Image: The Daily Show, Comedy Central
The ongoing tensions between the United States and Canada have been a fruitful source of material for comedians. In an ironic twist, even as Canada battles American tariffs, boycotting a number of American goods, there is one US import Canadians can't resist: the razor-sharp commentary of late-night comedy shows. Three of the ten most in-demand shows in Canada in March have been US variety shows (“Saturday Night Live,” “The Daily Show,” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”). Tellingly, all of these have ranked higher among shows in Canada than in their home market, the US.
Particular events on these shows have helped to draw Canadian audiences to them in the past few months. On “The Tonight Show,” Jimmy Fallon quipped about the US annexing Canada and jokingly suggested that Canada could take back Canadian actor Ryan Gosling. The current Canadian PM, Mark Carney, was a guest on “The Daily Show” on January 13th and in a reminder of how real political events sometimes intersect with late night comedy, he launched his campaign to be leader of the Liberal Party of Canada three days after his appearance.
While it didn’t make the top 10 by demand (it ranked #21 in this time period) “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” saw its highest demand in Canada following its episode making sense of President Trump’s address to Congress which mentioned Canada several times. It reached its peak rank in Canada on March 6th when it ranked as the 6th most in-demand show overall.
“Saturday Night Live” has a long history of turning political news into comedy gold and this model doesn’t only work in the US. The sketch comedy show ranks as the most in-demand series overall in Canada in March. Its skits lampooning the latest political news of the week often feature high profile guests and have become popular around the world for the comedic, if not insightful, lens they put on US politics.
But the show has a secret weapon for breaking through with Canadian audiences recently. SNL alum and Canadian actor, Mike Myers, was tapped to play Elon Musk. “Saturday Night Live” saw its demand in Canada spike after its March 1st episode, the first featuring Mike Meyers portraying Elon Musk. In the closing credits he was shown wearing a shirt saying “Canada Is Not for Sale.”
Mike Myers saw his highest demand in Canada on March 24th, not after an SNL episode but following a political ad for Canada’s Liberal Party that he released with Mark Carney. Both Myers and the Canadian PM understand how American late night is an effective platform for raising their profile - even in Canada.
