In other words, you knew Les Lye, who died yesterday at the age of 84. Gillis also appeared briefly in the "locker jokes" segment during the "Fantasies" episode, and Adam Reid, who by this time had become an official writer for YCDTOTV, also appeared (and was slimed) at the very end of the episode "Punishment.". Blip's Arcade: Blip, owner of the local video arcade, would find inventive and devious ways to cheat his customers, such as rigging unwinnable video games or running "specials" in which, he would exchange only three quarters for a dollar. But whatever you do, never admit that you don't know or ask for water. Starting with the 1981 season, most episodes featured sketches with the kids eating at Barth's Burgery, a fast-food burger restaurant run by Barth (Lye), a chain-smoking, unpleasant, disgusting cook who uses unsanitary and questionable methods of cooking burgers. The idea was successful, as (according to one episode) the show scored a 32 share of the ratings for CJOH in its 10:30a.m. Saturday time slot. These announcements are given in the form of "You Can't Do That on Television is a ______ production." In the meantime, some YCDTOTV cast members continued to hone their on-camera skills through appearances in Bear Rapids, a Price/Darby pilot television film that was never picked up, and Something Else, a local game show on CJOH with a format somewhat similar to the live and local episodes of YCDTOTV. The A-Team Makes One Cup of Coffee Last Five Hours, "Hanging Out" or "Malls", 1984), movies (e.g. [3] The series was believed lost until all five episodes surfaced in early 2013; these have been posted on YouTube, excluding the copyrighted music videos. The boy escapes by going jogging with the firing squad. You Can't Do That on Television S1. Originally created by Rand MacIvor (under art director John C. Galt), who was inspired by Terry Gilliam's "gilliamations," the opening animation sequence was a sequence of surreal images set to Rossini's "William Tell Overture" performed in a Dixieland jazz arrangement by the National Press Club and Allied Workers Jazz Band. Cameo in 1989's Fantasies and Age episodes. The kids exercise on a stationary bike and use the TV station's special effects to create change of scenery. It continued to run periodically on ABC Television for the next few years, mainly as a filler during the school holidays until the rights expired in the early 1990s. When someone said "water" or "wet", a large amount of water would mysteriously cascade onto him from above. 1. A later episode of the series was titled "You Can't Do That on Television, Peter", but contained no overt references to YCDTOTV. As the studio masters of these episodes no longer exist, for many years all but three of the first-season episodes were believed lost forever (with the three extant episodes existing due to home video recordings). At the beginning of each show aired after the 1981 season, a title card would appear featuring a parody title of a TV show, with a silly (often macabre) picture and the announcer making the following announcement: "(Fake TV show) will not be seen today/at this time in order for us to bring you this (insert witty remark here)." This, of course, draws the executioner's attention, and they commence fire. The "1981" episode of VH1's I Love the '80s 3-D features a segment on YCDTOTV that features Hal Sparks, Alyson Hannigan and "Weird Al" Yankovic all getting slimed after being tricked into saying "I don't know." Roddy's appearances in his only episode were edited out of the Nickelodeon airings of the show post-1983, once the network became advertiser-supported. Was slimed three times, but only one of her slime scenes aired (Pop Music). [Goes back in] [Christine throws water on Brodie] . Fourth and final host. When someone said the word "water", "wash" or "wet", a large amount of cold water would fall onto them from above. The pre-empted shows were parodies of current TV shows (e.g. The rest are only currently available in the half-hour edits. Known for her character "Angie the Talking Doll" during the 1981 season. Other instances of slime colors other than green include orange slime in the "Myths" episode, brown slime in the "Cosmetics" episode and black slime in the "Time" episode. Used in a few episodes in the first two seasons and by almost every episode in later seasons, the closing credits of You Can't Do That on Television are followed by an announcement of the "company" that produced the program, with the name generally tying in with the episode's main subject. When Price eventually returned to Canada, he wanted to resume production of You Can't Do That on Television from the city of Toronto, but was convinced by the cast and crew to return to Ottawa and CJOH. Love the 80s?. Second official host. The show was originally meant to offer a program for children on Saturday mornings which was pure entertainment and made no attempt to be educational. Appeared in a total of five episodes. These would sometimes occur in the middle of a