You Can't Do That on Television

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You Can't Do That on Television
Genre	Sketch comedy
Created by	Roger Price
Directed by	Geoffrey Darby Brian Lebold Brenda Mason Alex Sutton Roger Price Gerben Heslinga
Starring	Les Lye Abby Hagyard Christine McGlade additional cast
Opening theme	William Tell Overture (Dixieland arrangement)
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	10
No. of episodes	144 (plus 2 compilations) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Geoffrey Darby Bryn Matthews Jeffrey C. Weber John Findlay Geraldine Laybourne Robert Wilson
Producers	Roger Price Geoffrey Darby Brenda Mason
Production locations	CJOH-TV Studios Ottawa, Ontario
Running time	60 minutes (1979–80) 30 minutes (1981–90)
Original release
Network	CTV (1979–90) Nickelodeon (1981–90)
Release	February 3, 1979 (1979-02-03) – May 25, 1990 (1990-05-25)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

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 feature-length documentary You Can't Do That on Film,^[1] directed by David Dillehunt. The film was released in North America by Shout! Factory in 2012 and reissued in 2022 by MVD Entertainment Group. In 2021, the second season was available to watch on Paramount+; however, it has since been removed, though a selection of 14 episodes remain available.^[2] The series has also never formally been released on any home media to date.