Kidstuff:
Let kids take over a TV studio to create and star in their
own program? You've got to be crazy. TV just isn't done that
way. Well, that's what is done on Whatever Turns You
On, a sparky CTV kid's show pilot due on the air Saturday
morning at 10:30 on CFTO and other network stations.
It's
one of the freshest ideas in Canadian children's TV, a junior-league
Laugh-In with comedy sketches, groaning riddles
and general good fun for viewers 9 to 15 years of age.
Even
adult guests, Laugh-In's Ruth Buzzi, pop group
Trooper, and comedian Les Lyle (sic), don't get in the way
of the youthful cast plucked from Ottawa schools.
In this show, entertainment and not education is front and
centre. Nothing's sacred, not even poor bad-mouthed CBC. "I
told you not [to] watch nasty, violent American programs,"
Buzzi, playing the mother, tells one youngster. "Oh Mom,"
comes the reply, "Canadian shows are boring." And replies
the mother: "The government pays CBC $500 million to make
sure they're boring, so people won't watch TV much."
Whatever
Turns You On, which takes viewers behind the cameras
for more tomfoolery, is a spinoff of a well-rated weekly kids
series on CTV station CJOH in Ottawa. It's called You
Can't Do That On Television and on a local basis runs
phone-in contests and gives prizes along with comedy. The
network version has no phone-in but steams along delightfully.
A credit to producer Roger Price who masterminds the Ottawa
series. Make sure the kids watch it.
