I took the dog out for a walk on Monday and because it was Christmas night, the pickings on the radio were pretty slim if you didn't want all-Yule-all-the-time. Which is how I accidentally stumbled on Ed the Sock on, of all places, Sauga 960. 

I'm not a big fan of his schtick and normally, he's not someone I would pay much attention to. But this time, he had me riveted. He went off in a big way on two of his former producers at MuchMusic, excoriating them for incompetence, stupid ideas, and poor judgment. He recalled the days of "Fromage," a hit show he used to do, complaining bitterly about how this "idiot" producer tried to make the program unwatchable through dumb ideas.

So he used to tape it the day before it went on the network to ensure there wouldn't be any time to make changes. 

He also despised him because of what he says this guy did during his man-on-the-street vignettes, which required a lot of set-up and were always exactly two and a half minutes long. He says one day, the producer in question suddenly ordered him to cut it down to one minute, with no explanation and Ed saying it would kill the entire segment. So he refused to change anything. 

That's when this producer took it to a colleague and had her edit it without telling its creator. When Ed saw it on air, he was furious. The entire thing fell flat. The next day, he went on his "Snow Job" segment and repeatedly tore the guy a new one on camera. The producer was understandably furious but in the words of the Sock, "he never did it again."

No names were mentioned and it's amazing Mr. Sock (aka Steven Kerzner) wasn't fired for that stunt. There followed references to others he had trouble with. The only clue he gave about the guy's I.D. was that he'd been associated with Entertainment Tonight Canada, which had been cancelled. He called him a "turd," and hoped he wouldn't be able to ever torment anyone else. 

I know it was all pre-recorded, but what a segment to play on Christmas Night!

For those who've never worked in TV, this kind of stuff happens on occasion, but not to the frequency Ed claims. Still, it was interesting to get a peek inside of a MuchMusic gig that's long passed and the relationship - or lack of one - for some of the people who worked there.