''The Debaters'' is a Canadian radio comedy show currently hosted by Steve Patterson. It airs on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

, Saturdays at 3:00PM (PDT) and Wednesdays at 11:30AM,

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behi ...

. During each episode, two debates take place between two sets of two contestants. The topics are deliberately comedic, such as ''"Apples vs. Oranges'' and ''"Was Darth Vader a Bad Father?"''. The winner is chosen by audience reaction at the end of the debate. Each season has approximately 33 new episodes. These are recorded in front of live audiences in studios, theatres and clubs across Canada. In 2011, the radio series also taped a number of episodes for broadcast as a television series on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

, but did not get a second season.

History

The show was created by

Richard Side Richard Side is a Canadian writer, producer, and actor known as the creator of '' The Debaters'', a radio and TV comedy series on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Career Side has appeared in episodes of ''Supernatural'', ''Psych'' and ''E ...

and was first broadcast in September 2006, replacing the long-running comedy show '' Madly Off in All Directions''. It was produced by Side, along with Phillip Ditchburn and Anna Bonokoski. Whereas the first season was entirely hosted by

Shaun Majumder Shaun Majumder is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his role on ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes,'' where he worked from 2003 until 2018. He won a Gemini Award for his work on the series in 2006. Early life Majumder was raised in Bu ...

, the second season featured a succession of guest hosts, including

Sean Cullen Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...

Patrick McKenna Patrick McKenna (born May 8, 1960) is a Canadian comedian and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series '' The Red Green Show'' and Marty Stevens on the television series '' Traders''. Early life Patrick McKenna ...

and Roman Danylo. Beginning with the third season, the regular host of the show has been Steve Patterson. Other comedians who have appeared on the show as debaters include Irwin Barker,

Ian Boothby Ian Boothby (born June 8, 1967) is a multiple Shuster Award, Harvey Award and Eisner Award nominee and an Eisner Award–winning comic book creator best known for his work as the lead writer on ''Simpsons Comics'' and '' Futurama Comics'' for Ma ...

, Charles Demers, Gary Jones, Deborah Kimmett,

Andy Kindler Andy David Kindler (born October 16, 1956) is an American comedian and actor. He played the character "Andy", a fellow sportswriter and friend of sportswriter "Ray Barone" ( Ray Romano) on the TV show '' Everybody Loves Raymond'', was a regular ...

, Patrick Ledwell,

Marc Maron Marc David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician. In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the ''Late Show with David Letterman'' and appeared more than forty times ...

Mark Meer Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is known for his role in the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy, in which he stars as the voice of the player character, Commander Shepard. His voice is featured in a numbe ...

, Darcy Michael,

Greg Proops Gregory Everett Proops (born October 3, 1959) is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work on the British and American versions of '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?''. He has also voiced the titular ch ...

, Lara Rae, Simon Rakoff,

Dan Redican Dan Redican (born 1956 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe '' the Frantics.'' As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage s ...

, Derek Seguin, Erica Sigurdson, Ron Sparks, Scott Thompson and Mary Walsh. In 2011, the series also taped 13 episodes for broadcast as a television series on

,"Welcome to the Debaters". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', September 19, 2011. but did not get a second season.

Format

Each show is 30 minutes in length, and consists of two debates which are roughly each 15-minutes in length. Two guests, usually

stand-up comedians Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehea ...

, are given a topical and sometimes complex matter to debate, with one serving as an advocate to the resolution while the other takes the contrary side. At the end of the debate, the host appeals to the live audience for applause for each debater, based on a mix of "funny and fact", and then declares a winner, almost always the debater who received the most applause. In instances where the host believes the audience response indicates that they enjoyed both debaters equally, "ties" have also been declared. There are four rounds to each debate: the first allows the comedian to state their position on the issue, which is followed by the "bare-knuckle round" where the two debaters spar with each other directly. This is followed by the "firing line" round, in which the host quizzes the debaters on their knowledge of the subject, with the debaters trying to provide either the correct or most amusing answer. Finally, each debater is given the opportunity to deliver a one-minute summation of their arguments. The live audience then votes by applauding for who they thought had the best combination of "laughs and logic".

Episodes

Special episodes

There have been two special double-length debates (full-length episodes featuring just one debate instead of two). "''

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

is Canada's Greatest Actor''" (

and

Eric Peterson Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian television series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (live-action 2004–2009 and fi ...

), and "''Witches vs. Wizards''" ( Ron Sparks and Nikki Payne). Both made Podyssey's list of all-time top five Debaters episodes, with Witches vs. Wizards at #1. There have also been two debates featuring just one debater debating themself. Simon Rakoff did it first, debating himself on the topic of "Mixed Marriages" (S01E09). That is also the only time the show deliberately had one debater debate themself on any topic. Ron Sparks also debated himself on the topic of "Optimism vs. Pessimism", after his debating partner's flight to the show was canceled due to a blizzard. There have also been several debates featuring more than one person arguing for one side. Most are musical duos (The Doo Wops and The Williamson Playboys), but also a set of twins. The "Should We Marry?" debate (S12E26) recorded at the 2018 Winnipeg Comedy Festival on April 15, 2018 and airing May 5, 2018 had high stakes, with anti-wedding Dana Smith agreeing to marry her opponent/boyfriend Tim Gray if he won the debate. He did, and they did just that after the show.

Accolades

The show has received several

Canadian Comedy Award The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. Th ...

nominations for both its radio and television versions, including two wins for Best Radio Program or Clip: * The "''

Monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

vs.

Polytheism Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...

''" debate featuring Ron Sparks and

, in 2010. * The double-length version of the "''

is Canada's Greatest Actor''" debate featuring Cullen and

, in 2015.

References

External links

Official CBC listing for the show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debaters, The 2006 radio programme debuts CBC Radio One programs Canadian comedy radio programs 2011 Canadian television series debuts CBC Television original programming 2012 Canadian television series endings Radio programs adapted into television shows Debates 2010s Canadian stand-up comedy television series Canadian Comedy Award winners 2000s Canadian radio programs 2010s Canadian radio programs 2020s Canadian radio programs