Note to CBC radio’s The Debaters
Cats: CBC Radio, Canada|You are not funny. Your host is not funny. Your debaters are lame. Your live audiences are sycophantic and undemanding.
This program has graduated from the Stuart McLean school of CBC comedy. It is in love with itself and its own little tropes. It fancies itself cute. It is founded on the premise that the louder you shout, the funnier you are. It attempts to be edgy but comes across as dull and trying too hard.
This week’s debate produced two wet “comedians” debating the pros and cons of Halloween. One of the debaters – not sure if he was arguing for or against – came up with this charming attempt at dark humour: “Juvenile diabetes? Last time I checked it’s still better than cancer. That’s science.”
There was no finesse in the delivery and the attempt at comedic subversion failed and failed miserably. It was lazy and lame like most of the humour on The Debaters program.
Make it stop, CBC. You give Canadian humour a bad name.
October 30th, 2007 at 2:03 am
Finally we have a common dislike on the CBC!!! I was beginning to worry about my tastes…I agree with you on this one. It is the yelling that drives me nuts.Why do comedians equate loud to funny? IE. Chris Rock:very loud….not so funny! What is funny is that my 11 year old nephew loves this show. I guess if the CBC is trying to attract a younger audience….
Nanc
October 30th, 2007 at 9:35 am
GT, while certainly NOT a fan of Stewart (drone-on-boy)MacLean, at least one gets the occasional musical break from the pain! The Debaters is just excrutiating, milk curdling, toenail pulling motion sickness … and I for one want the hell off the bus!!!!!!
October 30th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Nank, really? We argree on something to do with CBC. Did you see my dig at Stuard McLean?
tonardo, don’t be sitting on the fence about this one.
October 30th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Yes…I choose to ignore your dig on Stewart.. I like him! The crazy Christmas stories and the best. (I like the addition of spell check here…is that new?? very helpful for bad spellers like me!)
October 31st, 2007 at 3:22 am
Sorry Nank, when I first heard Stuart MacLean, I thought he was doing a parody of an overly sentimental, dorky Canadian, sort of like Bob and Doug MacKenzie who were doing a parody.
Then I realized it wasn’t parody. The cliched delivery and the forced little cute observations – he’s being serious. He’s made a career of knocking off Garrison Keillor but hasn’t quiet mastered the wit and genuine delivery.
Stuart MacLean is second rate and every time I hear him, I’m embarrassed.
October 31st, 2007 at 3:25 am
haha!….don’t hold back GT!
October 31st, 2007 at 3:57 am
Not to be facetious, but is there really a whole lot of Canadian humour that isn’t attempting to be cute and edgy? (And if there is, please do point me in the right direction. Preferably before the next episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie.)
October 31st, 2007 at 5:40 am
Fair question, Deepti.
Trailer Park Boys. 22 minutes used to be edgy but suffers from not knowing when to end and doing the same schlock over and over and over again. Mercer has his moments but is getting too pally wally with the good and the great.
“Corner Gas” and “Little Mosque” are successful “Canadian” sitcoms but, yawn, nuff said there.
Nank, actually I did hold back…
October 31st, 2007 at 6:04 am
Rent-a-Goalie is pretty edgy and twisted at times!
October 31st, 2007 at 7:41 am
at least we agree on the TPB!
October 31st, 2007 at 7:51 am
What’s the TPB?
October 31st, 2007 at 11:46 am
Trailer Park Boys!!! You do like the TPB don’t you???
October 31st, 2007 at 11:48 am
Duh! Of course TPB.
Yes, I do like it. I grew up with those people in Dartmouth and they aren’t an exaggeration. Trust me.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I have to disagree with yo on this one, the debaters can be tragically funny – it really depends on the comics that they have on the show.
At times it’s sedate, not very funny and not worth listening to. But some comics/topics have such amazing performances that they make up fpr the shortcomings from the not so great episodes. From recent airings these two come to mind as being some of the funniest comedy I have heard in a long time.
[Debra DiGiovanni (Last Comic Standing) and Kristeen von Hagen (Comedy Now) fight tooth and claw over whether our obsession with pets has gone too far. march 4/08]
[Mike Wilmot is out to prove to author and comedienne Kate Davis (The Breastfeeding Diaries) that men have no place in the hospital delivery room. february 12/08]
It’s a shame this show isn’t podcast – it airs at a time when I normally don’t have a chance to listen, and it would be great if you could hear these episodes.
June 16th, 2008 at 3:31 am
Just curious really, what is it that humours you?
June 16th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Funny things humour me. British and Newfoundland sketch comedy, sharp social commentators like Sarah Silverman, witty & creative comedians like Eddie Izzard. Kids in the Hall, Catherine Tate, the late British stand-up Linda Smith, Little Britain, Trailer Park Boys.
I have tried with the Debaters, and have been repeatedly disappointed by the lameness and banality. Perhaps it’s just a production issue. Dunno.
But I will say this: The show belongs firmly in that unique canon of “Canadian humour” – Air Farce, Stuart McLean, Wayne and Schuster. I suppose that can be taken any way you like.
November 29th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
maybe it is just a production issue. i hate vinyl café, but love the debaters. maybe i have a soft spot for quick’n'dirty humour jabs, and an allergy to VC’s saccharine schlock (gimme Alice Munroe, any time).
i also love Sarah Silverman (but i don’t LOVE her, if you know what i mean). still, she’s a totally different, much more ascerbic type of humour, which i can appreciate equally.
then again, can you imagine dropping her in on the debaters? i fear for her competitors, and doubt the CBC would dare air it nation-wide.
anyway, here’s my vote FOR the debaters. accessible, but sometimes edgy quick wit. it hits the spot on Monday nights as i’m biking to the weekly poetry slam here in Vancouver.
December 21st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
It’s a shame that too many loud complainy type people find it necessary to call the things they don’t like “Canadian.” I’d like to dig into that one some time. Is it low self esteem? Or are these people actually right? Is lameness actually a Canadian characteristic and anything we do well an anomoly and the other way around for other, more worthy, peoples of the world?
BTW – I agree with Cliff S. The very funny bits make it worth sitting through some of the stuff that does’nt work. I actually happened across this site when looking for a podcast.
January 14th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Sorry, but The Debaters is generally a great show. I even like current host Steve Patterson better then Shaun Majumder.
June 8th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Amurican here…haven’t heard a lot of The Debaters, but like what I have heard (also stumbled on here looking for a ‘cast). Find Vinyl Cafe trite, and a Prairie Home Ripoff. Would gladly trade my local NPR station picking up The Debaters vs. VC. (And if Canadians are ashamed of their humour, it’s a damn shame…always been a KITH fan, and Canadian humkour traditions go wayyy back)
June 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I love the debaters!!
June 29th, 2009 at 2:06 am
I really like The Debtors (although I haven’t listened to it often). I can’t believe you prefer Little Britain over these great Canadian shows. Little Britain is the most predictable show I have ever seen. Every episode is exactly the same. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:32 pm
The debates is friggin hilarious! As wth any stand-up routines that are not completely scripted there are episodes that are not as funny as others, but generally it is always good or a laugh.