By Joan Jenkinson, Co-Founder and CEO, BSO
Five years.
That’s how long it took to get One Baby, Please! from an idea to the screen.
Five years of writing, pitching, rewriting and waiting for funding. Wondering if the funding gods had lost their email address.
And now? Six episodes. A broadcaster. An audience.
Hallelujah!
At the BSO, we work hard to get Black stories made. So when a Black Canadian creator takes a culturally specific idea through the maze of Canadian television financing and actually gets it on the air, I’m going to celebrate.
Loudly.
Two Men. One Baby. Everybody Has an Opinion.
One Baby, Please! is a six-part comedy about Omar, a laid-back Egyptian Canadian, and Dieon, his considerably more tightly wound Barbadian Canadian husband.
They want a baby. Simple enough.
Except there are fertility tests, surrogacy arrangements, financial complications and relatives who apparently missed the memo about minding their own business.
As someone with Caribbean roots, I can appreciate a family that considers everybody’s business to be family business.
Especially when nobody asked.
Underneath the wonderfully chaotic comedy is something quite moving: two men who love each other and are determined to build a family on their own terms.
A Black Barbadian Canadian man and his Egyptian Canadian husband at the centre of a television comedy. Romantic leads. Future fathers.
Imagine that.
Four Days’ Notice. Naturally.
Adrian Neblett and Karim Adam Ahmed met on the set of Ketchup with Me, a short film Adrian produced. Karim later approached him about developing a television series together.
Adrian, just starting out as a producer, was hesitant. Then Karim mentioned a small detail.
The application deadline was in four days.
Nothing says “creative partnership” quite like a looming deadline and a mild panic attack.
Adrian said yes. Then the universe kept throwing them together: cast as a couple in a commercial, co-leads in a play, the same acting class. At some point, you stop calling it coincidence.
Adrian suggested making Dieon’s family Barbadian, drawing on his own roots. Neither creator had seen families like theirs on mainstream television. So they set out to change that.
As Karim put it: “For five years, Adrian and I held onto this story because we knew someone out there needed to see it.”
Adrian Neblett, co-creator, writer, actor and producer of One Baby, Please!
The Long Road to Yes
Getting a television series financed in Canada is an endurance sport. There should be medals. Possibly therapy.
Adrian and Karim built momentum through the National Screen Institute’s Series Incubator. In 2024, the Independent Production Fund selected One Baby, Please! as one of just 33 projects from 218 eligible submissions to its Short Form Series Development Program. Their proof of concept drew more than 100,000 views.
Financing came together through the Independent Production Fund, Bell Fund, Creative BC, tax credits and other partners. Piece by piece. Sometimes, Adrian told me, they waited close to a year between funding decisions.
A year! Try keeping creative momentum going through that.
But they persisted. As Adrian puts it: “What I learned from that process is that it is possible.”
I love that. Every time someone does it, the road gets a little easier for the person coming behind them.
BSO connected with the team while the series was in development, and seeing it finished is a pleasure. We want more Canadian broadcasters and funders recognizing the audience for stories that reflect the country we actually live in.
Enter Anthony Q. Farrell
Anthony Q. Farrell, the Canadian comedy writer, producer and director whose credits include The Office, helped shape the material, directed the teaser and directed Episodes 1 and 6.
Anthony is also a member of BSO’s Board of Directors and a mentor in our Rogers-BSO Script Development Fund. So yes, I’m claiming a little extra pride here.
Adrian had three words for what Anthony brought. “Generosity.” “Confidence.” And my personal favourite: “Chill!”
If you’ve met Anthony, you know. He’s a veteran with serious comedy credentials who remembers that making television is supposed to be fun.
What a concept.
Experienced Black professionals sharing what they know helps creators strengthen the work and keep going. And if that mentor can lower everybody’s blood pressure on set?
Bonus.
And the Reviews Are In
The series premiered on OUTtv on November 2, 2026, and people are paying attention.
Reviewer Alex Moulton praised the leads’ chemistry and the story’s warmth: “Beneath the paperwork, appointments, phone calls, and family debates sits a story about two people trying to take the next major step in their lives together.”
Exactly. Good comedy comes from people who love each other and still manage to drive each other completely insane. Seeing those people come from communities rarely at the centre of Canadian television is especially welcome.
About Those Windows
When I asked Adrian for advice for emerging Black creators, he shared two sayings from his mother: “When God closes a door, He opens a window” and “God helps those who help themselves.”
Then he added his own: “If you can’t find one, get some help from a friend and build one.”
Now that’s advice I can get behind. Sometimes the window is painted shut. Sometimes you’ve got to call your friends, borrow a ladder and figure out how to get inside.
He also said: “Don’t be precious with your knowledge.”
Absolutely. The more we share, the more creators can move from a first production to a second and a third, building Black-owned companies that last. That’s the future BSO is working toward.
Now, Go Watch the Show!
I’m delighted for Adrian, Karim, Anthony and the entire One Baby, Please! team. They’ve made a funny, warm, proudly Canadian series.
Adrian is hoping his next project won’t take quite so long. Amen to that. In the meantime, he plans to recharge in Barbados. After five years of getting this baby delivered, he’s earned it.
Now go watch One Baby, Please! on OUTtv. Laugh. Tell your friends.
And if anybody can help Adrian finance his next series a little faster, please introduce yourself.
Joan Jenkinson is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Black Screen Office, a national organization that advances Black Canadians in the screen industries and ensures Black stories are made and seen.
Reviews and features
Blackguard Media Reviews (NZ) review
TV Tonight (Australia), “Airdate: One Baby, Please!” (Nov 2026)
Reelgood, “How to watch One Baby, Please! outside Canada”
Mombian, “New Series One Baby, Please! Takes Humorous Look at Queer Family Building” (Oct 30)
Queerty, “WATCH: A gay immigrant couple begins the journey toward becoming dads…” (Oct 28, also picked up by LGBTQ Nation)
Trade and industry news
The Hollywood Reporter, “Gay Immigrant Comedy One Baby, Please! to Hit OUTtv Next Month” (Oct 26)
Headliner.nl (Dutch write-up of the THR story)
Broadcast Dialogue, The Weekly Briefing (OUTtv slate mention)
Playback, “OUTtv greenlights comedy series One Baby Please” (Jan 8).
