From Mark Breslin of Post City Toronto:
Comic Stripped: New CBC comedy a celebration of all that is Canadian, and it’s hilarious
I was impressed that Harris could come up with a new five minutes each week. Then I found out he performed a new 45 minutes each week, which was edited down to five for the TV cut. That’s like writing a new novel every week. Wow.
These towns are not well-to-do and have known their share of woe. In Coleman, Alta., the town still reels from a series of mining disasters that snuffed out a lot of lives and decimated families. But Harris made them laugh. Continue reading.
Great article and I agree with everything said. A few weeks ago we were talking about the possibility of a late night show in Canada and a lot of us brought up Rick Mercer, saying he’d be a great host. Now, Johnny Harris is still a little green but I like where he’s coming from and with time I think he could be a really good late night host–he has the vision to understand the scope of what Canada is about. In the article there’s a point made saying someone from urban Canada wouldn’t be able to do a show like this because they don’t really understand what being part of Canada’s hinterland is really about and I agree fullstop on that. I spent my fair bit of time living or staying in a few big Canadian cities (Winnipeg, Ottawa, Regina, Edmonton, Vancouver) and what I’ve seen is that people who live in these cities very rarely think about rural Canada. Their world is the city or other cities. In rural Canada though, people are always hearing about urban Canada or they go to “The City” for doctor appointments or Christmas shopping or the like. I think rural Canadians are much more knowledgeable about both rural and urban life and have a better scope of Canada in its entirety. Maybe as someone from middle-of-nowhere Saskatchewan I see things differently but most of the best Canadian tv personalities have hailed from outside one of Canada’s biggest cities, not from within. It’s kind of how there’s so many Canadians that do incredibly well in Hollywood in the States–as outsiders, they’ve had a more broader vision of what the States are like, rather than just being a part of the inside looking out.
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I had to grin when I read that every province was visited for this show EXCEPT New Brunswick. A while back on this sight I queried if anyone knew of a show ever set in New Brunswick and no one could think of one. I always complain about how Saskatchewan gets overlooked but poor New Brunswick really is the hinterland’s hinterland.
P.S. I still wish it had a better title.
My wife and I love his new show.