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.
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 1000.
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 markets years later. Below is a list of links used in this episode, or are relevant to this topic: KCNC/KUSA/KMGH packages (including the Big Switch on KCN...
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 should be added since TV Guide published the original list back in '02. We'll revisit this topic again in a few weeks when we rerank the shows and sta...
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.
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-talented award-winning actress, and everybody's favorite cousin from Mypos.
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 has created for Quinn Martin's opening title sequences and looking ahead as Episode 500 approaches.
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 the Quick Stop.
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 negative is the producer got sued and lost millions because he didn't have everybody's permission to do this show.
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 bad time slots and only lasted a handful of episodes into its second season.
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 which generally ran from about 9 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon from the 1970s through the early 1990s. To see many of the shows mentioned in thi...
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.
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 comedy.
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.
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 and loosely molded it into a Seinfeld-like TV show.
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 in 1999 would be considered easy in 2024.
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!
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 help the show's sidekick got the boot during the 3rd episode.
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 focused zebra that must realize that it's in a race!
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 Laettner. The first game was against Angola which, to put it kindly, was slaughtered by the Americans.
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 another. The ceremonies also gather attention for who participated, and is amplified due to social media, see one specific Tongan athlete who stole t...
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 handle. It turns out nobody in 1992 was willing to pay $125 for what you can probably get for about $13.99 on Peacock in 2024.
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 podcast is the introduction of a new character, thanks to MeTV Toons.
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.
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.
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 a look at how things were done in 1787.
Mike shared a little nugget with the other guys earlier this week. That message became the seed of this Delayed Reaction, reacting to events which happened close to a decade ago. Dynasty? Really?
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 seasons with the pizza place.
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 background noise you might hear. Me and Chico recorded on Skype and you might hear a popcorn-ish sound which is the sound of my wood chair creaking. ...
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 "the pond" can watch it on a semi-frequent basis.
