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

It's the final edition of the It Was a Thing on TV remastered series and we're closing it with a look back at Episode 20 and the attempts to capitalize on the success of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? back in 2000.

We look at It's Your Chance of a Lifetime, Winning Lines and the 2000 version of Twenty-One. The gang talks about the greatness of the Wonderwall on Winning Lines and Mike talks about the time he auditioned for Twenty-One back in late 1999.

It only lasted 19 weeks but 1975's Musical Chairs was a landmark television program, as it was the first game show with an African-American emcee, in Adam Wade.  It also had a fun theme song, a great cast of guests, and the cushy time slot after Match Game 75.  It was also recorded at The Ed Sullivan Theater!

This is one show we have been anticipating for some time.  Greg (for 20 or so minutes), Chico, and Mike watch the debut episode of the Legends of the Hidden Temple reboot.  Since it is a live show and we like keeping as much of the show intact as possible, you'll hear the same technical difficulties we experienced.

The next-to-last edition of the It Was a Thing on TV remastered series looks at one of ABC's first experiments with summer game shows back in 1990 with Super Jeopardy! and Monopoly.

This episode has it all four player Jeopardy! games, stories of when Mike and Chico faced off against form Jeopardy! champions, Monopoly's way too complicated ruleset and the lady who played Lumpy in the Star Wars Holiday Special!

The 38th season of Jeopardy! begins tonight and we felt it appropriate to talk about show rarities over the years.  We discuss various oddball tied games over the years, specifically games where contestants tied at zero or games in which a tiebreaker was used.

20 years ago this week, a game show scandal broke in the UK, as Major Charles Ingram, his wife, and another contestant collaborated and coughed their way to £1,000,000.  The trio later went to trial over the matter.  Listen to this episode and judge for yourself whether the money was hard earned or hardly earned.

We've been waiting for this day to happen for weeks.  For the first time in over 41 years, Whew! has aired on US broadcast television.  Mike is here for the entire 3 hours, while Chico hops in about an hour and 45 minutes into the show.  Charge your way to listening to a day none of us ever thought would happen.

The 80s show Press Your Luck had an iconic cast of characters as contestants, including a future American Gladiator, a future talk show host, and an ice cream truck driver who broke the bank.  One of our favorites is a gentleman named Gene Snyder, the subject of this minisode.

What happens when you have a fun game format on ABC and you import one of Britain's most popular TV personalities?  You get Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak, a show up against two daytime powerhouses.  13 weeks later, it was gone.  At least one person from this show got their big break just a few months later.

Now You See It is another beloved Goodson-Todman classic that doesn't get enough credit, partially due to a year run, then a 15-week return fourteen years later.  But OMG, those sets, those hosts, and that music.  We also talk about the 1985 pilot hosted by Jack Clark.