Royal Canadian Air Farce

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Royal Canadian Air Farce
Genre Comedy
Starring Roger Abbott
Don Ferguson
Luba Goy
Jessica Holmes
(2003–present)
Craig Lauzon
(2004–present)
Alan Park
(2004–present)
John Morgan (1993–2001)
Country of origin Canada
Production
Running time 22-23 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel CBC Television
Picture format 1080i HDTV
Original run October 8, 1993 – Present

Royal Canadian Air Farce (usually abbreviated to Air Farce) is a Canadian comedy troupe that starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997, and currently star in a top-rated television show, broadcast on CBC Television.

The show, a weekly topical sketch comedy series, focuses on political and cultural satire, and is currently one of the most popular Canadian television shows. It was initially aired as a radio series beginning in 1973, and on radio, Air Farce continued for 24 seasons through 1997. In terms of the troupe's TV career, the first Air Farce TV special aired in 1980. A short-lived Air Farce TV series was broadcast in 1981, and further TV specials aired in 1982, 1983 and 1984. After a long hiatus from TV, a 1992 New Year's Eve special for CBC-TV was well received, and a new Air Farce TV series began in October of 1993. The TV series is still on the air to this date and as of October 6, 2006 was the first Canadian sketch-comedy series to be broadcast in HD.

Contents

[edit] Current cast (TV show)

[edit] Former cast members (TV show)

[edit] Interim cast members (TV show)

  • Penelope Corrin, filled in during Jessica's maternity leave during the first two months of 2007.

[edit] Radio show cast (1973-1997)

  • Roger Abbott
  • Dave Broadfoot (1973-1988, frequent appearances as a "special guest" thereafter)
  • Barbara Budd (frequent appearances as a "special guest", 1984-1991)
  • Don Ferguson
  • Luba Goy
  • John Morgan

[edit] History

[edit] Radio

The group started in Montreal, Quebec in 1970 as an improvisational theatre revue called The Jest Society, a play on then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's famous goal of making Canada a "Just Society".

After a number of personnel changes, the group became "The Royal Canadian Air Farce" in 1973 with a lineup that consisted of Abbott, Ferguson, Goy, Morgan, Broadfoot and non-performing writers Gord Holtam and Rick Olsen. They debuted on CBC Radio that year, and quickly became one of the network's most popular programs. Based in Toronto, most of their shows were recorded in CBC's Cabbagetown Studios; however as the troupe became more popular, they frequently travelled throughout the country to record their weekly radio broadcasts, which featured a mixture of political and cultural satire.

Recurring characters included addle-brained hockey player Bobby Clobber (Broadfoot), Sgt. Renfrew of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Broadfoot), Mike from Canmore (Morgan), and socialite Amy De La Pompa (Morgan), along with political figures such as Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark and Pierre Trudeau. Additional characters included Prof. Hieronymus Wombat of the National Research Council, and funeral director Hector Baggley.

Another recurring character, making vacant-minded political comments, was the Honourable David J. Broadfoot, member of Parliament for Kicking Horse Pass, and leader of the New Apathetic Party. In a fall 1979 sketch, the troupe spoofed that year's election: the Liberals and New Democratic Party formed an alliance, as did the Progressive Conservatives and the Social Credit Party. Each won 132 seats in a 265 seat house. Broadfoot won the 265th seat. Asked by the media what he would do when the House of Commons met, Broadfoot said boldly, "I shall... abstain!!!"

Some popular sketches in the late 1980s and early 1990s included "joint broadcasts" by CTV and CBC, overlaying opening theme music. When The Journal debuted on CBC in 1982, Air Farce spoofed the program's repeated use of the "sounder", and the use of satellite to connect people to talk to one another (including husband in living room to wife in the kitchen), as well as the seeming similarity between original hosts Barbara Frum and Mary Lou Finlay.

[edit] Television

The original Royal Canadian Air Farce television show, 1980
The original Royal Canadian Air Farce television show, 1980

The Farce troupe recorded a one-hour television special in 1980, which evolved into a ten-week series and two sequel specials in addition to their regular radio series. The shows were essentially staged versions of the radio show, with many of the sketches performed in front of a live studio audience, the cast members reading from scripts rather than acting out the roles. Despite the decent ratings for the initial special, simply staging the radio sketches did not translate well on television.