sketch, resulting in the characters inverting whatever they were doing just prior to the conclusion of the sketch. The first version was created for the half-hour, American syndicated versions of the 1981 episodes. Darryll was the only actor on the series to play an exclusive role in one recurring sketch; He played "Zilch," Barth's often-abused burgery assistant. One of only two adult cast members, and the only one to appear in the show from its very first to its very last episode. Right before this happened, one of the cast would generally be giving a monologue (or several would be having a group conversation) that was interrupted by another cast member with something that would (generally) be opposite what the monologue (or dialogue) was about, all present cast would say, "It must be the introduction to the opposites", and then the inversion fade would happen; several sketches would follow that were a tongue-in-cheek reversal of the show's subject of the day, and also in which the normal principles of daily life were reversed, often with children having authority over adults or with adults encouraging children to behave badly (for example, eating desserts instead of vegetables, or wasting money on something frivolous rather than putting the money in the bank). Episode 089: Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends. Roger Price moved to France following production of the 1987 season after being informed that Nickelodeon was not planning to order more episodes, and production was suspended for 1988. Production on new episodes of YCDTOTV resumed full-time in 1982, with all episodes from that point onward made in the half-hour all-comedy format. While the show's green slime changed ingredients and even consistencies frequently, the water was almost always the same. Opinions on the 1989 and 1990 episodes of YCDTOTV are mixed among longtime fans of the show, particularly regarding the new episodes' increasing reliance on bathroom humor to attract a younger audience than the show had targeted in years past. The show consisted of comedy skits, music videos (usually three per episode) and live phone-in contests in which viewer could win a variety of prizes (transistor radios, record albums, model kits, etc.). Originally created by Rand MacIvor (under Art Director John C. Galt), who was inspired by Terry Gilliam's "gilliamations", the opening animation sequence was a sequence of surreal images set to Rossini's William Tell Overture, performed in a Dixieland jazz arrangement by The National Press Club and Allied Workers Jazz Band. Although Nickelodeon always treated the slime recipe as though it were a closely guarded secret (and a number of episodes involved plots or subplots of kids trying to figure out what slime was made of), the composition of the slime changed several times over the years. In fact, they parodied the entire show, with . The network's desire to produce more of its own shows at its new studios at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, coupled with the low ratings, causing production of You Can't Do That on Television to officially end in early 1990. Toward the beginning of 1982, Nickelodeon began airing the entire edited season and YCDTOTV quickly became their highest-rating series. Every week the show took its "Roving Camera" to hangouts around town, recording kids' jokes or complaints about life, which would be played on the following week's broadcast. The famous "Locker Room" segment has been parodied in many shows, including Robot Chicken. This was a result of continually being asked "What is the largest lake in Canada? In 1981, the new American youth-oriented cable network Nickelodeon took an interest in YCDTOTV. The pre-empted show announcement concept was borrowed from Saturday Night Live, which introduced their shows with similar announcements in the late 1970s. Was the first female cast member to be slimed in the dungeon. Some of the most notable cast members included: Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! Reset the television. Though the theme music stayed the same throughout the entire series run (19791990), the opening animation itself changed in different ways. This was also an homage to Laugh-In, which featured their similar "Sock It To Me" sketches. In any case, the show did not completely sever ties to its past, as many former cast members reappeared during the 1989 season in cameo roles, most notably in the "Age" episode, which was hosted by Vanessa Lindores and also featured cameos by Doug Ptolemy, Michael "but Pompers" Bombay, Alasdair Gillis, Christine McGlade, and Kevin Kubusheskie (who by that time had become a stage producer on the show). Two years before making its international debut, You. When the punchline was delivered, there would be a laugh track and the actors would close their lockers, allowing the process to start again with different people and a different joke. 900 likes, 53 comments - Yoga Instructor Renu Anand (@yogawithraynu) on Instagram: "Would you believe that I stayed in a