Nickelodeon's You Can't Do That on Television

[jimstryper]

anyone have the series on tape

[Cashodeen]

I wish! Nick Gas should get its ASS in gear and run this show!

[ClassicTV4Ever]

It'd be great if Nick aired it again. But to be quite honest, I don't think it'll probably happen. For one thing, the show is very dated, and I don't think kids today would be able to relate to it. And second, the show is very politically incorrect and I'm sure many parents of today would complain about it, therefore it would probably go through some heavy editing. Heck, even some parents back then wouldn't let their kids watch it.

I don't want people getting too awful excited since absolutely nothing is official and final yet, but I heard that the company that owns You Can't Do That On Television (which is NOT Nickelodeon) might be planning a DVD release, but there is a lot of red tape to go through first and I'm sure they wanna feel comfortable that it would sell. So basically, a DVD isn't impossible but yet it's not a done deal. I heard this at the YCDTOV.com's message board The Locker Room. Here is the actual message:
To those of you who haven't seen the front page of YCDTOTV.com yet, here is the latest on YCDTOTV episodes on DVD, courtesy of Charles Atencio.
"I recently e-mailed Carleton Productions to voice my views on getting a DVD release and look at the response I got!!!":

"Hello,

Actually, we are in the process of slashing through the red tape to get the show onto DVD for home video distribution. Stay tuned!"

Suzanne Kukko
Carleton Productions



In the meantime, you can download ENTIRE episodes (some even with the commercials intact) of YCDTOTV at www.barthsburgery.com It's an awesome site

[musicradio77]

When I was a kid, my brother used to watch that show on TV.

[David]

I read once on a Classic Nick board that one big reason they're not bringing it back was that....

It went for 11 (i think) seasons, with so many cast changes, so if they rerun it, they would have to pay every single person who went on that show (rerun payments... all shows get it). It would cost the show lots of moolah.

[musicradio77]

My brother and I missed "You Can't Do That on Television" a long time ago. I was in Puerto Rico when it was on. I'm worried about bring back the oldies. The last one I saw the show on TV since 1990 when I was in Brooklyn as a youngster at the time.

[Cashodeen]

Originally posted by SomersCompany3
I read once on a Classic Nick board that one big reason they're not bringing it back was that....

It went for 11 (i think) seasons, with so many cast changes, so if they rerun it, they would have to pay every single person who went on that show (rerun payments... all shows get it). It would cost the show lots of moolah.

So when old SNL gets rerun, all of those cast members get paid? I wonder why Nick would do that back when SNL was on there.

Omg, I was so young back then. I seriously doubt child actors on a cable kids show signed contracts to receive residuals when reruns were aired, lol. You sweet summer child in 2003.

[sketchrules]

we will almost certainly see ycdtotv again someday. the show actually is quite timeless (dated only by clothing and hairstyles), and is one of the most influential sketch comedy shows out there. everyone from our generation cites it as an influence. perhaps if a "nick classics" network, or something similar, launched we might see it. but i think a dvd set would be awesome.

[MikeZ]

Originally posted by sketchrules
we will almost certainly see ycdtotv again someday. the show actually is quite timeless (dated only by clothing and hairstyles), and is one of the most influential sketch comedy shows out there. everyone from our generation cites it as an influence. perhaps if a "nick classics" network, or something similar, launched we might see it. but i think a dvd set would be awesome.

I would be standing in line to get the first one sold!!

[hughpuppies]

If you want a good website of you can't do that on Television here is a great site for it.

http://www.ycdtotv.de/pg99/index.htm

also on the same site is sites of different canadian and british and american tv programs which I found interesting.

http://www.ycdtotv.de/gallery.htm

[TMC]

https://www.agonybooth.com/you-cant-...979-1990-65065

You Can’t Do That on Television is a Canadian series which initially aired on the CTV station in Ottawa in 1979. Just two years later, it began broadcasting on American TV via the cable network Nickelodeon. Cable TV itself was just beginning its rise at this point, and Nickelodeon was the cable network meant for kids (keeping in mind that, like the Disney Channel, there was only one network with this name at that point). This was no doubt a big reason why the series truly took off at that moment.

Along with The Muppet Show, this is probably the only variety show I made a point to watch during its initial run. Perhaps this is because, like Jim Henson’s series, it was made specifically for kids, but instead of Kermit and the gang, we get teens and even pre-teens doing comedy gags.

