Partially an oral history of obscure TV shows, partially an oral version of MST3K, and partially a thorough episode guide, It Was a Thing on TV is an anthology podcast about obscure, forgotten, and odd TV shows, commercials, televised events, and almost anyone and anything else that was on television. For the most part, the subjects we cover are from the United States and Canada. We’re just three guys with a love for television. New episodes are generally every Monday and Thursday, sometimes more often.
Recently featured in the third season premiere of Young Rock on NBC, we look at the Cyndi Lauper music video from the 1985 classic "The Goonies".
Can Cyndi save her family's gas station from the evil clutches of Roddy Piper, Iron Sheik and company while also trying to find pirate treasure? Just watch out for One Eyed Willie's booby traps.
For our second Thanksgiving episode this year, we watch this NBC special hosted by comedian Alan King from 1980. Alan along with Dick Van Patten, McLean Stevenson and Angie Dickinson try to help us answer the question that's on our minds this season "what have we got to be thankful for?"
It's an It Was a Thing annual tradition! For the 4th straight year, we're celebrating Thanksgiving by watching balloons down Broadway, Pat Sajak & Stepfanie Kramer calling the action from Herald Square, and guests including Phyllis Diller and the Lawrence Brothers.
Superman! What happened to you this year?
Amateur video from the 1986 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (Thomas Kerwick on YouTube) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEaZGcj0-Ec
We reach the conclusion of the Trek Trilogy as Greg and Chico make the voyage to 1986 San Francisco with the Enterprise crew as they look for some humpback whales and get into all sorts of crazy shenanigans in the past.
Merrill Heatter found his greatest success with Hollywood Squares. After it was cancelled in 1980 (see episode 68), Heatter tried the Squares format, but with some twists. In this show, we briefly cover 4 titles--Battlestars, The New Battlestars, All-Star Blitz, and the unsold 1993 pilot Hollywood Teasers.
They're a staple on TV today, specifically in the overnight hours. Half-hour infomercials came on the scene in the early 90s, filling holes in television schedules at all hours of the day. In this installment, we look back at 9 such infomercials from the 1990s and talk about how cheesy they were and memories we had watching them.
For the first time ever here on Podbean, we bring you the preshow we do before the show. There's been so much going on in the past week that we have to talk about it to you right here. Enjoy as we discuss the dumpster fire going on at Twitter, Newlywed Game '96 on BUZZR and the time Johnny Olson won a Boy George look alike contest!
Timestamps
0:03 - Intro/Twitter is a dumpster fire
3:16 - FTX goes bankrupt as the Crypto market crashes
7:28 - We get an Instagram comment
9:14 - PAX/ION discussion
14:39 - Kevin Conroy's passing
17:29 - Old timey radio style podcasts
18:56 - Omnibus goes down from two episodes a week to one
20:36 - Mike gets sick over last weekend
21:45 - Supermarket discussion
25:24 - Gallagher's passing
29:32 - Gary Kroeger's Newlywed Game airs on BUZZR/MG90 discussion
35:57 - Who will buy Twitter after Elon Musk ruins it?
40:00 - Previewing this week's episodes on the podcast
45:59 - Discussion on the time that Johnny Olson won a Boy George look alike contest on The Price is Right
55:27 - Previewing the next live show (Star Trek IV) and closing
It's been a while since we have talked about the patron saint of this podcast. McLean's birthday is coming soon, so we felt the time was appropriate to talk about his first series after he left M*A*S*H. To be fair, you can't fully blame McLean for this show's downfall.
It's listener request time once again! This time, we look at a 1977 summer replacement variety show with the band behind one of 1976's biggest songs. The Starland Vocal Band Show may have centered around a one-hit wonder, but it starred some future star power.
In October, we asked you to vote on which of three candidates you wanted us to cover as our Election Day episode. Your winner was Fish, the spin-off of Barney Miller about Phil Fish's home life with his wife and five precocious scamps.
