One of the things I always loved about he Nickalodion channel back then was the fact that kids always had the ability to participate in a television show of their own, have their own set of rules to abide by and creative freedom.
It was one of the first TV shows I saw when I first watched Nick, two things went through my mind when I saw it for the first time. One, what in the hell did I just watch and two, this is the most bizarre, funny, creative, innovative show ever. And of course I couldn't help but watch it more and more, laughing all the way through. I remember participating a little while watching, I really wished I had a chance to be one of the cast members.
The show had strengths which have made them memorable. For one thing, the stars in the show all of them were real ordinary kids, they weren't any typical comedian, professional actor, had plastic surgery, or chiseled features. We saw kids with an honest eye, some physically attractive or not so attractive, their acting wasn't always polished (in fact most of them never acted before), however they all won us over with their bright honest personalities and were actually funny.
Also there were no special guest stars, that was a good thing because I always thought it was a hit or miss affair when it comes to comedy. Just like both "Monty Python" and "Almost Live" they carried themselves out on their own with whatever they had, it's true they were operating on a low budget but the limitations it had proved to be it's greatest strengths, and stayed true to their direction in comedy.
The show was a parody on the kids counterculture of the 80's. The skits, though not smoothly written all of them in a strange way sort of acknowledged this with honesty and tied it in with cartoon lunacy every kids common fears, experiences and anxieties within that decade some still exist today. These were things I could easily emphasize with, who hasn't felt that fear of putting a quarter into an out of order arcade game, disappointment over spending money over a bad movie, sickness over bad fast food, simple fear of death, getting tricked in some way, just anything else you can think of. All this made the comedy all the more funny because it was true.
There are a lot of favorites of mine like this one where it takes place in a movie theater. The kids see a trailer for the new Rambo film called "Rambo Kills Everyone". This kids wonder why it's called that until the character points his gun at them, and suddenly their fired on. Some actually get killed in either the shots or explosions. Being a Rambo fan it was comic gold.
Blip, a manager of a video arcade who is always scheming to steel away his customers quarters by either bad arcade cabinets which eat our quarters without giving them back or even bad video games.
Barth, my favorite comic character in the show is a burger joint cook, dirty, gruff, funny, and just plain disgusting. Like a satellite he's able to catch a crack comment about himself and say toward the kids my favorite line in a varied vocal volume, "IIIIIIIII heard that." Or even makes a strange comment that makes the kids puke out their burgers and he wears a face of glee as if he's hearing music. Just remembering this makes me glad not to eat fast food so much.
Kids about to be executed in a firing squad by some third world country (Cuba or Iran?). But the general never finishes his order, he simply always stops at "Ready, AIMMM..." because he gets caught up in a ridiculous conversation the kid is suing to trick him. And the general would accidentally say "Fire" and he would get shot. I couldn't help but pretend to be one of the firing squad every time it happened it shouldn't be funny but it is, sometimes the kid would accidentally get killed but I didn't mind because it was comedy not real.
Or how about that simple build up sketch, where in a live stage one of the characters would have a ridiculous conversation with someone and would just be leading them into a trap by tricking them into mentioning the deadly secret words "I don't know" and they would dump this load of slime, or even just mentioning another deadly word "water" and then a load of water would be dumped on them. It was always a joy to see, there is always something about making someone messy that's funny, but also made me wish that I could get slimed because it really looked fun.
By today's standards this show can be seen as a time capsule of the 80's, it's a shame it didn't have the same immortal life span of "SNL' we could have seen the counterculture of the 90's, 00's, now and beyond. Along with whole new generations of kids but after ten years the show ran out of slime and ended. "You Can't Do that on Television" is literally a part of my childhood memories, it may be gone but not forgotten, like that slime that splashes on kids it has left a mark that can't be washed away.
Rating: 3 and a half stars
It was one of the first TV shows I saw when I first watched Nick, two things went through my mind when I saw it for the first time. One, what in the hell did I just watch and two, this is the most bizarre, funny, creative, innovative show ever. And of course I couldn't help but watch it more and more, laughing all the way through. I remember participating a little while watching, I really wished I had a chance to be one of the cast members.
The show had strengths which have made them memorable. For one thing, the stars in the show all of them were real ordinary kids, they weren't any typical comedian, professional actor, had plastic surgery, or chiseled features. We saw kids with an honest eye, some physically attractive or not so attractive, their acting wasn't always polished (in fact most of them never acted before), however they all won us over with their bright honest personalities and were actually funny.
Also there were no special guest stars, that was a good thing because I always thought it was a hit or miss affair when it comes to comedy. Just like both "Monty Python" and "Almost Live" they carried themselves out on their own with whatever they had, it's true they were operating on a low budget but the limitations it had proved to be it's greatest strengths, and stayed true to their direction in comedy.
The show was a parody on the kids counterculture of the 80's. The skits, though not smoothly written all of them in a strange way sort of acknowledged this with honesty and tied it in with cartoon lunacy every kids common fears, experiences and anxieties within that decade some still exist today. These were things I could easily emphasize with, who hasn't felt that fear of putting a quarter into an out of order arcade game, disappointment over spending money over a bad movie, sickness over bad fast food, simple fear of death, getting tricked in some way, just anything else you can think of. All this made the comedy all the more funny because it was true.
There are a lot of favorites of mine like this one where it takes place in a movie theater. The kids see a trailer for the new Rambo film called "Rambo Kills Everyone". This kids wonder why it's called that until the character points his gun at them, and suddenly their fired on. Some actually get killed in either the shots or explosions. Being a Rambo fan it was comic gold.
Blip, a manager of a video arcade who is always scheming to steel away his customers quarters by either bad arcade cabinets which eat our quarters without giving them back or even bad video games.
Barth, my favorite comic character in the show is a burger joint cook, dirty, gruff, funny, and just plain disgusting. Like a satellite he's able to catch a crack comment about himself and say toward the kids my favorite line in a varied vocal volume, "IIIIIIIII heard that." Or even makes a strange comment that makes the kids puke out their burgers and he wears a face of glee as if he's hearing music. Just remembering this makes me glad not to eat fast food so much.
Kids about to be executed in a firing squad by some third world country (Cuba or Iran?). But the general never finishes his order, he simply always stops at "Ready, AIMMM..." because he gets caught up in a ridiculous conversation the kid is suing to trick him. And the general would accidentally say "Fire" and he would get shot. I couldn't help but pretend to be one of the firing squad every time it happened it shouldn't be funny but it is, sometimes the kid would accidentally get killed but I didn't mind because it was comedy not real.
Or how about that simple build up sketch, where in a live stage one of the characters would have a ridiculous conversation with someone and would just be leading them into a trap by tricking them into mentioning the deadly secret words "I don't know" and they would dump this load of slime, or even just mentioning another deadly word "water" and then a load of water would be dumped on them. It was always a joy to see, there is always something about making someone messy that's funny, but also made me wish that I could get slimed because it really looked fun.
By today's standards this show can be seen as a time capsule of the 80's, it's a shame it didn't have the same immortal life span of "SNL' we could have seen the counterculture of the 90's, 00's, now and beyond. Along with whole new generations of kids but after ten years the show ran out of slime and ended. "You Can't Do that on Television" is literally a part of my childhood memories, it may be gone but not forgotten, like that slime that splashes on kids it has left a mark that can't be washed away.
Rating: 3 and a half stars