are able to do that again’ … and it looks like we’re finding an audience, which is wonderful.”
