TORONTO - When Jae and Trey Richards were younger, their dad would scold them for skipping shifts at his moving company to pursue careers as content creators.
鈥淲e spent years and years, from ages 12 to 25, just working against our will, man,鈥 says Jae.聽
鈥淚鈥檇 be like, 鈥業鈥檓 trying to make YouTube videos.鈥 He鈥檇 say, 鈥楴o, come to work now!鈥欌
Years later, those same videos would lead the Brampton, Ont.-born brothers to create "The Office Movers," a Crave comedy series that鈥檚 become a local hit and even brought new customers to their father鈥檚 business.
In season 2, premiering Friday, Drake makes a cameo, proving that Toronto's biggest stars are fans, too.
The show stars Jae and Trey as brothers Everett and Eric Saunders, who reluctantly take over their father鈥檚 unhinged office-moving company in Brampton 鈥 a story inspired by the duo鈥檚 real-life experience hauling furniture through the city鈥檚 office towers. The show landed an early renewal for Season 3 this week.
鈥淢y dad can鈥檛 believe it. He鈥檚 so proud of it,鈥 says Trey, adding that fans of the series now often seek their father鈥檚 company for moving gigs.
鈥淗e鈥檒l tell us, 鈥淥h, I booked a big job, thanks to a guy who watches you,鈥欌 adds Jae.
鈥淗e鈥檚 not cutting us any percentage whatsoever.鈥
The brothers say 鈥淭he Office Movers鈥 has also struck a chord with working class communities in the Greater Toronto Area that seldom see themselves reflected on TV.
鈥淲hat really moves me is the movers that reach out like, 鈥榊o man, I feel so seen. I never thought I'd ever see moving on TV a day in my life,鈥欌 says Jae.
Season 2 finds the Saunders鈥 company Shazam struggling to compete with Zenithon Logistics, a ruthless corporate juggernaut bent on wiping out every small-time mover in the city. While Eric gets tempted to join the dark side, Everett resorts to increasingly desperate cash-raising efforts 鈥 from phoney insurance claims to fudging the truth on a DEI grant application 鈥 to survive.
鈥淎 lot of the storyline is rooted in truth,鈥 laughs Trey.
鈥淭he insurance fraud, that was a real thing. I can鈥檛 even say names because they鈥檒l probably get arrested.鈥
鈥淭he Office Movers鈥 pulses with uniquely Toronto energy, reflecting the city鈥檚 mash-up of cultures, slang and hustles. Everett and Eric work with a diverse, ragtag crew 鈥 including their Cuban stepbrother Riccardo, played by content creator Lucas Lopez, and Muslim slacker Hassan, played by comedian Hassan Phills 鈥 while their new landlord is Trinidadian subwoofer salesman Shamez, played by standup Gervail Sean Lemo.
Characters frequently speak in Toronto鈥檚 multicultural slang blending Caribbean, Somali and South Asian influences, often subtitled for laughs 鈥 a device the Richards鈥 first started using in their early online sketches.
Long before 鈥淭he Office Movers,鈥 the brothers were already unofficial ambassadors of Toronto culture via their YouTube channel 4YE Media, now rebranded as Random Order Studios. Their sketches featured hyperlocal references and characters who sounded like people you鈥檇 hear on the TTC, tossing around words like 鈥渨aste yute鈥 and 鈥渕arved鈥 with unapologetic pride.
They even caught the attention of Drake, who appeared in one of their 2017 sketch series, 鈥淭-Dot Goon Scrap,鈥 a phony advertisement for an illicit street brawl DVD. The Toronto rapper tapped the brothers earlier this year to create a Valentine鈥檚 Day skit promoting his album with PartyNextDoor, 鈥淪ome Sexy Songs 4 U.鈥澛
Jae and Trey say a goal of "The Office Movers" was to capture a side of Toronto they weren鈥檛 seeing represented on 好色tv TV.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an honour to put Toronto on and continue to put forward how multicultural it is here, just with the small jokes and details and the whole Toronto slang,鈥 says Jae.聽
鈥淭hat鈥檚 always amazing because when we were kids, that slang was all we used.鈥
Toronto lingo grabbed global attention last year when Kendrick Lamar sprinkled it into his Drake diss track 鈥淓uphoria,鈥 mocking the rapper in his own city鈥檚 dialect.
鈥淚t even made it all the way out there. He didn鈥檛 say the slang right, though. He didn鈥檛 apply that right,鈥 Jae says of Kendrick鈥檚 reference.
Still, the brothers say they鈥檙e floored when they meet American fans who not only know their sketches but casually drop Toronto slang into conversation.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be in the States and someone will come up to us and say, 鈥榊o, mandem!鈥 I'm just like, 鈥榃ait, hold on, what the hell, where am I?鈥欌
鈥淚t blew our minds that people were even interested, but not only that, they're also understanding it and finding humour in it just like us,鈥 adds Trey.
The brothers say it鈥檚 proof that culturally specific stories can still resonate widely, recalling how they were initially hesitant to release their first 鈥淭-Dot Goon Scrap鈥 sketch, worried it might be too hyperlocal.
鈥淲e actually wanted to scrap the whole thing because we were like, 鈥榃ho鈥檚 going to watch this? It鈥檚 so Toronto-focused,鈥欌 recalls Trey.
鈥淎nd then everyone loved it.鈥
Jae says the experience taught them that authenticity, not generalization, is what makes their stories travel 鈥 a lesson they鈥檝e hauled into 鈥淭he Office Movers.鈥
鈥淚t was a moment of realization that people want to watch something super specific and niche. They just want to be immersed in a new world.鈥
This report by 好色tvwas first published Nov. 6, 2025.
