Royal Canadian Air Farce

Royal Canadian Air Farce is one of those comedy shows where you tune in, sit there, waiting to laugh... but you don't. The show never gets into anything story-wise by design, because it's a sketch show, so you're left trying to get a cheap laugh out of the (usually political) premises of the sketches. Problem is, they're not good.

According to Wikipedia, the comedy group started off in 1970 as 'The Jest Society', a play on Pierre Trudeau's goal of a 'Just Society'. Kind of a lame title. This tactic of taking a letter and changing it was repeated when the 'Jest Society' changed their name to the Royal Canadian Air Farce. When the current show started in 1993, the crew had Jean Chretien and multiple other targets of Canadian politics to satirize, and ample material in Canadian culture (like those silly Canadian Tire commercials). But even then, the sketches didn't move past a simple caricature of Chretien's accent, or any other one-dimensional premise.

I specifically remember a sketch about the 'War on Christmas' - and the premise being a guy was reading a Christmas story by a fireplace. What's the joke? Every time the word Christmas should come up, he says 'holiday' instead. And the sketch continues like this for about 7 or 8 minutes. Somewhere along the way, somebody should have said, "Guys - don't you think we should do something more? Make something happen? Have at least some kind of a story, at least?" I guess that didn't ever happen. or maybe it did, and they fired the guy who said it.

Sometimes I have relatives from outside Canada ask me what good Canadian TV shows there are, this show (plus the Mike Bullard show) always comes to mind. It makes me sad that this is such a poorly made show, and yet it's financed and probably shot on HDCAM and viewed by millions (funny considering Canada's population is only 33 million, give or take).

I know it's probably schadenfreudenic (I think that's right) for me to take so much pleasure hating this show. Maybe it wasn't always that bad, but it's just not funny at all. Anyway, to sum up: Don't watch it.

Alright, it's been said but I must say it again. This show got old a LONG time ago. I remember telling some teacher in grade nine that I thought it was awful, tired and unfunny (1997?). I believe she disagreed. I could never stand watching Luba Goy or Abbott as they can NOT act, and are so odd in appearance that all you see in their impersonations is them. The political satire never seems to focus on anything beyond the news headline.

Lots of good shows have come from the CBC. This is not one of them. It's safe, middle-class suburban and DULL. This Hour has 22 Minutes, though suffering at times from cast changes, was always funny. Kids in the Hall was funny. Air Farce has always played to a lower denominator. I find it unwatchable as I find SNL unwatchable. I might have enjoyed it briefly when it first came on TV when I was ten, but that didn't last very long. Though my parents seemed to have enjoyed it on the radio back in the day, the radio has the bonus feature of not having to WATCH who's speaking.

Finally, this show reinforces an incorrect view of Canadians. C'mon, no one likes to see stereotypes reinforced in the same way, over and over.

As a Canadian I am ashamed of this show.

I can't believe after so many years it is still on and doing the same lame jokes. I don't dislike them as people I just feel embarrassed for them when I see them on TV doing such pathetic jokes.

Bringing in the new cast member hasn't helped because they are just as bad as the old ones. Jessica Holmes is just as bad as when she was on The Holmes Show on CTV, I don't understand how she got another chance as a TV star. She always did impersonations of Celine Dione and Liza Minelli that were so irritating! But that is the kind of thing Air Farce is about so I'm not that surprised.

I know some people must like Air Farce because it is still on but I honestly don't understand it and don't know anybody who says they do like and watch Air Farce or maybe they just don't want to admit it.

I think the only thing worse than Air Farce are reruns of Air Farce where the topics are so out of date we don't even know what the jokes are referring to anyway.

1/10, I hope it goes away soon.

I understand most people hate this show and it is terrible but everyone seems to be blaming the cast. How about the writing? I assume they don't write their own jokes like on most TV shows. The writing is so horrible and stale, they are doing the same jokes they did in 1993 since the first season of Air Farce. This show used to be good but now it's just painfully awful, I feel bad for these people who have to go on TV and read such horrible jokes. But I think if they got new writers the show might still turn around and be funny. I'm not too optimistic about that though. Royal Canadian Air Farce is just sad and disappointing, I like new cast member Alan Park though, he is funny.

While the early episodes (in particular the first 3 years) were absolutely hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable, "Air Farce" has been on a downward spiral for about 6 years now. It just isn't funny anymore. All the jokes are recycled and unfunny, and the cast is boring. The writing just isn't good anymore and they haven't introduced a decent character actor since Colin Mochrie as 'Queer Guy for Al Qaeda Guy'. All "Air Farce" does nowadays is rehash old jokes and predictably pick on whoever is in office wherever in Canada by commenting on their physical appearance etc.

For solid, funny social/political commentary, see "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" or "The Rick Mercer Report". Both are still hilarious and feature a lot more talent than "Air Farce". How this show got to 300 episodes is beyond my comprehension.

Letter Grade: F