The annual Lost in Translation episodes start with another British adaptation of a beloved American sitcom. Despite American scripts being localized for a UK audience, Days Like These didn't click. Maybe it needed a catchy phrase in its opening like "Hello Luton!"
Hugh Wilson and Loni Anderson worked together on a popular series in the late 70s and early 80s, WKRP in Cincinnati. They tried to parlay that magic into another series four years after WKRP's end, one where a former showgirl, played by Anderson, married her wealthy husband, who died. When you're battling family members who want that money, life isn't so easy on Easy Street.
Mike's birthday is this weekend and he played his Money in the Bank on this short-lived cartoon that, while absolutely hilarious, aired at the wrong time slot and/or aired either a few years early or a few years late. Celebrate Mike's birthday by getting completely mental with Ed Grimley and those in his universe.
Black History Month 2024 concludes with a comedy starring a comedic legend, trying to capitalize on the success of a similar show on another network. Despite pulling the stops to make it popular including adding a familiar face later in its sole season, Charlie & Company is just a footnote in history.
Demond Wilson's first post-Sanford and Son role was in this series, as a husband who abandoned his wife and family for seven years and was legally declared dead. Not only was Wilson back on TV after a short time away, but baby, he's back for his family.
Greg is 48 hours removed from attending the 2024 NHL Stadium Series game between crosstown NY rivals the Rangers and Islanders at MetLife Stadium. Greg shares in the first-ever It Was a Thing on TV Delayed Reaction his experience at the game along with some of the exciting action including a fight and a wild late comeback.
Broadway legend Melba Moore was given a starring vehicle for her own CBS sitcom in Early 1986. Sadly, it had the misfortune of premiering the same day as a tragic news story. However, was the news story the reason the show failed or something else entirely?
Ellen Cleghorne was a groundbreaking talent when she was on Saturday Night Live. The WB gave her her own show, which was gone in months. Was the problem that Cleghorne! was on The WB, or was it something else?
CBS' most hyped show in 1987-88 was Frank's Place, about an academic who inherits a New Orleans restaurant. There was so much publicity for it that its two main stars hosted CBS' series of unsold pilots in Summer 1987. Despite the hype and critical acclaim, it was done in a season. There was one big name who admits to liking it and recording it.
Back in 2020 before Kansas City and San Francisco played on "Super Sunday" we covered The Bud Bowl in one of our early episodes. Today in honor of both teams returning to "The Big Game" we bring you this extended cut featuring over 15 minutes of new materials including radio spots from Bud Bowl IV, the Bud Light players doing their own version of the "Super Bowl Shuffle" and the Basher's foul mouth.
Last year on "Super Sunday" former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski was involved in an ad campaign for Fanduel where he'd attempt to make a 25-yard field goal in the Arizona desert in a live commercial during the game. We'd soon find out that this attempt was about as accurate as a three-dollar bill. "The BIGGEST SCAM in Super Bowl Commercial HISTORY (JaguarGator9) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61Fc-KzjouA
The 2000 edition of "Super Sunday" pitted the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans in the first Super Bowl of the new millennium. TV viewers were treated in-between action with commercials for Budweiser, trucks, and many dot-com companies! Most of which came and went less than a year following the game. We'll go over some of them in this episode. Microsoft "Flight Annoucement" - https://adland.tv/microsoft-flight-announcement-2000-030-usa GMC Yukon XL "Agility" - https://adland.tv/gmc-yukon-x...
Before two victories in "The Big Game", before almost all of his Pro Bowl nominations, and before his current squeeze (you know who), Travis Kelce looked for love on a reality program. Catching Kelce didn't catch on with viewers and neither did Kelce's catch on the series. What would Taylor say?
We are a week away from The Big Game and, as always, we have some good content lined up. First up, in a similar spirit to The Flintstones and The Jetsons, Hanna/Barbera created a cartoon about the work and home lives of a family. This time, as you'd expect this week, the husband was a quarterback on a football team. Where's Huddles? aired in Summer 1970, then in non-primetime reruns the following year.
Steven Bochco, the genius behind hit shows including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and Doogie Howser, created Cop Rock, which was labeled as being revolutionary and potentially changing the landscape of television. Despite tons of promotion, the show ran 3 months and has been deemed one of the biggest failures in television history. Not only do we cover the series as always, but we will feature one song from each episode.
