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, the 25th James Bond cinematic release hit theaters. But would you believe there was a James Bond, er, Jimmy Bond to grace the small screen before Sean Connery? In 1954, the CBS anthology series Climax! had an episode based on the Ian Fleming work Casino Royale.
Pat Morita was a star in the late 80s, thanks to two Karate Kid movies. He got the title role in this ABC police procedural. Ultimately, Ohara got his butt kicked by, in part, 4 old ladies who lived in Miami.
Put Hulkamania in a Baywatch setting with a boat like KITT but also like the TARDIS and it will bring the viewers! But it didn't. Thunder in Paradise lasted one season, but it ran long enough or was popular enough to justify a CD-i game. If you listen to nothing else, listen to the last 15 minutes (starting at 1:07:05) about what happened to the boat.
Generally, we do not cover shows that ran as long as this one. (Hello, Charles Stiles Mystery Diners.) We could not avoid this show because of its two leads--the legendary Christopher Plummer and It Was a Thing on TV favorite Simon MacCorkindale.
Around Halloween 2012, a pilot to a rebooted version of The Munsters aired. If you were expecting campy humor that worked in the 1960s, you're solely mistaken. Mockingbird Lane was a very dark comedy which was not your Munsters from 50 years ago.
Vanna White was everywhere in the late 80s--Wheel of Fortune twice a day, touring the country by train, a best-selling writer, and scantily clad in an adult magazine. NBC tried to capitalize on her success with a made-for-TV movie starring Vanna called Goddess of Love, which was downright bad.
When this lit up the socials last week, we made the decision that not only was it worth submitting but it was also worthy of live show status. Put a Lifetime Christmas movie, a KFC infomercial, and romance in a Vitamix and this would be the result.
The complete "A Recipe for Seduction": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9mgD1DpmZ8
Nick at Nite was a staple of our childhood's back in the 1980's and 1990's. One popular show on the early Nick at Nite lineup was Alfred Hitchcock Presents. It was so popular that the powers that be at Nick at Nite decided to run a marathon on Halloween Week 1990 along with a contest for the viewer to guess how many people kick the bucket during said marathon to win a murder mystery cruise. Also, you're probably wondering why Wink Martindale is involved in this based on the image right?
Accompanying Nick at Nite 35th Anniversary article with some details about this contest via The Retro Network.
https://theretronetwork.com/35-years-of-nick-at-nite/
It's not the Double Dare from 1976 which was previously covered, nor is it the Double Dare on Nickelodeon a year later. This Double Dare was a cop show in the vein of Miami Vice which lasted just over a month on CBS, starring TV's Wiseguy and the guy who is as cool as the cool side of the pillow.
In 2005, ABC was breaking new ground with Desperate Housewives and Lost. Another show in the mix which absolutely bombed was the Steven Bochco police procedural Blind Justice. This is the first show where all three of us gave up on it. It's that bad.
