Series / The Rick Mercer Report

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Rick Mercer Report (originally Rick Mercer's Monday Report) was a television program that aired on CBC from 2004 to 2018.

Hosted by comedian Rick Mercer, the show featured a mix of News Parody, sketches, parodies of ads and TV shows, and interviews with political/entertainment figures of the day.

The bulk of each episode was taken up by field pieces where Rick visited people and places across Canada. They often highlighted ordinary Canadians who do extraordinary things, from Paralympians to the Rangers to giant pumpkin growers to circus performers to lobster fishermen to RCMP trainees.

The tone of the program is quite kind towards the politicians it mocks. Over the years, probably every major Canadian political figure has gone on the show, obviously for the positive publicity of being seen as a comic good sport. Memorable instances include Rick having a burger with Jean Chretien, skinny dipping with Bob Rae, having a sleepover at 24 Sussex (with prime minister Stephen Harper reading bedtime election legislation), having Pierre Berton to demonstrate the correct way to roll a joint of marijuana, or getting every member of parliament to participate in a spoof of the Budlight dude commercial.

The show is a spinoff of sorts from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, where Rick was one of the co-hosts. Unlike 22 Minutes or Royal Canadian Air Farce which derives a major portion of comedy from impressions of public figures, The Mercer Report tends to get the real life public figures to come and make fun of themselves.

Tropes:

• Appeal to Tradition: In a parody of ads opposing same-sex marriage in 2005, Rick plays a father who says he isn't a bad person for believing in "traditional family".
  Father: Traditionally, a marriage was between a man and a woman [beat] of the same race. Traditionally, if you mixed the races you were shunned. There's nothing wrong with an old-fashioned traditional shunning. Isn't that right, honey? Like we did to your sister when she dated that Arab boy back in university. You don't know her kids, she's dead to us now.
• Author Tract: Once an Episode via the "Rick's Rant" segment. Rick makes no secret that he loves Canada and wants his country to be the very best it can be. He effusively praises those he believes shows Canada in a good light and heaps scorn upon those he thinks is doing the country a disservice.
• Blood on the Debate Floor: During the 2004 hockey lockout, Rick wanted to show a compilation of great hockey fights, but the NHL wouldn't let him. So he instead set a hockey song to footage of Taiwanese parliament fights.
• Every Episode Ending: Every episode ends with Rick advising viewers about a local event being held in some (usually small) city or town in Canada in the coming week, with events typically chosen for being especially silly or unusual.
• Face Cam: Mercer's infamous rants (read on).
• Groin Attack: The Revenue Canada/Capital One parody Knee in my Package.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy: Rick plays this up when he discovers that a room containing 600 million Canadian dollars worth of gold is behind an unguarded, rickety metal gate that can be secured with a padlock. His guide, however, points out that the room itself is within several rings of security and that the Royal Canadian Mint has guards shadowing Rick's every move.
• Human-Interest Story: The segments of Rick travelling to events (often in small towns) and participating in whatever is going on. Arguably a highlight of the show.
• I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: During a visit to the Atlantic Police Academy, Rick accidentally shot himself in the foot while holstering his weapon (it was with a Simunition round^note a low-velocity round with a water-soluble paint bullet, but still hurt).
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: Rick goes out shopping with Don Cherry to see how the coach gets his distinctive suits. Turns out Cherry buys couch and drape fabric (and has a discount card because he buys so much) which he brings to his tailor.
• Lie Detector: Rick is given a polygraph test during a visit to the Atlantic Police Academy. The chief administering the test is able to determine some embarrassing truths about Rick.
• Look Behind You: When Rick was visiting the Royal Canadian Mint, he found himself in a room with $600,000,000 of gold; he naturally tries this with his guide. His guide then does it to him, except the guide points to the armed guard standing off-camera.
• Meta Phorgotten: (A fake ad for George W. Bush): "Some say the glass is half empty, others say its half full. George W Bush says 'that's my glass, keep your hands off my glass or I'll break it and cut you with the glass.' George W Bush. He'll cut ya."
• Moose and Maple Syrup: Rick is a proud Canadian and he uses each episode's feature segment to showcase the people and features that he thinks makes his country great. The parody ads, meanwhile, give him the chance to highlight the absurdities of Canadian life and history in a humorous manner.
• New Season, New Name: The show was known as Rick Mercer's Monday Report (commonly shortened to Monday Report) for its first two seasons, but was retitled after its timeslot changed to Tuesdays starting from the third season.
• News Parody: Downplayed. Although Rick got this show due to his success with This Hour Has 22 Minutes, he does very little satire on this show. The bulk of the program is taken up by Rick showcasing various people, organizations, and attractions in Canada. The only guaranteed news parody in every episode is "The Front Page", where Rick provides humourous descriptions of photos from recent news stories, and the satirical ads. Occasional parody news is done as inserts when time allows.
• Parody Commercial: One or two an episode always just before a real ad break. They either parodied commercials that were commonly on the air when the episode aired or a current event, sometimes both.
• Rant Comedy: A staple of the Report, carried over from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, is "The Rant." Rick has even ranted about how to rant.
• Read the Fine Print: In a commercial parodying the Harper government's use of omnibus budget bills that are too long and dense to read in full, a customer buys a 2012 Plymouth Omnibus and is shocked to discover all sorts of conditions inside it.
  Customer: Changes the First Nations voting procedures? I have to name my first child Enbridge?!
• Scary Stinging Swarm: Rick was once visited a bee farm and was covered with over 400 live bees. He said it was one of the scariest things he'd ever done for the show.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Rick's visit to the Ontario Provincial Police's ERT Team plays up the fact that he's a novice with firearms, the cops even walk off the firing line when Rick asks if he can fire his MP-5 at full auto. He later takes part in an exercise and does things with his gun that makes it very clear that it's a good thing that he didn't have a magazine inserted.
• The Slacker: Not being trained to do lifting and other work requiring strength, Rick often leaves it to the real people to do it.
• Skinny Dipping: One of the show's most memorable moments features Rick and former Ontario premier Bob Rae jumping naked into a lake.
• Stepford Smiler: Invoked in this Parody Commercial about Canada's Liberal Party.
• Studio Audience: The show was taped with a live studio audience at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto. Pre-recorded segments like the Rant, ad parodies, and the field pieces were shown to the audience during taping to record their reactions.
• Travelogue Show: Rick often visited major attractions and lesser-known destinations to highlight the sights and experiences Canada has to offer and encourage tourism to those locations.