The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

The 46th anniversary of the debut of this program happened earlier this week.  We decided to revisit it this week, as more footage of the show has found its way online in the last 6 years like Isaac Asimov talking about the future, Chuck Norris doing some martial arts, and Phil Donahue supposedly dating Bill Murray's grandmother.  Also, a sitting senator was supposedly an occasional guest?!

Our SNL 50th birthday celebration wraps up with a contender to the throne which was a direct rip-off of SNL; the head of ABC admitted as much!  Fridays had its moments, but it sorely missed making recurring characters who would be remembered nowadays.  It also had thrilling guest hosts like Henny Youngman!  Grab a bite to eat, as this is one of our longest shows to date.

In Fall 1975, two different shows named Saturday Night Live premiered--the one we know, albeit without the Live moniker, and this show, a variety/talk show hosted by arguably ABC's biggest personality (and definitely ABC's biggest mouth) at the time.  Despite its deserving role as one of the worst shows in television history, very little footage of this series exists...which may be a good thing.

Pilot Month 2025 comes to a conclusion with this entry about a shopping plaza whose occupants communicate primarily through song and dance.  It sounds like Cop Rock (see Episode 450), but with significantly more singing and music.  The open may give off a different sort of vibe.  Regardless, this oddity is the perfect way to close up the pilot vault for a year.

In 1998, the variety show as we know it had been a dead format for close to 20 years.  However, what if you could revive one of the greatest variety shows ever with a host who had been deceased for nearly a quarter century?  That was attempted by UPN with a virtual Ed Sullivan, voiced by John Byner.  The result was this one-off pilot which was reminiscent of a more recent format, and with star power packing arenas to this day.

In television history, there have been several attempts at becoming a viable competitor to ABC, NBC, and CBS.  Some have succeeded (FOX), while others were not so lucky (MyTV, PAX).  In this installment, we turn the clock back to the mid-60s where a mogul in the warehouse industry started his own network which had a name change before going to air, aired one series in its existence, and lasted a month.

Timing can and very might have been the reason The Tim Conway Show did not have a longer life, even going from an hour to a half an hour for season 2.  As is most anything with Tim Conway, it was entertaining.  The rest of the cast was great.  Unfortunately, the variety show was a dying breed in 1980.

It's listener request time once again!  This time, we look at a 1977 summer replacement variety show with the band behind one of 1976's biggest songs.  The Starland Vocal Band Show may have centered around a one-hit wonder, but it starred some future star power.

It's Mike's birthday and he played his Money in the Bank on this?!  Take three musical brothers who gained a modicum of popularity in the 70s despite having no big musical hits and add a cast of zany characters including the future Unknown Comic.  What do you get?  A repetitive and derivative show which lasted 16 shows.

NBC wasn't the only network showing a parade on Thanksgiving 1985.  CBS brought us parts of 5 different parades in its All-American Thanksgiving Parade, with TV stars in American locales including New York City, Detroit, Philadelphia, Hawaii, and...Toronto?!  Each location had its own style, and some parades put more energy and creativity into their work than others.