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

Traditional daytime TV shows were on the decline in the early 1990s, in an era ushered by Maury Povich, Jerry Springer, and Jenny Jones.  The Joker's Wild in 1990 tried to rejuvenate a show which showed its age in the mid-80s, in an era where it was handily beaten by Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!  The core of the game drastically changed but kind of reverted to its original format, but it was too late.

Reg Grundy was on a hot streak in the mid-1980s with Sale of the Century and Scrabble.  (See what we did there?)  NBC took a chance on a third Grundy show, which was a blatant ripoff of The Price is Right with history.  After 16 weeks, 2 different formats, and 3 versions of the final round, this show, like its subject matter, became history.  But we did get John Davidson's first game show hosting gig.

It's the week after Thanksgiving and we're getting rid of our holiday leftovers.  Hot Potato was a Family Feud ripoff, but with better technology and the dean of hosts.  Unfortunately, this potato's shelf life was very short, becoming a celebrity show in 13 weeks, with outright cancellation a few months later.

Merrill Heatter found his greatest success with Hollywood Squares.  After it was cancelled in 1980 (see episode 68), Heatter tried the Squares format, but with some twists.  In this show, we briefly cover 4 titles--Battlestars, The New Battlestars, All-Star Blitz, and the unsold 1993 pilot Hollywood Teasers.

Our 4th show revisited is a show that was beloved among fans for decades, which unexpectedly turned up on BUZZR in 2021.  Before then, roughly 15 episodes were available.  We felt we needed to revisit this classic since we now know much more about Whew!

As we've said many times, NBC in 1979 was desperate for anything that would draw eyes.  Mindreaders was helmed by a former NBC primetime personality, trying to capitalize on an ESP craze at the time.  If only the people behind this show had ESP and could see this show not lasting all that long...

This week, both episodes are previous entries from BUZZR's annual "Lost and Found" marathon, which usually happens this time of year.  (No details about this year's marathon, BUZZR?)  The week starts with a show from the 1950s, hosted by podcast favorite Tom Poston.  Split Personality didn't last long, though it technically aired in the 50s and 60s.

In 1979, early on in Password Plus' run, George Peppard made an appearance as a celebrity player.  On the first show, Peppard put his foot in his mouth, while ranting about forms NBC (and presumably other networks) had people sign.  As a result, Peppard never played another game.

Susan St. James' 75th birthday is happening this Sunday, and we mark the occasion the only way we know how--by utilizing a running gag on this show.  Uh Oh! was a Canadian game show for kids, despite an antagonist who looks like he should be running a sex dungeon.  A kid's show with who appears to be a dungeon master ran for six seasons in Canada!

We're giving you two shows for the price of one this episode.  These shows premiered on the same day, the shows aired consecutively on NBC, and both looked technologically amazing for late 1976.  Alas, technology couldn't save the pair, as their final shows aired on the last day of the year.