The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

We're back with our second (and likely last) edition of the pinball machine show.  We talk about 9 more TV-themed pinball machines, mainly from the last 15 years.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  CBS' ratings were languishing in the late 1980s and early 1990s, so they spent a lot of money to acquire almost every major sporting event of 1990, plus the Winter Olympics of 1992 and 1994.  Most of the events weren't that thrilling, the return on investment wasn't what was expected, and the Dream Season of 1990 was closer to a nightmare.

We've seen it before--a star almost immediately gets a new show after the end of a popular show.  Shirley Hemphill of What's Happening! was in just this position after the end of that show.  She rebounded with One in a Million with podcast favorites Richard Paul and Carl Ballantine for all of 13 episodes.

Remember when FOX started airing college football games and took both a pro approach (in its personnel in front of the camera) and an amateur approach (with every other aspect)?  We do.  We're near the end of the bowl season and look back at a tumultuous 4 years of BCS coverage on the network.

"The Book of Boba Fett" the long awaited spin-off of "The Mandalorian" from Robert Rodriguez has finally premiered on Disney+. In this live show Greg and Chico do a livewatch of the first episode on their first broadcast through the Stream Lounge app on PC. You can follow along to this Live Show (after at botched first attempt) by synching your Disney+ stream of the first episode at 0:05 and then...

We continue with our recap of 2021 with our favorite shows from the year, shows which came to a close in 2021, and our in memoriam section for those who left us in 2021.

We've completed another orbit around the Sun, which means we're doing our 2nd annual Year in Review show.  In this first installment, we talk about the best and worst of 2021.

We bring 2021's recaps to a close with yet another Rankin-Bass holiday special, Rudolph's Shiny New Year.  We also sing a bad rendition of a popular theme song, we talk about both the 1976 and 1985 Detroit Pistons, and we hypothesize about if New Year's Eve failed to exist after 1976 and about how we'd be celebrating the 46th year of 50 Grand Slam.

We present to you Mike reading from the 2018 literary classic The Golden Girls 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.  Enjoy and happy holidays.

Merry Christmas!  This show, we're watching an interpretation of a holiday classic, as show favorite Paul Lynde portrays the patriarch of a family in a star-studded 1977 adaptation of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

It's finally here, the last episode of Into the Spidey Movieverse before No Way Home.   Greg and Chico discuss 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home. Some of the things discussed include the aftermath of Infinity War/Endgame, the romance between Aunt May and Happy, the greatness of JB Smoove, Night Monkey, Brad being a jerk and what the heck happened to Peter Billingsley's hair?!?!   Also we have a spe...

We continue this year's look at holiday treasures with a Christmas tale about leprechauns?  The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold aired in 1981 and really has nothing to do with the holidays minus a scant few mentions of Christmas.  However, some big names lent their voices to this special.

Last show, we took a look at a live action version of Spider-Man from the late 1970s.  This episode, we took a look at a live action version of Spider-Man from the late 1970s...from halfway around the world.  Japan did their own take on the superhero, one that Stan Lee loved.

We’re heading into the home stretch on Into the Spidey Movieverse as we now hit the movie that this very show is named after.  This time Greg and Chico discuss 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse while exploring the journey Miles Morales takes into becoming Spider-Man.  And also you get John Mulaney voicing an animated pig, I mean how can you go wrong with that? 

Coming to theaters this weekend is the newest installment in the Spider-Man film franchise "No Way Home".  We look at two televised versions of the franchise from the past.  We start with an episode about the live-action version from 1977 to 1979 that aired on CBS which was good but like many shows we've covered, was mishandled at the network level.

'Tis the season for your annual batch of oddball holiday fare!  We start this season with a Christmas special from an animated icon of the 1980s, which has very little to do with Christmas.  Get ready for He-Man's take on the holidays with much of the He-Man universe of characters, including sister She-Ra! Ghetto Amusement Park He-Man & Skeletor (Wrestlecrap Radio) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

It's another edition of Into the Spidey Movieverse as Greg and Chico are hitting the homestretch on the way to No Way Home. This time the two look at 2018's "Venom" starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. They look at how Sony could possibly make an origin story for Venom work without Spider-Man and shockingly succeed at doing it. Among the things discussed include Eddie and Anne's relationship, the di...

It's another story about a show that premiered after the "Big Game" and died not long after.  The show was in the same vein as Police Squad! and Brooklyn Nine-Nine and it came from Stephen J. Cannell.  But was America ready for an hour-long police comedy?  Obviously not.

In the early 90s, the fast food chain Rax thought outside the box with its mascot, selecting an animated spokesperson who was middle-aged, bland, monochrome, and going through multiple life crises, in order to attract the adult population.  The campaign failed badly; Rax filed for bankruptcy 3 months later.  Dickety-dee.

We have had this on our list for a while.  A recent YouTube discovery pushed it to the front of the line.  We give you in almost entirely alphabetical order, every guest star on The Love Boat...almost.

In Episode 6 of Into the Spidey Moviveverse, Greg and Chico look at the first solo adventure of Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2017’s Spider-Man Homecoming.  Some of the matters discussed include the greatness of Michael Keaton, how Mr. Harrington keeps his job as a teacher despite being clumsy, hot Aunt May and the fly hat that Ned wears during the movie.  Here’s hoping you pa...

Laserdisc technology was new and hot in the early 80s.  One time in 1981, Sears put out a catalog on laserdisc.  We're not talking about it because of the technological innovations, nor are we here to talk about the general fashions of the day.  We're primarily here to talk about one person, a key figure in this disc.

NBC wasn't the only network showing a parade on Thanksgiving 1985.  CBS brought us parts of 5 different parades in its All-American Thanksgiving Parade, with TV stars in American locales including New York City, Detroit, Philadelphia, Hawaii, and...Toronto?!  Each location had its own style, and some parades put more energy and creativity into their work than others.

It’s on again as Greg and Chico return with Into the Spidey Movieverse as they finish the two Amazing Spider-Man movies with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from 2014.  Sony tried to set-up things in this movie that they ultimately could not cash in order to compete with the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the duo take a deep dive into this movie and what ultimately happened to the franchise.  The two go ov...

Happy Thanksgiving, pilgrims!  We do our annual look at a Thanksgiving Day parade from the past by viewing the 1985 Macy's Parade.  As always, we have bands, floats, and celebrities, but there was a little something extra as a postscript to this parade.  It'll make you yell "Oh neat!"  Just remember, the Paramus Toys'R'Us store is closed on Sundays.