In 2023, Squeaky Wheel Media partnered with Accessible Media Inc. (AMI), a Canadian content company and television network, to develop a new television format and bring our satire to the screen. The result is The Squeaky Wheel: Canada, a half-hour sketch comedy news show that pokes fun at the ableist society people with disabilities face every day.
Based on our web publication The Squeaky Wheel and produced by Hitsby Entertainment, the series keeps our voice at its core, with The Squeaky Wheel creator Steven Verdile serving as an executive producer. Season 1 premiered June 24, 2024, on AMI-tv, and after earning two Canadian Screen Award nominations, the show returned for a second season in summer 2026.
Both seasons of The Squeaky Wheel: Canada are now streaming on AMI+, with described video and closed captioning. Season 2 brings the anchors back to the desk and the reporters back to the field, because the able-bodied world never stopped handing us material.
How the Series Advances Our Mission
Empowering Disabled Writers
The show was built from the beginning by a disabled-led creative team, from series producer Michelle Asgarali to a writers’ room of D. Cole, Daniel Barra-Berger, Jenny Lee-Gilmore, and Sierra Haynes, plus story contributors from across the disability community. That means paid, credited, professional television work for disabled creators, which is exactly the kind of opportunity our organization was founded to open up.
Supporting the Disability Community
Anchors Graham Kent and Gaitrie Persaud lead an ensemble of Margaret Rose, Samantha Wyss, Sivert Das, Wesley Magee-Saxton, and Yousef Kadoura, disabled performers who get to be the ones telling the jokes rather than the subject of them. They even turn the tables by playing the well-meaning, deeply exhausting able-bodied and neurotypical characters disabled people know all too well. The production also featured numerous disabled crew members and appearances from several more disabled stars including Courtney Gilmour, Desiree Walsh, and Madison Tevlin.
Educating the Public
Comedy gets past defenses that a lecture never could. Viewers laugh first, then realize what they were laughing at. Every sketch is an invitation to see ableism clearly, and to stop contributing to it.
Recognition
The series has been recognized well beyond the disability community. It earned two Canadian Screen Award nominations, including Best Sketch Comedy Program or Series, and was a finalist for Diversify TV’s Excellence Award for Representation of Disability. It also screened for audiences at a special ReelAbilities Film Festival presentation in New York.
Beyond the TV Screen
The Squeaky Wheel: Canada is one of several ways Squeaky Wheel Media puts disabled creators at the center of media and culture. Explore our other programs: Live Shows, Workshops, and Community Microgrants.
Squeaky Wheel Media is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift supports disabled writers, amplifies disabled voices, and helps educate the public, one ridiculous headline at a time.