Gerben
Heslinga, a technical director and, eventually, director of YCDTOTV,
was kind enough to return our interview. Below is what the director
of the 1989 and 1990 seasons had to say about his tenure on YCDTOTV.
How
did you get the job on You Can't Do That On Television?
When
YCDTOTV first started at CJOH-TV in Ottawa, I was a junior technical
producer/switcher. Eventually, I became the permanent technical
producer/switcher for the program. My responsibilities were to make
sure everything was ready technical-wise in the studio and as the
switcher, or sometimes referred to as vision mixer I took direction
from the director on what cameras to take or what effects to prepare.
The switcher mixes video like audio mixes sound. Audio is a lot
more complicated however. In 1989, Alex Sutton, who was the YCDTOTV
director, left to become a director at an all-news network, run
by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Roger Price said he would
produce and direct, but he rarely came into the control room to
direct and left that up to me. Officially, I couldn't be given a
director's credit since I was still the technical producer/switcher,
but really I did both. That's why the credit on some shows said
"Directed by Roger Price (but really Gerben Heslinga)". After doing
this for several episodes Roger came to me and said let's make it
official, and the company promoted me to director.
Describe
what it was like to be directing such a popular TV show. Were there
any restrictions put on you because of Nickelodeon?
Nickelodeon was great to work for. They really did not put any restrictions
on us. We just had to be careful how far we really could take the
humor. After all, our audience was very impressionable. Once, we
did a series of episodes that were roughly edited, Roger and I would
go to New York for approval of the series by Nickelodeon. Geoff
Darby, who with Roger Price wrote, and produced and also directed
the first couple of years, eventually became a vice president at
Nickelodeon. For Roger these visits were great, it was time he could
spend with his friend Geoff.
What
is your first memory of YCDTOTV? Your best? Your worst?
My first? When we went to air for the first time LIVE coast-to-coast
on the CTV network.
My best? When
I became the director.
The worst?
The deadlines and rehearsals.
Let's
try some name association. What comes to mind in relation to Les?
Abby?
Les Lye? One very funny man...a treat to work with.
Abby Hagyard?
One really scary mom!
The kids were
all great!
One
fan wanted me to ask you whether or not Chris Bickford's leather
jacket was his, or was it just a prop for the show?
It was a prop at first, but eventually he started to take it home...
If
you could, please describe the process for taping a show.
We had Mondays and Tuesdays off. I would over the next three days
prepare my scripts for what props were required, what effects we
were to do, what slimes and waters where to be done. That info would
be passed on toe staging, props and lighting departments. Cast would
come in on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to read scripts. Roger
would re-write on those days or write even more material. Saturday
and Sunday we would be in the studio. For a series of episodes,
we would do all the bus scenes, then the bedrooms, front porch etc.
Not always in that order but we be recording scenes for several
shows in that one location.
For instance,
we might do all the dungeons and bedrooms on Saturday. All the Kitchens
and bathrooms on the Sunday. Then those sets would be taken out
during the week and other sets would be setup for the next shooting
days. Slimes and waters were always done before lunch. It gave kids
the time to clean up. They were paid extra for a slime and a water.
After we recorded
material for several shows, Roger, myself and the production assistant,
who was Nancy Bissonnette at the time, would go into the edit suite.
A show would require 22 minutes of material. We would record up
to an hour. From that hour, we would take the best. It was tough
to figure what would stay and what would go. After the first rough
edit, the show was sent off to New York for approval by Nickelodeon,
and then it was back to the edit suite for touch ups. The show was
then sweetened with music, sound effects and laugh track.
What
were your favorite sketches to direct?
All
of them.
How
was your relationship with Roger Price?
Very good. We worked well together. We did not always agree, but
that's what producers/writers and directors do. If not for him,
I wouldn't have had the opportunity to direct a television show
seen worldwide. It was syndicated to several countries.
Did
you know that the 1990 season would be the end? Why was it cancelled
so abruptly? How did Roger, yourself, the cast react?
We
knew it was coming. By then, Nickelodeon had a large number of episodes.
They could recycle them for years. A new audience came every year
with new children who had never seen them. The cast was upset at
first, but they also realized they would eventually grow too old.
I'm not sure how Roger felt. Myself, I miss it. It was hectic, but
it was very fulfilling. Some of us still talk about the good old
days.
When
you look at the entire cast of the show's run, how do you rate the
cast that you had to work with?
Roger
had this unique talent to pick out very talented kids -- kids who
had never acted in their lives. They were all unique and gifted
in their own way.
Do
you suppose YCDTOTV could still be alive today if it had not been
cancelled a decade ago?
I don't think so. Eventually, you run out of story ideas. That's
not to say that it couldn't go back into production. Like I mentioned,
a new audience comes every year, however, each new generation is
more sophisticated. Imagine the special effects we would have to
do now to keep their attention.
What
are you up to now?
I still work at CJOH-TV. However, since 1995, we have downsized
to where we now only do news. No production is done at CJOH anymore.
Most of the staff that worked on the show have been laid off and
are now free-lancing or working for other production companies.
I direct the 6 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. newscasts. I occasionally fill
in for the noon newscast producer. I also direct the Children's
Telethon for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario that is
broadcast in June of every year.
Was
there anything else worth nothing that we wouldn't know about? Any
good stories that you would like to tell about your time on the
show?
When we watered or slimed someone, it was done in three parts. The
first part of the sketch, up to where the actor said, "Water" or
"I Don't Know," was put to tape. Then, the stage crew would set
up a stepladder with the slime bucket or water pail off camera,
and they would put plastic on the floor of the set. We would then
put the actor back onto the set, take a close-up shot, begin recording
and then water or slime them. Then we would stop tape, remove the
stepladder and put other actors back onto the set and resume recording.
All three parts would be edited together in the edit suite. That's
why no one else ever got wet or slimed.
Do you remember
the Banditos who "shot" children at the post? They were all part
of the crew.
Everyone loved
working on that show. It was hectic and stressful, but at the end
of each session, we couldn't wait to get at it again.
Thank
you for your time, Gerben.
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