Canadian Television Part II

Yesterday I wrote about You Can't Do That On Television, a popular 1980s Canadian television production which ran on Nickelodeon. Two more shows I couldn't get enough of were Degrassi Junior High and Fifteen.

Degrassi was a teen drama that tackled controversial topics like suicide, homosexuality, teen pregnancy, difficult divorces, stealing, racism and more. Similar to You Can't Do That on Television, the kid actors were basically inexperienced "regular kid" types--making them even more realistic and likable. 

Degrassi was critically acclaimed and ran on PBS between 1987-1989. We Degrassi fans couldn't get enough of Spike (the pregger punk), Shane (Spike's baby daddy), Snake, Arthur and Yick (the nerds),  Caitlin, Joey (Zit Remedy lead singer who thought he was a slick ladies man), Wheels, boyish L.D., Lucy (busted for shoplifting), the curly-haired preppy twins Heather and Erica, Alexa (The pretty Greek girl -- I liked her because she was slightly chubby, yet had a HOT boyfriend, go Alexa!) and Simon (her hot blond model boyfriend), Mr. Raditch and so many more. 

Spin-offs and continuations such as Degrassi High and Degrassi, The Next Generation based upon the original series even featured some of the original cast members. The Next Generation even features a balding adult Snake (the original actor!) and Emma--Spike's baby all grown up. Pretty cool!

Here are some clips for your viewing pleasure...

Fifteen (also known as Hillside in Canada) was a horrible Canadian-produced teen drama that somehow sucked me in. When I say "horrible" I mean horrible to others, awesome to me! I am the first to admit, I am immature when it comes to my television viewing. Yes, I like MTV reality shows like The Hills and The City.  It doesn't surprise me that regardless of the fact that I was  18 or 19 at the time, I still tuned in to Nickelodeon to see what was going on with Fifteen. I needed to keep up with Brooke, Ashley, Jake and Billy. I couldn't resist loving the cheesy synthesizer intro song and 90210-wannabe style situations. 

 

Sadly, the real reason I enjoyed this show was due to an inappropriate crush I had  on a fifteen-year-old Ryan Reynolds. It scares me in retrospect to think Ryan was my little brother's age at the time of the show. It's funny how Ryan became so famous today and at age 34, it's not so weird to think he's hot, yet he nauseates me as an adult. 

Ryan Reynolds as Billy on Fifteen

I still love my Canadian television--many my favorite HGTV programs are produced in the Maple Leaf state.

Oh Canada, You Can't Do That on Television!

I am constantly telling TS over at The Non-Review how much I adore Canadian television.

I consider myself a lucky kid in that my folks hooked us up with Cable TV in the 1980s, while my husband didn't have cable TV growing up. It's a bummer because many of my HBO and Nickelodeon kid-show-viewing memories aren't his memories, but what can you do. We're also three years apart, so he doesn't even remember some of the same things. I mean, come on, while I was in fourth grade watching certain TV shows or listening to certain music, he was stuck in his PBS-first grade world (or "Grade 1" as they would say in Canada).

My two most favorite Canadian shows of the 1980s were You Can't Do That On Television which appeared on Nickelodeon (channel 22 from what I recall as a kid - check out this cool Facebook fan page!) and Degrassi Junior High on PBS.

Today I will focus on You Can't Do That on Television and tomorrow will be Degrassi Junior High.

You Can't Do That on Television was a sketch comedy type show, think SNL for youngsters starting kids with super thick Ottawa accents. The show ran from 1979-1990 and was very popular and well-received. Famous scenes included kids getting green-slimed for saying, "I don't know" or doused with water for saying, "water".

There was the nasty burger joint called Barth's. I always wanted to play the messed up video games at Blip's. I loved the locker scenes and who could forget the opening credits with wild images depicting The Childrens Sausage Factory? I don't even have to mention Alanis Morissette staring on the show as a kid, do I?

The comedian kids I remember from the show were Christine "Moose" McGlade (the hostess with dark wavy hair had the longest run on the show) and Lisa Ruddy--the girls were slightly chubby and were known for their continuously competitive banter. I also remember Vanessa, Doug and Kevin for whatever reason.

I had a huge crush on Alasdair Gillis even though as he hit puberty he took on a serious Nick Jonas look even though Nick Jonas wasn't even born back then. 

Here are some episodes to bring back old memories for you old-timers and show the younger folks what was Canadian cool back in the 1980s. 

Different Skits:

Three Different Intros:

Slimed: