As It Happens

"As It Happens: Radio that's a real troper."

This long-running Canadian radio show on CBC Radio One tackles news around the world, specializing in obscure but amusing news stories and giving alternate viewpoints on bigger stories. Their key feature is that they always use outgoing telephone interviews with newsmakers, as opposed to using their main studio for visitors or communicating with their secondary facilities. With humble beginnings in 1968 as "What's New in Saskatoon?", the show eventually changed its name and jumpstarted the careers of radio legends like Barbara Frum.

It is currently hosted by Carol Off and Barbara Budd.


 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff - As It Happens airs in dozens of countries around the world, but in Finland, fans will frequently get up at 5:30 a.m. local time to listen to the show.
 * Incredibly Lame Pun - Every intro ends with one of these.
 * The intro pun sometimes winds up being a Crowning Moment of Funny.
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis! - The classic "goddamn cabbage" interview given by Barbara Frum.
 * Real Song Theme Tune - Moe Kuffman's "Curried Soul".
 * Running Gag - Whenever a British city is mentioned on the show, its distance is measured from Reading. This became a running gag after London was mentioned as "thirty miles east of Reading".