In the early 1980s, Air Farce's summer radio hiatus periods were filled by another comedy troupe, The Frantics, who later moved on to their own TV series, Four on the Floor. Later summer hiatus periods, however, were filled by Ferguson and Abbott playing classic comedy recordings. In the late 1980s, CBC Radio launched another 30-minutes weekly political satire, Double Exposure. Though the programs were never in direct competition, some found the latter show fresher and edgier.

Broadfoot retired from the troupe in the late 1980s, although he continued to make guest appearances with Air Farce for many years afterward, on both radio and TV. Barbara Budd was also a frequent guest of the troupe, appearing in many "Air Farce" radio episodes of the 1980s and early 1990s, although she was never an official cast member.

In 1992, Air Farce took a second plunge into television with 1992: Year of the Farce, a satirical New Year's Eve special. A ratings smash, the special led the troupe to produce another weekly television series, which debuted in 1993. However, this time the move to television was permanent. The radio series continued alongside the TV show for 4 seasons until May of 1997, when it was discontinued.

The practice of having a show on New Year's Eve continues to this day, and such episodes are typically titled "Year of the Farce". In recent years, Air Farce has also had the honour of counting down the seconds before the New Year on CBC.

Recurring characters on the TV series included the slow Albertan Mike from Canmore (Morgan) and angry Scot Jock McBile (Morgan), self-righteous movie critic Gilbert Smythe Bite-Me (Abbott), and chain-smoking bingo player Brenda (Goy). Though these characters would occasionally feature in skits of their own, usually they were used at the beginning of the show to deliver a stream of one liner jokes commentating on the news of that week.

The show also featured frequent skits with politicians themselves, who were portrayed as various extreme caricatures of their most infamous personality quirks. Notable re-occurring figures included Prime Minister Jean Chrétien (Abbott), who could barely speak a single sentence of English without committing at least a dozen outlandish pronunciation and grammatical errors, the nasally-voiced Preston Manning (Ferguson) who loved to shout "REFOOOOOOORM!", a screaming, bitchy Sheila Copps (Goy), the tyrannical Lucien Bouchard, the dopey and overly-image conscious Stockwell Day, the strutting, clucking, pompous Joe Clark, and the power-hungry Paul Martin (all Ferguson).

However, Colonel "Teresa" Stacy (Ferguson) quickly emerged as the show's most popular character -- each time he appeared, Stacy would load up the Chicken Cannon and fire rubber chickens and other assorted projectiles at whomever he deemed the most annoying public figure of the week (or year).

Morgan retired from Air Farce in 2001, and the remaining three members carried on with a rotating stable of guest stars until Holmes joined the show in 2003. Holmes added celebrity figures such as Paris Hilton and Liza Minnelli, and Canadian politicians such as Belinda Stronach, to the troupe's roster of characters.

Later, in 2005, after a lockout at CBC, Air Farce gained two new cast members, who had previously appeared on the show as recurring guest stars: Alan Park and Craig Lauzon. The addition of these two newcomers brought the total number of performers in the troupe to six.

While the show is held up as de facto Canadian tradition, some critics have felt that that the television show's quality has diminished over the past few seasons, especially since the breakdown of the original four-actor quartet. However, it still continues to draw solid ratings each week.

Often, when a character is required to say the word "fuck," they are (sometimes quite obviously) actually saying "pup."

On March 30, 2007, the Air Farce celebrated their 300th episode by doing the show on live television (except in Western Canada) for one hour. Roger Abbott and Luba Goy began the show with a brief history of the show, closing with "the scariest three words on television: AIR FARCE LIVE!".

