You Can't Do That on Television

You Can't Do That on Television is a Canadian television program that first aired locally in 1979 before airing internationally in 1981. It featured pre-teen and teenaged actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of the United States Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and Saturday Night Live. Each episode had a specific theme normally relating to pop culture of the time. The show was notable for launching the careers of many performers, including alternative rock singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, and screenwriter Bill Prady, who would write and produce shows like The Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls and Dharma and Greg.

The show was produced by and aired on Ottawa's CTV station CJOH-TV, and was marketed specifically for an American audience. After production ended in 1990, the show continued in reruns on the Nickelodeon cable network in the United States through 1994, when it was replaced with the similar themed sketch-comedy variety program All That. During its original run, the show was seen as one and the same with Nickelodeon, achieved high ratings and is well known for introducing the network's iconic slime (usually green).