The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

Who doesn't enjoy late night television's comedy bits between the monologue and the first guest?  We like them so much, we are devoting episodes to such segments which we affectionately call "shows within the show."  Our first look at late night shows within the show is David Letterman, running the gamut from a troubled teen who is clearly not a troubled teen, to a spoof of one of the most popular and controversial shows of the day.

The CW will start airing reruns of the amazing UK version of Taskmaster, starting on Sunday, August 2.  It isn't the first appearance of the creative competition show.  Comedy Central had a series of 8 episodes in 2018 which quickly disappeared.  If it's so good, what happened?

Two families tied together through relationships struggle with each other on an ABC sitcom in the early 80s.  Where have we heard that?  Soap, but also this entry from people who brought you Soap--the McLean Stevenson vehicle Condo.  Could this series have gotten a popular emcee his iconic hosting gig?

This show is likely the most bizarre show we will cover.  Greg took copious notes on each of the 20 episodes of this Adult Swim series which makes Aqua Teen Hunger Force look straight-laced.

Warning:  The language is inappropriate occasionally in this episode.

14 years after prior installment When Things Were Rotten, Mel Brooks returned to TV with The Nutt House.  It had Mel Brooks behind it.  It had Cloris Leachman.  It had Harvey Korman.  Yet it lasted all of 5 episodes.

Mel Brooks is a legend, both for his work in film and on television.  He had something in Fall 1975 with When Things Were Rotten, but it had rotten luck and a rotten time slot versus two powerhouse shows plus it might have been a little ahead of its time.

This week 40 years ago saw the temporary ends of three game shows, each of which would return to TV by 1987.  That week also saw the birth of a legend, though he made his mark in late night.  We look at the three NBC game show finales of June 20, 1980 and their replacement, The David Letterman Show in this timely installment of the podcast.

We Got It Made was a dog of a show in 1983-84 that NBC tried to get people to watch by having the cast show up on NBC broadcasts.  Yet, it got a second season for the Primetime Starts at 7:30 block in 1987.

This show was brought to our attention by Greg, as he stumbled across a cameo in the 4th episode.  Open All Night is not a bad show, just short-lived because it aired on Saturday nights.  But that theme song.

It seems Tony Randall was known for two shows--first and foremost, The Odd Couple, and then Love, Sidney.  We make the case that it was mishandled from the start by NBC but also that some subject matter might have been material not designed for an early 80s home audience.