[edit] Sketches

[edit] Recurring sketches

Some of the recurring sketches on Air Farce include:

"A Canadian Moment". From left: Don Ferguson, John Morgan, Luba Goy, and Roger Abbott.
"A Canadian Moment". From left: Don Ferguson, John Morgan, Luba Goy, and Roger Abbott.
  • "Ad Absurdum", where Goy remarks on the terrible television commercials aired on Canadian television.
  • "Driving with Alan Park", a modified version of "Not the Official Story" where Alan Park is now shown driving in a car instead of in front of his computer.
  • "A Canadian Moment", featuring the entire cast as regulars in a coffee shop. The sketch always ends with the characters saying their catch phrases ("You got that right" for Ferguson, "You betcha" for Morgan, "Tell me about it" for Goy, "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah" for Abbott as he pours sugar into his coffee, and "Totally" for Holmes, typically in that order).
  • "Brenda the Bingo Lady", where a middle-aged woman (Goy) vents her opinions about current issues while playing a game of bingo alongside her husband (Abbott). Each sketch often invariably ends with the husband, who is named Sid, winning, despite playing only one bingo card to Brenda's numerous cards.
  • "B.S. 2000", where the cast of Air Farce portray various particular Canadian newspeople as they put their spin on the 2000 federal election. At the end of a sketch, they would "poll" the public (another cast member playing an anonymous Canadian) and give its results, the gag being that only one person was polled in the survey (and thus one leader would get 100% of the votes, but on one occasion they had the one person abstain).
Colonel Stacy (Don Ferguson) on "Chicken Cannon News".
Colonel Stacy (Don Ferguson) on "Chicken Cannon News".
Colonel Stacy (right) oversees the firing of the Chicken Cannon.
Colonel Stacy (right) oversees the firing of the Chicken Cannon.
  • "Chicken Cannon". Although originally a sketch in the early parts of Air Farce on TV meant to satirize the Canadian military (in it, the Canadian military consists of only two people, Colonel "Teresa" Stacy and his assistant, played by Ferguson and Morgan), but as the popularity of the sketch grew, it became an integral part of Air Farce, spawning its own newsroom sketch titled "Chicken Cannon News". Studio audience members or viewers at home nominate or vote for their favourite target along with their choice of ammunition (not necessarily a chicken). The cast picks a winner and fires the Chicken Cannon as the fan suggested at the end of the sketch. The fan also wins some form of Air Farce merchandise for having their choice be a Chicken Cannon target. In the "Year of the Farce" episodes, a special version of the Chicken Cannon has the top five targets of the year, with the first four being fired upon by a rubber chicken while the top target being fired as before. Past targets included:
  • "Critic At Large", where Gilbert Smythe Bite-Me (Abbott), an entertainment critic, gives negative reviews, and takes regular potshots at the Women's Television Network, describing them as 'a bunch of scrotally-deprived, estrogen-sodden non-males', and 'not just because three of (his) ex-wives work there.'
Dave the Cabbie (Ferguson, right) with a customer (Abbott).
Dave the Cabbie (Ferguson, right) with a customer (Abbott).
  • "Sister Bessie". Sister Bessie (Holmes) is a Catholic nun commenting on various political topics either in the House of Commons or relating to outside sources like George W. Bush. The issues usually make her angry, causing her network Vision Television to block out any obscenities that she may say during her broadcast.
  • "Craig Oliver's 3-Way" (Abbott) talks recent news and events with opinions from three other panel members.
  • "Dave the Cabbie, where Dave (Ferguson), a cab driver, takes on a fare and proceeds to converse with them on various current events. Dave demands that the fare pay in cash and not with the Visa credit card (often with the line "You pay cash, no Visa. You pay Visa I kill you." He also pronounces the I in Visa with a hard I (v-eye-za) and not a soft I (v-ee-za) as is usually the case. The cabbie also often takes the passenger somewhere other than requested and then demands an outrageous price. For a famous celebrity's death, Dave says "It's very sad about (Maurice Gibb, Mr Rogers). He imitates Rogers saying, "Not a beautiful day in the neighbourhood." Although he has a thick Ukrainian accent, he claims to be originally from Regina (The "flat part"). Although he usually speaks the most, when the client leaves he claims that "(he) thought that (the client) would never shut up."
