{alltv} Keleghan plays his comedy straight

There's a little bit of John Cleese in Peter Keleghan's character on 18 to Life. You know, John Cleese at his most comically indignant.

"Yes, indignant about virtually everything, with no real reason," Keleghan agreed.

"And what does that mean? Indignation is kind of insecurity."

Fortunately for Keleghan and the rest of the cast, 18 to Life has the security of a second season. It debuts Monday, Jan. 3 on CBC.

18 to Life is a sitcom that stars Michael Seater and Stacey Farber as Tom and Jessie. They're a couple of in-love neighbours who decide to get married at 18, much to the chagrin of their parents.

Keleghan and Ellen David play Tom's dad and mom, while Al Goulem and Angela Asher play Jessie's dad and mom.

Keleghan's character, Ben Bellow, is a no-nonsense judge who is instinctively against everything that even smells like fun.

"I decided not to do it funny," a straight-faced Keleghan said of his approach. "So you're laughing at it, are you? Oh well, I'm trying to do it straight."

As a comedian in all seriousness, Keleghan admitted that characters like this one suit his skill set.

"If I have a strength, I guess, that's what I like doing, I like playing comedy straight," said Keleghan, who has been a staple on the Canadian TV scene for decades. "I don't like playing jokes. And it's the same kind of thing with this show.

"Ben is right wing and conservative, which, despite the look of my hair, is completely the opposite of me. I'm not that guy. So that part was fun to do.

"I love playing blunder-bussy kinds of characters. I try to channel Alec Baldwin or something in this thing."

Looking back on the volume of Keleghan's career - which has included the series Made in Canada, The Newsroom and The Red Green Show, as well as his unforgettable stint as Lloyd Braun on Seinfeld - he gave a somewhat surprising answer when asked to identify his favourite job.

"It's probably one that nobody knows about, and that was The Comedy Mill," said Keleghan, referring to a Canadian sketch show that aired in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"We had carte blanche to do what we wanted. Like Steve (Smith, co-star) said, 'Give me enough money to do a TV show but not enough to care about what I'm doing.' "

That certainly sounds like the perfect formula for comedy experimentation.

"The Comedy Mill was replayed for a while (in recent years) and it's very uneven," Keleghan said. "There are parts that are hilariously funny and some that just die. But it was a hugely important learning experience for me.

"I think the basis of my 'playing comedy straight' started there. And I'm very much a child of Monty Python, so maybe that's where the Cleese thing comes from."

So who knows, maybe at some point soon, 18 to Life's Ben Bellow will try to return a dead parrot or join the Ministry of Silly Walks. It wouldn't be that much of a stretch.