An interesting question.
The short answer is "Probably, because I like the idea of Patchwork Heroes being a show on TV".
The longer answer is that the Backstage elements of Patchwork Heroes are not canon for Patchwork Champion, due to their existance on a metafictional level. Particularly noteworthy are this strip and this strip, which discuss the fact that Ecchs was aware at the time he was working that the universe of Patchwork Champions did not exist, and in fact tried to recruit the Patchwork Heroes to bring them back (the latter just showcases Amber and Lucky in their first incarnation). ;)
Now, some elements from that have been retained (Phil, for example, and Salamon appeared as a cameo in early Champions), so it's a little weird. If you wanted the closest thing to a canonical explanation, it would be that while Doctor Ecchs was working on his alternate timeline machinery, he accidentally wandered into a metafictional universe. He stuck around for a while, then recruited Phil away from Salamon Keele and returned to the normal Patchwork Champions universe and never mentioned it again.