The show itself had a sketch comedy format similar to the aforementioned Muppet Show, as well as Saturday Night Live. There was a specific theme for each installment, and each would begin with a spoof announcement (accompanied by a bizarre pic) saying that the originally scheduled show would not be airing today and would be replaced by You Can’t Do That on Television, which would then be referred to in an insulting way. For instance, one such opening stated: “Rambo’s Armpits will not be seen today in order for us to bring you something that smells even worse.”

The title sequence for the show was an animated segment of likenesses of the young cast getting assembled and pouring from a faucet and into a school bus at a place called the Children’s Television Sausage Factory. It concluded with a likeness of actor Les Lye (who played all the adult men on the show) looking horrified as he gets the logo of the show stamped on his face. An interesting side note: This sequence was inspired by Terry Gilliam’s animated credit sequences, like the one for Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

This was followed by an official introduction to the week’s installment, which could range from “medicine” to “divorce”.

The rest of the episode would contain skits of various sorts, with occasional returns to the main floor. Such skits took place at what was supposed to be a family home, with Lye and actress Abby Hagyard playing the parents. Others would take place at a video arcade called Blip’s, and others at a restaurant called Barth’s (whose owner the kids often called “Barf” due to the often-sickening nature of the food he served). There was also a school location with Lye as the overly-stuffy teacher Mr. Schidler, and a locker room setting with him playing an overbearing coach. He also played a Latin American-sounding colonel would would always attempt to execute one of the kids via an unseen firing squad (who were simply called “the amigos”), but would usually be the one on the receiving end of the gunfire when the would-be victim would trick him into saying “fire”.

In addition, there were several minutes in each installment devoted to what the cast called “opposite skits”. These attempted to get laughs by having the kids and adults want the opposite of what one would usually think. For example, one skit had Mr. Schidler preparing to show Back to the Future to his class, while the students all demanded documentaries. Another had the mom insisting that her kids feed the family cat on the dinner table. This block of skits would begin and end with the screen going upside down and right side up.

The locker room would also serve as the setting for another five-minute block of the show called “locker jokes”. These involved the kids, all snug in the lockers, popping out and (what else?) telling a joke or brief story with a witty ending to one of the other kids.

But the most notorious gag on the show was when the cast got green slime (reportedly, cottage cheese with green food coloring) dumped on them when they didn’t know the answer to a question. They would also get water poured on them whenever that substance was mentioned. A 1986 installment actually involved red slime being used when it looked like the Soviets were going to take control of the show.

[TMC]

Everyone always associates the kids' TV channel Nickelodeon with slime, but do you know how the association began? In fact, slime was a trademark of their first big hit show, You Can't Do That On Television, a low-budget Canadian sketch TV comedy that can for over a decade (1979-1990). One of the most irreverent kids shows ever made, this Canadian show recruited real kids to host and star in a sketch show that was like Saturday Night Live for the after-school set. Early stars included Alanis Morrisette, while the only adults on the show were ace sketch performers Les Lye and Abby Hagyard.

Ironically, the show was much more popular in the U.S than it ever was in Canada, with it only really gaining a cult following North of the border when their own version of Nickelodeon, YTV, started playing re-reruns in the late eighties/early nineties. Join us as we look back at this cult hit show, which remains a rarity to this day (although selected episodes are available on Paramount +).

Well, it's the big one, You Can't Do That On Television. A show that's already loved by millions of 80s kids, a show that saved Nickelodeon from self-destruction. But you knew that already. With a show this celebrated, is there anything more to say? Yes, but it's not all pretty...

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Part One - Just What Is It, Anyway? - 0:02:13
• Part Two - The Six Drafts - 0:10:14
• Part Three - Enter Nickelodeon - 0:38:50
• Part Four - We Need to Talk About the Dress - 0:57:43
• Part Five - Slime for Sale - 1:16:18
• Part Six - What We Take Away - 1:25:09

Sample Platter takes a look back at the only episode of You Can't Do That On Television to be banned on Nickelodeon, "Adoption." Did it deserve to be banned? Was there a larger context that made this episode iffy? And how should we consider offensive comedy in children's programming?

You Can't Do That on Television ran on Nickelodeon throughout the 1980s, and in many ways defined kids television for an entire generation. But did you ever notice how insanely dark and twisted the show actually was? Let's take a brief look at the show's more disturbing elements, and discuss why these may have actually been the best part of the show.

You Can't Do That On Television was a Canadian Sketch Comedy specifically marketed toward American Kids. It was Crude, vulgar, and one of my favorite shows growing up.

[TMC]

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. Each episode had a specific theme normally relating to pop culture of the time.

During its original run, You Can't Do That on Television 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.

They tried to repeat the success again and again but none of the other versions were as successful as You Can't Do That on Television.