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.
In the early 90s, the fast food chain Rax thought outside the box with its mascot, selecting an animated spokesperson who was middle-aged, bland, monochrome, and going through multiple life crises, in order to attract the adult population. The campaign failed badly; Rax filed for bankruptcy 3 months later. Dickety-dee.
Laserdisc technology was new and hot in the early 80s. One time in 1981, Sears put out a catalog on laserdisc. We're not talking about it because of the technological innovations, nor are we here to talk about the general fashions of the day. We're primarily here to talk about one person, a key figure in this disc.
Advertisers will try to sell you most anything. At the same time, buyers will purchase most anything. At least one of those statements is true when it came to a chess set related to the hotly-contested 2020 Presidential election. Yes, there was a chess set dedicated to a Presidential election and it had its own half-hour infomercial! When we saw this infomercial, we knew we had to talk about it.
We've scoured the Internet and found more of the crazy, cheap, and just bad local commercials, enough for this second helping. From Dirt Cheap Liquor to our personal favorite Crazy Gideon, these ads have gone viral for a reason.
NOTE: There may be some flaky audio briefly in a few parts of this episode.
The new Fall TV season is here! We're looking back at some classic Fall TV campaigns from the different networks, from reaching to the stars to insisting that we should all be there.
Before Jason Alexander was George Constanza, he was in a popular commercial for the McDLT, a McDonald's sandwich from the 80s. Greg and Chico talk about the ad, future offerings from McDonald's, a Filipino commercial for one of those sandwiches, and a very special ending with another McDLT commercial.
The 1980s contained many wars--The Cold War, the war on drugs, The Cola Wars, and The Fast Food Wars. Wendy's struck first with Clara Peller and her catch phrase, "Where's the Beef?" McDonald's had its own game plan with the McDLT. Burger King went with a geeky guy who had never eaten at Burger King before named Herb? Herb had a very short life span, but he did get around in 1985 and 1986.
Last year we did Hulk Hogan commercials and this year we're covering the Nature Boy Ric Flair in the various commercials he's done over the years.
We talk about weird spots he's done like promoting car insurance to promoting Nature Boy bites to promoting scratch-off lottery tickets. Ric has done it all including wrestling a Russian Bear and we're gonna talk about them in this episode! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
1. 1986 Great American Bash VHS Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS7uV4o2Id0
2. TBS “TBYES” Commercial with Ric Flair and Jimmie Walker - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1it5jEWx738
3. Ric Flair TBS NWA Main Event Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmRqbSHUhtU
4. WCW Galoob Action Figures Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9cMeBsgVsM
5. North Carolina Lottery Ric Flair Scratch Off Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OnB_jalI4U
6. North Carolina Lottery Ric Flair Scratch Off “Wooooo II” Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOPyOUxvUz8
7. Fuel in a Bottle Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuV08PGFmFU
8. US Auto Sales - Papa Flair’s Used Cars - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkRJdDZtJQI
9. Snickers Make It Happen with Ric Flair Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dZuzuhsjOs
10. Cumberland Farms Cold Brew - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYQXsjm-HD0
11. Nature Boy Bites - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMv4chKY6E4
12. WCW Clash of the Champions XXIII Promo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDzyIfFa6Ps
13. TickPick No Extra Flair - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5Vyh6GWfrc
14. Jake’s Fireworks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Go9_6Zcp4
15. Ric Flair vs. Bear (EA Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS9jSQmc3yY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00piCzD9WIU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62i0nhOTZ6E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSF9ozpwnuo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTcVKmQprrc
16. Sabra Hummus Super Bowl LIV Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9NTkInOe3Y
17. CarShield - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNawmH0a5hk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga6x3JzAb60
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVtWTEYoXaM
18. WWE Colonel Rumble - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1T1sJOcgCM
19. Four Horsemen Vitamins - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SISHqfcrQdk
The Olympic Triplecast wasn't the only big flop in 1992. Reebok ran an ad campaign with two highly touted athletes, only for one to not make it to Barcelona. One ended up eventually winning gold four years later though and hey at least it sold a lot of Reebok Pump's.
The butt of many a joke in its day and even into the 21st century, The Bicentennial Minute was an occasionally bland but also occasionally interesting minute-long segment delivered by a celebrity about what happened in U.S. history 200 years ago that day. Celebrate your Fourth of July holiday listening about this patriotic throwback to the 70s.
"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/
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
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
