The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

In this installment, we watch a very special episode that we have referred to on and off throughout the podcast.  Find out why drugs are bad when Robbie gets hooked on thornoids on Dinosaurs. Remember you can't say steroids Friday nights on ABC in 1993.

Did you ever notice some people have some shows essentially omitted from their resumes?  We had never heard about Charles Nelson Reilly on Uncle Croc's Block until Mike went down a rabbit hole one night.  And after seeing this and its associated cartoons, you can't blame CNR from forgetting this misstep.

Three years after the end of Full House and nearing the end of the original TGIF lineup, ABC brought back The Olsen Twins as tweens in this one-season vehicle, whose legacy lasted well beyond its one year.

After over two years (if you don't count his appearance in "The Book of Boba Fett") Din Djarin and Baby Grogu are back for Season 3 of The Mandalorian on Disney+. Greg and Chico livewatch the premiere as The Mandalorian looks for forgiveness for taking his helmet off as he encounters some old friends along the way back to Mandalore. Grogu don't go hugging those Anzellans!

Last year, our first class of inductees was admitted to the show's Hall of Fame.  Now, we're adding 17 new entries into the Hall, ranging from podcast favorite actors to one-time appearances that left a mark on us.

That 70s Show was getting good ratings, so it was inevitable a spin-off would happen.  But that show was less of a spin-off and more of its own separate unrelated entity.  That 80s Show was gone as quickly as it arrived.  Bummer, dude!

Hey hey, everybody is familiar with The Monkees, who have entertained people since the late 60s.  They had a resurgance in popularity in the mid-to-late 80s, which gave someone the idea to create a new version of the band.  The powers that be tried to make fetch happen, but the new version fizzled after 13 episodes.

It's time for Mike's annual Money in the Bank selection.  This year, he went with a comedy set around a puppet, her life, and her TV show.  Madame's Place was racy and had big guest stars.  But when you're going up against late night fare like Carson, it won't end well.

Detective shows were big in the early 80s, see Cagney & Lacey, Simon & Simon, Magnum P.I., Hill Street Blues, and others.  But what if one of them was a witch?  Tucker's Witch tried that.  In the end, CBS made it disappear.

In honor the 15th Anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and with the recent release of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania", Greg and Chico go all the way back to the very beginning to live watch 2008's Iron Man!

It was CBS' new hotness in 1991, one of the best new shows on television.  Then tragedy happened and retooling had to occur.  There are some "what ifs" regarding The Royal Family, specifically around its star.

We begin our weeklong celebration of Black History Month with a short-lived classic from 1974. Clifton Davis was a free-spirited bachelor barber. He had friends and family who loved him, including Theresa Merritt, known for having an opinion on anything and everything. What else could he say except… “That’s My Mama!”

In honor of Presidents' Day we at It Was a Thing on TV present another example of someone trying to make fetch happen. When the US Treasury Department launched the new golden dollar coin in the year 2000, they commissioned the father of our country to help promote the new coin along with getting Batman himself Michael Keaton to voice him.

We've reached another milestone, with the release of episode 350!  The Slap isn't known for much more than the titular slap, delivered by Spock?! What the hell Zachary Quinto?

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and we're talking about a real-life finder of lost loves, who became the main character in this drama from 1984-5.  The series is loaded with guest stars, which is unsurprising since this was an Aaron Spelling production.

Valentine's Day is around the corner and we know all the single ladies out there want to know the secrets of finding that dream date.  This VHS tape from 1984, How to Pick Up Men, has all the answers to getting the man of your dreams.  It involves a dog named Boaz, not knowing where the post office is, and asking supermarket cashiers when the most single men shop.  Plus flirt, flirt, flirt! Full v...

In this year's "big game," for the first time, we have a set of brothers playing against each other for a title.  Ten years earlier, we had a set of brothers coaching against each other for a title.  What was a great battle that came down to the end was overshadowed by a lengthy power outage.

Originally recorded back in Thanksgiving of 2021, it's the final edition of our Director's Cuts that we released over at the Place to be Nation POP Experience with over 20 minutes of new material not in the original cut. We bring you this special Director's Cut of the 1985 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which features Mike ranting about Your Numbers Up being preempted, a Cabbage Patch Kids commerc...

We're nearing The Big Game and we're talking about a made-for-TV movie about a serial killer who takes out people associated with the two teams playing for it all.  A star-studded cast struggles to make it to Super Sunday in the 1978 flick Superdome.

Imagine you were on a show with your ex, playing anchors on a sports program.  It happened here with Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal.  They were truly Good Sports about this short-lived entry from 1991.

Free Spirit got its first exposure on the premiere of the TGIF block.  It was then placed on another night, where it was replaced by a show which has been on for over 30 years.  Was this show with a witch cursed?  Possibly.  But it gave us one of our favorites, Alyson Hannigan.

A comedy starring Dom DeLuise and created, in part, by Carl Reiner?  Sounds like a winner to us!  But it's going up against a strong police procedural and a stalwart from the early days of television?  All we say is Lotsa Luck!

Last year we covered the 49ers and Cowboys in the Nickelodeon Wild Card game with an ending that had us all like WTF? This year we came back to watch the rematch as both teams faced off with a trip to the NFC Championship Game on the line.

One of the most beloved games of the late 70s through the mid-80s was Tic Tac Dough.  The show had lives before and after that halcyon period.  Unfortunately, it was rigged, hosted by an imbecile, then hosted by a bigger imbecile, and recently went to pilot, but did not get picked up.

After the highs of Star Trek IV, Harve Bennett turned to another member of the Star Trek cast to try his hand at the directing chair. Surely with Captain Kirk at the helm, Star Trek V would reach even higher profits at the box office right?  Yeah, about that .......... Greg and Chico try to take a look at went wrong and try to answer what does God need with a starship?