Political satire, eh?

While surfing through the channels Wednesday evening, I chanced upon the Western Canada CBC feed.  I’m just close enough to the border that my cable provider is required to include it.  Seeing the semi-familiar face of Colin Mochrie (one of Drew Carey’s sidekicks and also a mainstay on Whose Line is It Anyway?, the improv show) sitting at what appeared to be a news-anchor desk, I stopped in for a moment.

It turned out that the program was This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a CBC comedy revue.  A couple minutes into the programme (gotta use the Canadian spelling, y’know) came an absolutely scathing rip into Dubya, Iraq warmongering, oil, America as bully, and much more ... all performed by what I’d describe as a solo version of Bob and Doug McKenzie from the old SCTV shows.  By which I mean that the guy was wearing flannel and parka, speaking in the broadest of Canadian accents, saying acutely observant things about the Halliburton/oilfield reconstruction bidness while sounding like a poorly-educated hoser.

I wish I could find something to point to on the Web so that I or a reader (if anyone ever happens by) could take a another look at this comedy/commentary.  The 22minutes.com site is sadly deficient, talking about an “upcoming” season premiere from last October.  I couldn’t find anything displaying more recent material from the series, much less something that was done within the last day or two.

I’ve seen nothing remotely as pointedly political anywhere on whitebread American TV.  SNL is a pussycat, of course.  Jon Stewart is about as close as anyone gets, and he’s orders of magnitude less biting than this little routine was.  I don’t know who the actor is—it was the other male in the show’s foursome, not Mochrie—but I did notice in the show’s closing credits that the performers also do most of the writing on the show.

Wish I could be more helpful in finding the sketch.  I will note that the usual time for This Hour Has 22 Minutes on CBC is Tuesday evening at 8pm.  I happened upon a repeat showing on Vancouver’s CBUT.  Based on the pieces I saw, I may need to set my VCR to record the show…

Comments

22 Minutes is one of the best satirical shows on, anywhere in the world. This coming from an ex-pat Brit living in QC (Quebec City) who enjoys her weekly viewing of said such program.

Definately set the video! This show is a must.  Oh, btw, ‘Hi’.

Thanks for writing, Alexandra!

I did tape last week’s show, but have been away so much (New England, Maryland, California) that I haven’t yet viewed it.  And it seems that another edition is coming on tonight, so I’d better either set the VCR anew or actually find the time to watch it for real.

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