YTV: back in the PJ Phil days

I used to love YTV.  It was the perfect television channel for a young night owl like myself as it exposed me to anime (Dragonball Z... let's not get into the debate on whether DBZ is really anime) and British sitcoms (The Young Ones and Bottom) for the first time.  I remember being up at 3am everyday and watching The Mighty Hercules when I was younger and more recently What I Like About You.  I can still recall the little computer-animated shorts that were shown late at night instead of commercials that always made me wonder whether YTV could actually sell ad time or did advertisers realize that no kids were awake at 3am and only weird people like me were up that late so the channel played those animated shorts instead?  I remember wanting to be a contestant on YTV's Video & Arcade Top 10 which was my go-to resource for video games even with its cheesy music. I still recognize actors in present Canadian Tire commercials from when they starred in It's Alive and later on the YTV game show Uh Oh!.  Sure everybody watched NBA Inside Stuff but only classic YTV fans can remember watching NBA Dunk Street.  As a classic YTV fan, I sometimes stop by Youtube to relive my childhood by watching videos of Are You Afraid of the Dark? (think The Hitchhiker without nudity or being scary), Goosebumps and The Secret World of Alex Mack.  Quite simply, before Headline Sports, Food Network and puberty came (and may be even for a little bit after puberty) YTV was my favorite channel.

As somebody who thinks of himself as a big kid, it is not hard to understand why thinking about YTV would evoke such fond memories.  Looking back on memorable YTV shows, it is fun to notice how some of the actors actually went onto bigger things.  I never watched an episode of Catwalk, which was YTV's original show for an older youth audience, but I kind of remember it being a worse version of Fame (if that is possible) starring Neve Campbell which of course is not a bad thing.  Everybody remembers that Alanis Morissette was a cast member of YCDTOTV (or You Can't Do That on Television for the uninformed) and getting slimed after saying "I don't know."   There was a point in my childhood where I would look up and be scared of saying "I don't know" for fear of being slimed.  Although the show may not have aged well, the comedy in YCDTOTV seems to have.  I have no idea why dumping green slime on somebody was so enjoyable and it can be argued that I have not grown up because that same level of enjoyment still exists for me today whenever somebody (other than me) spills something on themselves.  Beyond the cheesy shows, the network even had shows that were far ahead of their time like ReBoot which was the first half-hour, completely computer-animated TV series. 

When I was a kid, I never knew what PJ stood for.  Heck, twenty years later I had to go to wikipedia to find out that PJ is short for program jockey.  I remember Snit, Shaun Majumder and Daryn Jones as PJs but for anybody over 25-years-old, the first program jockey that comes to mind when talking about YTV has to be PJ Phil.  PJ Phil was like YTV's version of Saturday Night Live's Tim Meadows or to keep it Canadian, MuchMusic's Rick Campanelli in that all of them were on their respective show/television station for what seemed like an eternity.  I swear PJ Phil was a slightly balding 35-year-old when he finally stopped hosting The Zone.  When I was younger, I was always a tad envious of television personalities including the VJs on Muchmusic and to a certain extent the PJs on YTV. 

My brush with greatness happened about ten years ago while working at Canadian Tire.  I was working in the paint department when in came PJ Phil who from what I recall was shorter than I expected (perhaps everything looks bigger on television?).  Anyway, PJ Phil wanted the cheapest paint that we had so I showed him the value brand which cost less than $10 a can.  Phil looked at me, swore and got upset that we did not have anything cheaper.  He was probably having a bad day but I still was amazed because nobody had ever complained to me about the price of the $10 value brand can before.  Phil then asked if I can get him a deal and I told him that even the mistinted cans cost $8.  Apparently $8 was still too expensive for PJ Phil as he stormed out of the store.  I admit that before that day I was a tad ignorant on how much money a PJ or a VJ made.  That day did leave a lasting impression on me as whenever somebody mentions YTV, I remember how much I used to love that television station first and PJ Phil's reluctance to spend $10 on paint second.