"Whatever Turns You On"
(1979)

On March 18, 1979, halfway through the premiere season of You Can't Do That On Television, a network version of the series commenced production. This was a taped series titled Whatever Turns You On (WTYO) and it aired in a primetime slot in 1979 on CTV, a national Canadian television network of which CJOH was an affiliate.

WTYO was a fast-paced sketch comedy for youth hosted by Christine McGlade and linked together from the familiar YCDTOTV link set. Usually, one or two storylines would run throughout each episode, most often unfolding on the link set. WTYO had topics, opposite sketches and of course green slime, water, pies, etc. The program was done before a live studio audience, however, canned laughter later replaced the live audience. The series was shot at CJOH. Roger Price and Geoffrey Darby were the writers. Darby directed the series, while Price produced it.

WTYO featured the acting expertise of Ruth Buzzi, a player in early-1960s variety shows, and a prominent member of the Laugh-In cast. In WTYO, Buzzi played all of the adult female characters. These include Mom, Miss Fit (a teacher), Miss Take (Mr. Dime's southern talking secretary), Miss Inform (a very funny nurse), Lois (a female version of Barth) and the old lady at the theater (Christine McGlade recreated some of these characters for the 1981 season of YCDTOTV)..

Opposite Buzzi was Les Lye, from the YCDTOTV cast. A lot of Les's familiar adult male characters appeared in WTYO. These include Ross, Senator Prevert, Mr. Schidtler, the Principal, Nasti, Seth Pool, along with Mr. Dime (the president of the T.H.E. Television Network) and R. Sole (the producer).

All of the original, classic YCDTOTV kid cast members appeared in WTYO. These are Christine McGlade, Kevin Somers, Jono Gebert, Kevin Schenk, Lisa Ruddy and Rodney Helal. In fact, one can view the main cast of WTYO by playing the 1981-90 YCDTOTV opening animation in slow-motion. A portion of the animation comes from WTYO. During the segment in which the kids get off the school bus, the kids (in order) are WTYO-age: Kevin Somers, Kevin Schenk, Christine McGlade, Jono Gebert, and Marc Baillon. Most people do not realize that 1981-90 YCDTOTV used the format of WTYO and not the 1979 YCDTOTV format.