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

We have brought you shows on Hulk Hogan commercials, Ric Flair commercials, and three separate installments of Hometown Commercials.  Our early Christmas present to you is a look at ads for something everybody wanted under the tree from 1979 to 1982--the Atari 2600 VCS, and games for the system.

Atari 2600 Commercial (December, 1977) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJNbhekKShI

Atari VCS Commercial with Pete Rose, Pele and Don Knotts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hs34_7_kC64

Atari VCS Commercial with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Carol Channing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lexverCcFFk

1978 Atari Commercial with Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs and Jack Palance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ary-G-GYO60

Space Invaders (1980) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct_I2C_9Kf8

Kaboom - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkNztWEVxD4

Activision Ice Hockey with Phil Hartman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=celKZ-vwsCc

RealSports Baseball with Billy Martin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SI7zqsVoas

Atari Test Facility commercial with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mario Andretti and Pele - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0cSWi1V_wI

Laser Blast (1981) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SWzv

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Atari Toys R Us Asteroids Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFciGLGHiY4

Sears 1981 Christmas Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqBlPdz0G-M

Atari we don’t need a babysitter commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krGlnXY4HaY

Atari UK Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMLhvlAxsPw

Beany Bopper (1982) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OK5COuF6xg

Spider-Man (1982) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usbQDfTIqE

Pac-Man Commercial with Mr. Hooper!!! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxsUCRSoUrE

Solar Fox with Jane Krakowski - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgUTq5pL3gE

Pole Position - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhRIneQFmHA

Ms. Pac-Man with Don Pardo voiceover - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKM5-k8uD7Q

Ms. Pac-Man Australian Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp1CKap2v28

Donkey Kong (1982) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzFCXfjuNjI

Donkey Kong Jr. (1983) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNTpXX43QxY

Dig Dug (1983) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VFjbPlq_nw

Pitfall! with Jack Black - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfLgSdAAHMA

Moon Patrol - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1fp8g3yimU

Sega Star Trek with Ernie Anderson voiceover - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28r4iGf7M98

Atari Sesame Street Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnQrQE4Y6Ow

Atari Christmas 1983 Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z2nyvfJDwk

1984 Atari 2600 Commercial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ZLov8Xne0

Urban General Atari 2600 Commercial (1984) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLryP7IrM1A

1986 Atari 2600 Commercial (The Fun is Back) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp1CbPpaWKw

In an experimental solo episode that Greg does somewhat live from his car after work, Greg talks about the shows he's been watching so far as the summer starts to heat up.

Greg talks about the new season of Stranger Things along with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+. He also talks about how he thinks the finale of Barry Season 3 will go down.

Afterwards, Greg looks ahead talking about future episodes of the podcast along with memories of playing NES including Bases Loaded, Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball and that horrid LJN Back to the Future Game.

We're back with our second (and likely last) edition of the pinball machine show.  We talk about 9 more TV-themed pinball machines, mainly from the last 15 years.

One of our most popular series of shows is back for a third (and final?) installment.  The three of us look at more video game adaptions of TV shows, one going back almost 40 years.  Grab your controller and press start on The Video Game Show, Part 3.

We have had two episodes devoted to TV themed video games (with a third coming in the future) and we have done a trading card show.  Now, we venture into pinball machines, virtual and real.

1988 Monday Night Football pinball open:  https://youtu.be/C8Lpd0R1keM?t=19

Doctor Who Pinball Tutorial (PAPA Pinball): https://youtu.be/iawmrs69jrQ

As an Easter gift to you our fans, we present our third Director's Cut episodes originally released on Place to be Nation POP for you to enjoy. This time we bring to you the Director's Cut of The Video Game Show, Part 2.

We've added fifteen minutes of additional material in this episode as we go in-depth on some of the questionable choices for helmets in ABC Monday Night Football on Super NES along with looking at YouTube playthroughs of The Price is Right for DOS and Thunder in Paradise on CD-i.

Happy Mario Day this Wednesday!  (Get it, MAR10?)  We pay our respects to this non-holiday by looking at the unforgettable Super Mario Bros. Super Show!  One of us never watched this on Fridays for reasons.

Just a note there were some audio issues during the recording of this and the next episode with hot mics, they've mostly been fixed in post, but they'll show up at a few points here and there.

It was to be Paul Reubens' bounce back role after Pee Wee's Playhouse was cancelled.  You Don't Know Jack is but a blip in TV history, a deviation from what TV audiences were used to seeing.  Mike used his Money in the Bank on this and by the end of this episode, he regrets selecting this show.

Who didn't love cartoons and video games in the early 80s?  Pac Man was successful.  But the anthology with cartoons of Pitfall, Space Ace, and Kangaroo?  Not as much.  We talk about the cartoon cavalcade called Saturday Supercade in this installment.

Earlier this year, we looked at 9 bad video games based on television shows.  We found 9 more and felt it appropriate to cover them before the Christmas holiday.  With any luck, we'll find 9 more and do a 3rd installment in 2021.