The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

Over the last 30 plus years, MTV has had some decent cartoons, most notably Beavis and Butthead and Daria.  3-South isn't on that list, but it holds a place in the heart of at least one of us.  Goofy and stupid but with some notable contemporary voice talents, this show might be best known as one of the gigs Brian Dunkleman took after the first season of American Idol.

In prior episodes, we have talked about the first two iterations of The Joe Schmo Show.  While it is an often funny and unpredictable format, one can't go to the well with that format too often, due to the familiarity of the personnel and the wacky (and suspicious) scenarios which unfold.  After a hiatus of over a decade, the format returned with the same host, the same crazy situations, actors trying to sell their characters, and Lorenzo Lamas?  Wearing next to nothing?!

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, there was a crew of space garbage pickers before previous installment Salvage 1.  (See episode 399.)  NBC aired the pilot episode with little fanfare and little success.  However, something happened within two weeks of the pilot airing which gave NBC a reason to turn this pilot into a full-fledged series, albeit for just a smattering of episodes.

Here is another case of taking a successful movie and turning the general premise into a lackluster TV show.  Though there is no connection between this show and Look Who's Talking, outside of slightly changed names, the similarities are there.  Despite being called the worst show on TV in its first season, the show got a second season and remained bad.

104 years ago on July 23, one of our favorites, Calvert Deforest AKA Larry "Bud" Melman, was born.  In honor of this milestone, we are watching a VHS release of a workout video for those who think Jazzercise is too strenuous.  Sit back, grab your remote, as well as a cold one and your favorite snack for Larry "Bud" Melman's workout for couch potatoes.

This time, we look at another anomaly that got cancelled despite good ratings like Bridget Loves Bernie.  Maybe CBS cooked Goodnight Beantown because the network wanted to go a different route on Sunday nights.  Maybe a single mother having relations with her neighbor/co-worker was a bit too much.  Maybe it's because the penultimate episode ruined sexual tension between the two main characters.  There is no definitive answer in our research.

Summer movie season is upon us.  This installment, we look at a very short-lived comedy about an old time movie theater and its cast of high school-aged workers, specifically one employee who dreams of making it big in the movies one day.  The show died a quick death, in part, because it aired, ironically, on a day when many people go to the movies.

First-run syndication in the 1980s was a blessing for numerous sitcoms that might not have gotten a fair shake from the networks--Too Close for Comfort, Mama's Family, Out of This World.  Charles in Charge had a similar fate.  It didn't find enough eyes on CBS, but give it a year and a half, and it would become a comedy staple of the late 80s and early 90s.  Alas, Jamie Widdoes did not make it to the successful syndicated run.

We celebrate the 99th anniversary of Paul Lynde's birth with this effort from the early 70s.  (Lynde didn't join the cast until season 2.)  Hospital hijinks happen with a wacky staff of nurses and orderlies working under a no-nonsense chief of staff.  ABC must have had faith in the show, despite getting beaten in the ratings by multiple top 10 shows in its run.

Before it was a single season wonder on The Disney Channel and way before it became a stalwart on NBC Saturday mornings as Saved by the Bell, Good Morning, Miss Bliss had an aired pilot in summer 1987, with a different focus compared to the later series and an entirely different cast of students, which is a who's who of known actors.  A little retooling, then a little more retooling after the Disney era, and you got a beloved part of the childhoods of most every current 40-something.