Greg: Now you were in of course the
sister show of Whatever Turns You On called You
Can’t Do That On Television as at the time it was
just a local community kids show on CJOH-TV that
started in January of 1979. However, only a dozen
of kids were chosen to be in WTYO. Did you have to try out
for the show?Marc: I didn’t try out for
either show. For YCDTOTV, after all the kids were
picked through tryouts at Ottawa schools, they
began taking drama lessons in the fall of 1978. I
guess the producer and the director wanted a
French kid to help write gags. The cast was asked
if they knew anyone bilingual who would be
interested. Two of the kids, Tim Douglas and Mike
Patton, knew me from a Scout jamboree and asked
me to come to try out. I went to a drama lesson
and never looked back. I have no idea how we were
picked to be on WTYO, but I don’t recall any
tryouts. The whole previous season was a tryout,
I suppose.
Greg: I understand your skit in
the pilot episode shown in May of 79 was the same
one used in the second ep of
YCDTOTV when you were reading a cue card
that was saying the show was run by pansy
directors etc. Or was the skit reshot for the
pilot. Since you did it what was the real story
cause Jono Gebert’s skit on the weather
forecast in the pilot ep of YCDTOTV was reused for the pilot
ep of WTYO so was your skit reused
too?
Marc: I think it was reshot,
but I can’t be sure.
Greg: Now it did show an
audience laughing but according to  Rodney Helal there was no audience
except for the musical guests and the audience
shown laughing was from something else. Do you
know what it was?
Marc: I did that skit live for
a studio audience that we had assembled to watch Trooper
(I think). I am not sure if that scene was taped
at that time or not, but I did perform it live. I
remember it vividly.
Greg: Was Roger Price airing the
pilot to see if it would become a series for the
new season or was the new season definitely going
to happen at the time you guys shot it?
Marc: I think it was a real
pilot and the season contract hinged on the
success of the pilot. I remember there being some
anxiety surrounding the success of the show.
Greg: Why didn’t Elizabeth
Mitchell return to WTYO when it became a series?
Marc: I haven’t the
foggiest idea.
Greg: How old were you when the
show aired in the fall of 1979?
Marc: If my memory serves me
right, I turned 14 on the last day of filming.
Greg: What was the experience
like being in the series?
Marc: I had a wonderful time on
both shows. I remember a lot of laughter and
joking around. It seems to me that we all got
along well together and we had a lot of fun. It
was a great opportunity to be part of something
like this. We made great money. I think we made
$17 an hour plus overtime on weekends. And we
always worked weekends since we were in school
during the week.
Greg: Did you know who Ruth
Buzzi was at the time or saw her in other TV
shows?
Marc:
My parents were big “Laugh-In” fans and so was I.
When I found out that Ruth was going to be on the
show, I just about flipped. I was really excited.
I think we all were.
Greg: What was it like working
with her?
 Marc: She was really great. She
was friendly and funny, obviously, and really
didn’t set herself apart. I have no idea how
she and Les got along. They sure seemed to have
fun during rehearsals and taping. One of my
favourite memories of Ruth is of a private time
with her. She was working on another project at
the time and she was called upon to do a French
accent. She asked me for pointers on
pronunciation. So for an hour or so we went over
her script or notes or something, and we worked
on a French accent for her. It made me feel
important.
Greg: Did you have to do
retakes when she played your Aunt Agatha trying
to kiss you as I’m sure it was hard to keep
a straight face?
Marc: I’m afraid I
don’t remember.
Greg: Your character also tried
to win a date with Moose. Did you have a crush on
her at all?
Marc: I liked Christine but I
didn’t have a crush on her.
Greg: Why was Moose her
nickname on the show?
Marc: No idea.
Greg: Are you really part French
as well as Canadian?
Marc: Well, I’m
French-Canadian. I was born in Quebec to a
Francophone mother and an Anglophone father. I
did all my primary schooling and some of my
secondary schooling in French. We moved to
Eastern Ontario when I was 3.
Greg: What do you mostly
remember doing the show?
Marc: Laughing. I remember a
lot of laughing during rehearsals, during our
drama lessons, during taping, and even while
doing live link sketches. There was a lot of
boredom too, but mainly I remember it as a great
experience that I look back on fondly.
