Terry Tate: Office Linebacker was a series of short comedy television commercials created by Rawson Marshall Thurber, for Reebok, based on a short film pilot he created in 2000; Tate was first shown at Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. The short films feature Lester Speight as "Terrible" Terry Tate, an American football linebacker who "gives out the pain" to those in the office who are not obeying office policies.
Originally, Reebok produced 6 episodes between August to December 2002 with another episode Terry Tate, Office Linebacker: Sensitivity Training being made on February 1, 2004. Even Reebok in the United Kingdom made an episode called Late Lunch on January 22, 2005. There are a total of 9 episodes. The advertising campaign was one of the most successful of those in the history of the Super Bowl halftime shows.
The catchphrases include "The pain train's comin'", "You kill the joe, you make some mo'", "You can't cut the cheese wherever you please!", "'Cause when it's game time, it's pain time!", "Don't bring that weak-ass stuff up in this humpy-bumpy" and "Woo-woo!" After tackling a worker, Terry usually leaves him with a "WOOH! Bitch!!!"
While the first episode of the series implies that hiring an office linebacker is a highly unorthodox practice (one described as "thinking outside the box"), future episodes depict office linebackers as a common occurrence.
Though successful in attracting viewers and attention, the ads' ability to increase recognition of the Reebok brand has been questioned, with only 55% of respondents on an on-line poll indicating they realized the ad was affiliated with the company. Despite being aired only once on national television, the short was downloaded more than seven million times from Reebok's website.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Main Characters
Lester Speight as "Terrible" Terry Tate (a.k.a. The Pain Train a.k.a. Triple T) - Hired by Felcher & Sons as an office linebacker. He enjoys his job, attacking his fellow office co-workers who are lazy or make mistakes of any kind. Terry is also in charge of office supplies, this is why all his interviews are done in the supply storage room, his office.
Michael Sean McGuinness as Ron Felcher - The CEO of Felcher & Sons. Terry's employer. According to him, ever since Terry joined the team, productivity has gone up by 46%.
Jeremy Rowley as Paul Merkin - The Jr. Mail Room Engineer, and a common target of Terry's wrath for offenses such as forgetting to make a new pot of coffee and farting in an elevator.
Natacha Wenger as Geneva Stoller - A sensitivity trainer, she works for Sanchez, Steamer, & Co. and is employed by Felcher & Sons to help their own staff work better together, but made matters worse as she took Terry's position away and assigned him to a desk, causing office workers to take advantage of her and act like children. Things were back to normal after her departure (she made a sexual harassment on one of Terry's co-workers, causing Terry to attack her).
Christopher M. Lee as Courtney Cate - Appearing in Draft Day, Courtney was chosen to work alongside Terry as another office linebacker.
Thomas Weaver as Gaston Du Coque - The Hotel Manager, makes an appearance in Vacation highlighting Terry Tate's impact on the employees.
Original episodes
Spoof of Nike ad
In February, 2003, Reebok released a commercial featuring Tate that parodies a Nike, Inc. commercial; in the original a streaker disrupts a British football match; in the Reebok ad, Tate tackles the streaker then proclaims, "You just did it, so I had to hit it". The advertisement was one of several competitive and deliberate spoofs between the rival companies.
California recall election
In 2003, Terry Tate tried to run for governor in the 2003 California recall election, under the name "Lester Terry Tate Speight," but he did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.
2008 U.S. Presidential election
The Terry Tate character resurfaced in a series of short videos urging people to vote on November 4, including scenes that depict the Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin being (purportedly) tackled following famously controversial interviews.
Episodes
- From Russia with Love (October 16, 2008), Tate tackles Republican Candidate Sarah Palin after she answers a question from Katie Couric about her foreign policy experience.
- Reading is Fundamental (October 16, 2008), Tate tackles Republican Candidate Sarah Palin after she gives an elusive answer to a question from Katie Couric about her reading material.
- Get Out the Vote (October 20, 2008), Tate tackles a co-worker who states he will not be voting.
ESPN's Mayne Street
In a 2008 episode of Kenny Mayne's ESPN parody program Mayne Street, Tate appears to defend anchor Stuart Scott from an intrusion on his lunch break by an individual touring ESPN headquarters. Tate then reminds Mayne that people on his tour groups should not bother "the franchise" (Scott), and that this was discussed in a previous staff meeting.
2016 U.S. Presidential election
During the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Funny or Die produced an altered version of the 2005 video of Donald Trump's lewd remarks to Billy Bush about women that had surfaced during the campaign. In the video, Terry Tate tackles a body double actor portraying Trump in response to Trump's remarks and tells Trump that's how he makes America great. He then turns to Bush and tells him he's fired.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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