Monday Report

From the man show made Stockwell Day and Doris Day synonymous, "Monday Report", is one of those rare shows that seems to pass by in less time than advertised. In tandem with "This is Wonderland", made CBC's Monday-night line-up true must-see TV during their premiere season and are poised to repeat the feat this season. Rick Mercer zeros-in on current-affairs and skewers them with laser-like precision as well as poking fun at Canadian foibles. Darren Jones' segments are also a treat and his style is an interesting counterpoint to Mercer. No cow is too sacred or too elusive to escape. The show is coming back as of October 18th for another season and is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already.

I really wish that I liked this show. Rick Mercer was the best part of This Hour Has 22 Minutes back when he was on that show but when he left he just stopped being funny or informative or relevant. This Hour Has 22 Minutes also took a nosedive after he left. It's like a great band where the lead singer goes off to be a success on his own but then the band and he both end up flopping.

Rick Mercer is a shadow of his old self. In this show most of the time is wasted with him going off to do pieces in locations. The other reviews pretty much nailed it where he will go to say try out a tourist diving lesson where you swim with the seals, then it's just like ten minutes of him swimming around with footage of seals swimming around and him coming up for air every couple of minutes to say something that's supposed to be funny but really just makes you groan. I'm not sure when Rick Mercer became a hack one liner comedian but watching him is like watching my wacky uncle at the Thanksgiving dinner table make horrible jokes about the turkey. "Gobble gobble? I'll gobble him up! Haha! Look how funny I am!" The episode I just saw which will also be the last episode I ever force myself to sit through had him go to paramedic school. He had another guy try out the nitrous oxide then made horribly lame jokes about politicians. More predictable jokes follow where he drives an ambulance and turns on the siren because there is an emergency, he is hungry and wants Kentucky Fried Chicken.

This show literally makes me sadder than any drama on TV because of what this great man used to be. His black and white pieces on This Hour Has 22 Minutes used to be the funniest couple of minutes on television and they also almost always had something very important and right to say. What happened to this guy? The rest of the show is him sitting at his desk in the CBC studio (in Toronto I presume) where he reads equally horrible jokes. The two Canadians who just got released by Egypt and complained about cockroaches and cramped spaces... on their Air Canada flight home. I rolled my eyes so much at this show I have to go see my optometrist tomorrow.

Please Rick Mercer if you read this go back to what you used to do because I hate having to think of you as the hack who is ruining himself on my TV every night. Maybe you need new crew and writers. I don't know what the problem is but what you're doing just isn't funny or relevant, I'm sorry to say.

This can be the funniest show if you get it. It is of higher political intelligence so unfortunately not everybody gets it. Another condition is you MUST be Canadian. The cultural humor won't be understood elsewhere. All comedians have different styles and techniques to produce their comedy. Mercer is no different. He puts himself out there and does it in the most humorous way possible. He's funny, unpredictable, and up for anything. For that reason the Mercer Report is almost like a reality TV show... All except better. (Way better.) I always sit down to watch this show whenever I can. I am rarely... if ever... disappointed.

This show has formerly Funny TV personality Rick Mercer go places and talk to people then try to do what they do but he doesn't know how to do it so that is funny.

Did you see the one where Rick Mercer goes to talk to the gymnastics team about doing gymnastics then he tries to do gymnastics with them, but Rick Mercer doesn't know how to do gymnastics so he just fell down and stuff and that is funny.

Maybe you saw the one where he went to talk to the scientist who was studying hypothermia about hypothermia but he didn't know much about hypothermia so he got into a tub of ice to learn about the hypothermia study? That was funny because Rick Mercer got into a tub of ice and then got cold, who saw that coming? Maybe you saw the one where Rick Mercer went to talk to the swim team about swimming then he tries to go swimming with them but in a completely unexpected turn of events Rick Mercer went swimming with them anyway..... but Rick Mercer doesn't know how to swim very well so he just splashed around a lot and also he wore a funny bathing cap so that is the height of comedy right there.

Somebody should cancel this show and either send Rick Mercer back to This Hour has 22 Minutes or send him into retirement.

I had big hopes for this show when it first came on and I was so disappointed. I've watched at least twenty episodes, probably thirty, and have tried watching every year hoping that it would get better but it's just getting worse.

What happened to Rick Mercer? Talking to Americans was brilliant and he was awesome on 22 Minutes but this show just stinks, I have to be honest. Where are the funny jokes and sketches? Why do I want to watch him go on the road and just talk to people who aren't even famous? I've seen him on different episodes go look at bears, get dipped in ice water for a hypothermia experiment, join the army, become a cheerleader, get put in a wind tunnel, talk to street hockey kids in Edmonton and do countless other pointless, boring things that I might enjoy doing myself but definitely don't want to watch him do it. Especially when so many of his witty lines are either not funny or way too rehearsed.

Even when he does do jokes they suck like the headlines bit or "Canada's Ugliest Shed". My friends and I could come up with better headlines than they do on this show. It's like Rick Mercer ran out of good comedy or just got tired or something, maybe he resting on what he already did because it was so awesome he's already done his part. If so who can blame him because he was great before.

This show is lame. I give it 2 out of 10 with the 2 points given to him for what he used to be.