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Podcasts within The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network include: * It Was a Thing on TV--the original podcast, well over 500 episodes strong, covering the short-lived and forgotten events in television history. * The Squared Circle Time Machine--Greg Diener and Dane Woychuk take you on a journey about some of the more memorable events in the history of pro wrestling. Coming September 2025: What is a Podcast?: An Unofficial Jeopardy! Podcast. Mike Klauss and 4-time Jeopardy! champion Brian Henegar look back at the week that was on Jeopardy!, in an analytical manner. More podcasts may come in the future.
Episodes

Thursday May 15, 2025
Episode 558--Star Words
Thursday May 15, 2025
Thursday May 15, 2025
The year is 1983. Game shows are rebounding after going through a tough spell from 1980 through 1982. Nipsey Russell, a friend of the genre, is in a period of hosting different shows from different genres. Why not give Nipsey a crack at a game show? CBS and Mark Goodson Productions did just that with at least 3 pilots. Unfortunately for Nipsey but fortunately for passionate game show fans, it appears that CBS passed on Star Words, and opted for one of the most popular games in history, Press Your Luck.

Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Episode 546--All American Ultra Quiz
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Our second and last entry into our annual foray into shows that were lost in translation takes us to this Japanese import, where a show that started with almost 1000 competitors whittled the competition until one person survived, all while traveling around the world. Sounds sort of like contemporary shows Beast Games or Squid Game? Nope. Over 4 decades ago, Ultra Quiz was the biggest game in Japan. Naturally, an American version followed. After one attempt and two shows, the extravagant American version was grounded.

Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Episode 534--To Tell the Truth, 1990 version
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
It's hard to keep a good format down. A decade after the Robin Ward-helmed version of To Tell the Truth (see episode 139 for more), the show returned with a mix of old and new panelists, the tried-and-true format, but also a total of five hosts, including the pilots. A formidable reboot lasted 3/4 of a year in a time when game shows as a whole were a dying breed.

Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Minisode 33--The Many Formats of the Chain Reaction (1980) bonus game
Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Tuesday Jan 14, 2025
Today, January 14, marks 45 years since the premiere of the original Chain Reaction on NBC. In honor of this anniversary, we look at the many (three) bonus rounds from this series which ran 5 months, where Fred Grandy once declared, "Ten bucks!"

Monday Jan 13, 2025
Episode 529--The Reel to Reel Picture Show
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Monday Jan 13, 2025
In our previous episode, episode 528, we covered one of the first shows on a new network, The WB. This time, we're covering one of the first shows on PAX in 1998, an adaptation of a Canadian board game about movies. The whole production had one major issue, one which led to the show's demise just over a month after its premiere.

Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Episode 506--Blackout
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Daytime games in the 80s were a strength of NBC. CBS had a stable roster of shows, though the block was only two hours compared to three at NBC. For some reason, CBS canceled the venerable $25,000 Pyramid for this show. This show did not live up to expectations, so much so that its replacement was the same show it replaced.

Saturday Oct 05, 2024
The Best of It Was a Thing on TV: Episode 72–Go
Saturday Oct 05, 2024
Saturday Oct 05, 2024
Thursday, October 3rd marked the 41st Anniversary of the premiere of the short-lived 1983-84 NBC game show "Go" from Bob Stewart Productions. To mark the occasion this edition of "The Best of It Was a Thing on TV" goes back to Episode 72 when we discussed it back in the Summer of 2020.

Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Episode 488–The First Episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (US)
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Thursday Aug 15, 2024
Tomorrow (August 16th) marks the 25th anniversary of the premiere episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? on ABC. The gang shares their memories and expectations leading up to the first episode while looking at some of the questions from the premiere.
Some of the questions in the premiere seemed easy in 1999 while some questions that looked hard in 1999 would be considered easy in 2024.

Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Episode 482--Don't
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
Thursday Jul 11, 2024
As we continue our Deadpool and Wolverine month, we cover a recent show which rewarded participants for not doing stuff, though they really were doing stuff in a backwards way. Despite a well-known actor hosting and a certain superhero narrating, the viewers followed in a way consistent with the premise of this show--don't watch.

Saturday Jun 29, 2024
It Was a Thing on TV Delayed Reaction--Guillermo Rodriguez on Celebrity Name Game
Saturday Jun 29, 2024
Saturday Jun 29, 2024
Mike shared a little nugget with the other guys earlier this week. That message became the seed of this Delayed Reaction, reacting to events which happened close to a decade ago. Dynasty? Really?