Mary Winchenbach works in her kitchen, making her moose-turd art in 2018. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer
The midcoast moose-turd artist who became a viral video sensation is getting her own show on TruTV, set to air later this year.
Mary Winchenbach and her wife, Deb Nicholls, will be the stars of “Tirdy Works,” which WarnerMedia described in a news release Wednesday as an “unscripted sitcom” that will focus on their business of the same name and their life in the Lincoln County town of Somerville.
Winchenbach was featured on TV and radio shows across the country and as far away as Ireland when a video of her hawking her moose-turd art and jewelry at the Common Ground Fair went viral in September 2018. Within months, the couple’s moose-poop art company was so flooded with orders that Winchenbach quit her day job at a seaweed processing plant to work full time on her unconventional art.
In December 2018, Winchenbach flew to Los Angeles to discuss a reality show with TNT. TruTV is owned by WarnerMedia, which also owns TNT, HBO, TBS, CNN and Cartoon Network. WarnerMedia spokeswoman Kathleen Schumann said 10 half-hour episodes of the show, which she called “a reality series with a comedic tone,” are slated to air later this year.
WarnerMedia described the show as “set in a small rural town with four paved roads and a booming new business,” saying it would show Winchenbach and Nicholls raising their three children and running their start-up business, including how they collect moose droppings in the woods and call on a “colorful cast of locals” to help. It also will show them enjoying life in a rural, outdoor setting – and smoking marijuana.
” ‘Tirdy Works’ is a hysterical, inside-look at an unconventional business that rallies an entire community together,” Brett Weitz, general manager of TBS, TNT and TruTV, said in the news release. “Viewers may be surprised at where Mary’s art originates, but the series will showcase the wild and often absurd situations that occur to keep her business afloat.”
The media company said “Tirdy Works” is part of TruTV’s lineup of “bold, audacious programming that features fresh, unexpected content with relatable characters and laugh-out-loud moments.”
Winchenbach said in a Facebook message that she didn’t know the show got the green light until Wednesday. She was not permitted to grant interviews but did make one comment, in her characteristic tone.
“Well, guess I’m just tickled to death ’bout this opportunity,” she said in a message. “Working on expanding my stand-up presentation to include more stuff and currently building a (expletive) shack so we’ll have a place to work on tirds. Currently I got tirds all over the house. That ain’t right!!!”
Portland-based producer Devon Platte, who produced Animal Planet’s “North Woods Law” about game wardens from Maine and then New Hampshire, said TV producers are constantly looking for good non-fiction stories – and, no doubt, TruTV is convinced Winchenbach has a winning story.
“Over the years, I’ve chased good stories on six of seven continents, and all 50 American states. When you find a good story, really, you’ll go anywhere to tell it,” Platte said. “TruTV likes stories that lean toward the comical in life. So given that, and truth being stranger than fiction sometimes, I think this new series set in Maine will resonate with TruTV viewers.”
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