Mercer not ruling out return trip
Niagara Falls segment airs tonight on The Rick Mercer Report
From Hornblower rides to cavernous tunnels to indoor skydiving with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, Rick Mercer is no stranger to Niagara Falls.
But he always had one itch to scratch before closing the book on The Rick Mercer Report: The Winter Festival of Lights.
Three weeks ago, he finally made the trip. The segment called for him to launch the fireworks show from the gorge during the festival’s opening night.
Only problem? It was pouring, and the fireworks were cut short. For most shows, the segment would be a writeoff. But as always, Mercer thrives when things appear to go off the rails.
“There’s no doubt about it, it was challenging,” he says over the phone Monday morning.
“This is the last season for the show, and this has been on our list for a while and just never happened. We really wanted to get it done, and we watched that (weather) satellite and it was grim! I’ve spent a lot of time looking at satellites, and it was about as grim as a satellite can get.”
The segment, airing tonight on The Rick Mercer Report (CBC, 8 p.m.), makes the best of a soggy opening night by relying on Mercer’s great gift as a comedian: Simply taking to people. It continues to serve him well as the show films its 15th and final season.
“If there’s people to talk to, I’ll get a segment,” he says. “I mean, I obviously like it when everything goes off (great) and everything is perfect, including the weather. But that’s the wildcard in Canada.”
Bone-chilling cold? Bring it on, says Mercer. There’s a good chance he’ll be facing it when he returns to Niagara Falls to host the live TV portion of this year’s New Year’s Eve concert at Queen Victoria Park, broadcast on CBC.
The show will feature live segments from New Year’s Eve events across the country, but will likely stay with Niagara Falls — and its gala fireworks show — for the midnight countdown.
It marks the concert’s return to television (albeit in shortened form) since Global pulled out of broadcasting the show two years ago because of cost concerns.
Last year, Mercer hosted New Year’s Eve from a blizzard at Parliament Hill. It only added to the Canadian-ness of it, he says.
“That’s like my show — I go out the door every week, and I’m just packed for it,” he says. “I’ve got rain, I’ve got cold, I’ve got everything. I’ve got every kind of parka you can imagine to handle anything Niagara Falls throws at me, I promise.”
With The Mercer Report wrapping up in April, The Festival of Lights segment is likely the show’s final visit to Niagara Falls. But Mercer isn’t ruling out another trip.
“The way The Mercer Report works is, we never really know where I’m going from week to week. So who knows, I could be back there in February, I don’t know.”
What he does know is that it comes to an end in four months. After 15 seasons and 16 Gemini/ Canadian Screen Awards, one of Canadian television’s most durable comedies will say goodbye.
Mercer tries not to think about it. Until everyone he talks to brings it up.
“Doing this show is so all-encompassing … it’s hard to focus on anything else at all,” he says. “I generally just put my head down and head to the finish line, and that’s what I’m doing this year like every other year. Except this conversation keeps coming up.
“What I haven’t come up with an answer to is what I’ll be doing next. But that was part of the plan, to take the time and figure that out.”