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Partially an oral history of obscure TV shows, partially an oral version of MST3K, and partially a thorough episode guide, It Was a Thing on TV is an anthology podcast about obscure, forgotten, and odd TV shows, commercials, televised events, and almost anyone and anything else that was on television. For the most part, the subjects we cover are from the United States and Canada. We’re just three guys with a love for television. New episodes are generally every Monday and Thursday, sometimes more often.
Episodes

Monday Oct 30, 2023
Episode 423–Gracepoint
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
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?

Sunday Oct 29, 2023
It Was a Thing on TV Instant Reaction--Greg Recaps the Jets/Giants Game
Sunday Oct 29, 2023
Sunday Oct 29, 2023
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

Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Episode 422--The ESPN Halloween Derby
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
Thursday Oct 26, 2023
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.

Monday Oct 23, 2023
Episode 421--Second Chance (2016)
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Monday Oct 23, 2023
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.

Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Episode 420--Invitation to Hell
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
Thursday Oct 19, 2023
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!

Monday Oct 16, 2023
Episode 419--Child’s Play
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
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.

Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Episode 418--Police Academy: The Live Action Series
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
Thursday Oct 12, 2023
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.)

Monday Oct 09, 2023
Episode 417--Police Academy: The Animated Series
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
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.

Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Episode 416--Together We Stand/Nothing is Easy
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
Thursday Oct 05, 2023
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”.

Monday Oct 02, 2023
Episode 415--Drexell’s Class
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
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.