Royal Canadian Air Farce

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Royal Canadian Air Farce ranks 7,495 out of the 18,229 shows on TV.com.

The 68 users who count themselves as Royal Canadian Air Farce fans have written a total of 10 reviews.

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Royal Canadian Air Farce is a comedy troupe consisting of performers Roger Abbott, Don Ferguson, Luba Goy, John Morgan (Rest In Peace), Jessica Holmes, Craig Lauzon, Alan Park and writers Gord Holtam and Rick Olsen. This television series is shown every week on CBC Television where you will hear Air Farce's... more »

Royal Canadian Air Farce is a comedy troupe consisting of performers Roger Abbott, Don Ferguson, Luba Goy, John Morgan (Rest In Peace), Jessica Holmes, Craig Lauzon, Alan Park and writers Gord Holtam and Rick Olsen. This television series is shown every week on CBC Television where you will hear Air Farce's unique and hilarious blend of topical humor aimed at our country's (and the world's) most newsworthy people and events.

Air Farce began in Montreal, Quebec in 1970. John Morgan and Martin Bronstein founded the improvisational theatre revue, "The Jest Society" and the original members were John Morgan, Martin Bronstein, Patrick Conlon, Gay Claitman and Roger Abbott. But as of January 1971, The Jest Society was John Morgan, Martin Bronstein, Roger Abbott, Don Ferguson and Luba Goy, performing on stage in Toronto and Ottawa.

Dave Broadfoot joined them in 1973, and this group became "The Royal Canadian Air Farce", debuting on CBC Radio on December 9, 1973. The show was recorded live for the first few years at the Curtain Club in Richmond Hill, Ontario then at CBC's Cabbagetown studio theatre in Toronto, and then at theatres all across Canada, and before you know it, the broadcasts were all across the country on CBC Radio, recording 612 original half-hour shows, until May 25, 1997.

"The Royal Canadian Air Farce" first hit television on CBC Television on October 1980, which was a one-hour special. CBC commissioned a 10 week series, which aired from February to April, 1981, while specials were also added in 1982 and 1983.

In 1984, Air Farce was shown as a videotape on a Pay-TV special live in Toronto. The group spent the next eight years taking the radio show on the road to communities from coast to coast, plus extensive concert and theatrical performances across Canada and in the U.S.

On the final night of 1992, Air Farce took a second plunge into television with "1992 Year of the Farce", a satirical New Year's Eve Special which it produced and sold to CBC Television. The group then, began to develop a weekly series starting on October 8, 1993.less «

• CBC Cancels Air Farce

  http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2008/04/01/air-farce.html I can't believe it. I never thought I would see this show get cancelled. This sucks.

  http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2008/04/01/air-farce.html I can't believe it. I never thought I would see this show get cancelled. This sucks. less «

  TheHockeyGuy Last online Dec 9, 2008
  4 comments, last one Dec 13, 2008 + Add Comment

• "Royal Canadian Air Farce" is now "Air Farce Live"

  www.airfarce.com Every week, the show will be LIVE! Good idea and it should be good.

  www.airfarce.com Every week, the show will be LIVE! Good idea and it should be good. less «

  TheHockeyGuy Last online Dec 9, 2008
  2 comments, last one Feb 15, 2008 + Add Comment

• New Year Specials

  I was watching the Air Farce New Year Special last night, and I was wondering if any of the previous years' New Year shows a...more »

  I was watching the Air Farce New Year Special last night, and I was wondering if any of the previous years' New Year shows are available on video or DVD. A few years ago, I remember right before midnight, there was a countdown.  Different Canadians counted down to 1... I recall that some of the characters from the CBC show "Wind at My Back" were in the countdown.  Does anyone remember which year that was?  Do they have a different group of people doing the countdowns each year?  This year, they only had still photographs. less «

  OrsonWright Last online 7 hrs, 57 mins ago
  2 comments, last one Jan 21, 2008 + Add Comment

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  1 Abysmal

  Couldn't be less funny if they tried... hide « show »

  This show is awful, I wish it wasn't but it is. The jokes are horrible and of the type that you would expect that they were written by an average third grade student. Seriously it is exactly the jokes you would get if you gave a little kid a month old newspaper and said "come up with skits based on this". The jokes never go below the headlines you read in the newspaper. The cast are old and as out of touch as the material. My friend Kevin who is in an improv group could fart a better sketch and he has on many occasions. The impressions are pathetic. Nothing about this show is any good at all, should've been taken off t.v. years and years ago.

