The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

Back in 2021 for the Fourth of July we released The Bicentennial Minute a series of segments done by CBS in primetime between July 4th, 1974 to December 31st, 1976 to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the United States. Later, in 2021 we released a Director's Cut with extra material and now in 2026 for the 250th Anniversary of the USA we release the Super Special Longer 2006 Edition.

This updated edition is over two and a half hours with about a half-hour of new material for 2026 including five segments recently unearthed for the first time in a half-century on Major Garrett of CBS News' podcast.

Bicentennial Minutes covered in the 2021 version

"Lucy's Bicentennial Minute" - https://papermoonloveslucy.tumblr.com/post/175503525253/lucys-bicentennial-minute

Betty Ford Bicentennial Minute Materials (Gerald Ford Presidential Library and Museum): - https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0126/1489543.pdf

Press Release for Congressman Butler Derrick's (D-SC) appearance on the Bicentennial Minute on November 12, 1975 (University of South Carolina Library) - https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/derrick/id/89/

April 1975: Janet Leigh (Partial) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tWIoa1lhuk

August 24, 1975: Congresswoman Bella Abzug (D-NY) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsnFrd63j4k

August 31, 1975: Jessica Tandy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUoto1lsX50

January 8, 1976: Laurence Luckinbill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir6pabr4CD0

January 22, 1976: Gary Lockwood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hai2OxMwl9w

March 9, 1976: Jim Hutton - https://youtu.be/zgwiC4TT9aM?t=499

March 18, 1976: Val Avery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93s5mXL0WZk

April 2, 1976: Darren McGavin (New to the SSL2026 Edition) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDoMXgmoncg

May 7, 1976: Otto Preminger - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1HwX6TdHbk

May 12, 1976: Mitchell Ryan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TpBK7tZc2k

May 20, 1976: Zubin Mehta - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7bt3SNBOrw

May 27, 1976: Garson Kanin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgxOYH7fHX4

June 4, 1976: Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHDXxzuXBok

July 22, 1976: Will Rogers Jr. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfG8LHyRlNY

December 20, 1976: Emlyn Williams - https://youtu.be/8nUKzWGVWe4?t=1671

December 31, 1976: President Gerald Ford (Last 42 Seconds) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0TB76tc5Tg

Bicentennial Minutes covered in the 2026 SSL2026 Edition courtesy of Major Garrett's "The Takedown"

March 26, 1976: Michael York: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrBhkPOS7xg&t=90s

March 23, 1976: Kitty Carlisle and August 22, 1976: Bert Convy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRlOa_feAfU

September 5, 1976: Vice Admiral Sam Gravely Jr. and March 6, 1976: Brigader General Madelyn Parks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kJAHHb0ito

March 25, 1976: William Holden and August 10, 1976: Joseph Cotten - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztwG6q2ooX0

August 24, 1976: Edith Head and March 19, 1976: Judith Crist - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg4z3NxPPXc

Bonus: YouTube user epaddon's compilation of all the surviving Bicentennial Minutes including the surviving Pre-Spring of 1975 Bicentennial Minutes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBDHgs90jiU

Last week, we mentioned Chain Reaction since it was one of the shows cancelled to make room for The David Letterman Show.  We felt it was fitting to spotlight the first of numerous revivals of Chain Reaction, in all its Canadian glory.  We even give a nod to the French language version from the same time.

To honor the Fourth of July, Greg and Dane continue from recently reviewing Vengeance '05 as they look at the 7/4/05 episode of Monday Night RAW featuring a big tag match with the Hulkster and HBK vs. Kurt Angle and Carlito.

We also get Diva Search crap, Rene Dupree with a mustache, Bubbly Maria and Todd Grisham outside of Eric Bischoff's office!

The 46th anniversary of the debut of this program happened earlier this week.  We decided to revisit it this week, as more footage of the show has found its way online in the last 6 years like Isaac Asimov talking about the future, Chuck Norris doing some martial arts, and Phil Donahue supposedly dating Bill Murray's grandmother.  Also, a sitting senator was supposedly an occasional guest?!

It's Lost in Translation time.  We're going down under for this installment, with a series that really pushed the envelope in Australia for most of the 70s, but barely made a whimper in the United States.  Was it because the American version didn't have the edginess?  Was it due to scheduling?  Could there have been too much going on?  Could it have been due to similar but more popular shows on other networks?  (Yes times four.)

We visit a late 70s obscurity from NBC, where a recent podcast favorite played a playboy who got framed for a crime he didn't commit, spending three years behind bars.  Upon his release, he went for revenge.  His calling card was literally a playing card.  The show went on a lengthy hiatus before airing one final two-hour episode, when NBC dealt one final blow--cancellation.

Greg and Dane look at one of the best WWE PPV's of 2005 with Vengeance '05 from Las Vegas. We got two world title matches and an epic WrestleMania 21 rematch between Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels! We also get to see if Lilian Garcia will propose to the world's largest love machine Viscera, and hopefully nothing ruins this proposal! 

We're trying to kick it up a notch this week.  It's not happening with this failed effort to bring a TV chef to a mainstream audience, in the form of a sitcom.  The events which happened two weeks before the premiere likely hurt more than giving the lead his own sitcom.

Greg and Dane continue their 2010 TNA look as they watch Sacrifice 2010 as RVD defends the TNA World Title against AJ Styles. We get the never-ending saga of Orlando Jordan vs. Rob Terry, Sting beating the crap out of Double J, and Eric Young being a member of The Band.

We also get Ric Flair going nuts on commentary so that's a win!

NOTE: We recorded this episode before this past weekend's AAA live event. We will discuss the Main Event from that show at the start of the next episode.

In this episode, we get proof that there is no positive correlation between the cost of a series and the ratings received.  An amazing amount of star power and promotion couldn't save this animated series about Siegfried and Roy's white tigers and lions, and their (obviously) made-up adventures.