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Steve Patterson of CBC's The Debaters.

Steve Patterson does not take sides. Hosting the radio and TV versions of CBC's The Debaters has taught the veteran stand-up comedian how to fully appreciate any given argument's opposing viewpoints, no matter how ridiculous.

The Montreal-born Patterson made his stand-up debut in his teens, but opted for a business degree and a postgraduate degree in media copywriting. His position at an advertising agency was terminated in 1996 when he made his copy for an amusement park "too amusing."

Patterson then dove headlong into comedy and spent the next several years touring Canada and Britain. In 2007, he was named host of CBC Radio One's The Debaters, which became a TV series this year.

As for his personal viewing habits, Patterson leans toward informative and eclectic programming, including these three current favourites.

The Colbert Report My kind of show. I love the format and the performance of Stephen Colbert, who is essentially playing a caricature of himself. And I love watching him interview people. I've never heard of them in most cases, but Colbert does a great job of making an interview entertaining and funny, as well as being informative. I'll often look up books or blogs being plugged.

Castle A bit of a guilty pleasure for me. The writing is strong and, being a comedian, obviously comedy keeps me interested, and very often they have humour written into the script, more so than other shows of that ilk.

Michael: Tuesdays & Thursdays It's a great show and I like that it doesn't shy away from the fact it's filmed in Ottawa, a Canadian city not often shown on television. It's not slapstick humour and, more importantly to me, it's not Curb Your Enthusiasm. Unlike many of my comedy brethren, I just can't watch that show.

The Debaters airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on CBC-TV.

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