The Zone (YTV)

Currently, the hosts of The Zone are Spencer Litzinger, Tyra Sweet, and Alex Wierzbicki.

The program usually features the hosts and the addition of one guest host. The "guest host" is sometimes an inanimate or personified object. Some examples would be "The Hand in the Toilet" (the toilet was embedded in the wall; a hand came out the hole once in a while) and "The Camera Man".

Another voice on the show was Egghead (the director Greg Dickinson, who worked on The Zone from 1993-2008) Egghead's face was never seen. He also appeared several times as "the guy in the gorilla suit".

In its early history, the Zone had featured a group of puppets known as Grogs as the co-hosts. A large television with a frame resembling a piece of purple bubble gum with eyes and other mechanical miscellany called Snit (Atul N. Rao) was once a "host" on The Zone; after him came Elvayz, a talking bust of Elvis Presley, although this character has been removed as well. Occasionally, guest hosts would appear on The Zone, such as children's author Robert Munsch and environmentalist David Suzuki.

The Zone began its life as the Afterschool Zone on YTV, debuting on September 2, 1991, with its first host Gordon Michael Woolvett (aka Gord the PJ Man).[2] [3][4] Other PJs would take turns hosting the block including PJ Phil, PJ Robb and PJ Rockin' Chan.

The Afterschool Zone was simply a small segment that played between airings of regular television programming, primarily as an entertaining segue into the next programming block to retain viewers and to provide some level of interaction with its young audience. Similar programming existed on YTV's weekend morning broadcasts, also starring a variety of hosts, labelled "PJs", or program jockeys, as a take on DJ (disc jockey) and VJ (video jockey). This was done primarily as a tactic to comply with Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission restrictions on advertising in children's programming: popular imported programming would run a few minutes short due to fewer ads being permitted compared to US stations. Instead of filling the time with public service announcements or other filler material (which had been the previous practice of YTV in the late 1980s/early 1990s), the idea of devoting several minutes between programs to an interaction between live-action hosts was used and has proven successful to this day.

Eventually, the PJs were joined by a variety of puppets named the Grogs in 1992.[5]

The "Afterschool" portion of the title was dropped in 1993 and PJ "Fresh" Phil was sometimes joined by another PJ, Jenn (although she featured more prominently during weekend morning programming and was rarely on The Zone). The segments usually involved discussion or banter on various topics, video clips, previews, and viewer mail.

July 1994 saw the introduction of the animatronic character Snit (Atul N. Rao), which displayed a pair of moving teeth on a television screen covered with what appeared to be purple bubble gum.[6] When a primetime version of The Zone, YTV Shift, was cancelled, its former host Paul McGuire joined Phil. On October 31, 1997, the two sent Snit into space, and Snit was replaced with the prop Elvays, a plastic Elvis head with a digitally added moving mouth.

Eventually, a week of programming was devoted to a plotline that featured PJs Phil and Paul on a quest hunting for extraterrestrials and making a discovery. This discovery was revealed to be the return of the Snit character (minus its familiar purple colouring). Following cosmetic and technological upgrades, Snit went on to host Snit Station, a weekend morning programming block on September 18, 1999.[7] The block was later renamed The Vortex before it was renamed CRUNCH.

A female co-host, Sandra Jackson,[8] was added to the Zone in 1999. She began hosting alongside Paul and Phil.

As a slight format change, the "You Rule!" campaign was replaced with a "Keep it Weird!" theme. When the New Year came, Sandra, Paul, and Phil were found to not be "Y2K Compatible",[9][10] venturing into other opportunities and were thus replaced with comedian Pat Kelly and Jenny Katie Racicot[11] (previously PJ Katie on Treehouse, with no relation to the original PJ Jenn or PJ Jazzy Jan). Elvays was replaced with "the Hand in the Toilet".

While Jenny and Pat were hosts, they formed the band "Nuclear Donkey", which was featured at the end of the YTV's compilation album Big Fun Party Mix (with the exception of 7, 8, and 10).[12]

During February and March 2001,[13] a plotline emerged involving electronic insects known as Yokomites that were under the control of a mysterious chicken-man named Fiendly Fowl. They were created by Fowl to destroy the station, should his demand to be given the station was ignored. In the end, there was an animated comic where Pat and Jenny went into the Yokomites' lair to defeat them. The hand in the toilet was "killed" when it saved them.

With Jenny's departure, Pat had a brief breakdown as a one-week plotline, where he demanded a new co-host or he would no longer host. He built a giant wooden crate in the studio parking lot and locked himself inside it as a protest until YTV hired a new co-host. At the end of the week Sugar Beard came along claiming to be Pat's new co-host[14] and she opened the crate with a crowbar to reveal a dishevelled Pat who was in desperate need of a shower. The two co-hosted the block afterwards. However, Pat himself soon also departed, leaving Sugar as the lone host. A plotline emerged where Sugar would discover that one of the YTV's janitors was playing with the cameras during off-hours, clandestinely acting out as a host for The Zone. Employing detective skills to track down this janitor, Sugar eventually discovered Carlos Bustamante and invited him to become her co-host in 2002, a position he held until 2018.

Sugar and Carlos hosted together from 2002-2007, introducing such segments as "A Dash of Sugar" and "Late Afternoon With Tito Lemmy", along with many characters such as Van Vogel, Pretty Tiffany, Johnny "The Brick" Wahl, and Wiwyam Birdie. They also co-wrote six songs together as the band "Nuclear Donkey".