  • "English as a Second Language News", hosted by Heikki Flergenpootz (Abbott) and Svetlana (Goy). The sketch is a typical newsroom sketch, often peppered with mistakes that typical ESL learners make. In later years, they typically said "Goodbye" at the beginning of the sketch and "Hello" at the end. Each sketch also included a third "guest commentator" portrayed by Ferguson, some of which would later get their own sketches.
  • "Get Stuffed", where Jock McBile (Morgan), a Scottish-Canadian left handed bagpipe repair man, puts his spin on current events.
  • "I Love that Word Refoooorm", in which Preston Manning (Ferguson, although Manning himself has appeared in the sketch playing Ferguson's role), promotes his party, with comical results. Manning was frequently accompanied by various guests (most often Morgan as Deborah Grey, deputy leader of the party, although Grey herself has been a guest) who criticize Manning on his speech. Manning ended the sketch with the phrase "I love that word reform", with "reform" being drawn out for comedic effect.
  • "Knob of the Week", a sketch in the style of the Chicken Cannon "honouring" various acts of stupidity by various groups. It was introduced partially to replace the Chicken Cannon, which was specially reserved for the Year of the Farce show and possibly the season opener (both of which were one-hour shows compared to the regular 30-minute shows).
  • "Man's World" with Buck McSweeney (Ferguson). Typically, Ferguson is joined by a special guest star (most often an athlete) playing as themselves. Buck proceeds to do a typical sports interview while letting his obsession with synchronized swimming be known.
  • "Member for Kicking Horse Pass", in which the fictional Member of Parliament (Dave Broadfoot), reprising his original radio role, performs a solo comedy sketch (as a representative of the "New Apathetic Party".)
Abbott and Ferguson as Jimmy and Seamus O'Toole on "News From Away".
Abbott and Ferguson as Jimmy and Seamus O'Toole on "News From Away".
  • "News From Away" with Jimmy and Seamus O'Toole (Abbott and Ferguson). Another newsroom sketch where Abbott and Ferguson play newscasters from Newfoundland. There are a number of sketches-within-a-sketch interspersed throughout, common ones being:
    • "52 Weeks in 52 Seconds", in which Jimmy and Seamus rapid fire various one-liners based on events that occurred in the past year. It is typically a part of every Year of the Farce show.
    • "Point-Counterpoint", in which Jimmy and Seamus try to debate an issue from different points of view. However, one starts the argument and the other agrees on the spot.
    • "Seamus' Commentary", where Seamus makes a one-line commentary about one particular issue. In one sketch, he delivered his commentary in the style of a Rick Mercer streeter from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and Mercer himself showed up mid-sketch to correct Seamus' delivery style.
    • During the show's live 300th episode, Alan Park played the role of Seamus, because the last sketch had Don Ferguson doing his Rex Murphy impersonation, accompanied by Mary Walsh who did her famous character, Marge: Warrior Princess.
Alan Park in a "Not the Official Story" segment.
Alan Park in a "Not the Official Story" segment.
  • "Not the Official Story", where a newspaper editor (Alan Park) comments on current events.
  • "Off the Record", a sketch that itself parodies TSN's Off The Record sports talk show, with Ferguson playing the role of host Michael Landsberg.
  • "Sermon from the Mount", where a prophet (Morgan) proceeds to recall current events in the style of a sermon or lines from the Bible.
  • "Speedvision News", a newsroom sketch (purportedly on the Speedvision television channel) where two anchors (Abbott and Ferguson) speak quickly while recalling current events. Similar sketches also lampoon Rogers Sportsnet's and The Score's news programmes (Sportsnetnews and Score Tonight), where Holmes and Ferguson play the roles of the anchors (Holmes plays either Jody Vance or Martine Gaillard, while it is unclear which sportscaster Ferguson is playing).
  • "Liberal and PC" a spoof of the Get a Mac ad, Park plays a Liberal (parody of the Mac) and Lauzon plays a "PC" (Progressive Conservative) and follows the outline of the Mac ad.