In an era where game shows were goofy, outrageous, and random, this game show was the goofiest, most outrageous, and the most random. The Cheap Show was ridiculous, messy, and...well...cheap. Sorry for the short episode. There isn't much multimedia out there, nor is there much information about it.
In 1984, history was made after Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to be on a major party Presidential ticket. Possibly piggybacking on this historic occasion, the people behind Soap developed a show about a female President trying to balance her work life with running the most powerful country in the world. After a short run, this entry didn't get a second term, and its replacement became one of the iconic sitcoms of the 1980s.
By the time you hear this, Chico will have celebrated his birthday. As is tradition around here, Chico gets to pick a special birthday topic. He selected this movie which could only be acquired at your local Chuck E. Cheese's redemption center in 1999. And it's for the best you could only get it there.
In the mid-to-late 2000s, VH-1 was looking for a comedic complement to its highly successful Best Week Ever. One such complement was this show, created by some names who would go on to bigger and better things, where the home audience decided which short series did not cut the mustard, and which ones would see another week because...they were acceptable (dot) tv.
In television history, there have been several attempts at becoming a viable competitor to ABC, NBC, and CBS. Some have succeeded (FOX), while others were not so lucky (MyTV, PAX). In this installment, we turn the clock back to the mid-60s where a mogul in the warehouse industry started his own network which had a name change before going to air, aired one series in its existence, and lasted a month.
After covering the passing of a character in episode 443, we look at the more tragic side of what happens when someone on a show passes away in real life. This episode gets into some potentially disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised.
This week, we're taking a look at what happens when deaths occur on TV shows. To start, we look at a handful of incidents where a character dies in a TV show, why the character dies, and how a show handles such an occurrence. This episode does not talk about actual actor passings; we will cover that subject on Thursday.
In the fourth edition of It Was a Thing on TV Presents: Before the Show, Mike and Greg discuss the recent news of the merger between the USFL and the XFL as the new version of the United Football League (UFL). They also discuss "Steamboat Willie" and the OG Mickey Mouse entering the public domain along with the really bad horror attempts with Mickey along with Greg recently getting a PS5. Then, Chico joins in for Segment 2 where they talk about Ric Flair shilling crypto, the latest headaches at ...
Timing can and very might have been the reason The Tim Conway Show did not have a longer life, even going from an hour to a half an hour for season 2. As is most anything with Tim Conway, it was entertaining. The rest of the cast was great. Unfortunately, the variety show was a dying breed in 1980.
Happy 2024! We start the new year with a show that debuted 30 years ago this week. It only ran the typical 13 episodes. Comparisons were made to more successful shows on TV at the time, though at least one of us saw a very raw version of a show which would become a hit two seasons later with one of the show's performers.
We wrap up 2023 by talking about some of the people who made bad decisions this year, a selection of our favorite shows of the year, and looking back at those who we lost.
History was made on Thursday Night as Kansas State and NC State played in the first-ever Pop-Tarts Bowl! Hilarity ensued as the winning team not only won a trophy with Pop-Tarts sticking out but the game's mascot a six-foot tall Pop-Tart was eaten at the end of the game! Mike, Greg and Chico saw this and had to share their reaction to this incredible moment!
As is tradition on this podcast, we look at the news, events, and happenings in 2023 to close out the year. In this part, we cover the news and some of the shows which ended in 2023.
In 1985 and 1986, David Letterman presented two special episodes of Late Night with David Letterman around the holiday season highlighting short films by various celebrities. We analyze these short films and offer our commentary in this holiday episode of It Was a Thing on TV. 1985 segments "PMS - Premenstrual Syndrome" (Andrea Martin/Catherine O'Hara) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwLTCayIeSw (Uploaded by Darian Glover) "Angst on a Shoestring" (Bette Midler) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Today is the 40th Anniversary of Tom Poston's mini-coma at the Super Match on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. In honor of this moment we present an outtake between episodes of a taping in 2020 as Mike gives some play-by-play of this legendary moment. This outtake was heard in Episode 100 but this is the first time we are presenting this by itself.
