By Kathy Rumleski

SUN MEDIA

February 11, 2009

​

A new script for CBC television show Being Erica has been ordered, and its actors and producers are keeping their fingers crossed that the dramedy gets picked up for another season.

​

It looks promising as the public broadcaster moved Being Erica from Mondays to Wednesdays into a prime spot right after reality series The Week the Women Went, which has attracted one million viewers.

​

One of the actors on the new show, the London-born Michael Riley, would love to spend another season with his enigmatic character, therapist Dr. Tom.

​

"It should be any moment that we'll find out. I would love to come back and start to explore a little more about what the show is about."

​

Riley, who attended Byron Southwood Public School until Grade 4 before moving from London, and whose sister Kate still lives there, said his edgy character is multi-dimensional — and that translates into a depth that can be plumbed.

​

"I'm an attention-to-detail addict. It's definitely a fun character to play."

​

In Being Erica, Dr. Tom mysteriously comes into thirty-something Erica's life and enables her to go back in time to change actions she’s long regretted.

Riley said what is so compelling about the show is that it provides a viewing smorgasbord.

​

"It covers a lot of territory. It's funny. It also has a poignant side to it and a dramatic side that can get even dark at times. It has the fantasy element in it as well. Those three cords woven through the pieces is something people seem to appreciate."

​

The 10-time Gemini nominee — he’s won five — said working on a series is a marathon.

​

"You have to pace yourself, and you're telling a story about a character over a much-longer arch."

​

When the character is as compelling as Dr. Tom, the marathon is worth it, said Riley, who has enjoyed lead roles in award-winning series and mini-series including Power Play (Alliance/Atlantis), The Interrogation of Michael Crowe (Court TV), and Race to Mars (Discovery).

​

Riley tells the story of recently being at the theatre with his daughter when the person seated next to him asked if he was a demon — referring to Dr. Tom.

​

"It took me a second to clock what he meant. When I'm asked, people want to know, ‘Is he real? Is he her imagination?’ People are also interested in the paradigm of the show."

​

Stay tuned, he tells people, because Dr. Tom is involved in a cliffhanger near the end of the season.

​

If Being Erica is picked up again, Riley, based in Los Angeles, would likely be back filming in Toronto in May.

​

It was also recently announced that Being Erica will be airing on SOAPnet Thursdays at 10 p.m., beginning Feb. 19.

​

"It will be nice to have it on the air down here to give it a chance to find an audience and also to have Toronto be very much a character in the piece," he said.