The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

Art Fleming, legendary Jeopardy! emcee, made a very brief return to television in the early 90s with The Great American Telephone Trivia Game.  Is it an infomercial?  Is it a game show?  ¿Por qué no los dos?  Is it a bunch of hooey?  You bet it is, and it cost just $1.95 per minute! Listener discretion is advised due to language.

Coming to theaters this week is the fifth and final outing of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. In 1982, ABC aired a show similar to *BUT* legally distinct from Raiders of the Lost Ark and it came from TV legend Donald Bellisario. It had action and excitement but could it capitalize on the adventure fever of Raiders? Weeeeeellllllllllllllllll, you'll have to listen to find out.

NBC had a thing for summer camp movies with some of the most popular teenage talent at the time.  (See Episode 278, Poison Ivy.)  Unlike Poison Ivy, Camp Cucamonga wasn't well-remembered, nor was it even that good.  Enjoy some stereotypical rapping and a predictable ending with some of your favorite teenage stars from 1990 in this installment.

Before you see the Ezra Miller Flash f' up the DC multiverse for everybody, we talk about the highly bandied about original version of The Flash from 1990 on CBS, which went up against two powerhouse shows on its initially scheduled night, then went up against more tough competition on not such a great night. But don't feel too bad as this version of The Flash would get closure close to 30 years l...

We have talked about many failed spinoffs in the past, but this one is unique in the sense that it didn't happen concurrently with the parent show.  Rather, this was set in 1977, versus Happy Days' 50s/60s setting.  That is just the beginning of the confusion regarding Blansky's Beauties.

20 years ago on Sunday, the finals of the 2002-03 Hardball Hot Seat competition should have aired.  It didn't and thanks to Mike, one of the event's finalists, we provide you the inside scoop about why it didn't air, and other goodies about Mike's experiences at both the original Hot Seat taping in October 2002 and with the finals.

National Sex Day week rolls on with a British quizzer for the smartest of the smart, where you can earn the title of Cleverdick.  It's not fetch happening; we explain that term in the beginning.

National Sex Day is happening on Friday of this week!  (6/9...nice)  We're doing three episodes with related titles, though only this episode is really about the act itself.  This short-lived WeTV entry could be summed up as sex therapy in The Cube.  We advise listener discretion.

“It’s the end of an era… and the beginning of everything else.” What college will Elle pick, the one with her heartthrob or the one with her bestie? Can they pull off the best summer ever with Mario Kart and DDR? And will this girl ever learn to say no? Greg & Chico answer most of these questions as we round out The Era with The Kissing Booth 3.

In the 70s & early 80s, ABC was riding high with the world's greatest "Superfriends" based on the DC Comics. Marvel, not willing to let this go unchallenged, teamed up the face of the brand with an X-Man & an original character. to form "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends". Before going "Across the Spider-Verse", take a deep dive into a show on NBC that lasted... shorter than you probably remember...

The mid-70s was a rotating door of game shows seemingly coming, then going after 13 to 26 weeks.  The Big ShowDown was no different, except it was a brilliant dice-themed game of strategy and its host had a memorable entrance on one episode.

Our 4th annual Pilot Month concludes with an animated spin-off of a live-action show which ended two years earlier?!  Welcome to a day in the life of Carlton Your Doorman.

We're celebrating another of our birthdays!  Greg's getting a year older, and he wants to cover a show we have talked about for years but there was little footage of it in English until recently.  We're finally covering 18 Wheels of Justice. Can a man in the witness protection program avenge the loss of his wife and daughter by taking down organized crime and G. Gordon Liddy with the help of his b...

A decade before The Paul Lynde Show (see episode 103), a pilot for CBS was done which was reminiscent of the latter show.  Lynde plays the father-in-law to his new son-in-law, the "smartest man in the room though he's actually the dumbest" Howie.

On the surface, Call Her Mom is reminiscent of a certain movie which would be a big hit 6 years later, but with a "den mother" caring for the fraternity.  This wasn't just a ratings hit once, but twice.  How did it not make it as a regular series?

Batman was a big TV success in 1966.  Why not follow it up with a pilot of a similar comic book staple?  Dick Tracy was a cut-and-paste job from the Batman playbook, down to the script, the scenery, and even the baddie of the week.  Just remember:  Dick Tracy, he's a good cop.

After a long, long, long wait, The Cube is finally back for a second season on TBS. In the premiere of Season 2, Gabrielle Union and La-La Anthony try to tackle The Cube which has a whole lot of new challenges for the contestants.

One of the big comics in the mid-to-late 80s was Richard Lewis, known for his neurotic schtick.  Two years before a career-defining role in Anything But Love, Lewis starred in this pilot as a doorman at a New York City apartment building.

The 2023 XFL has made it farther than its second incarnation by making it to the Championship Game! Can the title game fare better than the original XFL's 2001 Championship Game? Greg and Chico live watch the 2023 Championship between DC and Arlington from the Alamodome as they smell what The Rock is cooking.

As we have mentioned previously, ESP was popular in the 60s and 70s.  What happens when a racecar driver starts having psychic visions?  Lots of stuff in England, enough to make the casual viewer feel Baffled!

In 1977, Andy Kaufman was an up and coming comic.  ABC cast him as a robot servant in the year 2055 with a distinct voice, one which would become associated with Kaufman on another ABC show a year later, Taxi.  Why didn't this work?  We blame the mood synthesizers, AKA the "ass toasters."

Today, May 9th, marks 40 years since David Letterman dedicated an entire day to an assistant sound engineer on his show.  We go back and relive that day with a beer, a BLT, and another beer.

This weekend Marvel Studios released the final chapter of James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy. Greg had a chance this weekend to see the movie and give his thoughts on if it measured up to the two previous films and if it was better than some of Marvel's recent theatrical releases. NOTE: There's a discussion about the end credits scene, which will spoil the movie. Greg will give a warni...

A pre-Doctor Who/Guardians of the Galaxy Karen Gillan appeared in this British pilot, which apparently was the best thing at a certain network's disposal.  This was so wrong on so many levels, so much so that we're asking for listener discretion.  It did give us 4000-pound breasts.

Here's another case of a show working overseas but failing domestically.  The Brit show Red Dwarf has been on the air for a combined quarter century.  Could it have worked here?  Who knows, thanks NBC smegheads.