The It Was a Thing on TV Podcast Network

It's viewer request time again!  You wanted us to watch this sort-of spiritual successor to High School U.S.A. (Episode 158) and we did!  Why did this movie about a summer camp originally air in the not-so summer month of February 1985?  We know why it reran in July 1985, besides it was summer.

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.

It's the mid-80s, the Cold War rages on, and a comedian from Soviet Russia makes it big with appearances on Carson and on the stand-up circuit, and as a semi-regular on Night Court.  In 1986, he got his own vehicle, What a Country!  Listen to who was cast as the macho ex-Marine turned principal.

"The Whammy" is your guide to one more episode related to Press Your Luck.  This time, Greg and Mike talk about some of the oddball prizes from all versions of Press Your Luck, including the current version, Whammy!, and the one-off Game Show Marathon episode.

One of our favorite revivals in recent years is returning for a 4th season.  This week, both shows are related to Press Your Luck.  To start, we look at the OG version, 6 years before the popular 80s version.  Second Chance had no whammies, had a boring board, had a weird question structure, and lasted a little over 4 months in 1977 on ABC.

In the mid-80s, the pizza wars fueled up between primarily Pizza Hut and Domino's.  Pizza Hut had a successful campaign aimed at students, with the Book It! project.  Domino's promoted fast and hot delivery, and incorporated a Claymation spokesfiend named The Noid.

In the most recent taping session, we brought up Jonathan Frakes and the cult classic Late 90's/Early 2000's FOX show "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction".

In this special live show, Greg presents an episode featuring three potential show Hall of Famers in the five stories in this Season 2 episode. At the end of the episode, Mike and Chico will determine if these five stories pass the smell test.

Since this is a live show there were some problems with Mike's speaker system where the show audio was playing on his external speakers but that was quickly fixed.

If you want to play along you can watch this episode on the Filmrise True Crime YouTube channel. Make sure to pause after each segment when Mike and Chico give their review of the segment before moving on.

"Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction - Season 2, Episode 11" (Full Episode) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Qv2FHRTWE

NBC is on a slow rebound in 1980, after all the catastrophes we have talked about during 1979.  The powers that be decided imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, creating their own show similar to the Benji franchise from that era.  Here's Boomer was an anthology about a dog crossing the country, helping people in need.  While very family-friendly, the show didn't get enough eyes to see this show.

It's almost Greg's birthday and this is his Money in the Bank show.  A very young Jon Cryer plays the titular character in this show, as someone who goes from working in a mail room to being a big-time agent.

Schuckapalooza ends with one of the most forgettable shows we have ever covered.  Despite very little video available, Turnabout is one of the most painful series we have recapped, from the awkward premise to story lines which are ridiculous and even somewhat sexist.  John Schuck and Sharon Gless deserved so much better.