25 Years of 22 Minutes: An Unauthorized Oral History of This Hour Has 22 Minutes, As Told by Cast Members, Staff, and Guests

by Angela Mombourquette

The final chaotic season of Codco had just wrapped when Mary Walsh sat down at a Toronto bistro with George Anthony, then creative head of CBC TV's arts programming. She'd been thinking about a news-based comedy show--did he think that would fly? He did. That was the early '90s. Twenty-five seasons later, hundreds of thousands of Canadians continue to tune in weekly to This Hour Has 22 Minutes for its unashamedly Canadian, bitingly satirical take on politics and power. 25 Years of 22 Minutes takes readers backstage to hear first-hand accounts of the show's key moments--in the words of the writers, producers, and cast members who were there. Readers will have a front-row seat to the birth of the show--including a crisis that had producers scrambling in the very first episode--and an insider's take on the highs, the lows and the daily grind behind the scenes at 22 Minutes.

Genres: Humor, Tv, History

304 pages, Hardcover

Published October 12, 2017

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Political Satire, Character Sketches, and Satirical News, oh my!
I really like the way this book, is laid out. All the people involved in the conception, follow-up, performance, and the production are recognized in this book. Imagine in this day and age a comedic version of the news becoming a long-running (25 years at the writing of this book) award-winning show coming out of the maritime provinces for the most part. The book is segmented by conversations with each of the people involved in any way with the show. Basically, the book is like an interview with each person; the fact this show ran on a significantly low budget (virtually none) is astonishing. At times it reminded me of the old Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney "We'll put on a show!" "Let's put on a show!" movies.

I really enjoyed how everyone would work on the ideas they came up with. Some of them though really comical, came off badly, which almost made them even funnier. If you were and still are a fan of the show, you will really enjoy this book. If you didn't always watch it, you will enjoy learning how it all went together and wish you'd watched it more. This is a genuine satirical Canadian TV show, with the humour of the Maritimes. No wonder it's had such a long run!

[R.J. Gilmour · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mombourquette's book is an oral history of the CBC satirical news program, 22 Minutes. Broken into sections that charts the history of the show over its 25 years, she interviewed not only the people who produced the show but also everyone who starred in it over the years. It is a fascinating, although often disjointed, history.

[Lauren Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

"22 minutes just has the hugest audience of great Canadians." (278)

This book was ok, but I found it very disorganized. It was sometimes hard to follow and keep up. It did have some funny bits and had some interesting bits.

This book was a quick read, as I read it in about 3 days!

I would recommend it to anyone into 22 minutes!

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lets start with: Overall I enjoyed this book. I LOVED the great memories of the different shows (Ones I distinctly remembered!) and I loved learning all about how things were put together and worked.

I was not a big fan, at first, of the format however it did break down the story into more readable portions. I was sad to see there was no input from Cathy or Mary in the book, and reading at the end that there were interviews done with Cathy I am a little mystified why at least a little bit of that was not included. It seemed relationships were strained there, which is a shame. Such a GREAT show, I truly love it. <3

For some more reading to add to your TBR list, checkout my videos on youtube channel BELINDA'S BOOK CLUB VLOG.