Ahhh, poor Ted. What will he do now? Return to Kingston, his hometown? Let's hope not. LOL

There was an incredibly funny article about him in Maclean's last year. I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

Found it: What a Tool: The sad, sorry life of Canadian Tire's tool guy

<small><small>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.</small></small>

I don't think they should have been fired: clearly, the ad campaign worked. Why else would it get ink that they got fired? Even people who hated them were thinking about the products and the company and thought enough about it to have an opinion on an *ad campaign*. Wow. Good PR.

I haven't had a problem with him ~ I've admired his helpful nature, good neighbourliness, and in-depth product knowledge.

We pursecute a man for that!?!?!?

You won't have CTG to kick around anymore!

I knew there was something Nixonian about the man. He probably had a Mastercraft 3000 Surveillance Kit set up monitoring all his nieghbours, supposedly to ensure they had the best tools available to them at all times.

Sure, his neighbourhood will now have their freedom to shop elsewhere, but at what price? at what price?! Smudgey windshields, rumbly car engines, unclean deck surfaces. Things are gonna get alot worse before they get better.

And pursecute is not normally spelled this way!

We clearly lack a Mastercraft 3000 spellchecker around here. We should have picked one up when Ted and Gloria were flogging them for just $169.99.

And the CTC Guy can't spl werth a shirt (nieghbour)

Clearly a man who has bought the wrong rake for years.

Oh my, my, my! Just checking to see what's being said about me on one of hometown blogs!

You're too close to the character, Ted. It's just a character.

Is this what lawyers do when their not lawyering?

No, we powerwash things. Incessently. Except when we are ratchetting extremely efficiently thanks to the Mastercraft 3000 two way extend-a-head ratchet set. Or buying hockey tape.

Did you hear the one about the lawyer who went to Canadian Tire . . . oh, forget about it!

Let me say this, though. I can't think on a single character in Canadian TV advertising (including beer ads) that has been as successful as Ted-the-neighbour-guy-with-all-the-stuff. I was thinking of the Imperial Oil guy from <i>Hockey Night In Canada</i> in the 50s and 60s as maybe the last one who represented something so clearly. What is interesting about the Ted and Gloria ads is that they were suburban, which is a part of Canadian that never really gets represented. Plus, I can only think that the mild irritation in the character was consciously done. The schtick is/was so ever so slightly over the top. It is not the sort of think you expect from a Canadian ad. So, let's just be clear that its effectiveness is a bit part of its legacy. Otherwise who else could have bumped off...what were their names...Albert and Tony...the hockey playing kids of the 70s.

There were a couple of times during their pitchman days when Ted & Gloria came across as a wee bit smug and smarmy. But on the whole, I would be glad to have neighbours like them. Beats the hell out of my current tree-hugging, Green Party-voting neighbours who never rake their leaves, never clear their driveway or sidewalk of snow, have three cars for two drivers (one car presumed dead and abandoned in the backyard), and have asked five times over half a year (and been granted permission each time) to remove our common hedge.

Well, we can always get a little Ted fix if necessary by going to see his picuture on the wall of fame in the LCVI library.

They are just checking whether you hate hedges. It is a Green party membership criterion.

You know, I was reminded of my days as a play house usher in Halifax and the hard gig it is to be an actor generally and especially in Canada so I am glad to point out that the job that actor Ted has done has resulted in him becoming a Canadian icon. But sociologically I also find it very interesting that it is an icon, like Tims has become, somewhere on the same continuum on which Leonard Cohen equals all the canoes.

I actually like the hedge -- in the fall, it prevents all of their unraked leaves from blowing onto my driveway, lawn and backyard.

The neighbor-wife claimed that it was hard to see her toddlers wandering down the street with the midriff-high hedge in the way. So I agreed, in the interests of neighborliness, that the hedge was not 100% critical to the landscape, and that it could be cut down without any subsequent consultation at any time of their choosing.

I find it interesting and typically Canadian that so many people despise Ted's character.

I had the good fortune to work with him for a short time when he played the lead in the Kingston Meistersinger production of Don Quixote. Ted was interested enough in helping out an amateur production in his home town that he agreed to work the show for free. Unfortunately, as with most theatre in Kingston, it wasn't on the short list of "approved" shows and bombed.

Ted was a class act and I, for one, wish him well. My comments above notwithstanding. I still think the Maclean's piece was funny as hell. ;-)

But the real test is, did Ted help out with set design and construction? Is there any hint of latent handy-man-ness behind the starving-community-theatre veneer?

Now I am really feeling badly. Half the people I work with know Ted the actor and say he is a great guy. Repeat after me:<blockquote class="smalltext">I should not assume people who comment under names of people being discussed are not the real people being discussed.<br>I should not assume people who comment under names of people being discussed are not the real people being discussed.<br>I should not assume people who comment under names of people being discussed are not the real people being discussed...</blockquote>

I'd have to guess "no". I say guess, because my wife tempted me with a wonderful trip, so I had to resign from the crew before the rehearsls were very far underway. Listening to "Dream the Impossible Dream" night after night, while an attractived prospect, couldn't really compete with visiting Thailand and Malaysia.

Actors and techies are from the extreme ends of the handiness spectrum. Frankly, the thought of an actor wielding any sort of tool, powered or not, conjures up an incredible mix of extreme amusement and abject horror.

While I have heard a lot of criticism over the years about the Canadian Tire ads I rather enjoyed the campaign and the actors/characters. Whether you liked the characters or not there is no disputing the effectiveness of the ads. Heck, in my case, they may have been too effective. I have only used my powerwasher once and the laser level sits comfortably in its original package. Each winter we put on our winter wiper blades (even if purchased from somewhere other than CT)because the ads ponted out their virtues. As noted by another reader the fact that this is a big news items is more proof that these ads had an impact. Well, gotta go...its time for a body break with Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod.

Molson's (or some such other brewery) should pick them up for a parody campaign.

Perfect: you can see it: you and the guys enjoying a few pops on your happily cluttered, tired, worn-looking deck, and the know-it-all neighbour shows up with the newfangled Crappy Tire Deck/Power Washer. Pandemonium ensues....(no former Canadian Tire spokespeople were actually harmed in the making of this commercial)...

TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED TED.<p>[Ed.: <i>No personal info please.</i>]

Ted simonett is a very annoying acter when he comes on tv right in the middle of ur show. however i dont think hes a bad person and i think u shud give him a break. hes just a paid actor and hes doing his job. leave him alone.

I think I already did.

i know. i meant all of these other losers

get rid of hal johnson and joan macleod please they are just as bad as the canadian tire clowns who don't know anything about fixing problems. If you actually fixed things for a living you wouldn't buy them at crappy tire. Hal and Joanne are hawking their crappy exercise junk on tv and the shopping channel and always on some program trying to sell some book on eating right or something of the like yet they don't look like anyone I know that works out and eats properly. They look like they don't miss any meals or snacks.

fire Ben Molroney the most anyonning person on tv