''Rick Mercer Report'' (also called the ''Mercer Report'' or ''RMR'') is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
comedy series which aired on
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
from 2004 to 2018. Launched in 2004, as ''Rick Mercer's Monday Report'', or simply ''Monday Report'', by comedian
Rick Mercer
Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and author. He is best known for his work on the CBC Television comedy shows ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' and '' Rick Merc ...
, the weekly half-hour show combined news
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
,
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
, visits to interesting places across Canada, and
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
editorials, often involving
Canadian politics
The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch is head of state. In pr ...
. The show's format was similar in some respects to
satirical news shows like Mercer's prior series, ''
This Hour Has 22 Minutes
''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics wi ...
''.
The first two seasons aired on Monday nights, and aired its remaining seasons Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. on CBC. The program was recorded in front of a live audience at the
Canadian Broadcasting Centre
The Canadian Broadcasting Centre, also known as the CBC Toronto Broadcast Centre, is an office and studio complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It serves as the main broadcast and master control point for the Canadian Broadcasting Corpora ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, except for the on-location and rant segments. These segments were shown to the studio audience during taping, with their reactions recorded for broadcast.
In September 2017, Mercer announced that the show would conclude on April 10, 2018, after a total of 15 seasons.
Segments
*Monologue – At the beginning of each show, Mercer delivers a brief monologue. In the earliest episodes this was similar to a late-night talk show monologue, with Mercer joking about Canadian politics. In more recent seasons, the opening monologue has been rarely more than an outline of the on-location segments to come, punctuated with a related joke or two.
*On-location – On each programme 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. Often Mercer will participate in some demonstration related to the location (e.g. driving a
TTC bus while visiting the agency's bus compound), with comic results. 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 tongue-in-cheek monologue about current issues, using the same format that he popularized on ''22 Minutes'' with a
long take
In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate blo ...
and camera tilting; the main variation is that his old ''22 Minutes'' rants were filmed in black and white, while his ''RMR'' rants are filmed in colour. These are almost always taped while Mercer walks up and down
Rush Lane,
a graffiti-strewn Toronto alleyway. Usually used to begin segment 3.
*Newsdesk – Additional
topical joke
The topical humor and topical jokes is humor framed around a specific topic related to current events or dealing with issues that are important or popular at the current time. The value of this kind of humor often diminishes when the topic is no l ...
s, similar to the newsdesk segments on ''22 Minutes'', are sometimes seen in the latter part of the programme 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. In early seasons, this is also where Mercer would give updates on the monthly contest.
Recurring
*Celebrity Tip — A Canadian
celebrity
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
gives how-to advice to the audience, such as
Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...
showing viewers how to properly ride a toboggan,
Shirley Douglas
Shirley Jean Douglas (April 2, 1934 – April 5, 2020) was a Canadian actress and activist. Her acting career combined with her family name made her recognizable in Canadian film, television and national politics.
Early life
Douglas was born A ...
demonstrating how to boost a car's battery,
Pierre Berton
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...
demonstrating how to roll a
joint
A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw ...
or
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer.
His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...
demonstrating how to wax a
maple leaf
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
History of use in Canada
By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...
. 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.
* Monitor Piece — 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. Typically the piece will end with an instrumental version of "
O Canada
"O Canada" (french: Ô Canada, italic=no) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the mus ...
" playing in the background. 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.
Discontinued
*Daryn Jones — Correspondent
Daryn Jones
Daryn Jones (born January 3, 1978 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian comedian and television personality.
Career
He began his career in stand-up comedy clubs at the age of 17, receiving formal training in a private training school.
H ...
goes out and checks out cool things. This segment was discontinued in Season 3, with Jones leaving the show for
MTV Canada
MTV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media with the name and branding used under a licensing agreement with Paramount Global. The channel is devoted to talk, lifestyle and documentary programming, and also airs some ...
.
*Contest — Early seasons featured a monthly contest in which viewers were encouraged to send in pictures. Mercer would show these pictures at the conclusion of the show throughout the month, and declare the winner on the final show of the month. Some examples include "Canada's Biggest
Pothole
A pothole is a depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affected area. Water ...
" or "Canada's Best
Shed
A shed is typically a simple, single-story roofed structure that is used for hobbies, or as a workshop in a back garden or on an allotment. Sheds vary considerably in their size and complexity of construction, from simple open-sided ones de ...
." The prize was usually a free trip to Toronto to attend a taping of the show.
Production details
''Rick Mercer Report'' was produced by
Island Edge Inc and the
CBC. The show was produced in HD beginning in its third season. Reruns of the program air on
The Comedy Network
CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octo ...
and
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
.
Set interior
File:RMR set.JPG, Set of the Rick Mercer Report before filming of an episode in 2011
File:RickMercer and floor director.JPG, Mercer in March 2011 during a taping of the Mercer Report
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Official website at CBCRick Mercer's official website*
{{ACCT Best Comedy Series
2004 Canadian television series debuts
CBC Television original programming
Gemini and Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series winners
Canadian news parodies
2000s Canadian satirical television series
2010s Canadian satirical television series
Television shows filmed in Toronto
2000s Canadian sketch comedy television series
2010s Canadian sketch comedy television series
2018 Canadian television series endings
Canadian political comedy television series