Greg: There was the family room
skits as well as the movie watching, classroom,
dome and cafeteria. Which one did you enjoy doing
the most?
Marc: I think I enjoyed the
classroom the most. I’m not really sure.
Greg: Who did you get along
with a lot in the show?
Marc: I don’t think I had a
“best” friend. Kevin Somers and
Jonathan Gebert were really good friends but I
think the rest of us just got along well. My best
friends were still back in my home town.
Greg: Were you a big fan of any
of the musical guests on the show?
 Marc: No. I enjoyed the
performances but I don’t that I had even
heard of any of them before. Maybe Trooper.
When I was 13, I think I was still listening to
my Dad’s favourite country radio station.
The other kids on the show introduced me to more
“teenage” music. For example, I
remember that when I stayed at Kevin Somers’
house one weekend, he introduced me to Rush’s
“Farewell to Kings.” It was a time of
discovery.
Greg: The Kevin Page
Band who was a musical guest on the Boss
Helal episode never made it big. Do you ever see
Mr. Page around at all?
Marc: I have no idea who
Kevin Page is or was. I have no
recollection of that band.
Greg: Now there were three
episodes missing right now and one of them was
Educational Programming which was my
favourite and funniest one as Kevin Somers was
playing the Don’t Bee whacking people with
his pillow stinger and Mosse was the Nanny in the
show. Also the other episodes I remember was when
Kevin Schenk was doing a cereal commercial and
had his tongue bit by the toy free inside the
cereal plus the third one was about Ross being
too hard on the kids so Ruth Buzzi’s
character takes them away from him but later
towards the end she is about to enroll them in
school so the kids work with Ross again. Do you
have any of these episodes or do you know the
names or the whole storylines behind them as well
as the names of the musical guests who performed
in them? Any info would be great.
Marc: Sorry. Nothing.
Greg: Which episode did you like
the best out of all of them and why?
Marc: I literally haven’t
seen any since the first aired since I don’t
own any copies of those old shows.
Greg: Did WTYO ever air in the United
States?
Marc: Not that I am aware of.
Greg: Now the show was axed
before the new year as it was a kids show airing
on prime time hours which was not a good time
slot. Were people upset at all?
Marc: I think I had already left
at that point, so I don’t know. They
probably would have known it was coming since
they would have followed the ratings closely.
Greg: Now your parents wanted
you to concentrate on your schooling when YCDTOTV reaired as a network show
this time in the new year of 1981. Were you asked
to return to it?
Marc: I think Roger Price was
surprised that I was leaving. I think he was
happy with what I was doing for the show. My
parents were concerned that the show was taking
me away from more important things such as
school, my friends at home, hockey and skiing.
The show was a very time consuming project and
since we lived out of town it meant a lot of
driving for my parents. I would often stay over
at other cast members’ houses for the
weekend when we did a whole weekend of taping.
Greg: Were you upset that your
parents wouldn’t let you return to it?
Marc: I must have been upset but
I don’t remember any arguments or ill
feelings about it. I was having a wonderful time
and making money so it would be natural to feel a
little upset. I think they made the right
decision. It might have been a mutual decision, I
don’t remember.
Greg: Have you stayed in
contact with any of the cast that was involved in
the show?
Marc: I didn’t until Slimecon
2003.
I hooked up with Kevin Shenk who did a little
work for a website I used to have, and with Tim
Douglas, the one responsible for me being on the
show in the first place.
Greg: Did you ever think of
pursuing an acting career afterwards?
Marc: I think I flirted with
the idea, but I really wanted to be military
pilot and so I pursued that dream.
Greg: What are you doing today?
 Marc: I did join the Air Force
but didn’t make it as a pilot. I
“retired” in 1995 after 10 years of
training and service. I am now a full-time stay
at home dad. I have a 5 year old daughter and a
two year old son. It is a blast.
Greg: Do you think eventually
that all the eps of WTYO will be retrieved in A+
quality? I know that Jim Clarke has found a
couple.
Marc: I have no idea. I kind of
doubt it.
Greg: Well Marc, thanks so much
for participating in this interview. We need to
keep WTYO alive and let others know
that it was out there.
Marc: You’re welcome.
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