How
was your New Years' celebrations? Were
they great? So-so? Don't quite remember it because you had one
too many tequila shots?
Well,
I have to tell you that my New Years celebrations were extremely quiet. They were filled with episodes of
"Bones", Chinese takeaway, and snow!
Seriously, the first day of 2015 brought forth a real winter
blizzard! I suppose it was a good thing
that all of the stores were closed for the day because I can only imagine how
much a mess it would have been trying to go on the roads that day.
Meanwhile,
our Christmas was green. I think the
weeks got mixed up on the calendar this year.
We're supposed to have snow on Christmas, not New Year's Day!
Oh,
well. Since the snow pretty much kept
everyone inside (at least in my neck of the woods, it did), I opted to spend
the day doing absolutely nothing but curl up with some books, and watch a
little television from my iPad mini.
But
you know, I've been also doing a lot of thinking about the upcoming year, as
well as a lot of other things that have been flowing through my mind (which is
really good, since 2015 has been designated the official anything goes year for
A POP CULTURE ADDICT'S GUIDE TO LIFE), and all I have to say is
that I've been thinking about a time in which things didn't seem so
complicated.
As
I enter a new year, I have a wide awakening of what I want out of life. And, all I have to say is that what I am
doing is not living life. I guess the
best way that I can describe it is that I am feeling like I am stranded on a
gigantic orange buoy in the middle of a huge body of water, and I...
Ick! How did that happen? Now I am soaked. Oh, wait. That's
right...I can't say wa---that substance that keeps all of us alive because I'll
get it dumped on my head.
Oh,
yeah, you're probably wondering what I'm talking about, right? Well, on New Year's Day, since I was
stranded inside because of the snow, I chose to watch a marathon of a
television show that used to be on the air when I was a little kid. It was a show that I used to love a lot
because of just how funny and daring it could be. From 1979-1990 (mind you, I wasn't born during the earliest years
of the show), "You Can't Do That On Television" made hundreds of
child actors wet whenever the said the "W" word, and they also
dropped a lot of green slime on them whenever they said those three magic words
"I Don't Know", just li...
...GROSS! I'VE BEEN SLIMED!
Anyway,
as I was saying, when a child proclaimed that he was clueless about something,
down the green slime came. And
depending on the recipe that was used, the green slime could be quite hard to
wash out. Poor Christine McGlade and
Vanessa Lindores must have had to soak in the tub for a week after shooting
this scene from the 1982 "Television" episode.
But
wait...I thought the show was called "You Can't Do That On
Television". Well, it was. And back in the days in which it aired
(which was the decade known as the conservative 1980s), the show did push the
buttons on several instances with jokes that featured vomiting, flatulence
humour, belching, risky subjects, and opposite sketches. Usually the show did a good job walking on
the border between decency and indecency, but a couple of episodes on
"Divorce" and "Adoption" were banned from both CTV and
Nickelodeon (though interestingly enough, I remember watching both on YTV).
But
of course, many people complained that it was cruel and unusual punishment to
throw buckets of green slime over someone because they did not know the answer
to a question asked by another kid, Abby Hagyard, or the dozens of characters
played by late character actor Les Lye.
Of course, I was not one of those people. I loved it when the kids were slimed! It was fun just to see how they would react when that slimy,
green liquidy stuff splattered all over them.
And,
you know...I think that I would rather take a bath in the stuff than admit that
I didn't know something. At least,
that's how I felt when I was a kid.
I
guess what I am trying to say is that when I was growing up, I found it
difficult to ask for help when I didn't know the answer to something. I reckon that had I been a cast member on
"You Can't Do That On Television" when I was seven or eight years
old, I would have probably been slimed more than a hundred times by the time I
had turned ten. It wasn't because I
considered myself to be some sort of know-it-all or anything like that. I suppose I felt some sort of embarrassment
in admitting that I needed help once in a while because I saw it as being a
sign of weakness.
I'll
readily admit that as a kid, I didn't really show much aptitude in street
smarts though. Book smarts,
absolutely. Street smarts, not so much.
Now
as an adult, I will readily admit that I no longer see asking for help being a
detriment. Sometimes it may very well
be the only way you can actually learn something about yourself. And sometimes, it may help you figure things
out a lot better.
Such
as, when you're doing algebra homework and you can't figure out how
"x" equals 51,881. You can
call a homework help line to get tips on figuring out the answer.
Or,
when you are trying to mount a television to a wall, but can't figure out what
tools you need to use. You simply read
the instructions or have someone help you install it.
Or
maybe...just maybe...if you're looking to shake things up in 2015 by finding
either a new job, or a new place to live (or both actually), and you are having
a really hard time asking friends to help you out in your search...there's no
shame in asking for that help.
Or,
so I tell myself, anyway.
Sigh...remember
when getting green slimed was the only thing you had to potentially worry about
when you were a kid? I miss those days.
Anyway,
since I brought up "You Can't Do That On Television", I thought I
would share my list of Top 10 episodes of the series. I thought it would be a fun way to reminisce about the program,
and these are the ten episodes that made me laugh the hardest. I do not have links provided for these
shows, but you can find every episode of the series on YouTube in some
capacity. At least, you can for now.
Anyway,
here are my top 10 favourite episodes of "You Can't Do That On
Television" in order of appearance.
1.
NUTRITION (1981) - Christine McGlade talks about the benefits of healthy
eating...by wearing most of the food she talks about! Oh, and Lisa Ruddy gets a special porridge surprise. Definitely the funniest 1981 episode.
2.
TELEVISION (1982) - This was Vanessa's first episode, and also the
episode which featured the multi-coloured and striped slime which I showed up
above.
3.
COOKING (1983) - Everybody hates Christine's cooking, and aren't afraid
to show their disgust. This also
features one of the most creative introduction sketches ever seen on the show.
4.
TECHNOLOGY (1984) - Touch the green square if you'd like me to continue
this list. Touch the red square if you
want me to stop. Oh, green won! Too bad!
5.
REVENGE (1985) - This is a really great way to illustrate just how messy
revenge can get. Now with more ketchup,
jello, milk, and maple syrup!
6. POP
MUSIC (1986) - Alanis Morissette gets slimed.
Enough said.
7.
POVERTY & UNEMPLOYMENT (1986) - This episode starts off being
painful to watch as nouveau riche Naida forces Alasdair, Vanessa, Doug, and
Robert to be her personal slaves.
Thankfully, she gets her comeuppance at the end of the episode.
8. TIME
(1989) - Ever wonder what slime looks like from a black and white filter? Though many people dislike the 1989-1990
season, I thought it was one of the best.
Watch Chris, Christian, Sariya, and Jennifer literally go back in time
for this one!
9. AGE
(1989) - Because the "Adoption" episode was banned, Ross asked
Vanessa to come back for one episode about the subject of age. It was a brilliant episode for mixing old cast
members like Vanessa with the new cast members like Stephanie, Chris, and
Patrick. And, hey, keep an eye open for
cameos by Christine, Alasdair, Doug, and Kevin Kubusheskie.
No comments:
Post a Comment