ycdtotv and kids shows that use humiliation

[ugotslimed]

Is there a particular reason that ycdtotv and many other shows for kids that followed in its footsteps, relied so heavily on messy humiliation, like laughing at people getting slimed and pied against their will?

Is this just a reflection of producers believing kids have a lower comedy sense of humor and, since you can't actually drop anvils on people, you may as well get them messy?

Or because they believe kids are naturally cruel and love seeing others in unfortunate slapstick situations?
Maybe it is just a continuation of the three stooges style of pie in the face comedy ,but ycdtotv seemed to take the slapstick to an almost sadistic level!

-not that it wasn't entertaining. especially for kids.

[BBOvenGuy]

Cruelty was always at the core of Roger Price's concept for the show, but the choice to rely "so heavily on messy humiliation" was actually done at Nickelodeon's urging. Slime, water and pies were always in the show format, but Roger originally kept them at a smaller proportion than what the network wanted.

[ugotslimed]

Cruelty was always at the core of Roger Price's concept for the show, but the choice to rely "so heavily on messy humiliation" was actually done at Nickelodeon's urging. Slime, water and pies were always in the show format, but Roger originally kept them at a smaller proportion than what the network wanted.

Why was Roger Price so obsessed with cruelty as comedy?

[rhodiecub]

Slime, water and pies were always in the show format, but Roger originally kept them at a smaller proportion than what the network wanted.

\

I noticed that especially with the earlier shows from 1979, 1981 and wtyo. It was more focused on the comedy then getting everyone slimed and watered. Some of the shows didn't have slimings (can't vouch the 1979s since there's only 3 in existence..

[LastoftheGypsies]

Why was Roger Price so obsessed with cruelty as comedy?

As Geoff Darby explained at Slimecon 2002, they purposely made the kids' lives on the show to be overly unpleasant so that the kids watching the show would realize "no matter how bad my life is, it CAN'T be worse than these kids'...."

[ugotslimed]

\

I noticed that especially with the earlier shows from 1979, 1981 and wtyo. It was more focused on the comedy then getting everyone slimed and watered. Some of the shows didn't have slimings (can't vouch the 1979s since there's only 3 in existence..

--except that one 1979 episode where Brandfield keeps getting lisa slimed-she must get slimed like 5 times! I found this especially odd because they make Lisa say "they wouldn't slime me cause I'm a girl." and then they proceed to slime her more times in one episode than almost anyone on the show.(other than christine)

as far as the making the kids on the shows lives miserable so the young audience would feel better about themselves-I think that's what scared me so much about the show at first. Here were kids just like me-getting tortured and laughed at on national tv! probably why I was so scared of green slime.

[rhodiecub]

--except that one 1979 episode where Brandfield keeps getting lisa slimed-she must get slimed like 5 times! I found this especially odd because they make Lisa say "they wouldn't slime me cause I'm a girl." and then they proceed to slime her more times in one episode than almost anyone on the show.(other than christine)

I know! On a side note, if you ever watch that episode when Lisa first says "I don't know" there is a long pause before she gets slimed.

[SlimeMixer]

--except that one 1979 episode where Brandfield keeps getting lisa slimed-she must get slimed like 5 times! I found this especially odd because they make Lisa say "they wouldn't slime me cause I'm a girl." and then they proceed to slime her more times in one episode than almost anyone on the show.(other than christine)

It was six times, actually.

[ugotslimed]

As Geoff Darby explained at Slimecon 2002, they purposely made the kids' lives on the show to be overly unpleasant so that the kids watching the show would realize "no matter how bad my life is, it CAN'T be worse than these kids'...."

-still seems weird to me how popular the show was with kids if that was the concept. "let's watch a show about adults torturing us and making us the butt of every joke" doesn't seem like something kids would flock to.

And the fact that green slime was supposed to be a bad thing-that the kids hated-makes it even weirder when you think about how popular it got.

[rhodiecub]

Well the adults also get their fair share of humiliation also