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{{Short description|Canadian exercise television program}}
{{For|the DJ Kool album|20 Minute Workout (album)}}
{{One source|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox television
| runtime                  = 30 minutes
| director                 = [[Ron Harris (photographer)|Ron Harris]]<ref name=vincent/>
| producer                 = {{plainlist|
* [[Jamie Kellner]]<ref name=vincent/>
* Ian McDougall<ref name=vincent/>
* Jami Allen<ref name=vincent/>
* Christopher Dalton{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}
* Wayne Fenske{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}}}}
| opentheme                = 1983 by [[Shiva (Canadian group)|Shiva]]<ref name=vincent/><br>1984 by Peter Jermyn and Gilles Ouellet
| endtheme                 = 1983 by Shiva<br>1984 by Peter Jermyn and Gilles Ouellet
| presenter                = [[Bess Motta]]<br>[[Arlaine Wright]]
| writer                   = David Van Fleet<ref name=vincent/>
| company                  = [[Orion Television|Orion Entertainment Corporation]]<br>[[Nelvana]]<br>Chumcity
| country                  = Canada<br/>United States
| network                  = [[City (TV network)|City]] (Canada)<br>[[Television syndication|Syndication]] (US)
| num_seasons              = 2
| first_aired              = {{start date|1983|6}}<ref name=vincent/>
| last_aired               = {{end date|1985}}
| creator                  = Ron Harris
}}

'''''20 Minute Workout''''' is a Canadian-produced [[aerobics]]-based television program that ran from 1983 to 1984, in which "a bevy of beautiful girls" demonstrated exercise<ref name=vincent/> on a rotating platform.

==Series background==
''20 Minute Workout'' was created by [[Ron Harris (photographer)|Ron Harris]] in 1983, produced by [[Tantra Entertainment]] in association with the Canadian animation company [[Nelvana]], and broadcast locally on [[Citytv]]. In the United States, it was [[Television syndication|syndicated]] by [[Orion Pictures|Orion Television]]. Two seasons of the program were produced, although reruns continued to appear for many years afterwards. The first season featured a different instructor for each day of the week, Monday through Friday. [[Bess Motta]], [[Arlaine Wright]], [[Holly Butler]], Nicole Nardini, and Anne Schumacher all had speaking roles.  The second season featured only Bess and Arlaine as instructors. One selling point of the show was the young attractive women exercising in leotards. The exercise routines were demanding, high-impact aerobics, followed by a [[stretching]] section. Pulsating music from synthesizers played in the background, although in the first season bass and electric guitar and saxophone were also used in the exercise music scores.  For the first season, music was performed by the group [[Shiva (Canadian group)|Shiva]].  An "As Seen on TV" vinyl LP containing tracks used on the program was released by Ronco, Inc. in 1983 in the United States.  Other versions and formats were also released in Canada, the UK, and Australia under the Ronco and Chadwick Music Productions labels.   The second season featured music by the trio Jermyn/King/Ouillet.

There are numerous websites hosted by fans that detail about the dancers, and include so-called screen-captures from the show. The '':20 Minute Workout'' is a [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] from ''Aerobicise'', a series of home videos that were first released in 1981, which had varying subtitles of "The Beginners Workout," "The Ultimate Workout," and "The Beautiful Workout."{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} In 1982, a series of segments aired in the U.S. on [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] as [[interstitial programming|unscheduled filler]] in between features, and lasting no longer than five minutes. Both the videos and the filler featured a different cast, and unlike the show they later spawned, exercise instruction was either kept minimal, or not featured at all, and any that was present was given by an off-screen [[narrator]]. The narrator was Jami Allen, one of the show's producers.

"Aerobicise" is also the name of the original 1982 pilot episode of ''20 Minute Workout''.

Scenes from the show are visible on televisions in some scenes of 1984's ''[[Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter]]'', ''[[Beat Street]]'', ''[[Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird]]'' and the 1994 [[Luc Besson]] film ''[[Leon: The Professional]]''.  Additionally, some original music tracks from the 1983 album were used on the US version of the television game show ''[[The Price Is Right]]'' in the mid-1980s.

==Cast==

===First season===
* Sharon Bisset<ref name=vincent>Terrace, Vincent (1986). Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1974-1984. Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG. p. 427. {{ISBN|978-0-918432-61-2}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AKlgjBCPPnsC&pg=PA427 Google Books]. Retrieved 2009-03-01.</ref>
* Laurie Briscoe<ref name=vincent/>
* [[Holly Butler]]<ref name=vincent/>
* Sue Carter<ref name=vincent/>
* [[Bess Motta]]<ref name=vincent/>
* Nicole Nardini<ref name=vincent/>
* Anne Schumacher<ref name=vincent/>
* Leslie Smith<ref name=vincent/>
* [[Arlaine Wright]]<ref name=vincent/>

===Second season===
* Michelle Brimacombe
* Ella Collins
* Sharon Hasfal
* Alison Hope
* Nerise Houghton
* [[Bess Motta]]
* Anne Schumacher 
* Arlaine Wright

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0300709|20 Minute Workout}}

<!-- {{Nelvana TV shows}} -->

[[Category:Citytv original programming]]
[[Category:Exercise television shows]]
[[Category:1983 Canadian television series debuts]]
[[Category:1984 Canadian television series endings]]
[[Category:1983 American television series debuts]]
[[Category:1984 American television series endings]]
[[Category:Television series by MGM Television]]
[[Category:Television series by Nelvana]]
[[Category:1980s Canadian sports television series]]

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