
What made You Can't Do That On Television so popular? The show featured a great cast including young actors who would blossom into success stories. The slapstick comedy and sketches were great entertainment, but the real star of the show was a substance simply known as green slime. It became the staple scene of every episode. During a conversation between two cast members, one would ask a question to another. The gag was to get the other cast member to say "I don't know" which was the triggering phrase for the slime to appear. Another dousing prank would be anytime someone would say "water" in which they would subsequently get soaked. The slime became so popular that Nickelodeon would copyright it and own the rights to "Nickelodeon slime." The secret recipe for the slime mixture would be sought after more than the 11 herbs and spices used in Colonel Sanders' fried chicken. (It has been rumored to be some concoction of green Jello powder, oatmeal and possibly baby shampoo.) The slime would splatter its way onto other Nickelodeon show's like Double Dare and is still a tradition during the finale of the Kids Choice Awards.
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You Can't Do That On Television would produce 144 total episodes from 1979-90. Nickelodeon would continue to air reruns on weekends through 1994. Cast members have reunited several times for SlimeCon which was located at the original production studios in Ottawa and most recently at Ottowa Comic-Con in 2017. In 2012, a documentary film of the show's history called You Can't Do That On Film was released by Shout Factory. Episodes are still available on YouTube and online stores like iTunes have made episodes available to purchase.
You Can't Do That On Television was a staple among kids shows throughout the '80s and definitely one of the reasons we loved Nickelodeon.
Explore More Reasons We Loved Nickelodeon On RD80s!
Explore More Reasons We Loved Nickelodeon On RD80s!