Americans can trace the retirement of David Letterman to Stephen Colbert abandoning his Colbert Report late-night show and the subsequent retirement of Jon Stewart from The Daily Show as a major loss during the 2016 presidential election.
Canada will also suffer to not have anyone such as Rick Mercer on patrol during the 2019 Canadian federal election that will culminate on October 21.
Rick Mercer hosted the Rick Mercer Report from 2004-2018. Mercer poked a lot of fun at politicians during that time. His rants in the alley served to put politicians on notice.
Even if Mercer were still doing the show, Canada doesn't have a lot of options. George Stroumboulopoulos stopped doing a late-night TV show in 2014 with George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight/The Hour. No one has stepped up since then.
Canadians Samantha Bee and Lilly Singh, whose NBC show starts September 16, will be on late at night from the United States. Bee might touch on the Canadian election at Full Frontal with Samantha Bee mostly to explain the race to Americans in a 7-minute segment.
This Hour Has 22 Minutes has some power for influence but hasn't really used that force.
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Canadian TV notebook: Saying goodbye to Rick Mercer Report
Rick Mercer announces TV retirement
Use of Canadian political debate footage curtailed
Ideally, Mercer would come back with election specials but that isn't likely. We know this based on what Mercer told Anna Maria Tremonti on her final episode of The Current on CBC Radio One back on June 20.
"I miss commentary a lot. But I don't mind right now being out of the opinion business just for the time being anyway. Because I don't know if, quite frankly, I have the stomach for it the way I used to. Because these are such vitriolic times. People are so angry, so divided. And the way social media is, people are just constantly attacking and you always hope that reasonable people can come together and agree on subjects. And I see fewer and fewer reasonable voices both in media and both in politics. So it's not a very nice time to be in the opinion business. God love the people who are doing it but I'm happy to step away for the time being."
Mercer noted that satire can get at things that journalists can't cover. He said good satirists have to tell the truth.
That was missing in the 2016 election coverage in the United States and is a concern in the 2019 Canadian federal election.
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Canadian election cycles are relatively short. A Rick Mercer rant once a week would be a great public service. A CBC special with the rants would be even better. A Mercer rant might be a good way to end The National on Friday nights.
Rick Mercer deserves his retirement. Canadians deserve satire in a political election. Perhaps Mercer can train someone quickly. Please.
video and photo credit: Rick Mercer Report/CBC
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