boarding school at the age of 13 till I was 17? But whatever you do, never admit that you don't know or ask for water. Darby authorized the mixture to be dumped on Tim anyway. Of course, she also appeared on. By the 1984 season, only the word "water" led to a dousing, whereas in earlier seasons, the words "wet" and "H2O" also did. E5 All episodes Cast & crew Trivia IMDbPro All topics Painted Lockers & Dances Episode aired Mar 3, 1979 TV-Y 1 h YOUR RATING Rate Family Comedy The kids exercise on a stationary bike and use the TV station's special effects to create change of scenery. "FAME: The Collectors' Edition". "), which was a frequent parting gift for contestants on Double Dare, where slime was heavily used along with several variations such as 'gak' or 'gooze', and Mattel even sold Nickelodeon slime and the Gak brand in the 1990s. On occasion, cast members tried to dodge the water by saying "agua" (Spanish), "Wasser" (German) or "eau" (French) instead, only to be soaked anyway. You Can't Do That On Television was a sketch comedy/variety series that ran on Canadian television and on Nickelodeon throughout the 1980s (it started in 1979 and ended in 1990, with a couple of gap years, so ten total seasons). In the NewsRadio episode "The Song Remains the Same", Mr. James celebrates April Fools' Day (in February) by having Joe install the "trigger machines" from YCDTOTV, and then tricks the cast into getting slimed and doused with water. Rarely, a prisoner could convince Nasti to free him or trick Nasti into exchanging places. Osome appeared in Project 131 with Vanessa Lindores and Marjorie Silcoff. As with waterings, the sliming gag was used in almost every episode, especially from 1982 onward. Vanessa: How do they make that slime they're always dumping on you? You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that first aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. For the duration of the joke, those cast members would be the only ones seen with open lockers. According to Geoffrey Darby in the book Slimed! The original slapstick pie-in-the-face gag was also frequently used on YCDTOTV, although pie scenes were most common during the early years of the show. The show's creators shortened it to 30 minutes, removed local content, added a laugh track and replaced music videos with live performances from popular Canadian artists including Trooper, Max Webster, Ian Thomas, Ottawa's own Cooper Brothers (one of whose members, Dick Cooper, later became a writer for YCDTOTV) and disco singer Alma Faye Brooks. This type of prank was known as being "slimed," and it became one of the show's most notable elements. Green slime grew to become a trademark image for Nickelodeon, and the network demanded more slimings on the show as the years went on, resulting in episodes such as 1985's "Movies" in which the entire cast (save for Abby Hagyard) is slimed. In the "Television" episode, Christine reveals the ingredients as water, gelatin powder, flour and soap. Episodes of YCDTOTV included recurring gimmicks and gags. You Cant do that on Television (1979 - 1990) by CTV Publication date 1980 Topics Canadian. These included Brodie Osome, Marjorie Silcoff, and Vanessa Lindores (pregnant at the time), with cameos by Justin Cammy and Alasdair Gillis. Her most frequent roles were Mom (Valerie Prevert) and the British-accented Librarian, but she played most adult female roles during her time on the show. The show is synonymous with Nickelodeon, and was at that time extremely popular with the highest ratings overall on the channel. Canadian actor of Indian descent, whose brother Sidharth Sahay, also appeared on show. [16] Eventually baby shampoo was added so that it the slime would wash out of the actors' hair more easily after several of the female cast members complained. Sometimes opposite sketches involved cast members not being hit with slime or water after saying the "trigger phrase" (see below section), as in City Life (1987) or Excess (1989). She also appeared in 2004's Project 131. The show's disco dance segments were MCed by Jim Johnson, a local radio disc jockey. The show was notable . It featured pre-teen and teenaged actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of the United States Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Saturday Night Live. While trying to stay healthy and exercise, the kids' efforts are halted by the ad Read allThe kids exercise on a stationary bike and use the TV station's special effects to create change of scenery. Especially in the later years of the show, cast members who were slimed frequently looked upward into the slime as it was falling so that it covered their faces (the same was also true of the waterings). He and his brother Roddy were chosen after Roger Price, who had been looking for Hispanic kids for the show, overheard them speaking Spanish, although they had arrived at the studio too late to audition. Kids TV, Sketch Comedy, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s Near complete collection of the