My Life as a Dog is a contemporary, half-hour Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 TV series that aired in 1996 and ran for 22 episodes. It was based on the 1985 Swedish movie of the same name

My Life as a Dog

My Life as a Dog is a 1985 Swedish drama film directed by Lasse Hallström, based on a novel by Reidar Jönsson. It tells the story of Ingemar, a young boy sent to live with relatives...

 and developed for Canadian television by, among others, Reidar Jönsson, author of the original autobiographical book.

It is the coming of age story of a young boy, brutally dragged away from his familiar universe into an unknown world. Though aimed at teens, it has been rated above the usual "infantile sitcoms".

The series was shot on location in Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

 and Gimli

Gimli, Manitoba

Gimli is a a rural municipality located in the Interlake region of south-central Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is about north of the provincial capital Winnipeg...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

. It was directed by Neill Fearnley and produced by Atlantis Films Limited and Credo Entertainment Group.

Plot

After his mother's death and with his sailor father away at sea, imaginative 11-year-old Eric Johansson is sent to live in a small fishing village with his mother's twin brother, Johnny Johansson. Eric's adventures in Gimli

Gimli, Manitoba

Gimli is a a rural municipality located in the Interlake region of south-central Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is about north of the provincial capital Winnipeg...

 will help him to feel at home with his new family and come to terms with some pre-adolescent uncertainties while Johnny, burdened with unexpected fatherly duties, has to make some choices he avoided to face before.

Cast

• Michael Yarmush
  Michael Yarmush
  Michael Yarmush is an American television, film, and voice actor.-Early life and career:Born in Miami, Florida, Yarmush began acting in 1995. That year, he portrayed Eric in the television series My Life as a Dog. The following year, he provided the voice for the title character in Arthur...
  
   - Eric Johansson
• Callum Keith Rennie
  Callum Keith Rennie
  Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...
  
   - Johnny Johansson
• Marley Otto - Anastasia 'AJ' Burke
• Jennifer Clement - Zoë Johansson
• Joy Coghill
  Joy Coghill
  Joy Coghill, O.C., is a Canadian actor, director, and writer.She and Myra Benson founded Canada's first children's theatre company, Holiday Theatre. In 1994, Coghill founded Western Gold, a theatre company for older professional actors. She holds honorary degrees from SFU and UBC...
  
   - Astrid 'Auntie Auntie' Árnesson
• Bucky Hill - Sam LaFresne
• Yank Azman
  Yank Azman
  -Early life:Azman was born in a displaced persons camp in Bad Wörishofen, Germany to Cesia , a sales clerk and Kuba Zajfman, a tailor and furrier, Holocaust survivors from Chmielnik, Poland...
  
   - Tom Shaughnessy

Awards

In 1997 Callum Keith Rennie

Callum Keith Rennie

Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...

 won a Gemini Award

Gemini Award

The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...

 for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series for his role as Johnny Johansson. Michael Yarmush

Michael Yarmush

Michael Yarmush is an American television, film, and voice actor.-Early life and career:Born in Miami, Florida, Yarmush began acting in 1995. That year, he portrayed Eric in the television series My Life as a Dog. The following year, he provided the voice for the title character in Arthur...

 won the 1998 Young Artist Award

Young Artist Award

The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...

 for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Leading Young Actor and was nominated for a YoungStar Award for Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama TV Series the same year.

Episodes

Episode Number	Title	| Original airdate	| Production code