The ongoing tensions between the United States and Canada have been a fruitful source of material for late-night comedy. But it isn’t just Americans making sense of the situation through late-night comedy — there has been a surge in demand for these shows north of the border in Canada in recent months.
U.S. variety shows (“Saturday Night Live,” “The Daily Show,” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon”) accounted for three of the ten most in-demand shows in Canada in March. Tellingly, all of these have ranked higher among shows in Canada than in their U.S. home market.
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 U.S. 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 Jan. 13, 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 No.21 in this time period) “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” saw its highest demand in Canada following its episode that made sense of President Trump’s address to Congress, which mentioned Canada several times. It reached its peak rank in Canada on March 6 when it ranked as the No.6 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 United States. 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 U.S. 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 1 episode, the first to feature Mike Meyers’ portrayal of Elon Musk. In the closing credits, he was shown wearing a shirt that said “Canada Is Not for Sale.”
Mike Myers saw his highest demand in Canada on March 24, 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.