classic Canadian kids sketch comedy show that ran from 1979 to 1990 Addeddate 2022-03-01 06:13:58 Identifier ycdtotv Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.4 Add Review Reviews Various interiors of the Prevert home, including the front steps as Mom prepares to send the kids off to school. This page was last edited on 12 April 2023, at 00:29. Each week, the show took its "roving camera" to hangouts around town, recording kids' jokes or complaints about life, which would be played on the following week's broadcast. The show was aired in its entirety, including the final seasons of 198990. Reid made a cameo in the 1989 Punishment episode. During its original run, the show was seen as one and the same with the cable network Nickelodeon in its early years on the air, achieved high ratings, and is most famous for introducing the network's iconic green slime. Watered twice during his run on the show, but never slimed. Did not appear in any 1986 episodes although he is in the official cast photo. The following is a partial list. This should unlock the channel. Also in 1982, Nickelodeon and CJOH had then become production partners on YCDTOTV. An Oral History of Nickelodeon's Golden Age, the original slime developed "by accident"; Darby had originally planned for a bucket of food leftovers from the CJOH cafeteria, with water added, to be dumped on Tim, but the production of that first episode was delayed by a week, and when the time came to shoot the scene, the contents of the bucket had turned green with mold. Nickelodeon originally aired several episodes in the edited half-hour syndicated format as a test run. Appeared in his first episode clad in a diaper playing a sitar, as Roger Price's revenge for having to deal with Justin's difficult mother. Opening animation: the Children's Television Sausage Factory, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Exclusive: You Can't Do That On Television is getting a reboot", "Remembering Alanis Morissette's tween years on 'You Can't Do That On Television', "You Can't Do That on Television (TV Series 19791990) - Full Cast & Crew - IMDb", Abby Hagyard Publishing - Site for star of "You Can't Do That on Television", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=You_Can%27t_Do_That_on_Television&oldid=1149400157. Tony was one of only three cast members that never appeared on the link set, but was watered at Barth's. [6][7] "Adoption" is the only episode that was banned in the United States. Reportedly, this was because Nickelodeon's six-year contract to air the 1981 season expired in 1987, and since Nickelodeon was beginning to aim for a younger demographic and many of the 1981 episodes dealt with topics more relevant to adolescents (such as smoking, drugs, sexual equality, and peer pressure); the network opted not to renew the contract. In July 2004, to celebrate the program's 25th anniversary, a reunion special called Project 131 with the theme Changes was produced at CJOH-TV starring five members of the original cast. Ruth Buzzi joined the cast playing many of the adult female characters, which included a strict schoolteacher named Miss Fidt and the studio secretary Miss Take. You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that first aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. Starting in season two, before the intro, there was usually a title card with a gag show that was "preempted" with the announcer Les Lye introducing it (ex: "Mr. T Thinks He's A Girl will not be seen today, so that we may present a show still trying to find itself. If so, I wonder if that's where Nickelodeon stole it from. It primarily featured preteen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format in which they acted out skits based on a theme for that episode. They later introduced Green Slime Shampoo (marketed with the slogan "Gets you clean, won't turn you green! For example, the 1982 "Bullying" episode was a "Black Eye" Production; the 1984 "Marketing" show was a "Can't Give It Away" Production; the "Divorce" episode was a "Split Down The Middle" Production; "Project 131" was a "Changing Day" Production; The "Malls" episode was a "Hang Out to Dry" production. Nickelodeon's editors opted to remove everything but the comedy sketches and the "Roving Camera" segments. Elizabeth is one of the very few cast members never to be watered, pied or slimed during her time on the show. Though the arrangement of the theme music stayed the same throughout the entire series run (although there are subtle differences between the themes in various seasons especially the closing themes and Whatever Turns You On used a completely different theme song), the opening animation itself changed in different ways. The show was originally intended to be basically Saturday Night Live, only with teens and pre-teens. The Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament complex was used in the first season and in the original hour-long versions of the 1981 season episodes. The format was shortened to a half-hour, removed local content, added a laugh track and replaced music videos with live performances from popular artists from Canada at the time, including Trooper, Max Webster, Ian Thomas and disco singer Alma Faye Brooks. Hosts Christine and Alanis frequently insulted each other and each tried to outdo the other in their roles, reflecting the real-life rivalries and competition taking place among kids in everyday life.