''Turkey Television'' is a Canadian teen

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and ...

originally aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

. The show was created by Roger Price and

Geraldine Laybourne Geraldine Laybourne (''née'' Bond; born May 19, 1947) is an American entrepreneur and former TV executive. She worked at Nickelodeon from 1980 until 1996, when she became the president of Disney-ABC Cable Networks (including Disney Channel). She ...

at the request of Nickelodeon in response to the popularity of ''

You Can't Do That on Television ''You Can't Do That on Television'' is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that first aired locally in 1979 before airing in the United States in 1981. It featured pre-teen and teenage actors in a sketch comedy format similar to that of ...

'', another Canadian children's sketch comedy airing on Nick. It was originally broadcast in 1985 for one season. The series was about an animated turkey named Thurman T. Turkey (voiced by

Jim Thurman James Frederick Thurman (March 13, 1935 – April 14, 2007) was an American actor, writer, director, cartoonist, and producer. He is best known for the writings of TV gags for the likes of Bob Hope, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Bill Cosby, and Dea ...

), who traveled around the world filming television shows from other countries, then "bringin' it home to Hollywood and puttin' it on the air". The cast featured

Les Lye Leslie Ernest Lye (November 18, 1924 – July 21, 2009) was a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, radio personality and announcer and voice artist. He was an original cast member and played numerous roles on the children's program ''You Can't Do Tha ...

, Christine McGlade, Kevin Kubusheskie, and Adam Reid, all of ''You Can't Do That on Television'' fame, as well as several newcomers from Toronto: Steven Aiken, T.J. Criscione, and Craig Warnock. McGlade was also credited as a producer and a director. The cast also included John Koensgen as "Ivan Telaly" the Russian news announcer. John also co-hosted at least one episode as himself. Some of the most notable skits include parodies of Dr. Joyce Brothers and a parody of

Hands Across America Hands Across America was a public fundraising event on Sunday, May 25, 1986, when 5 to 6.5 million people held hands for 15 minutes in an attempt to form a continuous human chain across the contiguous United States. The attempt to have a comp ...

in which meat-waving children sing "Hams Across America." Actor Tom Riis Farrell appeared in a frequent segment called "The Uncle Hogram Program", a parody of Mr Bill. The series also presented material from outside sources of varying vintage, from public domain footage (often re-edited and given new sound tracks, similar to

Jay Ward Joseph Ward Cohen Jr. (September 20, 1920 – October 12, 1989), also known as Jay Ward, was an American creator and producer of animated TV cartoon shows. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bu ...

's ''

Fractured Flickers ''Fractured Flickers'' is a live-action syndicated half-hour television comedy show that was produced by Jay Ward, who is otherwise known for cartoons. The pilot film was produced in 1961 (hence the 1961 copyright notice on the animated main t ...

'') to not so old clips presented as is (''e.g.'', scenes from

Jacques Tati Jacques Tati (; born Jacques Tatischeff, ; 9 October 1907 – 5 November 1982) was a French mime, film-maker, actor and screenwriter. In an ''Entertainment Weekly'' poll of the Greatest Movie Directors, he was voted the 46th greatest of all time ...

's '' Monsieur Hulot's Holiday'') to more recent excerpts (skits from the

New Jersey Network The New Jersey Network (NJN) was a network of public television and radio stations serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. NJN was a member of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for television and the National Public Radio (NPR) for radio, br ...

's ''

Uncle Floyd Show Floyd Vivino (born October 19, 1951), also known as Uncle Floyd, is an American television, film, and stage performer primarily known for his comedy/variety TV show ''The Uncle Floyd Show'' (1974–1998). Early life Vivino was born in Paterson ...

'') to offbeat music videos such as " Fish Heads". Animation was also featured on the show, outside of the opening and interstitials, featuring Thurman in very

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

-like scenarios, there were also international cartoons including the works of Mordillo. Australian comedy character

Norman Gunston Norman Gunston was a satirical TV character performed by Australian actor and comedian Garry McDonald. Norman Gunston was primarily well known in his native Australia, and to a lesser extent, the United States during the mid to late 1970s. He ...

appeared often, as well. Videos by

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific ...

also appeared from time to time.

References

External links

* 1980s Canadian sketch comedy television series 1980s Nickelodeon original programming 1985 Canadian television series debuts 1986 Canadian television series endings Comedy franchises Television series about television {{comedy-tv-prog-stub