You Can't Do That on Television

Sometimes we have a series that we remember as being really well done and funny but come back disappointed. This I can say is not true of You Can't Do That On Television (YCDTOT). I recently was able to get a copy of the show on the internet and I must say that after almost 20 years absence this show still makes me laugh. Though I admit the disco driven episodes of the first season were a bit off, the rest of this series is quite funny and well worth a second or even first watch.

The Series is a sketch comedy show much similar to Saturday Night live without the musical number in the middle (season one disco exception). The show stars kids instead of adults and includes many of the first uses of green slime that Nicolodeon is famus for. The acting talent is shaky at first but the actors improve remarkable as the show goes on. It is well worth the multitude of seasons that have come out of it. If you ever have a chance check it out.

http://www.ycdtotv.com/ (This site is dedicated to the show for more)

While the first six years of this show are arguably the best, any chance to see any of the reruns is to be seized with both hands. The comedy goes from the brilliant to the bizarre, the feel is fun, and the layout is something worth stealing. There's a whole generation out there who still fight the urge to duck whenever they say the words "I don't know" for fear of green slime falling from above, and many a fond smile can be found when the phrase "Lisa, don't encourage your father" is repeated in a certain tone of voice. When this show was good, it was very, very good.

You take a look at kids' television today, and it's amazing that this show saw the light of day. Consider the following aspects of "You Can't Do That On Television"....

• Kids are chained up and put in front of a firing squad in a third world country. They usually trick their captor into getting shot himself, but occasionally the kids themselves end up being fired upon. Today, the show would be criticized for depicting violence against children, as well as perpetuating negative stereotypes against foreigners.

• "Ross", the supposed director of the show, tortures the kids and treats them as slave labor. Today, the show would be attacked for glorifying exploitation of children.

• Blip, the owner of the local arcade, finds whatever ways he can to cheat the video-game obsessed youth that frequent his business. Today, the show would be protested for making light of adults cheating children out of money.

• The "family" scenes depict parents as lazy, poor role models, or just plain cruel. Today, the show would be boycotted for making a joke of dysfunctional families.

• The two most frequently featured female characters (Moose and Lisa) are constantly taunted about their weight. This is despite the fact that, while not thin, neither girl is really all that fat. Today, parents would fear the show could cause eating disorders.

• Even the theme show of the song depicts children being ground up into hamburger meat (or is it hot dog meat -- I forget). I won't even touch this one! While outrageous shows depicting children exist today (i.e. "South Park"), these are aimed at ADULTS, and are given TV-MA ratings. You Can't Do That On Television was aimed at (and watched almost exclusively by) kids. That's the amazing part. You'll never see another kids show like it again.

This wasn't a show with educational or cultural value. It had value in other ways, though, which are harder to quantify.

It was funny and entertaining. It was outrageous enough to be interesting, but never so over-the-top to where it could be considered a true danger to anyone. I don't know anyone who had nightmares about being in front of a South American firing squad. Somehow we all got the sick humor in that, and didn't really see it as real violence.

The kids seemed real. They weren't beautiful, didn't seem precocious, and in fact all used their real names on the show. Alasdair, Kevin, Lisa, Moose, and the bunch seemed like the rest of us. This made the characters easy to like and relate to.

The show tapped into the minds of kids in the '80s. We were all obsessed with arcades, yet all knew the pain of losing quarters in malfunctioning games with "no refunds". We all dealt with controlling and irrational teachers, difficult parents, and incompetent/obnoxious bus drivers.

The show wasn't brilliantly written or produced, but it was fun, and it grew on you over time. Too often growing up I found that kids' shows were talking down to me, and I didn't like it. This was one show that wasn't guilty of that, and set out to entertain me, rather than preach to me or teach me a lesson. I didn't realize it back then, but that was perhaps the aspect of it that I appreciated the most.

Sadly, children's fare of today is over-scrutinized, and any program that can be deemed a bad influence is deepsixed. Just the weight jokes alone would put this show in the 2005 trash can. The fact that we have gotten to this point is indeed a tragedy.

Les Lye did a fine job with all of the different characters he played. I remember being amazed as a kid when I realized that he played every single adult character on the show. He's 80 years old now -- can you believe it?

This show is so off the wall that it's right on target. I really MISS THIS SHOW! When I was a kid, a good dose of "You Can't Do That On Television" and then maybe a little "Out Of Control" could put me in a great mood and could also relieve my Mom of duty for a little while. :)

The silly execution sketches and the diner scenes alone make this show worthy of watching. But there's so much more. Nickelodeon's slime theme derived from the success of this show. But none of the kids nowadays will know this. Why can't they air some of the old good stuff on Nick anymore?... Hey, Nick needs to come up with a channel called "Nick - The First Generation" and then I'll actually purchase cable.

~Jennifer

From the Python-esque opening cartoon to the end credits, "YCDTOT" is easily one of the best sketch comedies ever made. It's faster and more frenetic than "Roundhouse," "All That," or even SNL, and it resorts to current events and pop culture less frequently than other sketch comedies.

A talented young cast is led by Les Lye (arguably the star of the show) in routines satirizing the ins-and-outs of kid life: school buses, cafeterias, arcades. Sometimes it gets even wackier - the Mexican firing squad routines and slime/water/etc. gags are priceless.

See it if you can find it.