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Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by
Steven Joel Kerzner Steven Joel Kerzner is a Canadian actor, producer and television personality best known for his portrayal of Ed the Sock, originally appearing on CityTV and MuchMusic (until its decline in 2013). Kernzer has continued to portray the character thro ...
, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk show, '' Ed's Night Party''. He is a gray sock puppet with green hair, round eyes, a scowl, a cigar and a rough, gravelly voice. Since the acquisition of MuchMusic by
Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
, causing the cancellation of the majority of its music programming, the Ed the Sock character has continued to be portrayed through FU Network and NewMusicNation. Kerzner and his wife have since been accused of not paying collaborators, and of defrauding others with their crowdfunding.


History


Origination of the Character: Newton Cable (1984–1993)

Kerzner originated the character while working at Newton Cable, a small local station in Downsview, Ontario. During this time one of the public access shows the station produced needed a co-host on short notice, so Kerzner took a sock and other supplies from the station's craft closet and made a sock puppet with glue caps for eyes. He named the puppet Ed after
Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...
and co-hosted the segment himself. He enjoyed the experience and continued to do the character, improving the sock puppet's look and changing its voice somewhat over time. In these early years Ed the Sock served as the sidekick to ''The Late Late Show'''s human hosts, which included Stan Glass,
Harland Williams Harland Michael Williams (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian actor, comedian and writer. After several years of stand-up in Toronto and Los Angeles he made his film debut in ''Dumb and Dumber'' (1994) before playing starring roles in the short ...
and
Eric Tunney Eric Tunney (September 9, 1964 – March 28, 2010) was a Canadian writer, comedian and television host from Windsor, Ontario who hosted several television shows produced in both Canada and the U.S. and was a regular on the North American live com ...
(for almost three years). Tim Rykert also hosted for a time. By 1987 Kerzner became a producer and director of programming.


Rogers Cable (1993–1995)

After Newton was purchased by
Rogers Rogers may refer to: Places Canada *Rogers Pass (British Columbia) * Rogers Island (Nunavut) United States * Rogers, Arkansas, a city * Rogers, alternate name of Muroc, California, a former settlement * Rogers, Indiana, an unincorporated communit ...
in 1993, Kerzner repackaged ''The Late Late Show'' for a wider cable audience. At this point Tunney as its host and star. The new show attracted the interest of producer John Brunton, who took the program to
CITY-TV CITY-DT (channel 57) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television outlets CFMT-DT (chan ...
.


CityTV (1995–2008)


''Night Party''

The show, which would come to be known as ''Night Party'', debuted on February 10, 1995, at 10:30 pm Eastern Time. When Tunney left the show to pursue TV hosting and comedy opportunities in the U.S., he was replaced by "Humble" Howard Glassman (better known as half of the local radio morning show
Humble & Fred ''Humble & Fred'' is a Toronto-based Canadian podcast, featuring co-hosts "Humble" Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson. Available as a podcast since October 2011, the daily comedy-talk presentation was first launched over two decades earlier as ...
), and though Ed the Sock was the only returning element of the old show he was still a sidekick to the star and not the star himself. The synopsis of the show's first season reads: "Humble Howard and sidekick Ed the cigar smoking, wise-guy sock host a talk show featuring talent spotlights, celebrity interviews and studio audience interaction". Within the show's first year Brunton and Glassman both departed the series. Brunton cited creative differences with Kerzner, while Humble Howard said he simply could no longer stand working with Kerzner. Their relationship remains contentious today: After Humble Howard's departure the show continued with more focus on Ed and less on his human co-host. Canadian comedian Craig Campbell replaced Glassman and stayed with the show for a decade. Ed's longest running and arguably most popular co-host, Campbell had a very laid-back demeanor and took a more polite approach with the audience, playing "good cop" to Ed's cruder antics. In 2008 ''Ed's Night Party'' entered its 14th season and in a surprise move, Campbell was replaced by Steven Joel Kerzner's wife
Liana Kerzner Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk sh ...
(billing herself as "Liana K" and frequently referred to simply as "Red" by Ed). Ed's first female co-host, she was a busty
redhead Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...
who produced a pin-up calendar of herself which was offered for sale on Ed's website. Liana had dropped out of school in 1997 when she and Kerzner started dating to become a writer and co-producer on the show. After the addition of his wife as co-host in what would become its final season, the show was re-branded as ''Ed & Red's Night Party'' and increasingly emphasized appearances by porn stars, strippers in a hot tub, and the kind of frat-party excesses that Ed used to pillory.Ed the Sock
June 19, 2008 (Article by JD)
This resulted in criticism and complaints, largely from female viewers who grew tired of the shows rampant sexist clips and comments, which included such segments as ''LoCoDe'' (
Lowest Common Denominator In mathematics, the lowest common denominator or least common denominator (abbreviated LCD) is the lowest common multiple of the denominators of a set of fractions. It simplifies adding, subtracting, and comparing fractions. Description The low ...
), porn star visits, and weekly clips of drunk spring break girls in
Wet T-shirt contest A wet T-shirt contest is a competition involving exhibitionism, typically featuring young women contestants at a nightclub, bar, or resort. Wet T-shirt contestants generally wear white or light-colored T-shirts without bras, bikini tops, or oth ...
s with Ed providing joke commentary. In its 14th and final season the series was also broadcast on G4 in the U.S. as part of their ''Midnight Spank'' late night television programming block. In June 2008, Rogers announced that ''Ed & Red's Night Party'' would be canceled as of August 31, 2008, in an effort to attract female viewers, who disapproved of Ed's politically incorrect and sexist shtick.
THE TORONTO STAR, June 25, 2008 (Article by Raju Mudhar)
The final show aired Friday, August 29, 2008. This also marked the end of Kerzner's relationship with both ''Much'' and '' Citytv'', with Kerzner stating after Rogers announced their decision to ax Ed the Sock: "It appears Citytv is heading towards something more of a women's channel, I don't know." After ''Night Partys cancellation, Kerzner stated that the Ed character would live on in other projects that were already in the works, "for this fall or possibly a few months after that", including other shows on competing networks and a feature film, though these projects never materialized and he remained off the air for more than two years.


