Lye eventually gained international acclaim appearing on You Can't Do That on Television. The Canadian children's show, which was wildly popular in the United States and a staple on Nickelodeon's programming line-up, enjoyed a 10-season run from 1979 to 1990. Lye played all the adult male characters on the show, including Ross Ewich (the show's stage director), Lance Prevert (a slovenly, drunken, corrupt Canadian senator and father), Barth (the owner and chef of the worst burger joint ever), Blip (a greedy arcade owner), Snake Eyes (a bus driver who always drives his bus into a wall or off a cliff), Mr. Schidtler (a pompous and sarcastic school Teacher with a vague resemblance to Adolf Hitler), Nasti the dungeon master (a German jailer who is often seen chaining people in a dungeon), El Capitano (a Latin American military officer in command of a firing squad), and a Doctor (later, dentist), who has the same glasses, mustache, cigar, and wry sense of humor as Groucho Marx.