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

Episode 423–Gracepoint

We start our celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who by looking at this American adaptation of "Broadchurch". Adapted from the ITV drama created by future Doctor Who EP Chris Chibnall the American version brought back the Tenth Doctor himself David Tennant in the lead role. Did this limited event series find an audience on FOX in 2014 or was it another victim of Lost in Translation?

It Was a Thing on TV Instant Reaction--Greg Recaps the Jets/Giants Game

Greg just finished watching maybe one of the worst games of football he's ever seen in the Battle of New York between the Jets and the Giants and he's here to give his instant reaction to it. What happens when one team is down to their third-string center and the other team is down to their third-string QB? #hilarityensues

Episode 422--The ESPN Halloween Derby

On Halloween Eve 2006, ESPN got several fans involved in a unique event where the fans were dressed as Monday Night Football personalities.  This happened once and never again.  Were fans creeped out by a big-headed Chris Berman racing down a football field?  Could it be because several of the big heads almost fell off?  Join Greg and Mike as they look at this one-time experiment.

Episode 421--Second Chance (2016)

We talked about the Second Chance from 1977 and the Second Chance from 1987.  This Halloween season, we're covering a third entry with that name, from 2016.  This version was loosely based on Frankenstein but it was "depressingly awful" and couldn't hold viewers after a decent lead-in show, albeit against tough competition.

Episode 420--Invitation to Hell

In 1984, the same year horror master Wes Craven gave us "A Nightmare on Elm Street" he directed this ABC TV Movie starring Robert Urich, Joanna Cassidy, and Erica Kane herself Susan Lucci.

In this made-for, Susan plays a devilish dame who tries to tempt ol' Spenser for Hire with power if he can just join this hot country club that just about everyone at his company works for. Join us on an Invitation to Hell!

Episode 419--Child’s Play

We're two short weeks from the pinnacle of the spooky season, so we're pulling out Halloween-themed shows.  First, while not spooky in any way, Child's Play shares its name with a well-known horror movie franchise from later in the 80s.  Besides being Bill Cullen's last show with Mark Goodson, it may be better known for being replaced by the game which typified the 80s, Press Your Luck.

Episode 418--Police Academy: The Live Action Series

Almost a decade after the animated version we covered in episode 417, there was a live-action version of Police Academy, 8 years after the franchise's last nationwide theatrical release.  Unlike the animated show, personalities from the Police Academy movies made appearances.  After a season, the powers that be opted to put these cops on desk duty.

(NOTE: We couldn't photoshop the Police Academy logo in the 90's TV so we had to use the Widescreen TV logo and filtered the Police Academy logo as if you were watching a VHS tape on an HDTV.)

Episode 417--Police Academy: The Animated Series

A favorite comedy movie franchise around these parts is the Police Academy series.  Between installments 5 and 6, an animated series aired in syndication, following the exploits of those crazy cops...and talking police dogs?!  All the characters from the series appeared, but with none of their movie talent counterparts.

Episode 416--Together We Stand/Nothing is Easy

In the 70s, Sherwood Schwartz had an idea to introduce a couple with a multiethnic group of kids. The ahead-of-its-time idea was revisited in the mid 80s, but would anybody watch it? And what happens when nobody watches it? On this episode, we break down the strange case of “Together We Stand”…. Or “Nothing is Easy”.

Episode 415--Drexell’s Class

We conclude our trifecta of Dabney Coleman shows by looking back at a show which was a complete contrast to the last two entries, where Coleman played an irritable, cantankerous TV host and an irritable, cantankerous sportswriter.  This time, Coleman portrays an irritable, cantankerous 5th grade teacher.