Nancy Robertson

Gemini® Award-winning actor Nancy Robertson is best know as one of the lead characters in Canada’s ground-breaking comedy series CORNER GAS, where she played the book-smart but socially stunted Wanda Dollard. She and her cast mates won a Gemini Award® for Best Ensemble Performance in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Nancy’s work as Wanda has also been nominated for 3 Canadian Comedy Awards and 6 Leo Awards, earning her a win in the category Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy in 2009. It is little wonder that Robertson was recently put on MORE Magazine’s list of “Most Compelling Women.”

Robertson has received numerous accolades and nominations for her diverse work on stage, TV and film. She was named Best Actress at the Northwest Film Festival for her work in the independent film Organ Music. She garnered rave reviews and a Leo nomination, for her hilarious portrayal of Harriet in the award-winning feature film The Delicate Art of Parking.

On stage, Robertson has appeared in numerous roles, winning a BC Drama Fest Award for Best Supporting Actress in the play Standing On My Knees and was a member of the three-time winning team at the International Improv Tournament. Some of her television credits include the recurring role of Gertrude on Fox’s LOS LUCHADORES, as well as roles on THE ADDAMS FAMILY, BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS, DEAD LIKE ME and ROBSON ARMS.

Millie Upton

In many ways, Millie Upton could be defined as successful. Her wildly popular “Grumpaloo” books are sold in 30 countries to millions of kids. She loves her work, is at the height of her chosen field, has garnered numerous accolades and awards, and makes a hell-of-a lot-of-money doing it. But still, she has her problems.

Millie knows she has problems, because there has rarely been a day in her life when someone hasn’t said to her, “What is your problem?” These are usually strangers, but not exclusively. Even those who know Millie best are often at a loss trying to understand her or anticipate how she is going to react to any given situation. Millie is reactionary, emotionally off-kilter, prone to flying off the handle, usually resulting in tears and/or laughter from her, and others.

These “hiccups”, however, are often balanced by a wonderful sense of optimism, eagerness and an immense energy. It’s a fine line that separates “childish” from “childlike,” and Millie often falls into the latter category.

Left to her own devices, Millie is happier than a pig in a puddle. She’s the type of person who wakes up excited to see what the day brings. Unfortunately, the day usually brings interaction with other humans and that often ends poorly. Over time, Millie has come to realize that her social unpredictability can cause problems, especially for the other people in her life. Not wanting to bring any more grief and embarrassment to those around her, Millie opts to get help.

Millie's “hiccups” emerge in coffee shop line-ups, during speed dating, with milk cartons on park benches, on television talk shows and over hot Szechuan lunches. They are imagined in her dreams and unleashed against strata council regulations. They cause her to steal wallets, wrestle with a mother in a bookstore and have her thrown off buses.
The Grumpaloos

Asides from being the animated subjects of Millie’s wildly successful books, they are an outlet for her unbridled enthusiasm for life. These pudgy little family members, as Robertson likes to call them, serve as a kind of journal for Millie.

At the end of each episode, the Grumpaloos sum up the events and meaning of each show, as they would in Millie’s books.