# You Can't Do That on Television (1979-1990)

You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured adolescent and teenage actors performing in a sketch comedy format similar to America's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Canada's Second City Television. Each episode had a specific theme, typically relating to the popular culture of the time. During its original U.S. run, the show was associated closely with the early years of the cable network Nickelodeon. It achieved high ratings, and is most famous for introducing the network's iconic green slime. The show was also notable for launching the careers of many performers, including alternative rock musician Alanis Morissette, filmmaker Patrick Mills, and television producer and screenwriter Bill Prady. The show was produced by and aired on Ottawa's CTV station CJOH-TV. Initially a local program, it was marketed specifically for a North American-wide audience from its third season on. After production ended in 1990, Nickelodeon aired reruns in the United States through 1994, when they were replaced with the similarly-themed domestic sketch comedy variety program All That. The show is the subject of the 2004 indie documentary You Can't Do That on Film, directed by David Dillehunt. Filmed in August 2004, the documentary was released in North America by Shout! Factory in 2012 and reissued in 2022 by MVD Entertainment. The film's tour of Studio D at CJOH was the final…

- Kind: TV
- By: Carleton Productions, Nickelodeon
- Genres: Children's
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/YCDTOTV1979-90)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/YCDTOTV1979-90?play=1)