This Hour Has 22 Minutes

Regular characters and segments

• Talking to Americans - Rick Mercer tours the United States, talking to Americans as if from a Canadian news program, asking them about "Canadian issues." The object is to prove how little Americans know about their northern neighbours. The piece was so popular that the CBC had Mercer create a one-hour TV special based on the segment. It became the highest rated comedy special in Canadian television history. Some truly memorable bits include Rick Mercer getting Americans to say "Congratulations Canada on legalizing VCRs!" and getting a professor at Princeton University to sign a petition against the re-starting of the Annual Toronto Polar Bear Hunt. In an election 2000 segment, he convinced then-Governor of Texas George W. Bush that Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien was named Jean Poutine and that he was supporting Bush's candidacy.
• No Pun Intended - is a Ludacris-ish Indian rapper played by Shaun Majumder.
• Babe Bennett - A 22 Minutes "sexual affairs correspondent" played by Cathy Jones, Babe is a sassy suffragette, 1940s style, who talks about sexual matters. She ends each segment by saying "I'm just goofin' around, that's all!"
• Marg Delahunty - Mary Walsh crashes press conferences, hosts a "sleepover" for the nation's leading female (and gay) politicians, and threatens to "smite" the likes of politicians as "Marg Princess Warrior" (a loose parody of ). (View Photo)
• Mark Jackson - a teenage correspondent that talks to politicians who is played by Gavin Crawford. (The character is carried over from The Gavin Crawford Show.)
• Bas MacLaren - a 22 Minutes correspondent portrayed by Mark Critch. He talks to politicians about current events and is also one of the 22 Minutes anchors.
• Mrs. Enid & Eulalia - two elderly women who talk about daily events (portrayed by Cathy Jones and Mary Walsh)
• Raj Binder - a sweaty soft-spoken Indian sports nerd portrayed by Shaun Majumder, who has also been used as a behind-the-sceens interveiwer on the Just For Laughs comedy show. (View Raj's Website)
• Uwe Meyer - a fashion correspondent that Gavin Crawford portrays. (The character is carried over from The Gavin Crawford Show.)
• Streeters aka The Rant - a weekly commentary on current events and political issues which quickly became the show's most famous feature by Rick Mercer in black and white presentations. This segment was later used in colour presentations on the Rick Mercer Report series. (Streeters clip)
• Billyatropia Smithopolis - the outstanding Canadian sports athlete portrayed by Rick Mercer
• Dakey Dunn - A 22 Minutes "Male Correspondent" played by Mary Walsh, replete with gold chain, hairy chest, cigarette and beer, who regularly lays out a macho view of economic and cultural matters. This character was earlier used in the CODCO series. Dakey also once accosted Margaret Atwood at a book signing, reciting one of her most famous poems over and over again.
• Jerry Boyle - a Newfoundland separatist whose campaign slogan is "If you can mark an X, you're my kind of people!", portrayed by Greg Thomey (who also played Boyle as a recurring guest on CODCO.)
• Joe Crow - an Aboriginal environmental "correspondent" who talks about the environment, portrayed by Cathy Jones
• Mansbridge One on One - Colin Mochrie as journalist Peter Mansbridge in a spoof of Mansbridge's CBC Newsworld program Mansbridge One on One, where "Peter" has insightful interviews with himself.
• Max Pointy - A spoof of CBC personality Rex Murphy's political commentaries for The National, performed by Colin Mochrie. Max would start off with a legitimate political issue but end up on an unrelated and generally inane point by the end of his rant, much like the real Rex Murphy.
• Ottawa Gargoyle - a gargoyle, played by Thomey, who sits on top of the Parliament buildings and satirizes politicians, occasionally throwing hot oil on them.
• That Show Sucked! with Ma and Eddie Reardon who make fun of TV shows, with Ma saying that whatever show that Eddie watches "Suck" (portrayed by Mary Walsh & Greg Thomey)
• The Campbell Files with Sandy Campbell (portrayed by Cathy Jones) who talks about the entertainment industry
• The Quinlan Quints - four quintuplets (the fifth one went missing and has never been found) who live in Buchans, Newfoundland and Labrador; portrayed by Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey and Mary Walsh (Colin Mochrie plays Mercer's quint role for seasons 9 and 10).

CBC personality impersonations

• Rex Murphy - played by Mark Critch (also see the Max Pointy character who is also a parody-impersonation of Rex)
• Stuart MacLean - played by Gavin Crawford
• Ian Hanomansing - played by Shaun Majumder