[edit] Individual sketches

Some of Air Farces' famous individual sketches include:

[edit] Politically correct version of "O Canada"

In response to criticisms from different groups about O Canada's lyrics, Air Farce had guest star Seán Cullen sing an edited, politically correct version of the anthem. The skit was performed on 5 October 2001.

The following is the lyrics of the edited "O Canada".

O Canada, our living quarters and aboriginals persons, including Inuit, Métis, and First Nations land
True patriot love, implying affection, but not in a sexual way, in all thy gender non-specific spouse offspring's suggestion
With growing hearts, we get horny, the true North strong and free
From far and weight-challenged, O Canada, we stand or sit on guard for thee
Non-denominational, gender-unspecified supreme being keep our land, glorious and free
O Canada, we stand ready to sit down and discuss our differences in a civilized manner for thee
O Canada, we stand ready to sit down and discuss our differences in a civilized manner for thee

[edit] Albums

The Air Farce released eight comedy albums during its radio days, all of which were available on the Air Farce website (only a few are now) (1).

  • The Air Farce Comedy Album (1978)
  • Air Farce Live (1983)
  • The Air Farce Green Album (1990)
  • To Air Is Human, To Farce Divine (1990)
  • Farce On A Stick (1991)
  • Year of the Farce (1991)
  • Twenty Twenty (1993)
  • Unplugged and Uncorked (1994)

[edit] Guests

Air Farce has its share of guests, including those who portray themselves. Although the show originally prides itself in having only Canadian guest stars, this claim does not hold to scrutiny (with athletes such as Doug Flutie and Carlos Delgado among the guest stars).

