Network: CBC Television Network
Broadcast Run: 2004
Broadcast Medium: Television
Debuted January 12, 2004; aired Tuesdays at 8PM.
This weekly half-hour comedy program was originally called Rick Mercer’s Monday Report, but a schedule change in 2005 moved the program to Tuesday nights. Host Rick Mercer was one of Canada’s top comedians whose blend of satire and irreverent humour was first seen on This Hour Has 22 Minutes. The program was driven by weekly news events and invariably poked fun at Canada’s politicians and its popular culture. A typical episode also included one of Mercer’s famous “rants” allowing the comedian to offer serious commentary disguised as satire. The show was well written and was compared by some to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a similar “fake-news” show on CTV.
With this series, Rick Mercer made a unique contribution to Canadian pop culture, given his intellect and his having been the creative freedom to develop ideas as he saw fit.
The Rick Mercer Report returned to the CBC schedule each year thereafter, and in February 2011 its renewal for the 2011-2012 season was confirmed. On June 8th, the newly published CBC schedule for Fall 2011 showed the Rick Mercer show returning at 8 pm on Tuesdays effective September 13th. with repeats on Fridays at 8:30 pm.
The series, now simply referred to on-air as The Mercer Report, returned to the CBC schedule on Tuesday September 18th 2012.
On April 19th 2012, the CBC announced that a further season of The Rick Mercer Report would be a part of its 2012-13 schedule, and this was confrmed on May 10th with the announcement of the CBC’s fall schedule.
On April 3rd 2013, the CBC confirmed that the Rick Mercer Report had been renewed for the 2013-14 season, and the series began again in the fall, on Tuesdays at 8 pm.
On April 4th 2014 The Rick Mercer Report was included in a list of programs announced by the CBC as having been renewed for the 2014-15 season, and was again listed at 8:00 pm on Tuesdays in the CBC fall schedule announced on May 29th. The series would also be stripped late-night 11:30 – midnight, Monday through Friday.
On March 4th 2015 the CBC announced that the Rick Mercer Report would return to the CBC schedule in the Fall of 2015, with a further 19 episodes.
The series continued into the 2016-17 season. On September 25th 2017, Rick Mercer announced via Twitter that the series would conclude in March 2018, after 15 seasons and 277 episodes. “You leave to protect the legacy of the show,” he said. “That’s what you have to do.”
Director: Henry Sarwer-Foner
Executive Producer: Gerald Lunz
Contributing Writers: Chris Finn, Daryn Jones, Paul Mather, Tim Steeves and Rick Mercer.