Toronto - Breakthrough Animation boss Kevin Gillis is bullish, and even a little bit surprised, about the prospects of his new gay comedy, Buddy's, after a round of meetings at MIPTV.

He says the adult-aimed, would-be series - based on the outrageously queer monologist played by comic Scott Thompson - got more attention than he expected from kiddie casters at the French market.

"You think you have a pretty good idea what people want and then, out of the blue, broadcasters you'd never expect go, 'This is great,'" he says, laughing. Some channels are eyeing Buddy's as a possible late-night show, he explains.

A bit of history: the Buddy character first appeared on CBC's The Kids in the Hall in the late '80s, and has lived on as Thompson's stand-up alter ego ever since. His animated spin-off is in development at both the Ceeb and here!, the gay-aimed U.S. channel.

Thompson, together with Kids writing veterans Paul Bellini and Luciano Casmiri, have turned out two scripts and a bible, says Gillis, and a Flash-animated demo reel made the rounds at MIP. Apart from Thompson, the cast has not been confirmed.

"I think we've got enough interest in the foreign market that we'll see some firm orders coming in," says Gillis. "It's looking very bright."

The animation comes from Atomic Cartoons in Vancouver, which also teams with Breakthrough on Atomic Betty and Captain Flamingo, and is based on some of Thompson's own illustrations. Gillis is hoping, if the orders come in, to go into production by fall.

Breakthrough is also developing a second adult cartoon and hopes to copro a run of Femme Fatale with Xilam in France. Gillis describes the 2D CGI project as an animated Sex and the City.