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It Was a Thing on TV: An Anthology on Forgotten Television

Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener

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Partially an oral history of obscure TV shows, partially an oral version of MST3K, and partially a thorough episode guide, It Was a Thing on TV is an anthology podcast about obscure, forgotten, and odd TV shows, commercials, televised events, and almost anyone and anything else that was on television. For the most part, the subjects we cover are from the United States and Canada. We’re just three guys with a love for television. New episodes are generally every Monday and Thursday, sometimes ...
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If you believe as we do that by uncovering tested, practical ways to help people move from functioning to flourishing at work, we can better navigate the incredible challenges and opportunities our world faces, then this podcast is for you. Our goal each week is to give you access to the world’ leading positive psychology, positive organizational scholarship and neuroscience researchers and practitioners to explore their latest research findings on how you can improve wellbeing, develop stre ...
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Numerous successful scripted television shows made their way to Saturday mornings in the mid-70s, like I Dream of Jeannie, Gilligan's Island, and Star Trek. The Partridge Family got the same treatment in 1974, but with a catch--it's set over 200 years in the future. Also, some key components in the Partridge Family universe were missing. If you see…
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The New York Mets had a nutty last week and a half going from Atlanta to Milwaukee to Atlanta to Milwaukee as they clinched in a playoff spot in dramatic fashion on the last day of the regular season and advanced to the NLDS in a thrilling three-game Wild Card round. Greg shares with Mike in this delayed reaction his thoughts regarding the week tha…
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Thursday, October 3rd marked the 41st Anniversary of the premiere of the short-lived 1983-84 NBC game show "Go" from Bob Stewart Productions. To mark the occasion this edition of "The Best of It Was a Thing on TV" goes back to Episode 72 when we discussed it back in the Summer of 2020.Par Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener
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We're back with another batch of goofy and bizarre hometown commercials. Here is the line-up for this installment of Hometown Commercials: Unique Creations: https://youtu.be/9T_GZeZyYqU Shift It: https://youtu.be/1gYE5TyijxE West Palm Loan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHUGEVMa8I Zachary’s Night Club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvyS8dY2kQA…
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The FBI was a stalwart on ABC's line-up from 1965 through 1974. The network kicked the tires on a new, updated version of their venerable classic in 1981 with this show, which featured contemporary storylines and a more diverse cast of characters. Audiences weren't buying what ABC was selling, as this new version lasted merely a season.…
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Almost five years ago, we started this podcast. Now, we are celebrating our 500th episode by going back to an early favorite of ours and revisiting it, mostly for the caliber of guest stars that we didn't recognize back then. Enjoy as we go back to one of the biggest flops in television history, as we prepare to do the next 500, leading to show 100…
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30 years ago FOX shook up the TV landscape when they grabbed the NFL's NFC television package from CBS. In the process, several CBS stations in NFC markets not wanting to lose out on football jumped ship to FOX and set up a domino effect around the country changing many TV viewers' habits. Some of these changes are still being felt in various marke…
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We've talked about this in some past episodes and in this special edition of "It Was a Thing on TV Presents" before the week we celebrate out 500th episode we talk about TV Guide's 50 Worst Shows of All-Time List from 2002. We talk about why some shows deserved or didn't deserve to be on the list and we add some shows that were either neglected or …
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In 1988, the film Alien Nation was a theatrical release. That spawned this televised adaptation of that film. While only running for a single season, the franchise showed it had popularity and staying power, as televised movies and other forms of media appeared after this show's demise.Par Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener
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NBC was still trying to get their bearings aligned in early 1985. One midseason replacement which had decent enough ratings against formidable competition was Sara, Chico's submission for the listener vote last year. Quite a few cast members from Sara went onto much greater things, including a popular Oscar winner, a comedian/pundit, a multi-talent…
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In our latest "Before the Show" Greg and Mike in Segment 1 go over one of their latest things in the pre-show segments by looking at the College Football announcer pairings for the week. They also discussed Shannon Sharpe's um ........ social media skills earlier this week. Then in Segment 2, Chico joins on as they discuss the rating system Mike ha…
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Kevin Smith gave us "Clerks", a cult classic indie film from 1994. "Clerks" gave us Jay & Silent Bob. Jay & Silent Bob gave us a lot of laughs.... so ABC gave an order for an animated follow-up. Then America gave it a shot... and ABC gave up after a pair of eps, only for the show to become... a cult classic. Join us as we travel the full circle to …
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Not to be confused with Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, this version was a series of specials throughout the 1977-78 television season with little connection to the original. The positive of this version is a superstar talent got his first national exposure on this show, among other talents who had lengthy careers in television and elsewhere. A negati…
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Bob Newhart struck gold with The Bob Newhart Show in the 70s and Newhart in the 80s through 1990. Could Newhart do it again with another self-titled endeavor? Bob was a clever and funny show, but it didn't have a certain something that both his previous shows had. Despite quality names as guests including a future Friend, the show was saddled with …
