It Was a Thing on TV: An Anthology on Forgotten Television

Imagine you were on a show with your ex, playing anchors on a sports program.  It happened here with Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal.  They were truly Good Sports about this short-lived entry from 1991.

Free Spirit got its first exposure on the premiere of the TGIF block.  It was then placed on another night, where it was replaced by a show which has been on for over 30 years.  Was this show with a witch cursed?  Possibly.  But it gave us one of our favorites, Alyson Hannigan.

A comedy starring Dom DeLuise and created, in part, by Carl Reiner?  Sounds like a winner to us!  But it's going up against a strong police procedural and a stalwart from the early days of television?  All we say is Lotsa Luck!

Chico's birthday is coming up and he's playing his Money in the Bank on this gem from the 1980s with twins.  One is good and the other is troublesome...at least in the first season.  Also, Greg comes up with an idea for a prequel for Jake and the Fatman.

Later this month, a long awaited reboot of Night Court will debut.  In honor of the event, we are going back to a show which could be considered the inspiration for the original Night Court.  Sirota's Court has a similar feel, but it only lasted several months in 1976 and 1977.  There were reasons, including a controversial plot line and going up against the biggest miniseries ever. 

There have been a variety of shows with puppets which have been successful--The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, ALF, Thunderbirds, and Fraggle Rock, to name a few.  CBS tried their hand with a puppet-centric show with Scorch, about a dragon who slept for 100 years before waking up in 1992 Connecticut.

January 4 was National Trivia Day.  In honor of the event, we look at a Japanese show which made the translation to American television about weird and wonderful trivia.  Give a listen to Hey! Spring of Trivia and there may be some melon bread in it for you, and the melon bread is shaped like a brain.

When a character in a series is popular, networks want to ride that character's popularity as long as possible.  When ABC canceled Three's Company, the network retained Jack Tripper, but placed him in a new series with a new love...and her father.  Hilarity tried to ensue.

Not to be confused with its slashless namesake, E/R had two people in common with the more popular show, including a young George Clooney.  The cast was diverse and talented, but this wonder lasted just a season after much early promise.  You can't blame George for this one.

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.