Radio Review | This Is That 1.1
Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring are This Is That‘s creators. Their previous attempt at media humour, Good Morning World, aired in 2007 on The Comedy Network. GMW was a web series given a berth on TCN in one of the channel’s “is this CanCon enough?” periods. Like most shows on TCN, it hasn’t fared well.
This Is That has its share of problems. Kelly and Oldring too often fumble for words, which isn’t surprising for an improv show. I don’t find This Is That that funny after one episode, though the podcasts prior to TIT‘s debut are worse. I wonder if TIT will be able to sustain itself for two months without growing stale, since TIT is the very definition of “skeleton crew.”
At the same time, TIT is a fairly accurate parody of the typical CBC human-interest news show. It has the vacuous host chatter, documentary segment and interview banter down cold. Oldring in particular could host a serious CBC Radio show, and not sound out of place.
Sadly, I grade shows like This Is That on a curve. CBC Radio has let loose some real dogs over the years. I remember the skein of attempts to rip off Double Exposure – The Muckraker, What a Week, National Pastime. Al Rae/Content Factory’s comedy bits on The House are consistently piss-poor.
At the same time, CBC Radio has mounted The Great Eastern and given a radio sitcom to John Wing, Jr. The Debaters isn’t too bad, pitting standup comics against each other. Even Laugh Out Loud has given birth to Cynically Tested’s Truth From Here, which really needs to be a series.
TIT lies somewhere in the middle of CBC Radio’s comedy output. It’s better than it should be, given Kelly and Oldring’s previous contribution to the Canadian cultural chum mill. It’s managed to fool the National Post, which already makes TIT more notable than Good Morning World.
I hope This Is That improves in the coming weeks. Even if the show isn’t that funny, it should at least confuse listeners. That was a quality The Great Eastern had, enough that I hated the show years before I finally “got it.” This Is That won’t be CBC Radio’s equivalent of The Onion or Weekly World News, but it should be. This Is That doesn’t obsess over fake tan jokes, so that’s half the battle won right there.
Like many listeners initially it took one or two farfetched stories to stir my concentrated attention. The Calgary Zoo closing and disposed animal BBQ almost cause me to forget I was driving a car at 100/km on the 401. When I heard the the LCBO interview it was clear that it was all about spoof. It had it’s moments, as you say they do carry of the interviews quite like any other CBC program but ultimately their humour falls short, seems once you “get it” they become repetitious and frankly boring. Even annoying, one skit on the last show has the interviewer constantly interrupt his guest to remind us that we are listening to CBC radio at…
I for one hope the powers to be do NOT renew their contract.
Comment by Desmond Clancy — September 5, 2010 @ 1:55 pm