You Can't Do That on Television

History

Local television

You Can't Do That on Television debuted on February 3, 1979 on CJOH-TV, a CTV affiliate in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. At its inception it was a low-budget, local comedy program that included phone-in competitions through which the viewer could win prizes. This portion of the program was broadcast live, although the majority an episode was pre-taped. The format also included music videos, usually three per episode. The only adult actor on the show was veteran comedy actor Les Lye.

Related Topics:
February 3 - 1979 - CJOH-TV - CTV - Ottawa - Ontario, Canada - Live - Music video - Les Lye

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National television

After a successful first season, a national network version of the program titled Whatever Turns You On was produced. The format was shortened from an hour to a half-hour, removed the local content, added a laugh track, and replaced the music videos with live performances from popular bands at the time, including Trooper and Max Webster. Ruth Buzzi of Laugh-In joined the cast as an additional adult performer. Perhaps due to its Tuesday night timeslot, it suffered from poor ratings and was canceled after one season.

Related Topics:
Laugh track - Trooper - Max Webster - Ruth Buzzi - Laugh-In

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Nickelodeon

In 1981, the new youth-oriented United States cable network, Nickelodeon, took an interest in YCDTOTV, which was still being produced and broadcast locally by CJOH. Price and director Geoffrey Darby had edited the entire 1981 season of episodes into a half-hour format similar to Whatever Turns You On for national and international syndication. In late 1981 Nickelodeon began airing the editied season and YCDTOTV quickly became their highest rated show. Over the next few years, the ratings gradually declined in Canada, but YCDTOTV continued to go strong on Nickelodeon, where it aired five times a week.

Related Topics:
1981 - United States - Nickelodeon - Geoffrey Darby - Syndication

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By 1987, many of the "veteran" cast members such as Matt Godfrey, Doug Ptolemy, Vanessa Lindores, and Adam Reid had grown too old for the show. Christine McGlade, who was probably the most well-known cast member, had departed the previous year. Only five episodes were filmed in this season.

Related Topics:
1987 - Matt Godfrey - Doug Ptolemy - Vanessa Lindores - Adam Reid - Christine McGlade

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Price moved to France in 1988. CJOH decided not to make new episodes without him and production was suspended.

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The program resumed production in 1989, but the only child cast member to make the transition from 1987 to 1989 was Amyas Godfrey, and thus viewers often refer to the 1989 and 1990 season as "new episodes".

Related Topics:
1989 - Amyas Godfrey - 1990

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Production ceased at the end of the 1990 season. Nickelodeon continued to air reruns until January of 1994, at which point it only being aired on weekends.

Related Topics:
Rerun - 1994

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In the future

As of 2005, CJOH had no plans to release re-runs of YCDTOTV nor are there any plans to produce new episodes.

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