The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

Chuck Barris was the king of the bizarre in the 1970s.  His spoof of beauty pageants, "The $1.98 Beauty Show," proves just that from the low stakes to the oddball host, Rip Taylor.

After Who Wants to be a Millionaire became an overnight smash, every network tried to find a series to capture similar lightning in a bottle.  We look at three of these shows--It's Your Chance of a Lifetime, Winning Lines, and Twenty One.  Mike also shares details about his tryout for Twenty One in 1999, including the rules to the game at that time.

The Jeopardy! tournament to discover the greatest player of all time is not ABC's first foray into airing Jeopardy.  We look at Super Jeopardy! from summer of 1990, including the times Chico and Mike played against Super Jeopardy! participants.  The majority of this episode is devoted to its companion show, Monopoly.  We hope you have patience for complex rules!

Due to questionable subject matter, listener discretion is advised for this episode. Happy New Year!  Ring in 2020 by looking back at 2012/2013 and the hurried mess of a New Year's Eve celebration called "First Night 2013."

Merry Christmas and release the drone!  Our gift to you is an extended episode where we look at the Food Network show "Mystery Diners" and talk about our favorite episodes from the series.

Happy holidays!  Our first gift to you this week is a look at an attempt to capitalize off of "Star Wars" mania in 1978.  Don't forget to stick around for the 11 PM news where they talk about fighting the frizzies.

In the last episode, we looked at land travel.  Now, we're up In the air.  "Flying High" brought the jiggle and the giggle, one of which might have been responsible for its brief life.

ABC had one of its big shows in the late 70s on the sea.  NBC tried to duplicate that popularity on the rails.  Instead, it became regarded as one of the biggest disasters in television history, almost bankrupting NBC.  Hop aboard as we delve into "Supertrain," including music cues which were recycled years later.

Mike, Chico, and Greg look into what the Tommy Westphall Universe entails, some of the weird connections including many involving a fictional brand of cigarettes, and we discover what could conceivably be a plethora of new entries.

The guys peek into the Alder work and family life as they look into "Hello, Larry."  Was it as bad as critics make it sound?  Can they find anything redeeming about one of the worst shows ever?  Just remember, Portland is a long way from LA.

Pitfall definitely had its ups and downs, and we're not talking just the elevators.  Some people might have gotten their earnings while others, including the host, only got the shaft.

What happens when monkey business is combined with show business?  The Chimp Channel, TBS' first attempt at original comedy.  Someone get Greg a banana.

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, we look back at the 1983 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  If you were someone on NBC in 1983, odds are you were there.

Talk about a kangaroo court!  Remember that time Judge Wapner had a court show on Animal Planet?  We do.  We take a brief look at this early attempt at programming besides nature documentaries.

Things get really trippy as Greg and Mike look at the early 70s televised acid trip known as "Lidsville."

In our shortest episode to date, we look at Big Brother...with cats.  And it came from Iceland!

This podcast officially goes to the dogs...and cats.  We look at two pet-centric game shows from yesteryear, and Greg gives us his thoughts regarding the subject of last week's installment, "Jennifer Slept Here."

Our look at NBC disasters from 1983 wraps up with the show wedged between the previous two entries on NBC's Friday night schedule, a supernatural sitcom starring Ann Jillian titled "Jennifer Slept Here."  We are joined by our first special guest, Kris Lane.

It's Automan!  It's Manimal!  It's Automanimal!  Mike and Greg look at these two connected shows from 1983/4.  #HologramsCannotWearSuits

Mike, Greg, and the third contributor to this endeavor, Chico Alexander, look at one of the most hyped shows in 1983, one that didn't make it to 1984.

Mike and Greg take a look at Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour which, until recently, had not been seen on television in over 35 years.

Mike and Greg introduce the podcast and preview the first official installment of It Was a Thing on TV.