You Can't Do That on Television: Difference between revisions

Line 11:

Now with its own [[You Can't Do That On Television (TV)/Radar|Getting Crap Past the Radar]] page.

----

=== This series provides examples of: ===

* [[Actor Allusion]]: Of a sort. Host Christine McGlade made the mistake of mentioning her real-life nickname Moose to the producers; it was swiftly worked into the show.

* [[Adults Are Useless]]: Adults are usually portrayed as bumbling morons...at their ''best''. The one who isn't--Ross, the stage manager--is despicable for all other sorts of reasons. This was deliberate on the part of creator Roger Price, who hated that adults in kids' shows tended to be reliable, helpful, [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]s and wanted to teach kids that not all adults were like this.

Line 20:

Line 19:

'''Sen. Prevert''': No, what I said was, smoking is bad for ''your'' health. I never said anything about ''mine''. }}

** There were a couple of these also in the "Addictions" episode from 1982, notably a link set skit where Lisa reprimands Christine for being "addicted" to video games, but then it turns out Lisa has her own "unhealthy" addiction - to soap operas.

* [[Canada Eh]]: The show is [[Canadian Series|a Canadian production]]. Other Canadianisms that found their way into the show: going "to university" instead of "to college", and saying "grade ten" instead of "tenth grade." Although the writers did their best to internationalize the show's content by making references to American things such as the Fourth of July, it was little things like those in the script that (even without seeing the words "Ottawa, Canada" in the closing credits) made the show's country of origin obvious.

* [[Canada, Eh?]]: The show is [[Canadian Series|a Canadian production]]. Other Canadianisms that found their way into the show: going "to university" instead of "to college", and saying "grade ten" instead of "tenth grade." Although the writers did their best to internationalize the show's content by making references to American things such as the Fourth of July, it was little things like those in the script that (even without seeing the words "Ottawa, Canada" in the closing credits) made the show's country of origin obvious.

** "Going to university" isn't a Canadianism. University and college are separate things. Of course somebody going to Carleton College instead of Carton University will say "College" regardless of where they live.

*** More obvious in Season One and in "Whatever Turns You On" (which were never intended to be seen outside of Canada), with a number of jokes about one guy (Marc Bailon) being French, leading to the line "You don't speak Frog, eh?" ("Frog" is an offensive term for a French person [as in "from France" French], but can also be applied to someone from a French-speaking country -- in this case, Quebec.)

Line 43:

Line 42:

** To top it off, Nickelodeon's airing of the "Enemies and Paranoia" episode in 2004 (as an "Old School Pick") was cut short and replaced with other programming. Why? Because the episode had a lot of jokes about Ronald Reagan as President of the United States and [[Too Soon|the episode just happened to air shortly after Ronald Reagan's death made the news]].

* [[Greasy Spoon]]: Barth's.

* [[I Ate What]]: Most of the Barth sketches.

* [[I Ate What?]]: Most of the Barth sketches.

* [[I Can't Believe ~~Its~~ Not Heroin]]: Invoked with cream pies in the episode "Drugs", the pies have this effect ''specifically because'' they're stand-ins for heavy drugs and depicting use of the real thing would get the show pulled off the air.

* [[I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!]]: Invoked with cream pies in the episode "Drugs", the pies have this effect ''specifically because'' they're stand-ins for heavy drugs and depicting use of the real thing would get the show pulled off the air.

* [[Ironic Name]]: The teacher character Mr. [[Schindler's List|Schindler]] is modeled on [[Adolf Hitler]].

* [[Jackass Genie]]: "My work here is done." Happened on at least three occasions:

Line 71:

Line 70:

* [[Ms. Fanservice]]: Christine "Moose" McGlade. She was much older than the other kids and always seemed to be wearing aerobics leotards, working out and getting wet when she said "water".

* [[No Fourth Wall]]: The show knows it's a show and the characters constantly interact with the "director". An episode about divorce had the show being interrupted because the director and his wife split up and she took half of the show.

* [[The Not So Harmless Punishment]]: One sketch had a child being 'grounded' and having his shoes taken away. The kid points out that having his shoes taken away won't stop him leaving the house. The adult then says that the child has misunderstood. Now that he has taken off his rubber-soled shoes, he is 'grounded' and hands the kid a live electric cable...

* [[The Not-So-Harmless Punishment]]: One sketch had a child being 'grounded' and having his shoes taken away. The kid points out that having his shoes taken away won't stop him leaving the house. The adult then says that the child has misunderstood. Now that he has taken off his rubber-soled shoes, he is 'grounded' and hands the kid a live electric cable...

* [[Only Sane Man|Only Sane Kid]]: Moose, in a capacity similar to that of Kermit The Frog on the [[The Muppet Show]].

* [[Panty Shot]]: Christine in a host segment where she's in a tennis outfit and suffers a broken leg. Of course, the dress has a pretty short skirt to begin with.

Line 80:

Line 79:

** And "water" (or "wet").

** In the "Enemies and Paranoia" episode, the word "Free".

* [[Self Deprecation]]: Many of the jokes were about how awful/boring the show was.

* [[Self-Deprecation]]: Many of the jokes were about how awful/boring the show was.

* [[Shot At Dawn]]: A regular sketch involved one of the kids about to be shot by one. They often (but not always) escaped execution by tricking the commandant. The commandant also appeared in a recurring sketch with the kid [[Locked in The Dungeon]] (the source of the "fresh air" catchphrase above).

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: The entire cast over time, and especially when they replaced ''everyone'' for the 1989 and 1990 seasons.)

* [[Vomit Discretion Shot]]: Whoever figures out what (or who) is in the burger in Barth's diner always chucks. Sometimes into buckets typically provided by said Barth. How else do you think he gets his "Special Sauce"?

* [[Who Even Needs a Brain]]: A sketch had a mother getting far too enthusiastic about cleaning out her child's ears, and cleaning out everything between them as well. It had no noticeable effect on the child.

* [[Who Even Needs a Brain?]]: A sketch had a mother getting far too enthusiastic about cleaning out her child's ears, and cleaning out everything between them as well. It had no noticeable effect on the child.