Turkey
Television, a sketch comedy for youth, was
ordered by Nickelodeon as a result of the popularity of
You Can't Do That On Television.
Created by Roger Price and Geraldine Laybourne, this series
could be described as "You Can't Do That On Television
without a linkset and messiness." But, the series had more
sketches and more situations than YCDTOTV.
The
series began production around 1985 as a one-hour series
to be aired on Nickelodeon and Nick-At-Nite. It was later
edited into a half-hour format. Turkey Television
was taped in Ontario as well as New York and Kentucky. Among
the "Turkey Performers" were Les Lye, Christine McGlade,
Kevin Kubusheskie, and Adam Reid. Each were limited to one
character which much weakened their potential for the show.
The other cast members were kids and a few adults of whom
were previously unknown. Turkey Television
also had at its disposal an archive of comedy material (such
as very old comedy movies as well as some of Dana Carvey
and Kevin Nealon's first stand up routines). The sketches
being produced with the Turkey Performers along with this
archive footage was put together in a unique way.
With
a video camera, "Thurman T. Turkey", an animated turkey,
would tour the world filming television shows being seen
in other countries and then would return to Hollywood with
short sketches from these various shows. The "various shows"
aspect was only apparent in the lyrics of the show's theme
and in the opening animation as the sketches merely looked
like regular YCDTOTV fast-paced sketches. Some of these
included a girl talking to her dog (who's thoughts could
be heard by the audience), a dentist's office, a principal's
office, the school hallway, the first date, the Russian
newscast (hosted by Ivan Tellalie), and many others.
As
for Les, Christine, Kevin, and Adam, their characters were
as follows. Les Lye was Gramps. He was seen tinkering on
a car in his garage while talking to his grandson. Christine
McGlade played Katie, a nerdy, nasal talking girl who was
always on the phone or at the mall with her very cool and
attractive friend Hillary. Kevin Kubusheskie played Vance
Vain. The sketches consisted of Kevin, apparently playing
a high school senior, coming into his little brother's bedroom
upon getting home late at night. As Kevin stood at the end
of the bunk bed, the little brother, on the top bunk, would
wake up and say "How's it goin' Vance?" to which Kevin would
reply "Good, my life is good" and from there a short sketch
and punchline would progress. Adam Reid's character was
a boy who sat on the end of a bed while talking with an
alien who had inhabited his closet. The alien's hand, sticking
out of the closet door, would be seen gesturing and waving
as the alien and Adam conversed.
Turkey
Television's peak was when
it was being rerun at 3:30 p.m. ET in 1987, a half hour
before YCDTOTV's timeslot on Nickelodeon. While Turkey
Television was fun, the series was not the
quality of YCDTOTV by any means. However, the show worked
very well in the aforementioned capacity, as an "opener"
for the day's upcoming YCDTOTV episode. Turkey
Television's greatest significance
was that in addition to performing on the show, Christine
McGlade also served as a director and producer of the series.