  • Jann Arden - Arden was a guest who largely disliked her appearance on Air Farce. She was repeatedly interrupted when she was about to sing by Colonel Stacy, in the midst of preparing to fire the "Chicken Cannon". Although she got to fire the cannon, her experience on Air Farce, as she described it, was not a pleasant one.
  • Mike Bullard - appeared on an episode of Gilbert Smythe Bite-Me.
  • Brent Butt
  • Jean Charest appeared during the 1998 Year of the Farce in the sketch, 'Ottawa Confidencial.' According to the PI character played by Morgan, Charest had all the characteristics to become Prime Minister of Canada except that he was not born by a virgin.
  • Don Cherry - Appeared for a video message to the show's live 300th episode.
  • Jean Chrétien - Chrétien had one appearance on Air Farce, in which he claimed that Abbot's impersonation sounded more like Preston Manning.
  • Joe Clark - Pays a visit to Jean Chrétien (Abbott) to offer some advice, former Prime Minister to current Prime Minister; the gag is that everything Joe says has a word that rhymes with "right", since he is a Conservative while Chrétien is a Liberal.
  • John Crosbie
  • Seán Cullen - Cullen has appeared several times on the show, initially as the leader of Corky and the Juice Pigs for a musical number comparing the 1993 Federal election to Gilligan's Island; he also appeared as "Quint" in a spoof of the movie Jaws.
  • Stockwell Day
  • Fred Ewanuick - From Corner Gas, appeared on the live 300th episode.
  • Joe Flaherty - From SCTV, made an appearance in 2002.
  • Deborah Grey - Grey appeared in one sketch on Air Farce, in which she was a guest on Ferguson's "I Love That Word Refooooorm" sketch. In the final moments of the sketch, she, along with Ferguson (as Preston Manning), sang Auld Lang Syne, forgetting most of the lyrics partway through.
  • Paul Gross - the star of Due South reprises his role in a "lost episode" in which he falls for Rita MacNeil (Goy).
  • Sitara Hewitt - From Little Mosque on the Prairie, appeared on the live 300th episode.
  • Mel Hurtig - First political guest on the TV show; as leader of the newly formed and almost unheard of National Party of Canada, he appeared in a game show where the contestants couldn't identify the man, even after he tells them who he is.
  • Flora MacDonald
  • Ron MacLean - the host of Hockey Night in Canada has appeared on Air Farce in several sketches, most notably one in which he portrays himself alongside Goy (as the Queen who is impersonating Don Cherry). He was also involved in a sketch where an airline passenger Onex CEO Gerry Schwartz is mistaken for him. Later in the sketch, Schwartz and MacLean (both guest stars portraying themselves), switch seats, and the passenger mistakes MacLean for Schwartz. Another memorable sketch had MacLean impersonate Cherry while Ferguson played the role of MacLean. MacLean also appeared for a video message to the show's live 300th episode.
  • Shaun Majumder - Made an appearance in 2002, before his newscasting role on This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
  • John Manley - Manley appeared in a "Man's World" sketch (a rarity since he is a politician and not an athlete) shortly after his remarks on how Canada should abandon the monarchy. Most memorable in this sketch was Buck McSweeney's reaction to Manley's indifference towards synchronized swimming: "... and you call yourself Manley!"
  • Preston Manning - largely considered to be the first guest star on Air Farce, Manning has appeared in many sketches, including a Blair Witch Project parody. In some appearances, he also pronounced "Reform" in the same manner as Ferguson, who normally portrayed him in sketches.
  • Peter Mansbridge - Mansbridge has appeared on several Air Farce sketches, most notably a Man to Mansbridge sketch in which he is interviewed by Abbot (also as Mansbridge). In another memorable show, there was a running gag was where Mansbridge, in his role as anchor for The National, finds himself appointed as the head of CBC while announcing a new series of appointments by the prime minister. Mansbridge also appeared for a video message to the show's live 300th episode.
  • Paul Martin - Appeared on a spoof of Venture when he was Minister of Finance, and threatened to audit the host, Robert Scully (Ferguson) when he tries to hand deliver his tax return to save on postage.
  • Sheila McCarthy - From Little Mosque on the Prairie, appeared on the live 300th episode.
  • Patrick McKenna - McKenna has appeared in various Air Farce sketches, most notably one in which he appears as Marty Stephens, his character from Traders, but with the voice and mannerisms of his The Red Green Show character, Harold Green.
  • Rick Mercer - Mercer appeared on Air Farce in a sketch where Ferguson, as Seamus O'Toole, parodied his trademark "Screener" sketch from This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Mercer would first confront O'Toole, then later show him how it's done.
  • Colin Mochrie - Mochrie has appeared in various Air Farce sketches, most notably as an associate to Colonel Stacy on the "Chicken Cannon".
  • Ben Mulroney
  • Rex Murphy - Rex Murphy guest starred as himself, interviewing Samuel De Champlain.
  • Anne Murray - Murray appeared in one sketch titled Murray and the Queen, where the two shared their surprisingly similar New Year's resolutions.
  • Bob Rae
  • Lloyd Robertson - Robertson, who had once stated that it was an honor to appear on Air Farce to parody himself, appeared in several Air Farce sketches, most notably in one where he, as the CTV news anchor, asks a correspondent, "Do you think I'm as handsome as Peter Mansbridge? What about Peter Kent? He's very good looking."
  • Carlo Rota - From Little Mosque on the Prairie, appeared on the live 300th episode.
  • Sonja Smits - From the TV series Traders, made two appearances in 2001.
  • Trish Stratus - Status appeared in one Air Farce show, although she was a part of several sketches, most notably one where she portrayed a stripper in a sketch lampooning the Judy Sgro "strippergate" scandal. (This can also be a spoof of Trish herself, since she has refused several offers to appear in Playboy)
  • David Suzuki - Suzuki's appearance on Air Farce is memorable, as he appeared nude in the sketch (although the nudity was covered by a briefcase and later a desk), a parody of an ad campaign Suzuki participated in for his show The Nature of Things. In his sketch, he is interviewed, where the interviewer (Goy), aware of his nudity, is taken aback by Suzuki's apparent use of double entendres, and later faints when Suzuki asks her if she wanted to see his "genetically altered banana". Suzuki, clueless to the ordeal, then produces a slightly larger-than-normal banana.
  • The Canadian Tire Couple (Ted Simonett and Gloria Slade) - They appeared in a sketch made to look like one of their regular ads, where they promoted the "Baby Power Washer".
  • Pamela Wallin - Wallin has made several appearances on Air Farce, including one in which Goy portrays herself as the Canadian host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? while Wallin, as Catherine Zeta-Jones, appears as a celebrity contestant.
  • Mary Walsh - Creator of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, appeared on the live 300th episode.
  • Brian Williams - the CBC Sports anchor has made several appearances on Air Farce, most memorably in which he portrays himself locked in his studio at the conclusion of the 2000 Olympic Games.
  • Former premier of New Brunswick, Bernard Lord once appeared in an episode taped in Saint John.

[edit] Awards

The Air Farce has received many awards including

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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