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You Can't Do That on Television

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TV Series

The Resume

Why You Can't Do That on Television might be annoying:

    It was a low-budget show about the making of a low-budget show called ‘You Can`t Do That on Television.' (Got it?)
    When it first premiered, Ross had silver hair, but thereafter, his hair was darker.
    It changed titles twice: in 1980 to ‘Whatever Turns You On’ and in 1981, back to the original title.
    It went from having a live audience to having canned laughter.
    If you said ‘I Don`t Know’ while on the show, you would get green slime poured onto your head.
    If you said ‘Water’ while on the show, you would get doused with water.
    It featured opposite sketches, which portrayed people living the opposite of reality; for example, what was considered annoying in real life was seen as not annoying in opposite skits (see below).
    Many people think of it as a Nickelodeon program, but it was really imported from Canada.
    The slobby character Lance Prevert was supposed to be a Canadian senator, but most viewers wouldn’t know it just by looking at him.
    Alanis Morissette used the show as a stepping stone to a singing career.
    Near the end of every show, the kids would pop out of school lockers and tell jokes, some of which bordered on corny.
    It skipped the 1988 TV season altogether, producing no episodes that year.
    When the show returned in 1989, much of the previous cast had been made over, with only a few returning cast members left over from the previous season.
    It is having a hard time finding its way back onto TV in reruns, because of the enormous number of cast members who would have to receive royalties.

Why You Can't Do That on Television might not be annoying:

    It put Nickelodeon on the map.
    It was cancelled by Canadian TV in the mid-1980’s, but the show was able to stay in production for many more years due to its huge popularity in the U.S.
    It did shows on many different relevant topics, such as Smoking, Equal Rights, and Fears.
    One episode gave a strong anti-drugs message in a creative manner: using custard pies in place of real drugs, for comic effect and to demonstrate the dangers of addiction.
    It parodied the way adults sometimes try to take advantage of young people, by exposing the stupidity that some adults possess.
    It did true satire, unlike ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘South Park,’ which just make wise ass remarks.
    It featured opposite sketches, which portrayed people living the opposite of reality; for example, what was considered not annoying in real life was seen as annoying in opposite skits (see above).
    There's a notion, popular in Canada, that their senators are old, lewd cronies whose attendance in Parliament is spotty at best, thus explaining how slobby Lance Prevert could be a senator in Canada.
    Many of its funniest catch phrases include, ‘That is one sneaky kid!,’ ‘Don’t encourage him!’ and ‘Sometimes it’s so easy, I’m ashamed of myself.’
    The kids always found a clever way to get out of being executed by the Capitano.
    It made fun of sloppy, health code violating eateries with their Barth’s Burgery sketches (Dh...I-I-I-I heard that!).
    Like ‘The Lone Ranger,’ its theme song was the ‘William Tell Overture,’ except it was played by a Dixieland band.
    Part of the theme song features a scream sound that, incredibly, sounds just like Howard Dean's famous scream.
    The idea of green slime was stolen from them by the movie Ghostbusters.
    It doesn’t seem to get its due credit for originating the on-air sliming, even though many Nickelodeon shows and segments feature slimings.
    It was one of the coolest things about the 1980's.
    Its legacy is evident in just about everything Nickelodeon does.

Credit: Gregg


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 82.35% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 64.29% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 16 Votes: 68.75% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 70 Votes: 67.14% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 30 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 31 Votes: 58.06% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 76 Votes: 46.05% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 127 Votes: 62.99% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 422 Votes: 43.84% Annoying