Saturday, March 11, 2006
Death of an Icon
Today is a very sad day for Canadian comedy. Canadian Tire has announced that they are retiring Ted, the Canadian Tire Guy.
My apologies to my American readers. No amount of explanation or subtitling can adequately explain or convey how profoundly important Ted had become to the Canadian humour psyche. Know only that he was a fictional character who knew a lot about tools and that he was loved. And hated. OK, mostly hated, but it was the good kind of hate, the funny kind.
To my Canadian readers (if I still have any), I would like to invite you to use this space as a book of remembrance for your favourite Canadian Tire Guy memories, both real and parody.
Allow me to kick things off. My favourite Canadian Tire Guy parody was a recent one on This Hour Has 22 Minutes. A neighbour comes over to tell Ted that the neighbour's wife has died. Ted responds to all of the neighbour's comments with typical home-handyman advice:
"Raising the kids without Susan is going to be a really tough job for me," says the bereaved neighbour.
"Whenever I have a tough job, I rely on the Mastercraft 600 cordless power drill set. It's Switch-and-Go tip makes changing bits a snap!" says faux Canadian Tire Guy.
Ted, the Canadian Tire Guy, 1998-2006. Rest in peace, Ted. We hardly knew ye.
- MTMT
posted by Mentok @ 11:45 a.m.,
4 Comments:
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At 4:44 p.m.,
Bathroom Hippo said...
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He the American version of Larry the Cable guy? -
At 10:26 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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No, Larry the Cable Guy is a stand-up comedian who is actually trying to be funny. The Canadian Tire Guy was just the long-time TV ad mascot for a chain of hardware stores. He wasn't trying to be funny, but his know-it-all attitude was so aggravating that everyone loved to parody him. Bob Villa or what's-his-name, the other guy from Home Improvement would be the closest US equivalents, but they're not particularly close.
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At 7:46 p.m.,
NL-ExPatriate said...
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Just for you My Mentok.
http://www.youtube.com/ -
At 9:13 p.m.,
mkecurler said...
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My deepest symapathy for you at this time of yout loss Mentok.
Ordering Corner gas this week :)
