Editing You Can't Do That on Television (section)

==== Changing of the guard and controversies ====
By 1987, many of the veteran cast members such as Matthew Godfrey, Douglas Ptolemy, Vanessa Lindores and [[Adam Reid]] had grown too old for the show. Longtime host Christine McGlade ("Moose") had departed the previous year, as had [[Alasdair Gillis]] (who had been promoted to co-host with McGlade in 1985 before leaving toward the end of the 1986 season). Lisa Ruddy ("Motor Mouth"), McGlade's longtime sidekick on the show, left at the end of the 1985 season. Only five episodes were filmed for the 1987 season, tying with the 1990 season as the shortest during the show's 15-year run.

The episode "Adoption,"<ref>{{Citation|title=YCDTOTV adoption episode|url=https://www.bitchute.com/video/V5FvuKZ6JFMS/|language=en|access-date=2022-01-26}}</ref> was so controversial that it was banned after being shown twice.<ref>{{Citation |title=You Can't Do That on Television |date=1979-02-03 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078714/alternateversions |access-date=2016-02-29}}</ref> A "DO NOT AIR" sticker was placed on the master tape at CJOH.<ref>{{Citation |title=You Can't Do That on Television |date=1979-02-03 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078714/trivia |access-date=2016-02-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=OLD SCHOOL NICK |url=http://oldschoolnick.tumblr.com/page/10 |access-date=2016-03-01 |website=oldschoolnick.tumblr.com}}</ref> "Adoption" is the only episode that was banned in the United States. Co-creator Geoffrey Darby has stated that he felt the episode went too far, and that the writers were unaware of the sensitive nature of the material.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Klickstein |first=Mathew |date=2012-03-26 |title=So You Think You Can't Do That on Television? |url=https://www.vulture.com/2012/03/so-you-think-you-cant-do-that-on-television.html |access-date=2023-10-07 |website=Vulture |language=en}}</ref> In Canada, the "Divorce" episode was banned. However, the "Adoption" episode was shown with edits. In the sketch in which Senator Prevert calls the adoption agency to send his son back after using him to do chores all day, the line in which he calls the adoption agency officer a "damn bureaucrat" was excised.

In addition, Nickelodeon had removed the half-hour edits of the 1981 episodes of ''You Can't Do That on Television'' from its daily rotation, along with the 1982 "Cosmetics" episode.{{Citation needed|date=July 2007}} The 1981 episodes were set to air for the last time during a 1985-week-long promotion called "Oldies but Moldies," with contests in which viewers could win prizes such as "tasty, fresh chocolate syrup". Instead, the episodes continued to air until the end of 1987, but not often. Reportedly, this was because Nickelodeon's six-year contract to air the 1981 season expired in 1987. As Nickelodeon was beginning to aim for a younger demographic, and many of the 1981 episodes dealt with topics more relevant to teenagers (such as smoking, drugs, [[sexual equality]] and [[peer pressure]]), the network opted not to renew the contract. Nickelodeon allegedly removed the "Cosmetics" episode from rotation for the latter reason (although the "Addictions" episode from that same season was not dropped). By contrast, when Canada's YTV began airing the series in 1989, they continued airing the 1981 season as part of the package, as well as ''Whatever Turns You On'', which was never shown in the United States.