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This Hour Has 22 Minutes is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics, combining news parody, sketch comedy and satirical editorials. Originally featuring Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey and Mary Walsh, the series featured satirical sketches of the weekly news and Canadian political events. The show's format is a mock news program, intercut with comic sketches, fake commercials and humorous interviews of public figures.
Its name is a parody of This Hour Has Seven Days, a CBC newsmagazine from the 1960s; the "22 Minutes" refers to the fact that a nominally half-hour television program is actually 22 minutes long to make room for commercials.
Jones and Walsh had previously worked together on the sketch comedy series CODCO, on which Thomey sometimes appeared as a guest. Mercer had been a notable young writer and performer on his own, touring several successful one-man shows of comedic political commentary.
Salter Street Films produced the series until the 2003-2004 season. Salter Street was acquired in 2001 by Alliance Atlantis, and production of the series was transferred directly to Alliance Atlantis in the twelfth season. As of 2005, Halifax Film produces the show.
Recognized with 24 Gemini Awards and 11 Canadian Comedy Awards, 22 Minutes is broadcast on the CBC Television network. It is taped before a studio audience in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The show would air on Fridays throughout its first ten years, but it currently airs Tuesdays at 8:30pm on CBC. The first two seasons have been released onto DVD, and are available for purchase from Halifax Film.
Episodes of the current season, Season XV, are available for download through iTunes Canada.
Title is a play on "This Hour Has Seven Days" (1964), a controversial weekly news program on the CBC that lasted only 50 episodes and was cut by the moral elite in the government which funded the network. As "22 Minutes" is actually only a half-hour show, with the usual commercial breaks, there's only the 22 minutes in the show each week.
Outspoken Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish was booted from the Liberal Party caucus by P.M. Paul Martin (XVI) a few days after stomping on a George W. Bush doll while filming a guest appearance for this show (November 2004).