[12][13]. Rodney was one of a few cast members to be featured on both, Ramona was the older sister of Rodney Helal, and was only in one episode. Another Price production using YCDTOTV cast members, UFO Kidnapped, was made in 1983. Turkey Television also marked McGlade's debut as a producer, a career that she continued after leaving YCDTOTV in 1986. Lisa Ruddy ("Motormouth"), McGlade's longtime sidekick on the show, left at the end of the 1985 season. ", which was the Great Bear Lake. She was however featured in several episodes of. The only other cast member to have the "real" green slime dumped on her made from rotten food leftovers. In this sequence, children are "processed" in the "sausage factory" and deposited onto a, Both versions of the "Children's Television Sausage Factory" animation feature likenesses of Jonothan Gebert, Kevin Somers, Marc Baillon and Christine McGlade exiting the school bus, as well as a likeness of Les Lye as the security guard at the door of the TV studio. Ptolemy made a cameo appearance in the 1989 Age episode. Christine: First they take some liquid and then they add some jello powder and some flour. Osome appeared in Project 131 with Vanessa Lindores and Marjorie Silcoff. The original slapstick pie-in-the-face gag was also frequently used on YCDTOTV, although pie scenes were most common during the earlier years of the show. Kerr joined the cast after Roger Price saw him in one of the local "Roving Camera" segments when the show aired on CJOH and decided he liked him. Fauntleroy suits. Top Gun Gets Put on Latrine-Cleaning Duty, "Discipline", 1986), or other pop culture icons (e.g. In July 2004, a reunion special called Project 131 was produced at CJOH-TV starring five members of the original cast. Catch the show from the beginning, with a segment on baton twirling, Tim's bright pink dress, disco dancing finals, and the debut of SLIME! The format was similar to You Must Be Joking! You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that first aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. Alasdair Gillis. While trying to stay healthy and exercise, the kids' efforts are halted by the adults. You Can't Do That on Television (1979-1990) Trivia Showing all 21 items The kids on the show got paid extra for episodes in which they were doused with water or green slime - $75 for water and $150 for slime. You Can't Do That on Television was a Canadian television program that first aired locally in 1979 before airing internationally in 1981. In addition, 22 children from the first season were trimmed down to seven: Christine McGlade, Lisa Ruddy, Jonothan Gebert, Kevin Somers, Kevin Schenk, Rodney Helal and Marc Baillon (another first-season cast member, Elizabeth Mitchell, only appeared in the pilot episode). After each joke, the actors would close their lockers, allowing the process to start again with different people and a new joke. The person telling the joke would open their locker, sticking their head out to call another cast member to tell the joke to. Vanessa: There is something I wanted to ask you. The bumper frequently took place "backstage" and broke the fourth wall with remarks about the episode, usually featuring one final humiliation or comeuppance for that episode's main cast member. In 2004, when fans and cast reunited for the show's 25th anniversary, the original lockers were auctioned. The format also included performances by local disco dancers and special guests such as Ottawa-based cartoonist Jim Unger. Silcoff was watered in three episodes plus Project 131, but never slimed. Is it always green like this? Nickelodeon allegedly removed the "Cosmetics" episode from rotation for the latter reason (although the "Addictions" episode from that same season was not dropped). Like every episode would have these Opposites sketches, where they would do everything exactly different then we would in real life (A kid gets caught reading a Book under a Playboy and the teacher makes him look at the Playboy instead). It was an instant hit, scoring an over 30% rating in its target demographic within a few months. This sketch was later seen in the opening to the 1987 thriller film Fatal Attraction. When someone said, "I don't know," green slime would pour down on them from above. It featured pre-teen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of American sketch comedy Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canadian sketch comedy Second City Television. These included Brodie Osome, Marjorie Silcoff, and Vanessa Lindores (visibly pregnant at the time), Justin Cammy and Alasdair Gillis. Shah went on to star