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  and  in , ; before being picked for it's 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
 premiered on August 15, 1981 on in. Concert promoter Sjoerd Broekhuizen had created the series to showcase young talent, with a particular focus on local actors Barney Hartikainen Park and Jacek Fiedorowicz. The series gained high ratings but was cancelled at the start of 1982 by CHEX due to creative differences between Sjoerd and the station staff. Sjoerd then restarted production at in.

After it's run on CHCH concluded in October 1982, Sjoerd went to 's popular independent station in February 1983 to restart the show again. Ratings were good for this run, but the series was cancelled again due to Jacek suffering a knee injury during the filming of a segment at.

Peak years
In 1984, the RKO Network's childrens' programming head Lance Granholm met with Sjoerd Broekhuizen, 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 Sjoerd if he had "any interesting shows for kids that could be enjoyable for all ages". Sjoerd 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  for production.

In 1985, production of  resumed under S.B. Studios, Sjoerd Broekhuizen Presents Inc. and Les Entreprises Assayas Ltd. in the area, with RKO Television Studios and the  acting as production partners. The RKO/CBC series was originally taped at Pathé Toronto Studios in, however the series later moved to the Studios on the Sideline in. In the United States, the RKO Network broadcast the series over its' stations and affiliates, while aired the series in Canada.

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

Original RKO/CBC Series

 * Barney Hartikainen Park as Paul Taylor (1985-1995)
 * Jacek Fiedorowicz as Ray Taylor (1985-1995)
 * 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)
 * Ken Hyde as Kevin Leyton (1985-1995)
 * Noël Qumaq as Noel Big Bull (1985-1995)
 * Dennis Parrott as Dan Scully (1985-1995)
 * Amanda Nathan as Amanda Scully (1985-1995)
 * Eric Salmons as Axel Tuna (1987-1995)
 * Robert Fauser as Robert Stockholm (1987-1995)
 * Chris Michaels as Christopher Johnston (1987-1995)
 * Pierre Balland as Hugo Ferdon (1988-1995)