The Debaters is a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 radio comedy show hosted by Steve Patterson

Steve Patterson (comedian)

Steve Patterson is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, writer, television and radio host, and television producer known for his satire and observational comedy.-Career:...

. It airs on CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...

 Saturdays at 1:00PM and Wednesdays at 11:30AM (both Eastern time, half an hour later in Newfoundland

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

).

The show was first broadcast in September 2006, replacing the long-running comedy show Madly Off in All Directions

Madly Off in All Directions

Madly Off in All Directions was a Canadian radio comedy show that aired for several years on CBC Radio One, featuring comedian Lorne Elliott. It formerly aired Sunday afternoons at 1PM , as well as on Saturday evenings on 6:30PM with repeats on Friday mornings at 11 AM...

. The show was created by Richard Side

Richard Side

Richard Side is the creator and producer of The Debaters, a radio and TV comedy series on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.He is also an actor and writer whose screen acting credits include the TV series Supernatural, Psych and Eureka and the feature film Elf. Side is a comedian specializing...

. It is produced by Tod Elvidge, Anna Bonokoski and Richard Side.

Each season has approximately 33 new episodes. These are recorded in front of live audiences in studios, theatres and clubs across Canada.

While the show is known officially in CBC listings as The Debaters, during the third broadcast the show was instead introduced as Master Debaters. Ever since then the show has reverted to its original, officially sanctioned name.

The host of the first season was Shaun Majumder

Shaun Majumder

-Life and career:Majumder was born in Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador to a European descended mother from Newfoundland and an Indian father. He started his entertainment career as an announcer for the YTV game show CLIPS, and soon was hosting the network's popular morning kids show Brain...

. The second season featured a succession of guest hosts, including Sean Cullen

Seán Cullen

Seán Cullen is a Canadian comedian. He is known for combining improvisation with mimicry and music. Cullen has been described in Time as the "vanguard of comedy's next generation". He is best known for voicing Four, Five & Seven in Seven Little Monsters. -Career:Cullen entered into the public eye...

, Elvira Kurt

Elvira Kurt

Elvira Kurt is a Canadian comedian and was the host of the entertainment satire/talk show PopCultured with Elvira Kurt on The Comedy Network in Canada. The show's style was similar to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and began in 2005, and was canceled due to poor ratings in early 2006...

, Patrick McKenna

Patrick McKenna

Patrick McKenna born May 8, 1960 in Sylvania, Saskatchewan is a Canadian comedic and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series The Red Green Show, Marty Stephens on Traders, and the Trudeau miniseries. McKenna is a member of Toronto's The Second City comedy troupe...

 and Roman Danylo

Roman Danylo

Roman Danylo is a Canadian comedian, improviser and actor based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He currently stars in the CTV television network show Comedy Inc.-Career:...

. As of the third season the regular host of the show is Steve Patterson.

Performers who have appeared on the show include Paul Bae, Irwin Barker

Irwin Barker

Irwin Barker was a Canadian comedian and writer. He wrote for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and The Rick Mercer Report, and was nominated for four Gemini Awards as a writer and one as stand-up performer for his 2005 performance at the Halifax comedy Festival...

, Sean Cullen

Seán Cullen

Seán Cullen is a Canadian comedian. He is known for combining improvisation with mimicry and music. Cullen has been described in Time as the "vanguard of comedy's next generation". He is best known for voicing Four, Five & Seven in Seven Little Monsters. -Career:Cullen entered into the public eye...

, Charles Demers, Gary Jones, Deb Kimmett, Elvira Kurt

Elvira Kurt

Elvira Kurt is a Canadian comedian and was the host of the entertainment satire/talk show PopCultured with Elvira Kurt on The Comedy Network in Canada. The show's style was similar to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and began in 2005, and was canceled due to poor ratings in early 2006...

, Marc Maron, J.P. Mass, Patrick McKenna

Patrick McKenna

Patrick McKenna born May 8, 1960 in Sylvania, Saskatchewan is a Canadian comedic and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series The Red Green Show, Marty Stephens on Traders, and the Trudeau miniseries. McKenna is a member of Toronto's The Second City comedy troupe...

, Mark Meer

Mark Meer

Mark Meer is a Canadian actor, writer and improvisor, based in Edmonton, Alberta. He is a core company member of the Canadian Comedy Award-winning live improvised soap opera Die-Nasty, and was the first performer to complete the annual 53-hour long Die-Nasty Soap-A-Thon without sleep.He is also a...

, Greg Proops

Greg Proops

Gregory Everett "Greg" Proops is an American actor, stand-up comedian and television host. He is widely known for his work as an improvisational comedian on the UK and U.S. versions of Whose Line Is It Anyway?...

, Sean Proudlove, Al Rae, Simon Rakoff

Simon Rakoff

Simon Rakoff is a Canadian comedian. He is the brother of humorist David Rakoff. He has appeared on numerous Canadian television shows and festivals, including the Winnipeg Comedy Festival and Just for Laughs...

, Dan Redican

Dan Redican

Dan Redican is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, The Frantics. As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage shows, the Frantic Times radio show, Four on the Floor TV show...

, Jeff Rothpan, Erica Sigurdson, Ron Sparks, Scott Thompson

Scott Thompson

Scott Thompson is a Canadian television actor and comedian, best known for his time as a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall.-Personal life:...

 and Mary Walsh.

In 2011, the series also taped a number of episodes for broadcast as a television series on CBC Television

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

.

Format

Each show is 30 minutes in length, and consists of two 15-minute debates. Two stand-up comedians are given a topical and sometimes complex matter to debate. One serves as advocate: the other takes the contrary view. The live audience ultimately decides who won the debate, based on a mix of "funny and fact", by applauding for the performer they thought did the best job. The comedian that gets the loudest round of applause wins.

There are four rounds to each debate: the first allows the comedian to state their position on the issue, which is followed by the "bare-knuckle round" where the two debaters spar with each other directly. This is followed by the "firing line" round where the host quizzes the debaters on their knowledge of the subject (where they can either provide the correct or most amusing answer), concluded by a one-minute summation. The live audience then votes by applauding for who they thought had the best combination of "laughs and logic".

Awards

The "Monotheism

Monotheism

Monotheism is the belief in the existence of one and only one god. Monotheism is characteristic of the Baha'i Faith, Christianity, Druzism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Samaritanism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.While they profess the existence of only one deity, monotheistic religions may still...

 vs. Polytheism

Polytheism

Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities also usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own mythologies and rituals....

" debate featuring Ron Sparks and Sean Cullen

Seán Cullen

Seán Cullen is a Canadian comedian. He is known for combining improvisation with mimicry and music. Cullen has been described in Time as the "vanguard of comedy's next generation". He is best known for voicing Four, Five & Seven in Seven Little Monsters. -Career:Cullen entered into the public eye...

 won the 2010 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Program or Clip.

Episode listing

Season	Ep #	First Airdate	Last Airdate
Season 1	33	September 9, 2006	June 30, 2007
Season 2	34	September 8, 2007	June 21, 2008

External links

• Official CBC listing for the show