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  drawesomepants Added Feb 28, 2009 All my reviews
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  1 Abysmal

  Abysmal! hide « show »

  Royal Canadian Air Farce is so bad it's embarrassing. We should start a petition to force them to take the word "Canadian" out of their title, because I have never met a Canadian as unfunny as them, and as a Canadian myself I don't want them to associate their show with me. The fact that our tax dollars go to pay for this travesty of a show does not mean that we approve of it, I actually don't know a single person that watches this show. To be honest I can't think of one single person, not even one, who has seen this show and does not completely hate it. Whenever the subject of this show comes up everyone bashes it and wonders how it is still on TV. So how is it still on TV? Who is watching this garbage? How is something written and performed by stroke victims with no sense of humour or talent of any kind allowed on TV in the first place? This show is so bad I'm embarrassed. They should be ashamed of themselves.

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  lare84 Added Sep 26, 2008 All my reviews
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  1.5 Abysmal

  Sad. Just sad. hide « show »

  Royal Canadian Air Farce is pathetic. I don't know anyone who enjoys this show but it must get some people watching since it apparently got good enough ratings somehow to stay on the air for 20 years. This show is awful, just plain awful. The jokes are pathetic and so predictable the average 6 year old could do better. Basically all this show does is take headlines (not even current ones) and then tack on lame jokes to them. For example "The government lowered the GST by 1%.... gee, that's almost enough that I can buy a chocolate bar every year!" followed by a ridiculous laugh track. The only reason I ever laughed at this show is that it is so pathetic it almost reaches the "so bad it's funny" level of anti-greatness. The cast can't do impressions and the costumes they wear don't even look remotely like who they're trying to impersonate. It also doesn't help that they're fat and 90 years old. Somebody should have shot this dog of a show 20 years ago. Still I give it 2/10 because it at least used to have a few grin-worthy bits on it but that pretty much ended when John Morgan quit the show. Not only was he probably the most funny of the group but it just seems like by that time the writing had also gone down the toilet. What a lazy, lazy, awful show this is. Avoid at all costs.

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  jsmith111977 Added Sep 23, 2008 All my reviews
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  6.5 Fair

  Canadian satire, once a leader in the field, no needs to be put out to pasture. hide « show »

  I remember in the late 80's-early 90's tuning in the Air Farce every Sunday afternnon. When I heard that they were going to have their own TV show, I was beyond excited. It became one of my most watched programs, and one of the only shows that the CBC produced that I would watch on a regular basis. The core four performers, Luba Goy, Roger Abbot, John Ferguson, and the late John Morgan, were pioneers in the satire industry. They created so many characters and classic sketches that still make me giggle just thinking about them. Some of my favourites include Mike from Canmore, Gilbert Smythe-Biteme, Dr. Haphazzard, the confused Philospoher, as well as the spoofs of Canadian and world celebrities and politicians. I will always remember Preston Manning for his R-E-F-O-R-R-R-R-M-M-M Party, Brian Mulroney ("Hi, how you doing!"), Jean Cretien's absurd vocabulary, and the Queen of England ("Hem hem")
  
  Sadly, in 2001, John Morgan retired due to health issues. The producers of the show used a revolving door approach of having special guest stars fill in the 4th slot, until they permanently cast the talented Jessica Holmes. She was the last good thing to happen to the show. Her Celine Dion impression is fantastic!
  
  Soon after her addition, they added Craig Lauzon and Alan Park. While these guys are funny, I must admit that this is where the show took a steep nose-dive in quality. The show went from being irreverant in a polite sort of way to down right mean. You can't help but fell that the writers of the show have taken it upon themselves to squash anyone who feels right-wing about anything. Many of the skits have become uninspired, dull, and sometimes even painfull to watch. A typical joke is now along the lines of "Bush/Harper is stupid!" followed by laughter. Trust me, there is little about this show that is original and cutting edge anymore. On any other network, it would have been retired long ago. Sad to say it, but this show is well past its prime, and except for the New Year's Eve episodes, I never make a point to catch the show. It is sad to see something that was once so great be reduced to this rubbish.

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  MightyElroy Added Dec 31, 2007 All my reviews
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  8.4 Great

  A parody show that has its roots from radio. There have been two main eras. The first with John Morgan, Roger Abbott, Don Ferguson, and Luba Goy and the current era with new additions of Jessica Holmes, Craig Lauzon, and Alan Park. hide « show »

  This show has never been the same since John Morgan left. The seasons with Morgan were simply superb and I would have given it a much higher score for that era. Everything that Morgan did was great: Mike From Canmore, Jock McBile, etc. Now, the humour is disappointing in my opinion especially the Ad Absurdum segment - I absolutely find that irriating. But don't get me wrong, there are still some good segments like the Conservative vs Liberal parody of the PC and Mac commercial and it's still a descent show but just feels like it's past its prime.

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  spyro604 Added Apr 25, 2007 All my reviews