in another successful Nickelodeon show. The kids exercise on a stationary bike and use the TV station's special effects to create change of scenery. It featured pre-teen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of American sketch comedy Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canadian sketch comedy Second City Television. You Can't Do That On Television started in 1979 as a local kids sketch program in Ottawa, Canada. You Can't Do That on Television premiered on February 3, 1979 on CJOH-TV in Ottawa as a locally aired and produced one-hour low-budget variety program with some segments performed live. Along with Andrea Byrne, Rekha Shah and James Tung, Amyas was one of only three kid cast members to transition from 1986-87 to 1989, and the only one to appear regularly in '89. Most of the time, the cast member would be successful; however, occasionally, Lye's character would "successfully" complete the scene. The show consisted of comedy sketches, music videos (usually three per episode), and live phone-in contests in which the viewer could win a variety of prizes (transistor radios, record albums, model kits, etc.). According to writer Josh Morris, by the final seasons of the show, the ingredient consisted simply of cottage cheese colored with green food coloring. Welcome to Nickipedia, a Nickelodeon database that anyone can edit. The airings began with the first two 1981 episodes, "Work" and "Transportation," marking the first time that those episodes had aired on American television in 30 years. Sketch TV by young amateur actors in true classic Nick-style. The sketches that followed were a tongue-in-cheek reversal of the show's subject and of daily life, often featuring children having authority over adults or adults encouraging children to behave badly (for example, eating sweets instead of vegetables or wasting money on something frivolous rather than putting the money in the bank). Unlike the slime and water, pies were not usually triggered by any certain word or trigger phrase, although in the earlier years, saying "let me have it" or "give it to me" would frequently result in a pieing. When Price eventually returned to Canada, he wanted to resume production of You Can't Do That on Television from Toronto, but was convinced by the cast and crew to return to Ottawa and CJOH. In some earlier episodes an actor might say "I don't know" as part of the scripted dialogue with no repercussion. The slime was dumped on any cast member who uttered the phrase "I don't know." . Lindores returned in 1989's Age episode. Original creator Roger Price would serve as executive producer, while Jimmy Fox of Main Event Media would develop the project. The person telling the joke would open his or her locker and call another cast member, to whom he or she would tell the joke. Factory in 2012. One episode dealt with discipline and lots of punishments were threatened. Four of the hour-long CJOH episodes from the 1981 season ("Strike Now", "Sexual Equality", "Crime and Vandalism", and "Peer Pressure") are available for public viewing on YouTube. The format of the 1981 episodes as aired on CJOH was similar to that of the inaugural 1979 season, with the differences being that each show featured skits revolving around a certain topic (something that carried over from Whatever Turns You On) and that the disco dancers were replaced by video game competitions. Slime was also frequently used in the network's advertisements featuring YCDTOTV cast members as victims of an impromptu sliming. This prank was known as being "slimed.". Production on new episodes of YCDTOTV resumed full-time in 1982 in the half-hour all-comedy format, with Nickelodeon and CJOH as production partners. It featured pre-teen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of American sketch comedy Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canadian sketch comedy Second City Television. The format also included performances by local disco dancers and special guests such as Ottawa-based cartoonist Jim Unger. Despite high ratings, the series ended after its five-episode trial run in October 1983, possibly because of complaints from parents for its content and also Nickelodeon's concern that if Don't Look Now were to be successful, it could mean the end of YCDTOTV. Veteran comedy actor Les Lye played several recurring characters and was initially the only adult to perform in the show's sketches, although actress Abby Hagyard later joined the show to become "the other grown-up" in the cast roster, and frequently played "Mom" opposite Lye's role as "Dad." Unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted. It wasn't until it was picked up and broadcast on the cable channel Nickelodeon in the U.S. beginning in 1982 that it became the popular show that many of us so fondly remember. By contrast, when Canada's YTV began airing the series in 1989, they continued airing the 1981 season as part of the package, as well as Whatever Turns You On, which was never shown in the United States.