On January 19, 2007, Sugar announced that she would leave The Zone on January 26, 2007.[15] Sugar's last "Nuclear Donkey" song, Z-Dot, appeared on Big Fun Party Mix 8, a compilation from YTV.[16] Carlos hosted The Zone alone until Monday, December 31, 2007, on The Zone's Countdown to Halfway to New Year's party, where he introduced his new co-host, Joyce Quansah.[17] She had recently appeared on The Zone working at the Tree Farm, where Carlos chose The Zones Christmas Tree. Joyce co-hosted until January 2, 2009, when she left to travel the world. In fall 2009, The Zone returned to starting at 3:00 p.m. instead of 4:00 p.m.

In October 2013, two new hosts were announced, The Next Star's Mark "Suki" Suknanan[18] and TFC's Rachel Bonnetta.[19] Suki is responsible for all things celebrities and Rachel talks about the latest trends. These are the first two new cast members since Andrew Chapman.

On December 31, 2013, Andy Chapman announced he was leaving The Zone.

In November 2014, Rachel Bonnetta and Adam Christie left The Zone, and Lisa Gilroy from Undercover High got added to the team. Around the same time, a brand new contest called "The Z-Head Zearch" was introduced asking fans to submit videos to be aired on The Zone.

On January 7, 2017, Meisha Watson began co-hosting The Zone Weekend.[20]

On May 23, 2018, Spencer Litzinger joined The Zone.[21]

On December 3, 2018, Carlos left YTV after 16 years to become a full-time reporter for Entertainment Tonight Canada, on YTV's sister network Global.[22]

On March 22, 2019, Meisha Watson left YTV and her hosting duties of The Zone and The Zone Weekend.[23]

On March 23, 2019, Spencer Litzinger started co-hosting The Zone Weekend.

On September 3, 2019, Tyra Sweet joined The Zone.[24]

On October 26, 2019, Suki left The Zone and The Zone Weekend to be on Canada's Drag Race as his drag alter ego Priyanka. He later won the first season of the show.

In March 2020, Alex Wierzbicki joined The Zone.[25] Around the same time, the COVID-19 lockdowns were implemented in Canada. The Zone continued in the place of the hosts' room, called "Zone From Home"

When The Zone began as a regular block on September 2, 1991, the set consisted of a multicoloured living room with abstract shapes and a map of Canada.

Sometime in 1994, the set was changed to a more common, all-blue set with graffiti and eyeballs. In this set, you can see the red lizard with the 1991–1994 YTV wordmark. In 1995, Snit was added.

In 1999, it was changed to a subway train set that featured a TV set and Metro print ads-styled block bumpers of The Zone. There is also an orange checkerboard floor.

In 2002, by the end of Sugar run, the set was changed to match YTV's 2002 look. The set was redesigned to feature a new logo of The Zone. There is also a silver fan.

In 2007, after Sugar left, the subway train set from 1999 to 2007 was gone, so the set was redesigned as a center stage with liquid stuff on it, and featuring the block's logo in the middle of the floor. There were also HDTVs that were standing through the set. The walls also gained a green colour scheme.

In 2010, the set was simplified, the set now has lights under it and the words The Zone are put back. The walls are now glowing purple, sometimes other colours for certain occasions. The TVs are now put to the shelf again. In 2013, the entire set gained a green colour scheme.

In 2020, each host of The Zone received their own individual sets to practice physical distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of their sets was decorated accordingly to the host. Occasionally, they will film segments outside at Sherbourne Common.

In late 2021, the individual sets have been removed after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, allowing the hosts to be together on camera. They film Zone segments in the lobby of Corus Quay, in front of a wood slat wall.

On August 20, 2012, The Zone began doing the 4@4 lineup featuring four back-to-back episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants on Mondays and Wednesdays, The Fairly OddParents on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness on Fridays. The Penguins of Madagascar was formerly on the block as well. On July 5, 2013, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was added to the block; encore presentations of the episodes which air on Saturdays at 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

On August 26, 2013, The Zone's lineup returned to the way it was the previous year.

On October 4, 2013, "The Zone Weekend" was launched as the new Saturday morning programming block, replacing CRUNCH).

On March 21, 2016, The Penguins of Madagascar, Scaredy Squirrel, and Breadwinners were removed from the lineup to make room for Pig Goat Banana Cricket, Littlest Pet Shop, and Harvey Beaks.

On September 11, 2016, Harvey Beaks was replaced by The Loud House, and Pig Goat Banana Cricket was replaced by The Amazing Spiez!. Littlest Pet Shop was removed from the lineup.

On June 5, 2017, The Amazing Spiez! and Numb Chucks was removed from the lineup to make room for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Bunsen Is a Beast.

On July 17, 2017, The Fairly OddParents was replaced by The ZhuZhus.

On August 28, 2017, SpongeBob SquarePants was replaced by Grojband, while Nerds and Monsters was replaced by Mysticons. However, SpongeBob returned to The Zone a year later.

In October 2021, The Casagrandes was removed as the main 5:30 show. The 5:30 timeslot now alters every day, with The Casagrandes airing on Monday, Middlemost Post on Tuesdays, The Croods: Family Tree on Wednesdays, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years on Thursdays, and The Patrick Star show on Fridays.

• The Zone's website on YTV.com