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It's time for the final entry of Back to School 2024. This time, we're focusing on educational shows. Everybody remembers shows like 3-2-1 Contact, The Electric Company, and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. But do you remember some of the 15-minute shows like Wordsmith and Math Wise? If not, we have you covered in this episode about educational shows w…
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Before Brian Griffin created a series about two oddball roommates on an episode of Family Guy, that premise was used in a short-lived NBC series which paired up a 14-year-old with an ex-Marine in his 40s in a college dorm. Ratings were amazing for the premiere episode, but the show still lasted only 8 shows. Find out why in this installment.…
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It's time to go back to school for the next three installments! We start with someone who is teaching until he gets his big break in acting, hooking up with seemingly every single lady along the way. Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher brought some realities teenagers went through (and still go through) at the time, in addition to being a light-hearted co…
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After the last video game show (episode 201), we said it would be our last look at video games based on TV shows. We lied! We found nine more games worthy of covering for what we believe will truly be the final video game show we cover. This time, we found some truly bad games from a variety of genres, from dramedy to animation to action shows.…
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It's the mid-90s and two startup networks are looking for programming. A flavor of the month at the time was giving stand-up comics their own shows, see Seinfeld, Life with Louie, and Roseanne, and later The Drew Carey Show and Everybody Loves Raymond. The new network was UPN and the comic was Richard Jeni, who took a concept from his stand-up show…
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Tomorrow (August 16th) marks the 25th anniversary of the premiere episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on ABC. The gang shares their memories and expectations leading up to the first episode while looking at some of the questions from the premiere. Some of the questions in the premiere seemed easy in 1999 while some questions that looked hard …
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The 1990s was a renaissance for George Foreman, between regaining the WBA heavyweight championship, and the creation and rise in popularity of what became the George Foreman Grill. Before those events, Foreman helmed a self-titled short-lived sitcom. Happy 78th birthday, Susan St. James!Par Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener
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In the television landscape of 1998, there was a need for late night programming on FOX and other channels not part of The Big Three networks, something to fill the void when The Arsenio Hall Show ended. Enter the NBA hoopster with a million dollar smile and the energy to match. Unfortunately, said hoopster didn't have the chops to host. It didn't …
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As the 2024 Paris Olympics come to a close later this week, we go back again to our 2021 Olympics series of shows for this special "Best of" with one of our favorite episodes. Back in 2003-04, FOX presented a series of specials with man going against members of the animal kingdom. Come for Kobayashi eating hot dogs against a bear, stay for the focu…
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In 1988, the U.S. Men's basketball team finished with a disappointing bronze medal, after having won the gold in almost every other previous Olympiad. For that reason or because some teams had professional players, the Olympics opened the games to professionals. The United States loaded up their squad with 11 of the NBA's best, plus Christian Laett…
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As the Olympic Games are ready to start in Paris, the podcast will devote the next two episodes to happenings in previous years. We start where each Olympics start--the opening ceremonies. Each Olympic host city has their idea of what would be the perfect opening ceremony. In retrospect, those ideas, while good in theory, were not for one reason or…
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The 2024 Paris Olympics are coming up. To celebrate, we give you this extended cut of a previous episode we did back in 2021 that started our Olympics series of shows celebrating the Tokyo Olympics. The Olympics Triplecast for the 1992 Summer Olympics on NBC was a Pay-Per-View series of networks where you could watch all the Olympics you could hand…
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We put closure on this installment of Marvel month celebrating the release of "Deadpool & Wolverine" with a show that has been described not only as one of the worst shows of the 2000s, but in the history of television. There isn't much good you can say about a show which, mercifully, lasted 2 episodes. The best part of this installment of the podc…
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EA Sports College Football '25 is now out digitally (the physical version comes out Friday 7/19) so Greg hitched a one-month subscription of EA Play on PS5 just to play the free trial. Here are some of his reactions to the game so far in this Instant Reaction.Par Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener
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As we continue our Deadpool and Wolverine month, we cover a recent show which rewarded participants for not doing stuff, though they really were doing stuff in a backwards way. Despite a well-known actor hosting and a certain superhero narrating, the viewers followed in a way consistent with the premise of this show--don't watch.…
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Every year when we celebrate the United States' birthday, we offer up a patriotic show. This Independence Day is no different, except the event covered in this episode happened in September 1987, to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. This parade didn't offer much in terms of celebrities, but it gave viewers…
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Under normal circumstances, a popular show which lasted 4 seasons would not be fodder for this podcast. For our Marvel shows leading up to the release of Deadpool & Wolverine, we're making an exception. Anyway, we think the show got worse once the pizza place part of the premise was abandoned. Just to reiterate, this is only about the first 2 seaso…