Ed's Nite In

At CityTV, Ed also hosted ''Ed's Nite In'', a short-lived series in which he would invite "friends" over to watch (and make fun of) bad movies. The show was slightly different from Ed's later bad movie show ''
This Movie Sucks! ''This Movie Sucks!'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''TMS!'') is a Canadian comedy television series hosted by Ed the Sock, premiering on May 28, 2010, two years after '' Ed's Night Party'' went off the air. The show is similar to another former Ed th ...
'' in that the movies they broadcast were more current in ''Ed's Nite In'' and Ed and his friends did not comment during the movies, only before and after commercial breaks, which also included sketches.


MuchMusic (1995–2005)

After moving ''Night Party'' to '' Citytv'', Ed also began making appearances concurrently on MuchMusic. This lasted from the mid-1990s until he was released by ''Much'' in 2005.


Ed's Big Wham Bam

While at ''Much'', Ed hosted the short-lived series ''Ed's Big Wham Bam'', a live weekly two-hour program that featured viewers performing talents such as singing, dancing, and cooking. The show was canceled by the network due to poor ratings.


Fromage takeover

In the late 1990s, MuchMusic VJ
Christopher Ward Christopher Ward may refer to: * Christopher Ward (British politician) (born 1942), British solicitor and Conservative Party politician * Christopher Ward (conductor) (born 1980), British conductor * Christopher Ward (entomologist) (1836–1900), E ...
, the creator of Much's annual ''
Fromage ''Fromage'' is an annual Canadian one-hour special produced by the MuchMusic cable channel. ''Fromage'' paid "tribute" to music videos considered the worst or cheesiest of the year by MuchMusic staff. History The special was created in 1988 ...
'' special (so named because it mocked the year's "cheesiest"
music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
), decided to no longer host the show himself. Ed accepted an offer to take over hosting duties, which he did until Much canceled the specials in 2005. ''Fromage'' may be the most popular project Ed has been involved with, and he has repeatedly stated that he plans to bring it back in some form.


CHCH-TV Hamilton (2010–2012)


This Movie Sucks!

In 2010, after more than two years off the air, Ed returned to television on regional
CHCH-TV CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero (company), Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Ham ...
in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...
with ''
This Movie Sucks! ''This Movie Sucks!'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''TMS!'') is a Canadian comedy television series hosted by Ed the Sock, premiering on May 28, 2010, two years after '' Ed's Night Party'' went off the air. The show is similar to another former Ed th ...
'', which was similar to his previous ''CityTV'' show ''Ed's Nite In''. Kerzner relied on the use of student interns from nearby Mohawk College and the show was initially plagued with technical issues. The show was once again co-hosted by his wife Liana K and featured comedian Ron Sparks. In each two hour episode Ed has guests over to watch (and make fun of) a bad movie. ''This Movie Sucks!'' was named one of the five best television shows of 2010 by ''Toronto Entertainment'' and one of the three best new shows of 2010 by ''Excalibur Magazine''. A third season of ''This Movie Sucks!'' was reported to be in production but never materialized, with ''CHCH'' announcing that no future episode screenings were planned.


