It's the Paul Taylor Program!

It's the Paul Taylor Program! is a Canadian children's television series that first aired locally in from 1981-1983. The series was first produced by in, then by  in , ; before being picked for its United States debut by the RKO Network in 1985. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as an integral part of every episode. The cast was made up of teenage and preteen actors, with some adult performers.

During the RKO Network run, the series appealed to both Canadian and American audiences with it's popular culture references and humor.

Local television in Canada
It's the Paul Taylor Program! premiered on August 15, 1981 on CBC affiliate in. Concert promoter Sjoerd Broekhuizen, founder of Queen City Concerts, had created the series to showcase young talent, with a particular focus on local child actors Ben Hartikainen Park and Jacek Fiedorowicz. The series gained high ratings, and in early 1982 a national network version, Does it Interest You?, was produced for the CBC. Both shows were cancelled in March 1983 due to "creative differences."

Two months later, Broekhuizen then restarted production of It's the Paul Taylor Program! at CBC flagship. Ratings were good for this run, but the series was cancelled again due to Fiedorowicz suffering a knee injury during the filming of a segment at.

Peak years
By early 1984, the CHEX and CBLT episodes had been syndicated to European broadcasters, and the cast members were making live appearances in countries such as, and. Park and Fiedorowicz traveled to Italy to record an album of Paul Taylor songs, The Paul & Ray Taylor Album, with all songs written by David Zambelli,, Mariano Berlinghieri and.

In September 1984, the RKO Network's childrens' programming head Lance Granholm met with producer Saul Vanetti, who had been sent to pitch some Canadian television shows from various production companies, none of which had impressed Granholm and a panel of television critics. One of the critics eventually asked Saul if he had "any interesting shows for kids that could be enjoyable for all ages". Saul left and "a few minutes later" came back with a S-VHS production viewing copy of the CHEX Paul Taylor episode "Who Else Knew I Could Jump?", asking Lance and the critics to "hold back any laughter." Lance enjoyed the episode, and most of the critics had positive remarks about it, so Lance greenlit It's the Paul Taylor Program! for production.

In February 1985, production of It's the Paul Taylor Program! resumed under Queen City Productions in the area, with RKO Television Studios and the  acting as production partners. The RKO/CBC series was originally taped at VTR Productions/Robert Lawrence Studios in, however the series later moved to the Durham Studios in. In the United States, the RKO Network broadcast the series over its' stations and affiliates, while once again aired the series in Canada. The show's music videos usually took about three to four days to make, and were choreographed along with the musical numbers by veteran choreographer Jessica H. B. Pollock. In addition to re-recorded versions of songs from The Paul & Ray Taylor Album, the cast traveled to, , and  to record new songs. The first U.S. Paul Taylor album, It's the Paul Taylor Album!, was a massive success.

In mid-1986, auditions were held in Toronto, Montreal,, and  for new cast members. Robert Fauser, Henry Seltmann, Kyoko Nakaima, Eric Salmons, and George Palmerston joined the main cast.

In 1987, Le Programme de Paul Taylor, the Québécois co-production of the series, began airing.

In 1988, a spin-off, It's the Mindy Taylor Program!, commenced production.

In the Summer of 1989, the cast toured with It's the Paul Taylor Concert!.

Main

 * Ben Hartikainen Park as Paul Taylor (1985-1995) (Signature Song: "Living with Energy")
 * Jacek Fiedorowicz as Ray Taylor (1985-1995) (Signature Song: "Do It Your Way")
 * Cynthia Jo Budinger as Mindy Taylor (1985-1987)
 * Mindy Dawber as Mindy Taylor (1987-1992)
 * Tessie Voss as Mindy Taylor (1992-1995)
 * Tamitha Cunningham as Jolene Roth (1985-1995) (Signature Song: "Gonna Believe")
 * Ken Hyde as Kevin Leyton (1985-1995) (Signature Songs: "Flowing Through Me" and "Once Around the Block")
 * Noël Qumaq as Noel Big Bull (1985-1995) (Signature Song: "Falcon Cry")
 * Dennis Parrott as Dan Scully (1985-1995)
 * Amanda Nathan as Amanda Scully (1985-1995)
 * Kyoko Nakaima as Kyoko Fujimori (1987-1995)
 * Eric Salmons as Axel Tuna (1987-1995)
 * Robert Fauser as Robert Stockholm (1987-1995) (Signature Songs: "I Am Robert Stockholm" and "I Can't Escape Her")
 * Henry Seltmann as Christopher Johnston (1987-1995)
 * George Palmerston as George La Haye (1987-1995)
 * Pierre Balland as Hugo Ferdon (1988-1995)

Recurring

 * as Alis "Lizzy" Leyton (1987-1995) (Signature Song: "Stop the Clock")
 * as Betty Leyton (1987-1995) (Signature Song: "Click, Click (Woah)")
 * Sammy Vue as herself (1987-1995)
 * Georgi Irene as Georgi Adams (1987-1992)
 * Kate Voss as Georgi Adams (1992-1995)
 * as Richard Kendrick (1987-1995)
 * Wilma Golubic as Mrs. Capitalist (1987-1995)