‘Spyder’ Man TV writer with Maine ties creates glitzy soap opera for MTV

In the TV show, a plainclothes detective and a police officer, clad in a blue uniform with a Fort Kent Police Department patch emblazoned on it, enter an apartment to arrest a man. It wasn’t an especially dramatic scene, but prompted some northern Maine viewers to do a double take.

There are not too many communities called Fort Kent around the nation. In fact, the “Rand McNally International Atlas” lists only the Maine town by that name. But there are no nightclubs and deep-cleavage blouses are not the norm in Fort Kent. The only real connection to this far-flung Aroostook County town is buried in the credits at the end of the MTV soap opera “Spyder Games,” which airs at 7 and 11 p.m. Mondays.

Christian McLaughlin, executive producer and director of the half-hour soap opera, spent part of his childhood in Maine living in Fort Kent and Searsport until he was 12. His mother, Marie Nadeau McLaughlin, is the daughter of Ulysses and Juliette Nadeau of Fort Kent. His father, Harlen McLaughlin, is a graduate of the University of Maine at Fort Kent and taught school in Fort Kent and Pittsfield.

McLaughlin returns to Fort Kent almost every year to visit his grandparents.

“I just thought it would be fun to name the town Fort Kent,” the 33-year-old producer revealed in a recent interview at Rock’s Restaurant in Fort Kent. “I also threw in names like Eagle Lake, Van Buren, Fish River, and Allagash.”

Several episodes ago, McLaughlin played the bit part of a liquor store clerk in “Spyder Games,” which revolves around the family of Boris Carlisle, founder of a computer company rivaling Atari and Nintendo. The business is in Fort Kent, while the Carlisles live in Eagle Lake. Another character, Francisco Torres, lives in Van Buren, portrayed as a “trendy suburb of Fort Kent.” Brothers Tyler and Lyle James – one owns a boutique, while the other is a detective – come from Allagash.

Shot in Austin, Texas, “Spyder Games” is glitzy and flashy. Its characters drink champagne and always seem to be having love affairs in hotel rooms and swanky offices. The soap opera’s Fort Kent boasts a Fort Kent University and a newspaper, The Fort Kent Chronicle. Actual street names from the Aroostook County town surface in the series.

McLaughlin, who has written for the hit soap opera “The Young and the Restless” and the comedy series “Clueless,” as well as “Parenthood” and “Married With Children,” says “Spyder Games” is targeted at a young audience.

“It’s for people who consider themselves hip, and like to watch soaps,” he said. “It had to be juicy, scandalous and shocking.”

While in Fort Kent, McLaughlin has regularly scanned the Internet and the Spyder Games.com Web site for daily reaction from viewers.

“I want to know what excites them, and what upsets them,” he said.

Since “Spyder Games” premiered in June, McLaughlin says the show has developed a following and its ratings are going up.

“It’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “It was a huge step for me, creating it, and opening a new area in soap for us.”

McLaughlin, who enjoys soap operas and likes the way they build characters and suspense, was invited by MTV to share his ideas.

“Writing it was very challenging, coming up with surprises and twists,” he said. “I prefer this kind of writing over sitcoms.”

McLaughlin, full of a nervous energy that keeps him going full tilt, hopes “Spyder Games” will survive after 65 episodes. He says the last segment will leave audiences hanging and maybe entice MTV or another network to keep the show going.

Meanwhile, McLaughlin is busily buying up souvenirs in Fort Kent to give the cast of “Spyder Games” a sense of the real Maine town.