Rick Mercer Report

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rick Mercer Report
Rick Mercer Report main title
Format	Comedy
Created by	Rick Mercer Gerald Lunz
Starring	Rick Mercer
Country of origin	Canada
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	100
Production
Running time	22–23 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC
Picture format	1080i HDTV
Original run	January 12, 2004 – Present

Rick Mercer Report (or the Mercer Report; formerly known as Rick Mercer's Monday Report or simply Monday Report) is a Canadian television comedy series which airs on CBC Television. Launched in 2004 and hosted by comedian Rick Mercer, the weekly half-hour show combines news parody, sketch comedy, visits to interesting places across Canada, and satirical editorials, often involving Canadian politics. The show's format is similar to Mercer's prior series, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and to Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.

The first two seasons aired on Monday nights – hence the original name, which was likely also a pun on the then-current name of CBC's main Sunday news broadcast, Sunday Report (now CBC News: Sunday Night). The Mercer Report now airs Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. on CBC. Repeats air regularly on both CBC and The Comedy Network.

The program is filmed in front of a live audience at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto, Ontario, except for the on-location and rant segments. These segments are shown to the studio audience during taping, with their reactions recorded for broadcast.

Contents 1 Segments 1.1 Recurring or discontinued 2 Notable guests 3 Production details 4 External links 5 See also

[edit] Segments

• Monologue — At the beginning part of each show, Mercer covers Canadian politics and comedy during a monologue. In the most recent episodes the opening monologue is rarely more than an outline of the on-location segments to come, punctuated with a related joke or two.
• On-location — On each program Mercer travels to one or more different parts of Canada, often to communities that are currently in the news or celebrating some event, and collects opinions, reactions, and quotes from people on the street. Two on-location segments (sometimes different locations in the same area, sometimes two distant locations; occasionally one may be a direct continuation of the other) appear in a typical episode.
• Ad spoofs — Mercer does a parody ad, often spoofing a real one. Usually appears at least once per episode, right before a commercial break.
• The Front Page — Mercer makes comical comments on certain photos of famous people in the world. Normally seen at the start of segment 2.
• Rant — Mercer does a 'streeter'-style monologue about current issues, using the same format that he popularized on 22 Minutes. Usually used to begin segment 3.
• Newsdesk — Additional topical jokes, similar to the newsdesk segments on 22 Minutes, are sometimes seen in the latter part of the program to pad time.
• Conclusion — During the brief final segment, Mercer invites the audience to visit his website with his blog, video clips and photo challenge. He then mentioned a local event happening in a (usually) small town somewhere in Canada.

[edit] Recurring or discontinued

• Daryn Jones — Correspondent Daryn Jones goes out and checks out cool things. This segment was discontinued in Season 3.
• Celebrity Tip — A Canadian celebrity gives how-to advice to the audience, such as Shirley Douglas demonstrating how to boost a car's battery, Pierre Berton demonstrating how to roll a joint or Conrad Black demonstrating how to wax a maple leaf. The humour in this segment often comes from the juxtaposition between the celebrity and their ability to demonstrate something the viewing public might not have expected them to know how to do. Currently airs sporadically.
• Occasionally Mercer will perform a "lecture"-type monologue in-studio, usually standing next to a TV screen and waving a metal pointer, attempting to explain a complicated issue or point out the absurdity of a particular policy. This is a continuation of a sketch style Mercer also used from time to time on 22 Minutes, most famously for the Stockwell Day / Doris Day petition sketch.

[edit] Notable guests

Several notable Canadian celebrities and politicians have appeared on the show, including:

Actors Shirley Douglas Patrick McKenna Sonja Smits Sheila McCarthy Geri Hall Authors Margaret Atwood Pierre Berton June Callwood David Suzuki Comedians Mary Walsh Scott Thompson Ron James Musicians Anne Murray Jann Arden Rob Baker of The Tragically Hip Ronnie Hawkins Geddy Lee and Neil Peart of Rush Bif Naked Chris Murphy of Sloan Randy Bachman of BTO and The Guess Who Feist

Politicians Paul Martin Sheila Copps Belinda Stronach Helena Guergis Ruby Dhalla Peter Milliken Scott Brison Stockwell Day Ed Broadbent Ralph Klein Stephen Harper Stéphane Dion Justin Trudeau Chuck Strahl Elizabeth May Bob Rae Danny Williams John Baird Jean Chrétien Jack Layton Jim Flaherty Michael Ignatieff Mayors Hazel McCallion

Sports/athletes Toronto Rock Toronto FC Saskatchewan Roughriders Kyle Shewfelt Alexandre Despatie Tie Domi Nancy Greene Television celebrities Don Cherry Mike Duffy

[edit] Production details

Rick Mercer Report is produced by Island Edge Inc and the CBC.

Starting with Season 3, Rick Mercer Report is presented in HDTV.

In October 2006 the Comedy Network began showing reruns of Rick Mercer Report.

[edit] External links

• Rick Mercer Report: The Book (published September 2007)
• Official Website at CBC
• CBC's Info Site
• Photo Gallery
• on TV.com
• Rick Mercer Report at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] See also

• The Colbert Report
• Da Ali G Show