As a driving force behind The Red Green Show – the acerbic handyman program that brought duct tape to the masses – one would never guess that Production Manager Sandi Richardson’s ties to Possum Lodge began in an unlikely place: a hospital maternity ward. 

It was there, following the birth of her daughter Tiffany in 1977, that Richardson struck up a conversation with her hospital roommate, Morag Smith, wife of comedian Steve Smith (a.k.a. the future Red Green). Back in those days, Mr and Mrs Smith comprised the successful comedy duo Smith & Smith, whose variety show aired during the late 1970s. The Smiths would go on to create a second television series, The Comedy Mill, before eventually launching their own production company under the name S&S Productions. 

But that was still a long way off, and far from the mind of Richardson, whose life was on a much different trajectory. Richardson was a Mohawk graduate with an Early Childhood Education (ECE) diploma, who had made plans to be a stay-at home mom to her new baby daughter. Following six years of employment as a child-care worker at the Stoney Creek Co-op, she was ready to pour her energy into family life. Within three years, Richardson and her husband were blessed with another baby – a son. 

“I’ve worked my whole life with kids and parents,” Richardson answered. “I want to work in an office filled with men.” 

Meanwhile, she was able to stretch her artistic wings at the Hamilton Theatre Company, where she worked as a makeup artist and made drama presentations to local school children. 

By now, the conversation that Richardson began with roommate Mrs Smith in the maternity ward had blossomed into an endearing family friendship. When Richardson and her husband joined the Smiths on a camping trip in the summer of 1984, Richardson’s life began to take a very different turn. She had been contemplating a return to the paid workforce, and with the campfire crackling before them, Mr Smith asked her what she wanted to do. 

Prophetic words indeed. A short time later, Mr Smith barrelled down to the campsite looking for Richardson. He needed a makeup artist – would she be interested? Richardson took up the challenge, banking on the fact that her theatrical experience would serve her well. She took a few crash courses in modifying her art for the small screen, and launched her television career at S&S Productions doing makeup on a part time basis for The Comedy Mill, starring Mr and Mrs Smith, Mag Ruffman and Peter Keleghan.  

 
Not long after the success of The Comedy Mill came another fledgling series by S&S Productions. Dubbed The Red Green Show, it portrayed the comedic misadventures of a bearded Canadian carpenter known for his useful crafts, marriage advice, and inventive uses for duct tape. Richardson’s makeup skills prepared Mr Smith, Patrick McKenna and the supporting cast to put their best faces forward in March of 1990, as The Red Green Show went to air on Hamilton’s CH television. As the critically-acclaimed program built an audience across Canada, the United States and Australia, Richardson built up her profile behind the scenes. She rose through the ranks to Production Manager, with a job description that involved supervising the show budget, hiring the crew, and keeping tabs on the various departments needed to keep Red Green on the air. 

Red Green’s sharp wit and over-the-top male stereotypes have garnered a loyal following for the series, but the half-hour that viewers now tune into each week on the CBC is the result of an exhaustive production process. 

“Steve and I are both Capricorns,” notes Richardson, pointing to the fact that they’re ambitious and disciplined workaholics by nature. She admits to being a stickler for organization, while thriving on the challenge of never knowing what’s around the corner when she walks into work each day. 

And although she’s rubbed shoulders with many high-profile celebrities (including Don Cherry – she used to moonlight doing makeup for Don Cherry’s Grapevine in the early 1990s), Richardson isn’t one to get stars in her eyes. From her perspective, the working life of a television performer is far from glamorous. 

“It’s a tough life as an actor,” Richardson explains. “You wait for phone calls, you always have to put your best foot forward. It’s a stressful existence.” 

It’s that insight that keeps her feet firmly duct-taped to the ground, even in success. “Despite the popularity of Red Green, we’re a low-budget show – and you wear many hats when you’re counting pennies,” laughs Richardson. “I still do Steve’s makeup when we’re on location.” 

With 14 seasons on the air and some 200 episodes to date, it’s hard to argue with Richardson’s down-to-earth approach. The Gemini Award-winning Red Green Show boasts 100,000 fan club members and its website is one of the busiest on the continent. At the heart of it all, Richardson’s kind nature has become an integral part of the male-driven domain (she jokes that her ECE training comes in handy on a daily basis). And in the high-pressure work environment of a top-rated television series, she has made it a priority to assemble a team that works well together. 

“The cast and crew are your family away from your family,” explains Richardson. “We hire people we really enjoy – after all, what other job do you have where you go to work and you laugh?” 

Richardson does hire other Mohawk grads, and as it turns out, there is no shortage of hopefuls. She sees over 30 resumes cross her desk on a weekly basis and laments that while everyone wants to be a director, few grasp the importance of starting from the bottom up. Yet in her experience, working with students has been a welcome change of pace. 

“I enjoy the challenge of students coming on board; it makes you think,” she says. “Some Mohawk graduates have grown and stayed with S&S or have moved on to other opportunities. It’s encouraging to see the change in them.” 

As of spring 2005, Red Green is in production for its 15th and final season, after which Mr Smith will be hanging up his duct tape for good – but Richardson doesn’t see retirement as an option just yet. “I’ve got lots of ambition and love what I do,” she laughs “I don’t want to stay at home growing flowers.”  

One passion she has picked up from the men that surround her is a love of televised sports – she admits to being a seasoned armchair athlete and is contemplating getting her fingers into sports broadcasting next, “where there are no props to watch.” At the same time, she looks forward to continuing her altruistic efforts with the St. Thomas Aquinas Centre for the Arts and the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board, where she works with a scholarship program aimed at students pursuing an education in the arts.  

“You need to get up and enjoy what you’re doing, and if not, reassess it. That’s part of life,” she contemplates. “I want to give back. When you’re sitting there watching the audience laugh, there’s an end product you can share and take pride in. It’s a good feeling.”

By: K.L. Schmidt  

This story was originally published in Fall 2005 in the Mohawk Alumni In Touch magazine.