I Hate Hollywood

Produced concurrently with ''This Movie Sucks!'' on CHCH-TV was another Ed-hosted series called ''
I Hate Hollywood ''I Hate Hollywood'' is a Canadian television series, which premiered on CHCH-TV and in syndication in May 2012. Hosted by Ed the Sock and Liana Kerzner and featuring co-writer Ron Sparks, the series is a satire of entertainment news Infotai ...
,'' which Kerzner based on ''Fromage'''s style and template.CHCH expands programming for fall
Media in Canada, July 27, 2010 (Article by Katie Bailey)
CHCH-TV 'tweaks' format
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR, August 26, 2010 (Article by Steve Arnold)
It was originally supposed to premiere in September 2010, but was pushed back several times until it finally began airing on Wednesday nights, beginning May 2, 2012. The show, once again co-hosted by his wife Liana, made fun of the latest
celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...
and news but only lasted a few episodes before being canceled by the network. Ed the Sock has not had a show on network TV since this show's cancellation by CHCH.


The Being Frank Show

Ed briefly became Frank D'Angelo's sidekick on The Being Frank Show in 2011–2012, which aired during late night infomercial slots purchased by host and beer entrepreneur Frank D'Angelo on ''CHCH-TV'', the same network that aired ''This Movie Sucks!'' and ''I Hate Hollywood''.


FU Network

After launching fundraisers beginning in 2015, in late 2016 Ed the Sock announced the ''FU Network'', a video sharing website, from which he would share old and new clips. He also announced he would begin
live stream Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but n ...
ing a new live weekly show from the entrance/lobby of the
Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and r ...
restaurant in downtown
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
called ''Live from Canada, It's Ed the Sock!'' The Toronto location of Hard Rock Cafe closed on May 31, 2017, making future shows from that location impossible. In April 2017, Ed posted a video to his YouTube channel called "Who Murdered MuchMusic", documenting what he refers to is the demise and downfall of the Canadian music channel by pointing the finger at
Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...
and claiming that their behind the scenes management killed the station. The video was pulled by YouTube after Bell Media complained about copyright infringement stemming from Kerzner's use of footage and logos owned by the company. In July 2018, he launched an Indiegogo campaign to have the network officially launch online, promising to bring back old ''MuchMusic'' shows from the 1990s and early 2000s. Although his Indiegogo campaign failed to reach his goal of $35,000, Ed announced that he had met the goal through additional
PayPal PayPal Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational financial technology company operating an online payments system in the majority of countries that support online money transfers, and serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper ...
donations people had also made, and that the ''FU Network'' launched as planned, it has since been merged with Ed's website.


NewMusicNation (2021)

In 2021, Ed launched an Indiegogo campaign and website to support NewMusicNation, an online platform for new Canadian music with new VJs. The platform also seeks to support musical acts who have been heavily impacted by the
COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...
.


Controversies


Futurecon

Kerzner sponsored the failed Toronto-based FutureCon convention, co-created and chaired by his wife Liana, and appeared as Ed at both of FutureCon's annual New Year's Eve events at the Markham Holiday Inn until the convention ceased operations in 2012, due to the Kerzners' falling out with their epileptic nephew and his family.


Night Party

''Night Party'' aired in the late-night slot because of its overt depictions of sexuality, primarily involving sexualized, scantily clad (frequently topless) women and Ed's off-color remarks. The show was dismissed by many critics as nothing more than dirty "vaudeville schtick" overly relying on sex and bathroom jokes, with a "phallic in nature and attitude" host described as a "prurient party animal who feeds on his own misanthropy and sexism" and whose comedy, "vacillating between penetrating satire and pointless vulgarity" appealed only to "17 year old boys". Because of the crude, sexist humor, coarse language and nudity, a
disclaimer A disclaimer is generally any statement intended to specify or delimit the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties in a legally recognized relationship. In contrast to other terms for legally operative langua ...
had to preface the airing of every episode in the series' run. Complaints were filed with the
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) is an industry funded self-regulating organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its own members, Canada's private broadcasters. The coun ...
throughout the show's run because of the prevalent "sexism" and allegations the show was "derogatory to women", with some of those complaints upheld. A January 2004 episode received criticism and complaints after Ed, Craig and Liana jokingly compared sex with women to stabbing women. In a further CBSC decision in March 2005 following a separate complaint, it was ruled that the viewer advisory screened before and during episodes of Night Party was insufficient under the CBA Code of Ethics and needed to be strengthened. Most infamously, following a stunt with a porn star named Doria in 1999, in which she stripped naked and pretended to have sex in "cowgirl" position with the Ed puppet on her hotel bed, many viewers complained and several stations dropped the show, including the entire province of Alberta where the show was banned for some time.


