My childhood just got smashed into itty bitty pieces.
An internet friend pointed out that Les Lye, most famous as the only adult man on You Can't Do That On Television, has passed away. A quick IMDB search also tells me that Les also did some voice acting: Care Bears, The Raccoons, Teddy Ruxpin. That's quite an impressive career.
Nobody could play a sleazy, untrustworthy adult like Les could, and he played them often on You Can't Do That On Television. I was particularly fond of Barth, the proprietor of Barth's Burgers, whose sketches always ending with "what do you think's in the burgers?"
Bye, Les. You will be missed.
You Can't Do That On Television was my absolute favorite show as a kid, though my parents hated it. The reruns came on Nickelodeon at 5:30, right after Out of Control (a show I remember virtually nothing about except for the title, the fact that Dave Coulier hosted, and a punk girl who talked really fast).
(Here she is. Apparently her name was Diz.)
It was my dream to be a cast member, though I guess I really couldn't have been since I think it was in syndication and also Canadian. I mostly wanted to hang out with Moose and fawn over Alisdair (see below). I also wanted to be on Kids Incorporated, so there you have it.
You Can't Do That On Television was a whip smart, funny kids show and Les was great on it, as was the other adult actor, Abby Hagyard, who played all the adult female parts.
Also, just as a creepy closing that now makes me feel like a pedophile, my first crush on a boy was on You Can't Do That On Television's Alisdair Gillis, a total canadian fox.
But whatever. He's actulally older than me, so there...
An internet friend pointed out that Les Lye, most famous as the only adult man on You Can't Do That On Television, has passed away. A quick IMDB search also tells me that Les also did some voice acting: Care Bears, The Raccoons, Teddy Ruxpin. That's quite an impressive career.
Nobody could play a sleazy, untrustworthy adult like Les could, and he played them often on You Can't Do That On Television. I was particularly fond of Barth, the proprietor of Barth's Burgers, whose sketches always ending with "what do you think's in the burgers?"
Bye, Les. You will be missed.
You Can't Do That On Television was my absolute favorite show as a kid, though my parents hated it. The reruns came on Nickelodeon at 5:30, right after Out of Control (a show I remember virtually nothing about except for the title, the fact that Dave Coulier hosted, and a punk girl who talked really fast).
It was my dream to be a cast member, though I guess I really couldn't have been since I think it was in syndication and also Canadian. I mostly wanted to hang out with Moose and fawn over Alisdair (see below). I also wanted to be on Kids Incorporated, so there you have it.
You Can't Do That On Television was a whip smart, funny kids show and Les was great on it, as was the other adult actor, Abby Hagyard, who played all the adult female parts.
Also, just as a creepy closing that now makes me feel like a pedophile, my first crush on a boy was on You Can't Do That On Television's Alisdair Gillis, a total canadian fox.
But whatever. He's actulally older than me, so there...
LOVED this show so much. Looking back, it's kind of amazing a show so weird and inventive could even exist on a channel like Nickelodeon.
Posted by: Kevin T. | July 24, 2009 at 01:45 PM
@ Kevin. T
That's because it wasn't a Nickelodeon show. It was Canadian and Nickelodeon just had the good sense to air it.
It was so, so good.
Posted by: Tarhearted | July 24, 2009 at 01:54 PM
This is a secret just between you and I, but my boyfriend was a cast member. If you are a good detective, you'll figure out who. :-)
I sometimes read your posts outloud to him because we both find them so great, so I think he'll be happy to hear you were a big fan of the show. (I've e-mailed him a link to this post.)
Posted by: Ollie | July 28, 2009 at 07:12 AM
@Ollie
You better tell me which Kevin is yours! There were four or five over the years. Is it Kevin ward? it is, isn't it?
Posted by: Josh | July 28, 2009 at 10:32 AM
I can't confirm or deny anything here! :-)
Posted by: Ollie | July 29, 2009 at 08:54 AM
He did one of the voices in the cartoon series The Raccoons. I watched that show religiously after a barrage of The Wuzzles and Gummi Bears on the Disney Channel. It had the best end credit song in the world.
Posted by: Rachael F. | August 11, 2009 at 02:08 PM