Before 1980, children's tv invariably portrayed adults as beings to love and respect.. Regardless of how mischievous and sassy the kids might be, no one ever questioned the maxim that "Father knows best": parents, teachers, coaches, and the lunch lady rarely made mistakes and always had the best of intentions.
That all changed when the sketch comedy show You Can't Do That On Television premiered on local Ottawa tv in 1979, then jumped to the fledgling Nickelodeon network in 1981.
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At best the adults (mostly played by Les Lyle) were disgusting, incompetent fools.
Sometimes they were dangerous.
An endless array of kids (over 100 in all) held a mirror up to the preteen world, parodying everything from the standard (tedious homework, nonsensical school rules, horrible cafeteria food) to the edgy (racism, gender roles, divorce), and especially the anxiety over what was to come, with adolescence and adulthood just around the corner, and for gay boys, the "what girl do you like?" interrogation.
Although gay people were never mentioned, the critique of the most cherished myths and preconceptions of childhood helped gay kids recognize that the myth of universal heterosexual desire could be critiqued as well.
Two ongoing bits reflected anxiety over desires that, the adults insisted, did not exist. In one, a boy is about to be executed by firing squad, yells "Stop the execution," and cleverly talks his way out of it. In another, a boy is in a dungeon, hands manacled over his head, being interrogated and tortured (usually by being slobbered on).
The boys in the cast appeared shirtless or in their underwear constantly, in nearly every episode. Gay preteens must have been mesmerized.
1. Alisdair Gillis, who went on to a long career in the entertainment industry, and died in 2025.
2. Doug Ptolemy (right), now a martial arts coach.
2. Doug Ptolemy (right), now a martial arts coach.
More after the break
4. Chris Bickford, who got a degree in creative writing from York University, and now works as a freelance writer and photographer.
5. Christian Tessier, who would go on to The Tomorrow People and some gay-themed movies.
6. Writer, director, and producer Teddy Wilson
Episodes of You Can't Do That on Television can be streamed on Paramount Plus.