Triumph the Insult Comic Dog

Kerzner has accused
Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is a puppet character created, puppeteered and voiced by Robert Smigel. As his name indicates, Triumph's comedic style is almost exclusively insult comedy. A Montenegrin Mountain Hound, Triumph often puffs a cigar ...
's creator
Robert Smigel Robert Smigel (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, writer, director, producer, and puppeteer, known for his ''Saturday Night Live'' " TV Funhouse" cartoon shorts and as the puppeteer and voice behind Triumph the Insult Comic D ...
of ripping off Ed the Sock. The controversy dates back to 1997 when Kerzner claims Ed was set to appear on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...
'' but was suddenly cancelled, months before Smigel's Triumph debuted on that show. Conan and NBC maintain that Ed was never even tentatively booked to appear on the show. Kerzner afterwards expressed such resentment towards Triumph and Smigel that NBC stated they "didn't want Ed anywhere near Triumph" when Conan visited Canada for a week of shows during February 2004, with the Canadian network complying. When Smigel and Pets.com became embroiled in lawsuits over the Triumph and Pets.com dog puppet characters, Kerzner renewed his claims that Triumph had ripped him off. Kerzner claimed that he did not sue Smigel because "we don't want to give that dog that much attention."


Other

In 2005, Kerzner's ''Ed's Night Party'' co-producer James Stamos was ejected from a
Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...
game for wearing a shirt promoting the show that other fans complained was offensive. An usher asked him to turn the shirt inside out, but Stamos refused. After being announced as one of the 2007 Beaches Lions Club Easter Parade marshals, Ed the Sock was removed following dozens of complaints by concerned Beaches residents. The organizers determined Kerzner's act was "too raunchy for a community event" and replaced him with fellow Canadian comedian
Luba Goy Luba Goy ( uk, Люба Ґой; born November 8, 1945) is a Canadian actress, comedian and one of the stars of ''Royal Canadian Air Farce''. Life and career Goy was born in Haltern, Germany, to Ukrainian parents and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Ca ...
(of the
Royal Canadian Air Farce The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...
comedy troupe). In 2020, Ed the Sock was criticized for what were described as racist comments concerning New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh. NDP MP Don Davies described Ed the Sock's use of "Jughead" to refer to Singh as "pure racism"; several Liberal MPs including Health Minister
Patty Hajdu Patricia A. Hajdu (; born November 3, 1966) is a Canadian politician who has served as the minister of Indigenous services since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, she also serves as the member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Supe ...
and Minister of Digital Government
Joyce Murray Joyce Murray (born July 11, 1954) is a Canadian politician, businesswoman and environmental advocate. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, she has represented the riding of Vancouver Quadra in the House of Commons since 2008. She was re-e ...
condemned Ed the Sock's comments.


Inspirations

Ed's look has become more well defined over the years but is a basic
sock puppet A sock puppet or sockpuppet is a puppet made from a sock or a similar garment. The puppeteer wears the sock on a hand and lower arm as if it were a glove, with the puppet's mouth being formed by the region between the sock's heel and toe, and ...
design very similar to any other, such as
Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, and symphonic conductor. She wa ...
's famous Lamb Chop and other sock puppet characters. Kerzner has claimed that Ed's voice is based on two actual people (non-celebrities), a friend's father and step-father, whose names remain undisclosed. However at other times he has said that Ed's voice is a combination of a “friend’s dad, Oscar the Grouch and
Jack Klugman Jack Klugman (April 27, 1922 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He began his career in 1950 and started television and film work with roles in '' 12 Angry Men'' (1957) and '' Cry Terror!'' (1958). ...
from ''
The Odd Couple Odd Couple may refer to: Neil Simon play and its adaptations * ''The Odd Couple'' (play), a 1965 stage play by Neil Simon ** ''The Odd Couple'' (film), a 1968 film based on the play *** ''The Odd Couple'' (1970 TV series), a 1970–1975 televisi ...
''.” The name "Ed" was inspired by actor
Ed Asner Eddie Asner (; November 15, 1929 – August 29, 2021) was an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild. He is best remembered for portraying Lou Grant during the 1970s and early 1980s, on both ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' a ...
who Kerzner enjoyed watching in ''
The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Mo ...
'' and whose gruff voice is another inspiration for the puppet.


