AIR FARCE veteran Jessica Holmes returns after a six-year hiatus
New airdate and – for the first time in AIR FARCE history – the women out-number the men!
AIR FARCE’s long-standing New Year’s Eve tradition continues this year – but fans won’t need to wait quite as long to see it! AIR FARCE’s annual recap of the year gone by will premiere one day early, Friday, December 30, 2016 at 8:00 PM (8:30 NT) on CBC.
AIR FARCE is one of Canada's longest-running television comedies and highest-rated entertainment specials. An average audience of nearly 1.25 million Canadians watched AIR FARCE NEW YEAR’S EVE last year on CBC, with a total reach of more than 2.5 million viewers over the course of the show (Source: Numeris TV Meter, Dec. 31, 2015, CBC Total, A2+, Thurs 8-9pm, Total Canada, AMA, generated by InfoSys+TV).
AIR FARCE NEW YEAR’S EVE 2016 stars founding troupe members Don Ferguson and Luba Goy, veterans Jessica Holmes (The Holmes Show, The Itch) – back in full Farce-mode for the first time since 2010 – and Craig Lauzon (Fool Canada, The Ron James Show), with Aisha Alfa (The Beaverton, Degrassi), Darryl Hinds (My Babysitter’s a Vampire, Little Mosque on the Prairie) and Emma Hunter (The Beaverton, Mr. D). The special is directed by Rob Lindsay and Wayne Moss.
As is tradition, joining the cast for the one-hour special are some very special guests: Yannick Bisson (Murdoch Mysteries) takes a side gig as a Canada 150 re-enactor; Peter Mansbridge prepares for his final sign-off with a stab at fake news; and soccer superstar Christine Sinclair fans the Olympic flame for a young admirer. There will be special appearances from Hockey Night in Canada’s Ron MacLean, party leaders Tom Mulcair and Elizabeth May, and MPs Tony Clement and David Christopherson.
AIR FARCE NEW YEAR’S EVE 2016 satirizes and salutes the biggest news stories, events, people, and pop culture phenomena of the past year, from Rihanna to Stranger Things to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The special takes on the year’s biggest crazes, including zombies, Fitbit, and Pokemon Go. Capping off the special is the infamous F-BOMB. A longstanding tradition, AIR FARCE fans sound off on the most irritating targets of the past year at airfarce.com and the top five picks get the richly-deserved Farce Bomb filled with monstrously messy guck dropped from 50 feet above.
Encore broadcasts of AIR FARCE NEW YEAR’S EVE 2016 will air on the night of December 31 as follows: full-hour at 10 p.m. in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec; full hour at 12:05 a.m. in British Columbia, Alberta and the North; and a 30-minute version at 11 p.m. in the Maritimes and 30-minute version at 12 a.m. in Newfoundland. In addition, the full one-hour special will air again on January 1 at 7 p.m. (7:30 NT).
For more details and updates, visit airfarce.com.
WEBSITE
airfarce.com
FACEBOOK
Facebook.com/AirFarceCBC
TWITTER
@AirFarceCBC
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About AIR FARCE:
May the Farce be with you! A comedy staple for Canadians looking for homegrown laughs, AIR FARCE is one of the most popular and enduring comedy troupes in Canadian history. What began as a topical sketch comedy troupe (1970), skewering Canadian politics, current affairs and pop culture, grew into a radio series running for 24 seasons on CBC Radio (1973–1997), and spawning national concert tours, live stage productions, home audio and video releases, a book and several television specials. It became a weekly television series and ran for 16 highly successful seasons on CBC-TV (1993-2008), and the annual New Year’s television special (1992–present) continues to be a ratings hit today. AIR FARCE has received many awards and accolades. The troupe became the first Canadian inductees into the International Humour Hall of Fame in 1992 and was inducted into the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame in 2001. They are the recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 1998 and received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2000. At the 2000 Gemini Awards, AIR FARCE received both the Earle Grey Award for AIR FARCE’s body of work in Canadian television, and the viewer-voted People’s Choice Award for favourite television program. AIR FARCE is produced by Don Ferguson Productions Ltd. in association with CBC. Visit www.airfarce.com for more information.
About CBC/Radio-Canada:
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. We are Canada’s trusted source of news, information and Canadian entertainment. Deeply rooted in communities all across the country, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also provide international news and information from a uniquely Canadian perspective. In 2017, CBC/Radio-Canada will be at the heart of the celebrations and conversations with special 2017-themed multiplatform programming and events across Canada.
For interview requests:
Margaret Sirotich, Publicist, AIR FARCE, 647-466-1746 or msirotich@sympatico.ca
Simon Bassett, Publicist, CBC, 416-205-8533 or simon.bassett@cbc.ca