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We begin our salute to the upcoming release of Deadpool & Wolverine with a show so bad it almost made Deadpool quit acting altogether. Imagine a run of the mill high school where “another day, another drama” isn’t just a saying, it’s a way of life. It really is an awkward stage and a difficult age when you’re… Fifteen. (Note: Apologies for some bac…
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The Brits seem to try just about anything when it comes to game shows. Case in point, this entry from just over a decade ago, a primetime endeavor which combined game show elements with Henson Alternative puppets. The end result was That Puppet Game Show, which ran for only 8 episodes. Even though it aired overseas, listeners on the other side of "…
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In the past, we have talked about the ESP fad in the 60s through the early 80s. A 1973 comedy used the sixth sense as a premise, one that was used less as time went on, turning the show into just another TV show. Despite two great leads, The Girl with Something Extra was not a show with anything out of the ordinary.…
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We covered a wrestling documentary series on VICE in our first live show and for our 50th live show, we cover another wrestling documentary series on VICE. From the people who gave you Dark Side of the Ring along with The Rock and Dani Garcia comes the first part of a four-part documentary series covering the rise and fall of World Championship Wre…
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We close the door on yet another pilot month with this amalgamation of pieces and parts from various game shows from the Bob Stewart family, mixed with the theme from a past and future Stewart show, and add a shuffleboard table for good measure. The end result was Twisters, a truly unique concoction that didn't make NBC's schedule in late 1982/earl…
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Hot off the heels of How I Met Your Mother’s finale—and 8 years before appearing on Hulu—CBS & Fox began work on the next chapter, involving original creators Carter Bays & Craig Thomas, a future Oscar-nominated writer, a Golden Globe-nominated actress, a night of hard partying, a blue typewriter, and a girl named Cricket.…
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It's Greg's 40th birthday and to celebrate the occasion, Greg has chosen the short-lived comedy from 1983 about a guy who buys a lamp which has a genie in it, who causes all sorts of mischief. Maybe it was Just Our Luck that this show ran for only 13 episodes. This episode is uncensored. Listener discretion is advised.…
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During last year's pilot month, we covered the 1992 Red Dwarf pilot for NBC in Episode 375. A second pilot, of sorts, was done shortly after. Running a mere 11 minutes long including previews of two episodes, this ambitious endeavor looked like it was shot in a broom closet, and that was before the lackluster quality of the video available online.…
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One of the most anticipated sports video games in a long time just released its first gameplay trailer. Mike, Greg, and Chico in this Instant Reaction watch the trailer for EA Sports College Football 25 trailer, the first entry in the EA College Football franchise since 2013.Par Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener
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As we have said in the past, Jay Wolpert is the master of the overly complex but unique game show format. In this show, two people build a team of players with the end goal of winning that captain $10,000 and making some fast friends. Apparently, NBC passed this up for a show that John Davidson predicted would be on for a very long time.…
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1982 was a time of flux at NBC in the daytime. Game shows were out earlier that year minus Wheel of Fortune, replaced with soaps and sitcom reruns. NBC had a pilot that was part-game, part-psychological analysis with Let's Get Personal, hosted by a familiar face to NBC game show watchers, but also with an acting troupe of three big names around the…
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In 1998, the variety show as we know it had been a dead format for close to 20 years. However, what if you could revive one of the greatest variety shows ever with a host who had been deceased for nearly a quarter century? That was attempted by UPN with a virtual Ed Sullivan, voiced by John Byner. The result was this one-off pilot which was reminis…
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One of the amazing technological marvels of the mid-1980s was the story telling teddy bear Teddy Ruxpin. A cartoon was later created around the world of Teddy Ruxpin but before that, a live-action pilot was created. Coincidentally, this pilot aired in two parts in late 1985, just in time to purchase Teddy Ruxpin as a holiday gift. View the pilot an…
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It's a western! It's a comedy! It has legends including Joel Higgins, Meeno Peluce, and Leonard Frey! And occasionally Christopher Lloyd! It can't fail! There is one small problem--half the nation didn't see its first episode because of football. Maybe it would have truly been the Best of the West if the western half of the country saw it.…
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In our newest "Best of" we go back to the Summer of 2020 when we looked at a trio of television shows that looked to capitalize on the popularity of "Animal House". All three shows would premiere around the same time in Early 1979 and would all be canceled by the end of the season. Let's look back at when we talked about "Delta House", "Brothers an…
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It’s a classic story: member of the 1% needs an image makeover and decides to adopt not one, but six…err, five… girls. The audiences loved them on Sunday, but NBC thought they’d love them even more on Friday. It’s a classic “Rags to Riches” story… that lasted only 20 musically tinged episodes.Par Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener
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In the newest "Best of" we go back to one of our early episodes from January of 2020. What do you get when you have the king of the wacky Game Show produce a spoof of beauty contests? You get Rip Taylor, barrels of confetti, and a $1.98. Take a journey back as we look at "The $1.98 Beauty Show".Par Mike Klauss, Chico Alexander, and Greg Diener
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In honor of the 80th birthday of Canadian TV personality and host of former entry To Tell the Truth from 1980 (episode 139), we present another show hosted by Robin Ward, one which looked incredibly dated, plus had a miniscule budget. Guess what the answer is and you might take home hundreds of dollars Canadian on Guess What!…
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