Other appearances

Despite being a vocal critic of Video on Trial and saying he would never appear on it because in his opinion it was never as good as ''Fromage'', Ed was a guest on that show in 2013, nine years after his days as a regular at MuchMusic had ended. It was supposed to be a chance for Ed to reach a "nationwide audience" again, and "expose Ed to a whole new generation." Kerzner said Ed would be in the show's regular rotation of comedians after that, but he never appeared on the show again. Ed has made some radio appearances and has guested at sci-fi conventions. Kerzner sponsored and co-hosted as Ed (with his wife Liana) the first Constellation Awards in 2007. He also was an advice columnist for ''Faze Magazine'' in 2001 and 2002. On June 23, 2011, Ed and Liana began hosting the short-lived ''Ed & Red's Podcast'' for gwmp.tv. They have announced plans to bring their podcast back in some form. In 2011 Ed made several appearances as Frank D'Angelo's sidekick on The Being Frank Show, a paid infomercial program on CHCH-TV, the same network which formerly produced ''This Movie Sucks!'' and ''I Hate Hollywood''. Kerzner also appeared as a stand-up comedian in his friend Frank D'Angelo's independent film
The Joke Thief ''The Joke Thief'' is a 2018 Canadian drama film written by, produced by, directed by and starring Frank D'Angelo. Plot Cast *Frank D'Angelo as Simon McCabe * Sugith Varughese as Jerry the Uber Driver *Daniel Baldwin as Freddy C. *John Ashton a ...
. In 2018 Ed appeared as a guest on the fourth episode of ''Quillettes''
Wrongspeak ''Quillette'' () is an online magazine founded by Australian journalist Claire Lehmann. The magazine primarily focuses on science, technology, news, culture, and politics. It also has a podcast, hosted by Jon Kay. ''Quillette'' was created in ...
podcast. Ed has made several attempts to be asked to appear on the
Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
but has not been successful as of yet. He claims the Junos have a "grudge" against him.


FU Party

In 2010, Ed announced his intention to run for
Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...
in the 2011 federal election as head of the new FU Party, a joke political party never registered with
Elections Canada Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...
, which he claimed stood for "Fed-Up Party". The FU Party's stated goals included "fighting apathy and stupidity in government". Throughout the campaign the "FU Party News Centre" posted links to various articles and videos trying to encourage people to vote and criticizing the political establishment, especially the Conservative government and re-election campaign of Stephen Harper. Around this time, Ed also started his own
WordPress WordPress (WP or WordPress.org) is a free and open-source content management system (CMS) written in hypertext preprocessor language and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database with supported HTTPS. Features include a plugin architecture ...
blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...
called "Nobody's Puppet!" where he elaborated his thoughts on politics but also on the media industry. He searched for volunteer candidates to run in ridings across Canada, as well as a volunteer "Facebook expert" to help promote Ed and his party, until April 2011. Although the Conservatives actually picked up 23 seats and the Liberals lost 43, Ed declared victory for the FU Party on April 28, 2011, claiming that he had successfully assailed apathy and taking credit for the record turnout at advance polls, although actual
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...
ended up being only slightly higher than in
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, which helped the governing
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
to win a majority of seats.Low voter turnout Monday helps deliver Conservatives' coveted majority
The Canadian Press, May 3, 2011
After the election Ed stated that the "Orange Surge" showed Canadians had learned that they have a choice. While not officially endorsing the New Democratic Party, Ed stated that the "NDP has become the FU vote". Ed also stated he hopes the FU Party will continue to provide "smartass commentary for a dumbass political establishment". In the 2015 election, Ed once again announced he was running for Prime Minister under the FU banner.


See also

*''
This Movie Sucks! ''This Movie Sucks!'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''TMS!'') is a Canadian comedy television series hosted by Ed the Sock, premiering on May 28, 2010, two years after '' Ed's Night Party'' went off the air. The show is similar to another former Ed th ...
'' * ''
Ed & Red's Night Party ''Ed & Red's Night Party'' (formerly called ''Ed's Night Party'' and sometimes referred to simply as ''Ed the Sock'') is a former Canadian talk variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made ...
''


References


External links

* * {{Ed the Sock Puppets Much (TV channel) personalities Canadian television talk show hosts Canadian music critics Fictional characters from Toronto Fictional interviewers Fictional television personalities Socks Canadian VJs (media personalities)